As It Happens - podcast cover

As It Happens

Nightly news that’s not afraid of fun. Every weeknight hosts Nil Köksal and Chris Howden bring you the people at the centre of the day’s most hard-hitting, hilarious and heartbreaking stories: powerful leaders, proud eccentrics and ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. And plenty of puns too. Find out why As It Happens is one of Canada’s longest-running and most beloved shows.

Episodes

The “relief” of the Liberals finally choosing a new leader

Hockey Night in Canada - in Inuktitut. Pujjuut Kusugak on making history this weekend when he’ll provide colour commentary in his mother tongue. The head of the U.S. trade association for distilled spirits on Canadian provinces pulling American booze from their shelves; the Vegetable Orchestra sets a new record; a journalist in Lesotho on Donald Trump’s suggestion that no one’s ever heard of the African nation; and why there can only be one “Captain Clutch.”

Mar 08, 20251 hr 3 min

An autoworker worries tariffs will mean the end of his job

Why grammar aficionado Ellen Jovin travelled to 50 U.S. states to explore the finer points of the English language -- one conversation at a time. Canada pledges billions to boost Arctic defence; an American veteran describes being fired from his job by email; the mayor of Laval, Quebec reacts, after several mayors invited to the White House are disinvited; and how a Canadian teen ended up in a Polish prison, accused of being a Russian spy.

Mar 07, 202559 min

The CBC’s Catherine Cullen with a trade war update

Plus: After a long reprieve, one B.C. town faces the prospect of a renewed peacock invasion.  Also: A conversation with AI pioneer Richard Sutton, co-winner of this year's Turing Award.

Mar 06, 20251 hr

A Canadian business owner & cabinet minister on US tariffs

A retired entomologist shows off his creative side, and the nether regions of his favourite beetle, in a new exhibit of glass sculptures. An Israeli human rights organization takes the government to court over its aid blockade; a resident in Point Roberts, Washington, on its connection to Canada and his petition for a humanitarian exemption to tariffs; a fired US federal employee explains why she's attending President Trump’s congressional address tonight; and a childhood friend and former bandm...

Mar 05, 20251 hr 6 min

With tariffs looming, it’s time to “sleep with one eye open”

Plus: A Stanford University scientist on new research into the slimiest parts of our brains that could unlock big developments in memory and aging.  Also: On the eve of US tariffs on virtually all Canadian goods, the owner of a Toronto pizzeria tells us about his decision to banish US ingredients from his restaurant.

Mar 04, 20251 hr

A Ukrainian-Canadian on “appalling" Trump/Zelenskyy meeting

Plus: An immigration lawyer on the influx of calls from 2SLGBTQ+ Americans who want to move to Canada, because they don't feel safe in their country.  Also: Greek protesters demand justice, two years after the country's worst rail disaster killed 57 people; and a sendoff for the town clerk of Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Labrador, who’s held the job for more than 50 years.

Mar 01, 202544 min

Vancouver’s mayor defends a pause in new supportive housing

Plus: A pair of newlyweds explain why they chose to forgo running water and electricity for six months to become caretakers of a remote Irish island. Also: A tribute to Shawna Forester Smith, who advocated for better patient care from her bed in a Winnipeg chronic-care unit; the German Catholic Church condemns a carnival float in Cologne that draws attention to sexual abuse in the church; and how a man in England, got a pothole fixed -- by making it look like someone is stuck upside-down, inside...

Feb 28, 202555 min

A hostage’s brother on saying goodbye to the Bibas family

Plus: “We don’t have a political agenda. We’re trying to feed the country.” Farmers sue U.S. Agriculture Dept after it removes online climate data. Also: “It was as if the sky just exploded.” We take a visit to Europe’s newest Dark Sky sanctuary, the Scottish Isle of Rum; A Saskatchewan social worker on the province’s plan to classify drug-related items as street weapons; Dallas Arcand wins his fourth hoop dancing world championship; and a trio of Canadian-first surgeries will see a Vancouver op...

Feb 27, 20251 hr

Alberta’s Addictions Minister pushes a controversial plan

Plus: John McCann (aka The Philly Captain) explains the demise of the so-called “p00p game”. Don’t worry, it will all make sense.    Also: The manager of a community-based theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp tells us about the Israeli military's displacement of some 40,000 Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank -- and about why his family is staying put.

Feb 26, 202557 min

The Ukrainians in Canada who fear being sent back

Plus: One man’s battle to have his right to own a raccoon as a pet enshrined in law.    Also: People in Bowden, Alberta are in a 51st state of mind as a pro-merger billboard goes up, causing headaches for the town’s mayor.

Feb 25, 20251 hr

Burundi under strain after 40,000+ flee violence in Congo

Plus: Five hockey fans drive from Winnipeg to Boston for the 4 Nations Face-Off final, to cheer on Team Canada and their friend, player Seth Jarvis. Also: The earliest known cookbook by a Black American woman gets a new edition; paleontologists discover the 30-million-year-old skull of "the king of the ancient Egyptian forest”; why one public health expert thinks changes to BC’s safer supply program could mean the its effective demise; and how snow in Montreal has kept one wheelchair user stuck ...

