The Sunday Magazine

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with Canada's former NATO ambassador Kerry Buck and international politics professor Mark Webber about the future of NATOReporter Jacob Soboroff explores what last year's L.A. fires reveal about the politics of disasterCanadian Nobel Prize laureate Peter Howitt unpacks the economic theory of "creative destruction"Our monthly challenge That’s Puzzling! returns with special guest Andi Petrillo

To kick off a new year of Word Processing, our ongoing look at language, Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with lexicographer Susie Dent about the old words you didn't know you needed to sum up our modern times, and her pitch to get "recombobulation" – the opposite of discombobulation – properly in the dictionary.So, nevermind the "snollygosters," just gather round your "copemates" and head on a "coddiwomple" with us as we ring in 2026.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero, Lulu Garcia-Navarro from The New York Times, and University of Ottawa's Roland Paris about the bigger implications of U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás MaduroLexicographer Susie Dent resurfaces old words you didn't know you needed to sum up our modern timesActor, author and director Stephen Fry reimagines ancient Greek mythsPsychology professor Dacher Keltner and workplace culture strategist Jennifer Moss discuss the benefits of cultivating awe

In October, the legendary naturalist Jane Goodall died at age 91. During her life, Goodall not only saw a lot of change in the world, but made a lot of it too.Her field work with chimpanzees transformed how both science and the general public view our fellow primates. In later years, as an activist and conservationist, she inspired countless young people to follow her lead and change the world. And despite political leaders recently seeming to prioritize the economy over the environment, Goodall always found reasons to remain hopeful.In September, Piya Chattopadhyay spoke with Goodall about her journey and her desire to keep sparking positive change.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The New York Times' Stephanie Nolen, Council on Foreign Relations fellow Ebenezer Obadare and international affairs expert Suparna Chaudhry about the consequences of recent cuts to foreign aidWe revisit our conversation with the late conservation icon Jane Goodall about keeping hope for our planet aliveChef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat shares how grief reframed her relationship with food

Did you replace your chocolate orange with Dubai chocolate this year? Spike your eggnog with matcha? According to Ruby Tandoh, algorithms and search engine optimization are the hidden ingredients in the food we crave. The baker and writer joins Piya Chattopadhyay to explain how frothy adjectives came to dominate recipes, why we can't get enough of the colour green, and what today's top trends say about our global appetite.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The Atlantic's Toluse "Tolu" Olorunnipa and Politico's Hailey Fuchs about the revelations in Friday's partial release of the Epstein files – and how they intersect with U.S. politics, baker and writer Ruby Tandoh explains how virality shapes our appetites, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee discusses breakthroughs in cancer research, and novelist Gary Shteyngart explores the parallels between his dystopian new novel and life in the U.S. today.

This past week, Time magazine named "The Architects of AI" its 2025 Person of the Year, even as the stock market wobbled with fears of an artificial intelligence-fuelled bubble. One way to help make sense of this moment is a tech industry concept known as the "hype cycle." As The Sunday Magazine’s Pete Mitton explains, the time-tested idea suggests that, as with other new technologies before it, a crash of expectations – and markets – will likely arrive long before we truly understand how to live with AI. Until then, it’s important to understand how the cycle works – and some of the unique dangers AI hype presents.

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with journalists Shannon Proudfoot and Rob Russo about the year in Canadian politics, The Sunday Magazine’s Pete Mitton explains how the "hype cycle" concept can help us understand where we stand with artificial intelligence, Russian-American journalist Julia Ioffe explores the feminist history that shaped modern Russia, and journalist Stefan Fatsis shares what the words of the year reveal about how dictionaries are evolving.Discover more at https://www.cbc.ca/sunday

In our monthly challenge That's Puzzling!, Piya Chattopadhyay competes against familiar voices and clever listeners in a battle of brain games devised by puzzle master Peter Brown. In this special edition, recorded live in Toronto as part of CBC's national holiday campaign Make the Season Kind, Bookends host Mattea Roach, actress and comedian Jennifer Whalen and a whip smart audience member enter the puzzledome to duke it out for glory.