Artificial Intelligence exploded in 2025. This year saw big promises -- that AI would usher in an age of unprecedented abundance, solve intractable problems, and touch every corner of our lives. At the same time, we saw growing anxiety around AI taking jobs, worries there's an AI bubble, and warnings around the dangers of AI. So, between the hype and the anxiety, what was AI's impact in 2025? And what can we expect from AI in 2026? Sinead Bovell, a Canadian futurist, and Jaxson Khan, CEO of Aper...
Dec 31, 2025•19 min
It had been a century since Texada Island had seen a grizzly bear. So when one swam 5 kilometres from the mainland over to the community off the B.C. coast, it created curiosity, panic and division about how to live with a giant predator — a giant predator they named, Tex. Molly Segal brings the story of that island community, and the bear, in her documentary, A Bear Called Tex.
Dec 31, 2025•23 min
CBC host of Locals Welcome Suresh Doss talks about the new show -- and why visiting diaspora establishment restaurants paint a vibrant picture of families' journeys to make Canada their home.
Dec 31, 2025•24 min
Longtime Nashville Predator Jordin Tootoo is the subject of a new documentary, highlighting life in the North, his struggle with substance abuse and how the serenity he felt on the land in Rankin Inlet was matched only by the peace he felt playing hockey.
Dec 30, 2025•25 min
Jad Abumrad’s new podcast, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, digs into Fela Kuti’s life, the good and the bad because he not only pioneered Afrobeat and pushed against the impacts of colonialism but he was also a deeply complicated and flawed man who left a wake of inspiration and trauma.
Dec 30, 2025•27 min
Fewer Canadians are donating and volunteering. The economy, the pandemic, age are all factors -- but longtime leaders in the charitable sector say we've also lost some shared values. We speak with a lifelong volunteer about why she volunteers and what it means to them. We also talk to Megan Conway from Volunteer Canada and Bruce MacDonald from Imagine Canada about why Canadians have less to give, how we can start to bring back values of service and participation -- and what happens to our commun...
Dec 30, 2025•19 min
Some of the biggest inventions in history started with someone being told they were wrong, and then not taking “no” for an answer. For Terry O’Reilly, those are the most captivating stories. In his new book, Against the Grain: Defiant Giants Who Change the World , the host of CBC’s ‘Under the Influence’, explores what we can learn from mavericks, including Taylor Swift — and why in a world where we always need new ideas to grow, our first instinct is to reject them.
Dec 29, 2025•20 min
As 2025 comes to a close, Canadian politics looks very different than it did a year ago. Prime Minister Mark Carney wraps up his first year in office leading a minority government. It was a year that saw Justin Trudeau step aside, a surprise election, and a tariff war. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat and now faces tough questions about his leadership. All of this has unfolded as Donald Trump’s second presidency continues to reshape Canada’s political and economic reality. To t...
Dec 29, 2025•20 min
Many small communities across the country are struggling to survive as people age and their children choose big city life. Powell River, B.C. is trying to keep its own numbers up with the help of a conductor who’s worked with some of the world’s biggest orchestras. In her documentary War and Peace, the CBC’s Liz Hoath hears from locals who say Arthur Arnold is bringing a lot more than music to their town of 13,000 people.
Dec 29, 2025•27 min
Shachi Kurl, the President of the Angus Reid Institute, a polling firm, join us to give us an insight into how Canadians are feeling about the economy and politics after a turbulent year for the country.
Dec 26, 2025•15 min
Writing has shaped Margaret Atwood’s life, from childhood poems about rhyming cats to watching The Handmaid’s Tale become “an approaching reality” in Trump’s America. The Queen of CanLit sat down with Matt Galloway to discuss her new memoir, Book of Lives — and ended up giving Galloway an impromptu palm reading.
Dec 26, 2025•36 min
Jimmy Darts has become a social media star through his kindness videos. He has over 12 million followers and 400 million likes, just on his TikTok account. Through his account, he gives and raises thousands of dollars for strangers. We talk to him about his work, and his new book Undercover Kindness.
Dec 24, 2025•20 min
One Canadian dies every two days waiting for an organ. Stephanie Azzarello feared she'd be one of them. For people waiting for a liver, like Azzarello, there’s an option to find a living donor. Usually it comes from a family member or close friend… but not always. The woman who offered to help Azzarello after seeing her social media post was a stranger who lived in another country, had never met her. In her documentary, Because of Her, Liz Hoath brings us their story — and how their lives were b...
Dec 23, 2025•23 min
Her mother Mary's death left acclaimed Indian writer, author of The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy feeling "unanchored in space with no coordinates," even though she'd often been a target of Mary's wrath. Roy talks to Matt Galloway about her new memoir, "Mother Mary Comes to Me," revealing their fraught relationship, and how her mother's trailblazing character influenced Roy's writing.
