As It Happens

A fellow scientist remembers his friend Nuno Loureiro -- the beloved MIT professor authorities believe was killed this week by the same man suspected of killing two students at Brown University.Air Canada reaches a settlement with passengers after a crash-landing in a Halifax snowstorm more than 10 years ago -- an event that left our guest with an understandably visceral fear of flying.As part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, the Lebanese army must disarm the militant group Hezbollah by the end of this year. A former MP in Lebanon weighs on whether that's possible -- and what it could mean if it isn't. The Canadian couple who were struggling to secure a travel visa for their adopted Ugandan daughter have finally made it home for the holidays.In tonight's holiday reading, a child's Christmas wish for new ice skates is badly misinterpreted -- to the extreme dismay of that child, and then his mother. This year's World Pie-Eating Championship has a sur-pies winner -- but the contest's pie master laments the much faster competitors of days gone pie.As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that's off the tarts.

Months ago, the Democratic Party commissioned a report on what went wrong in the 2024 presidential election. Now, party leaders are saying they're actually not going to release the details. Our guest says that just makes him more anxious to see it. After 23 years in an Ontario prison a new legal victory means Tim Rees can finally consider his name cleared. He'll tell us how that feels. A young Indigenous resident of Northern Ontario tells us the Premier's announcement about "shovels in the ground" within the Ring of Fire sounds less like a promise, and more like a threat.To celebrate Hanukkah, we have our annual reading of Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Zlateh the Goat" -- so go get the kids. After the house featured in “Home Alone” suffered a shocking renovation, the property is now being returned to its original glory -- to the relief of fans, and its original owner. Female praying mantises sometimes eat males after mating -- but in one newly discovered species, the males don't just pray: they dance as if their lives depended on it.As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that's a hopeless ro-mantis. 

The surviving accused gunman in the Bondi Beach attack is charged -- and an Australian investigative reporter reveals disturbing allegations about the father-and-son suspects. We'll talk to an artist who is painstakingly recreating one of the Bamiyan Buddha statues that was destroyed by the Taliban over two decades ago. After corruption allegations are levelled against the Quebec Liberal Party, their new leader Pablo Rodriguez says he's resigning. Our guest tells us the next leader needs to right the ship -- fast. Olympic skater Kaitlyn Weaver says that as a Canadian, and a queer woman, she's proud of Skate Canada's decision to no longer host major events in Alberta.A Kansas man rents out an entire store to display his late wife's sprawling collection of holiday figurines. He says sharing her passion for Christmas with others is the best gift he could hope for. Before “A Streetcar Named Desire” or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams was a student in Iowa trying his hand at a novel new format: the radio play. And now, nearly 90 years later, that gothic drama has been published. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that knows he was a great dramatist -- and this is a "Stella!" example.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan was supposed to be visiting both Israelis and Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. But we'll reach her in Jordan -- after she and the rest of a Canadian delegation were blocked by Israel for what it describes as “security reasons”.Media mogul Jimmy Lai's daughter says she made the difficult decision to leave Hong Kong to advocate for her father's release -- and now that he's facing life in prison, she says that is more important than ever.Rob Reiner was a superstar director -- but to Kris Perry, he’s the man who fought alongside her to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage in California. The late Donna Summer lit the fuse of the mid-'70s disco explosion -- and now, she's been honoured for writing some of the most enduring dancefloor-fillers of all time.We'll bring you another classic from our catalogue of holiday readings -- "The Gift of the Magi", a story of a couple unlucky in gift-giving...but lucky in love. On what would have been Jane Austen's 250th birthday, New York Times writers and "Pride and Prejudice" enthusiasts try to answer once and for all: who is the definitive onscreen Mr. Darcy?As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that knows pride cometh before a ball. 

A cousin of a rabbi killed in the Bondi beach attack says Eli Schlanger devoted himself to bringing joy and love to others -- and his family plans to continue that tradition. A Syrian father of two who risked his life to disarm one of the alleged shooters is being hailed as a hero; our guest sat with his family as they waited for news. Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai faces a possible life sentence for sedition and foreign collusion; a fellow activist is crushed -- but not surprised. A Scotland fan was excited to buy tickets to the FIFA World Cup -- before he learned prices were, in his words, "extortionate". Former "As It Happens" co-host Jeff Douglas takes us gliding down a quiet frozen river -- when we air his annual holiday his reading of the poem "The Skater."A group of linguists urge the Prime Minister to stop messing with Canadian identity by relying on British spellings that use an "s" -- not a zed -- in words like "analyze".As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that hits you like a ton of Brits.

