The Current Weekly

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve decided to put the podcast on hiatus for the time being. In the meantime, you can find full episodes of The Current, and some of our most engaging conversations, over in our main podcast feed.

One of America's first COVID-19 patients, Christy Karras, shares her experience of the disease — and Canadians in the thick of self-isolation offer some tips for coping. And, as more of us hunker down at home, some believe it's the perfect time to start a new project, but others think maybe we should all just take a nap. We discuss whether an obsession with productivity is the real pandemic, according to one writer. Plus, Toronto ER doctor James Maskalyk is facing the outbreak at work. He shares how meditation has made him a more compassionate physician, and why he thinks it could help everyone.

From coast to coast, Canadians are banding together in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Facebook groups are popping up to organize grocery runs, and a group of med students are offering free babysitting to front-line health workers. We hear why. But while many Canadians are getting accustomed to working from home, others don't have that luxury. They share the challenges of working during a health crisis. And, when the board game Pandemic came out in 2008, it was based on the creator Matt Leacock's experiences during the SARS outbreak. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cooperative game is gaining traction once again. For more stories, visit: cbc.ca/thecurrent | Get in touch: thecurrent@cbc.ca or twitter.com/thecurrentcbc

Author Richard Louv wants people to explore their relationship to animals in nature, and has some eye-opening stories about encounters in the wild. Plus, being a woman in the restaurant business can be challenging, even for America's youngest sommelier Victoria James. She tells Matt Galloway about her experiences — the good and bad — and why she believes the wine world needs a culture shift. And then, fact checker-in-chief: When the late Rob Ford was mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014, journalist Daniel Dale worked to keep him honest. Now he's CNN's presidential fact checker — calling out lies and misinformation from U.S. President Donald Trump. For more stories, visit: cbc.ca/thecurrent | Get in touch: thecurrent@cbc.ca or twitter.com/thecurrentcbc

Concern over the coronavirus is growing and Canadians are being told to stay home if they're under the weather. But that's left some workers without paid sick leave feeling stuck. Plus, the Netflix dating show Love Is Blind has viewers glued to their screens. We break down what makes reality shows about strangers falling in love so appealing. And, if you love skiing, we have some not-so-good news. A recent study projects that climate change could leave your favourite hills looking pretty green by the end of the century.

A long-time L'Arche volunteer and a resident share their response to an independent investigation that found the organization's founder, a religious leader, Jean Vanier sexually abused six women over three decades. Future of food, or flash in the pan? Author Mark Bittman gives his take on so-called plant-based meat substitutes. The New Yorker's David Owen, author of Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World, explains how the world around us is hurting our ears -- and why future hearing aids might not carry the same stigma they once did. Finally, Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Lametti explains recently tabled changes to medically assisted dying legislation.

We hear from two members of the Wet'suwet'en Nation with differing opinions on the country-wide solidarity protests, and from Mohawk policy analyst Russ Diabo on why this story has struck such a nerve. Erling Kagge, who has walked to both the North and South Poles, tells us why putting one foot in front of the other is more profound than you might think. And after the tragic death of one of Newfoundland's top fisherman, his family donates a very special gift to someone our listeners may remember.

Matt is in Vancouver this week bringing you stories from BC, starting with one of the biggest stories in the country: the fight over the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. Then, some pro wrestlers in Vancouver's growing scene teach Matt the ropes. And he speaks to Santa Ono, the president of UBC, about addressing the crisis in campus mental health and Ono's own history with mental health issues.

More with Anna Maria Tremonti takes you deep into conversation — and to some unexpected places — with high-profile guests and rising stars. Each episode will leave you feeling like you've spent an evening with smart friends who make you think differently about the world, and maybe even yourself. Subscribe for free at cbc.ca/more

It’s been one month since an Iranian missile brought down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, killing 176 people and plunging scores more into shock and grief. Hamed Esmaeilion lost his 9-year-old daughter Reera, and his wife Parisa. Rehana Dhirani lost her father, Ali Asgar Dhirani. In a special episode of The Current Weekly, they talk to Matt Galloway about mourning the people they loved, and the lingering questions.

Activist and writer Desmond Cole talks to us about his his new book The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power. We check in with a Kenyan helping lead the fight against the near-unprecedented swarms of locusts in eastern Africa. Adam Minter guides us through the surprising second life of your stuff, after you dump it at the Goodwill; a man quarantined on a cruise ship due to a coronavirus outbreak tells us how he's holding up; and we speak to the Toronto doctor behind Blue Dot, a company using AI to help predict where the virus will go next.

On the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Torontonian Edith Grosman tells us her incredible story of survival at the Nazi death camp. Journalist Andrea Pitzer talks about how concentration camps persist around the world today. Rick Wilson, a veteran Republican political strategist, tells us why he's offering his campaigning skills to the Democrats. And we talk to two people dealing with the secondary impacts of the coronavirus: Frank Ye, who says he's seeing a serious increase in discrimination against people of Chinese descent, and Wayne Duplessis, who lives with his family in Wuhan — and isn't planning to leave.

Canadian mathematician John Mighton believes anyone can become good at math, and that if we understood numbers better, we could solve big problems in the world. Oncologist and author Azra Raza thinks our approach to fighting cancer is putting money in the wrong places — and she's got another way; the unmasking of a shadowy facial recognition software is raising concerns about the end of anonymity; and one of our favourite guests of the week, Gus Penton of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, tells us how he and his neighbours fared during #Snowmageddon.

The incredible story of Craig Avery and Clarence Hynes, two men who believe they were switched at birth; author and journalist Peggy Orenstein says you should talk to your sons about sex the way you would about table manners — often; and we meet a former sea urchin diver in Newfoundland who has used his talents to haul 20,000 lbs of garbage out of the ocean.

Most of what you hear about Canada's opioid epidemic tends to come from big cities. But Thunder Bay — with just over 100,000 residents, has the highest rate of opioid-related deaths per capita in Ontario. So Matt headed up there to hear from people about how the crisis is impacting their city, and what they're doing about it.

This week we're focusing on a Canadian tragedy: Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, which crashed outside Tehran moments after takeoff. We speak to some of the Iranian Canadians across the country who lost loved ones, and ask whether having diplomatic relations with Iran would make getting answers easier today. Also stay tuned for a special bonus episode of The Current Weekly, dropping Saturday.

We check in on the fallout of a new law in India that fast-tracks citizenship for migrants, unless they're Muslim; how scammers, texting and the demise of landlines are changing our relationship to the phone — and maybe to our loved ones; a Toronto man who lost his whole family in the Ethiopian Airlines crash talks about the news that Boeing will halt production of 737 Max jetliners.

We get the view from Afghanistan on a trove of documents that reveal that top U.S. officials always knew the war there was doomed; a new podcast sheds light on why Dolly Parton is a unifying force in divided times; growing calls in Canada and the U.S. to turn public golf courses into parks and houses; and we dive deep into where your shopping returns end up...and by deep dive, we mean dumpster dive.

A survivor of the École Polytechnique massacre on why it matters to call the attack "antifemnist"; former deputy prime minister John Manley makes the case for a prisoner swap with China; research finds it may be possible to alter memories of heartbreak so they hurt less; Sudanese activist Fadia Khalaf on the country’s repeal of laws restricting women’s freedom; how sound can save a coral reef.

Former top Obama aide Susan Rice reflects on the Benghazi attacks, Huawei, and Barbara Frum; Scientists study the health benefits of soup; Nova Scotia was its first all-female lobster crew; and a Canadian Uighur worries about his family in China, who he hasn't spoken to in years