As It Happens

CBC•www.cbc.ca

News that’s not afraid of fun. Meet 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. Hosted by Nil Köksal and Chris Howden, find out why As It Happens is one of Canada’s longest-running and most beloved shows. (Ahem, we literally helped make the beaver a national symbol.)

New episodes Monday to Friday by 7:30 pm E.T.

Last refreshed: June 26th, 2026 at 12:15 AM

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Episodes

Trump rattles a Somali community, including his supporters

A Somali-American says his community is living in fear, after a series of ugly comments by U.S. President Donald Trump -- language he says need to be called out as racism, pure and simple. The ICC's first chief prosecutor says American strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats are definitely illegal -- and possibly a war crime. One family's hopes of bringing their adopted daughter from Kenya to Canada to celebrate Christmas with her grandparents are fading -- after two failed attempts to secure a...

Dec 04, 2025•1 hr 1 min

Mark Carney’s trouble building consensus on major projects

Before the Prime Minister even arrived at a Special Chiefs Meeting today, the Assembly of First Nations had already voted to oppose Ottawa's pipeline agreement with Alberta. After getting hundreds of thousands of signatures, Alberta's 'Forever Canadian' petition will be submitted to the provincial legislature. The man who started it says he hopes it will put any question of separation to rest. The U.S. delegation presented Vladimir Putin with an amended peace plan today; a journalist tells us th...

Dec 03, 2025•1 hr 6 min

An alleged gunman’s roots in the secretive Zero Units

The man accused of killing a member of the National Guard served in a CIA-backed paramilitary group in Afghanistan called the "Zero Units"; we'll find out what that is, and what those who served with him are saying about the attack. A Toronto man says he doesn't know if anything from his childhood home was saved from the catastrophic fire in Hong Kong -- but he's grateful to know for sure that his parents and his sister all survived. On World AIDS Day, a doctor tells us about new HIV-prevention ...

Dec 02, 2025•1 hr 2 min

As Denmark sleeps, the ‘night watch’ keeps tabs on Trump

After Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland, Denmark's Foreign Affairs Ministry establishes a new "night watch" of bureaucrats -- who keep an eye on the U.S. President after hours. A B.C. Indigenous leader says he's not interested in sitting down with a minister from Alberta's government -- because he is never going to support a bitumen pipeline. There are furious calls for accountability after a video the UN is calling an "apparent summary execution" by Israeli border police is broadcast. A...

Nov 29, 2025•1 hr 3 min

How much agreement is there really about a new pipeline?

Alberta and Ottawa gleefully shake hands on an agreement that promises to fast-track a pipeline project. We'll ask Calgary's only Liberal MP if this newly chummy relationship between Mark Carney and Danielle Smith can last, and what dissent from other province, First Nations and now his own party says about the project’s future. The Quebec government expands its push for secularism -- and a Muslim student in Montreal tells us a new bill that would ban prayer rooms on campus would be devastating ...

Nov 28, 2025•1 hr 2 min

The questions raised by a shooting near the White House

The White House went into lockdown this afternoon after two members of the National Guard were shot in Washington; we'll get the latest from the U.S. capital. A reporter in describes the catastrophic scene in Hong Kong, after a fire rips through high-rise apartment towers, killing at least 40s -- including a firefighter. A huge donation to a Toronto hospital will finance new research that could change the way we screen for cancer; we'll talk to a scientist who hopes that one day, doctors will be...

Nov 27, 2025•49 min

What Thomas King’s revelation says about Canadian literature

Anishnaabe columnist Niigaan Sinclair says the news that renowned author Thomas King is not Indigenous is a painful breach of a trust -- and demands that Canada ask itself some serious questions. After violating anti-doping rules, swimmer Penny Oleksiak -- Canada's most decorated female Olympian -- is banned from competition for two years. The fire that destroyed a historic Toronto church is being investigated as arson; the priest-in-charge tells us that news is yet another blow for her congrega...