Dec 23, 2025•25 min
It was another year of devastating floods, fires and other extreme weather events. The Trump Administration also levelled dramatic cuts to climate science and pledged to break up one of the world’s leading weather forecasting research centres. And here in Canada, the federal government reversed a series of climate policies. We speak to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and Rick Smith of the Canadian Climate Institute about where they are finding optimism as 2025 comes to a close...
Dec 23, 2025•20 min
Some Canadians are changing their travel plans and heading to international destinations outside of the United States. We speak with two Canadian snowbirds, one who decided to travel to Mexico, rather than make their annual trip to Texas. While another returned to their Florida home, but not without some hesitation, only to find fewer Canadians around. And we hear from Wayne Smith, the Director of the Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research on the latest numbers, what's driving them, and ...
Dec 22, 2025•20 min
The great Newfoundland satirist has been touring the country this fall, selling out theatres with his latest standup show. He joins us to reflect on the year in Canadian politics. Rick Mercer's Stand Up For Canada premieres Dec 28 at 9 PM on CBC TV and streams on CBC Gem.
Dec 22, 2025•14 min
Susan Orlean is the best selling author of seven books including The Orchid Thief and The Library Book, and has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. On stage at the Vancouver Writers Fest, she talks about being curious about the world, and how that's led her to the most unexpected stories. She tells the stories behind her stories of the American Man at Age 10, being portrayed by Meryl Streep, becoming the patron saint of pandemic drinking, and why ending her marriage made her think ...
Dec 22, 2025•37 min
Musicians Shad and Talia Schlanger join Matt Galloway for their picks of the best Albums of 2025.
Dec 19, 2025•23 min
Long-time CBC Radio host Michael Finnerty shares how training as an apprentice cheesemonger in London's Borough Market nourished his soul, gave him a sense of purpose and helped him rediscover the power of community. He talks about his new book "The Cheese Cure" while taking Matt Galloway on a tasting journey through the sampling of four Canadian cheeses.
Dec 19, 2025•24 min
An Alberta cattle producer has been steering his herd through years of drought and says it feels pretty good to have more 'jingle in his jeans' right now with record high beef prices. And a Winnipeg butcher says in spite of eye popping beef prices, his customers so far are still willing to fork over big bucks for the right cut. We speak with Sylvain Charlebois, a professor and senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, and a visiting scholar at McGill University abou...
Dec 19, 2025•16 min
Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi says the process towards peace he hoped to hear about on the ground in the West Bank and Jerusalem appears to be stalled. In Gaza, people continue to suffer as winter sets in.
Dec 18, 2025•17 min
Jimmy Lai is one of the most high-profile critics of Beijing and the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party. Sebastien Lai is Jimmy Lai's son He joins Matt Galloway to talk about his father’s fight for democracy as he faces life in jail.
Dec 18, 2025•19 min
A polar bear cub has defied the odds in Northern Manitoba after being adopted by another mother bear, leaving researchers excited about what it could mean for polar bear health and survival amidst climate pressures on the species.
Dec 18, 2025•8 min
Sasha DiGiulian spent nine days trapped on a ledge in a storm before becoming the first female climber to make up the famously difficult Platinum route on El Capitán.
Dec 18, 2025•21 min
Zadie Smith wonders if she's weird. She pays attention to a lot in an age when our attention has been captured and her phone-free life can be lonely. It's been twenty-five years since Zadie Smith published her widely acclaimed novel 'White Teeth' . She talks to Matt Galloway about aging, attention, clubbing, why she loves Billie Eilish, and her new book of essays 'Dead and Alive' .
Dec 17, 2025•24 min
Our panel of experts give us their top picks for 2025. Food journalists Lucy Waverman, Jonathan Cheung, and Chris Nuttall-Smith name their top picks for cookbooks that will inspire you in the kitchen.
Dec 17, 2025•21 min
We speak with Dr. Jesse Papenburg at Montreal Children's Hospital about the high number of kids coming into the ER and having to be hospitalized with influenza. And then we turn to Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organization in Saskatchewan who explains why the H3N2 influenza strain this year is causing harsher illness, and what to expect in the years to come as the US begins to taper back sharing its virus data with Canada and the rest of the world....
Dec 17, 2025•20 min
The CBC's David Common was in Jamaica more than a month after parts of the island were devastated by a category 5 hurricane. He takes us to a local hospital where the roof was ripped off and patients are still showing up with injuries from the storm. He also introduces us to locals who are trying to get back on their feet and hoping that tourists will still be coming this winter season. Tourism makes up one third of Jamaica's GDP and employs hundreds of thousands of people.
Dec 16, 2025•11 min
There's been a lot going on in Quebec politics this year while many of us may have had our eye on the Canada-US relations. The Quebec government has been under fire for its policies on doctors, on secularism, on a new constitution, and more. The new leader of the opposition Quebec Liberals is under heavy pressure to resign. And the Parti Quebecois, which many had written off, is now talking about winning the next election in October, and promising a referendum when it does. We talk to Emilie Nic...
Dec 16, 2025•20 min