Another Conservative crosses the floor to join the government -- and now the Liberals are one vote shy of a majority. A Conservative strategist discusses the winter of his party's discontent. It's been nine months since he was deported to a prison in El Salvador. Now, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is out of detention. But his lawyer says that, under the Trump administration, his client is not going to relax. Iranian security forces violently arrest Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi after releasing her a year ago; her brother tells us he's afraid of what might happen next. A U.S. medical student volunteers to get an ultrasound in front of her class -- and discovers she has a dangerously enormous kidney stone. A linguist in Wales tells us why he's putting together the world's first dictionary of ancient Celtic -- and shares a few of his favourite words.An Australian politician is out to dinner when he looks at his pet cam -- and sees his cow and horse are hoofing it around his living room.As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that guesses they got tired of his stall tactics.

People in British Columbia's Fraser Valley could only watch as torrential rain triggered widespread flooding…again. A campground owner tells us parts of her property were swept away without warning. The United States jacks up tensions with Venezuela by seizing an oil tanker — a tactic our guest says is meant to catalyze regime change, an outcome he endorses. UNESCO formally recognizes the Haitian music and dance genre konpa, to the delight of Sony Laventure who teaches the art form. Paleontologists conclude that they've discovered a one-time "dinosaur freeway" in a Bolivian national park. And Raúl Esperante helped count its many thousands of footprints. Canada designates the extremist network 764 as a terrorist entity. The executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism tells us if that move will actually prevent the group from targeting kids online. For a long time, scientists believed dolphins and orcas were enemies when it came to preying on salmon. But new footage suggests they’re actually working together. The U.S. Secretary of State demands that American diplomats switch to Times New Roman, and abandon the Calibri font, but the man who designed that font insists it's the strong, silent typeface. As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that wants you to know there's a new serif in town.

A Royal Canadian Navy sailor is rescued after going missing -- in the Pacific Ocean; we'll talk to a commander on a ship that got the mayday call. The Alberta government has used the notwithstanding clause yet again, this time to push through laws that will affect young transgender people. A trans advocate tells us it's too much -- and they've gone too far. A Liberal MP says he has concerns about an Alberta-built pipeline -- but Conservative attempts to get MPs like him to break from the federal government aren't going to fly. Australia enacts the world's first social media ban for children under the age of sixteen; one woman tells us that for her son, who has a disability, it's like losing a lifeline. We'll remember Sophie Kinsella, whose "Confessions of a Shopaholic" novels earned her legions of fans. Her editor tells us the author was as special as her books. After we heard about a rank ginkgo tree in a Nova Scotia historic garden, we heard from you about your own gingko struggles -- and how you odour-came them. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that turns over an "ew" leaf.

A Virginia farmer tells us what he thinks of Washington's 12 billion dollar aid package -- and whether it can actually help save farms collapsing under the weight of the U.S. President's tariffs.Maryland's top public defender tells us the heating at a youth jail in Baltimore has been broken for weeks in winter temperatures -- says the state should not be freezing those young people out.Dozens of students have been rescued after last month's mass kidnapping in Nigeria, but many are still being held captive -- and fears of a similar fate mean many more children across the country are being forced to abandon school altogether. An activist says a giant yellow cedar that was recently cut down in B.C. should have been protected under the law -- and its disappearance exposes gaps in the province's promise to safeguard its forests. For decades, a ginkgo tree on the grounds of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens has been feted, as in celebrated -- but this year it's being fetid as in: it reeks. A world record number of golden retrievers gather in a park in Argentina -- but they were so incredibly chill it seemed like barking was arf-limits. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that knows silence is goldens. 

Meg James, a senior entertainment writer for the Los Angeles Times, dives into the shocking hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros., exploring its implications for Hollywood. Meanwhile, landscape photographer John Screech shares his amusing tale of shipping containers filled with unripened bananas washing ashore in West Sussex. Lastly, underwater archaeologist Frank Gaudio reveals the fascinating discovery of a Roman-era pleasure barge near Alexandria, shedding light on ancient maritime culture.