Nov 26, 2025•1 hr 1 min

Another setback for Donald Trump in the courts

A US federal judge dismisses the criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James. But a former US Attorney tells us this may not be their last day in court. The editor of a Toronto magazine tells us he was ready to take a chance on an ambitious young writer -- but the more he dug in to her work, the more it seemed like she'd had help from AI. The late Jimmy Cliff helped bring reggae to the world; Roger Lewis of the group Inner Circle reflects on...

Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min

Bill de Blasio breaks down Mamdani’s meeting with Trump

After months of mutual criticism, New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and U.S. President Trump have a surprisingly warm meeting. Bill de Blasio tells us he knows why Mr. Trump was impressed by the man he once called a "Communist lunatic." A survivor of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein explains why she took on Donald Trump and Congress to secure a promise that files on the serial predator would finally be released. Given the serious concessions it demands from Ukraine, that country's foreign-affairs chai...

Nov 22, 2025•1 hr 4 min

Is this a plan for peace in Ukraine, or surrender?

Ukrainian officials are pushing back on a purported peace plan that would require major concessions to Russia. A former American ambassador to Ukraine tells us Kyiv won't accept any deal that looks like surrender. A paramedic in Saskatoon tells us a toxic drug supply caused more than a hundred overdoses in just seven days -- and that crisis has also taken a toll on first responders. An Indigenous woman whose mother lost her status for marrying a non-Indigenous man celebrates a change meant to en...

Nov 21, 2025•59 min

Is the world’s most valuable company fueling a giant bubble?

Despite investor jitters, there are strong projections in chip-maker Nvidia's earnings report; a market reporter tells us what this means for the AI boom-or-bubble debate. Prime Minister Carney is off to the U.A.E., and Canada's former ambassador to that country says it's about time and says there is a lot to gain from a strengthened relationship. The Ontario government says impaired drivers who kill a parent should have to pay child support. Our guest says that would have helped his family, aft...

Nov 20, 2025•57 min

Another mass kidnapping and the woman who tried to stop it

In Nigeria -- two dozen girls are missing after armed men attacked their school. Bukky Shonibare helped draft the rules that are supposed to protect the country's youngest citizens. A nonprofit director in Charlotte, North Carolina, tells us what an onslaught of federal agents is doing to his city, as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continues. After that tense vote on the federal budget, interim NDP Leader Don Davies tells us this contentious Parliament needs to focus on helping...

Nov 19, 2025•59 min

Mark Carney’s government survives, for now

We'll take a close look at the political manoeuvering behind Prime Minister Mark Carney's first budget as he tries to make sure it passes. After an explosion on the railway line from Poland to Ukraine, a Polish Senator says she believes it's part of a larger effort to sow confusion and terror -- and she's got a suspect in mind. One of Donald Trump's most aggressive supporters is publicly changing course; a political reporter from Georgia tells us what she thinks is behind the political evolution...

Nov 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min

What Bob Rae learned at the United Nations

On his last day after five years as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae reflects on his time in the post -- and makes some order of the chaos. Indigenous activists stage multiple protests at the UN climate summit in Brazil; a delegate tells us that's because the meeting isn't living up to its billing as an "Amazonian COP". The U-S company that makes Sour Puss liqueur lost a huge chunk of its sales when it was taken off Canadian liquor-store shelves. So to stop things from going so...

Nov 15, 2025•1 hr 7 min

Major projects and a mixed reaction

Energy production in the Arctic is on Prime Minister Carney's latest list of nation-building projects; We'll speak with the woman in charge of the Inuit-owned clean energy corporation with big plans for Iqaluit. It may have Indigenous backing but a liquefied natural gas facility fast-tracked by Ottawa is facing tough opposition from several First Nations in B.C. When a room-rental company suddenly went bankrupt, an Arkansas man found his family's suitcases unceremoniously dumped in the hall -- b...

Nov 14, 2025•1 hr 2 min

The real costs of the U.S. government shutdown

The U.S. government shutdown cut off funding for a crucial food program; a grocery store owner says he's heartbroken to see his customers suffering -- and he has a special message for Donald Trump. A survivor of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines tells us about the day she lost her home -- and how she's hoping to make fossil fuel giants pay. A small-town Kansas newspaper receives a hefty settlement and an apology -- two years after local police raided its offices and the home of its editor. The...

Nov 13, 2025•1 hr

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