Feb 21, 20251 hr 1 min

Heritage minister: CBC funding a matter of national security

Plus: An Italian tour guide shares his concerns as visitors get an up close, and potentially dangerous, look at an erupting Mount Etna. Also: A hockey fan on the Canadian/US matchup at the 4 Nations final; Nova Scotia’s auditor general on new legislation that would let the Province fire her without cause; and a historic ocean liner that once regularly crossed the Atlantic, takes its final voyage.

Feb 21, 20251 hr 4 min

She was on reality TV in Sierra Leone. Now she’s in jail.

Plus: Former Olympian Christina Lustenberger describes what it was like to reach the highest point of the Rocky Mountains, and then ski back down. Also: What happens when a moose shows up at your door; a Ukrainian reflects on her country’s prospects for peace and its relationship with the US; and a reporter breaks down the charges against Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, and the allegations he took part in a coup and plot to kill his political rivals. 

Feb 20, 20251 hr

Ukraine on the outside as Americans and Russians negotiate

Plus: Facundo Iglesia from the Buenos Aires Herald on a crypto scandal and Argentina’s leader.  Also: We revisit the “Giga Pearl”. It holds the Guinness World Record as the largest authenticated natural pearl. The massive, iridescent gemstone has traveled from the Philippines to Mississauga, then to the U.S. for appraisal, and now it’s back in the Greater Toronto Area for an exclusive luxury art exhibit.

Feb 19, 202554 min

Surviving a Cape Breton snowmobile nightmare

Plus: A surprising discovery about how shockingly vicious hummingbirds seem to be learning to get along.  Also: We reach a woman in the hardest hit part of Eastern Kentucky who says despite her small business flooding, she's most worried for those who just recovered from the deadly 2022 floods.

Feb 18, 20251 hr 10 min

The view from Ukraine on Trump, Vance and Putin

Plus: We speak with a researcher who’s discovered that different groups of chimps use different gestures to request what she calls "sneaky copulation". Also: As Donald Trump reshapes the Kennedy Center, Michael Kooman says a tour of his musical has been cancelled out of the blue. And he suspects the president's aversion to drag performance had something to do with it.

Feb 15, 20251 hr 12 min

Special Episode: Black Box Diaries

Nil Köksal in conversation with Shiori Ito, director, producer and subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary.  Black Box Diaries begins with a trigger warning: "Close your eyes and take a deep breath if you need to," Ms. Ito tells viewers. "That has helped me many times." It goes on to detail her story of sexual assault and the pursuit of justice in Japan.

Feb 14, 202528 min

Anita Anand on whether internal trade is really the answer

Plus: TikTok helps drain global Guinness supplies. We reach a St. John’s pub owner who’s got problems ahead of Saint Patrick’s Day.   Also: This week, only six of the 46 people who attempted an especially treacherous Yukon Arctic Ultra race crossed the finish line. Our guest tells us how she managed to stick it out, and why she's already gearing up for her next trek.

Feb 13, 202543 min

Malphine Fogel on her son’s long wait for freedom

Plus: A superfan makes a sprint through Manhattan to snag a coveted ticket to Paul McCartney’s ultra rare club show.    Also: We reach Ahmad Muna, whose decades-old bookshop was raided by Israeli police in Jerusalem.

Feb 12, 20251 hr 2 min

Canada’s Industry Minister on Trump’s tariffs

Plus: Christie’s goes all in on AI art. We reach a (human) artist who’s part of the first auction of its kind.     Also: A town in northern England finds hundreds of Second World War bombs under a children's playground.

Feb 11, 20251 hr 1 min

A Canadian company prepares for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum

Plus: How one Canadian distillery is trying to create a liqueur similar to chartreuse because of a shortage of the green alcohol. Also: After Sweden’s deadliest mass shooting last week, we speak to a family member of one of the survivors.

Feb 10, 20251 hr 4 min

Donald Trump’s threat to “absorb” Canada gets real

We speak to Liberal MP and leadership candidate Karina Gould and Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada. Also: A film history student tells us about the moment he discovered a silent film about Lincoln...believed to be lost to time...in the final hours of his internship with a historic film archive.

Feb 07, 202559 min

Canada and Mexico at odds over the cartels and terrorism

Plus: New research on bonobos shows the unique human ability to guess what's going on in the minds of others isn't so unique. Also: . A site on the North Saskatchewan River is revealed to be one of the oldest examples of Indigenous civilization in North America. A Métis archaeologist tells us he could feel that history the first time he saw it.

Feb 04, 202558 min

What a 30 day tariff reprieve means for Canada

Plus: When a teenager fell into icy water, Indiana's David Fisher grabbed his double Dutch ropes and jumped into action.  Also: After a Canadian father comes forward to say his child is purchasing illicit drugs on Snapchat, we'll hear from an American dad about his ongoing fight to hold the social platform accountable for the death of his son.

Feb 03, 20251 hr 1 min

How tariffs look from the Michigan side of the border

Plus: The story of a “Pistol Packin’ Mama” who spent decades wanted for murder, undetected in Taber, Alberta.   Also: Liz Pelly, author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist.

Jan 31, 20251 hr

Skating coach Elin Schran on an unimaginable loss

She worked with Spencer Lane, a 16 year old victim of the DC plane crash.  Also: How Newfoundland and Labrador’s snow crab fishery is preparing for the prospect of devastating US tariffs; and we reach former Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, who’s running to lead the Democratic National Committee

Jan 30, 20251 hr