Storylines
Kanaal Besonderhede
Storylines
A weekly documentary show for people who love narrative podcasts. These are stories you can’t stop thinking about. That you’ll tell your friends about. And that will help you understand what’s going on in Canada, and why. Every week a journalist follows one story, meets the people at its centre, and...
Onlangse Episodes
196 episodes
War and Peace
When Arthur Arnold resigned from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he walked away from one of the world's most...
Let it Shine: Inside U of T’s first gospel choir class
In this episode, we step inside a Toronto classroom where some 30 students from diverse backgrounds lift their voices and sing as part of the Universi...
Her life depended on the selfless act of a stranger
Stephanie Azzarello was dying. To survive, doctors told her she needed to find someone willing to donate part of their liver.
Her story went ou...
52 Hours Lost at Sea
In July 2024, seven fishermen from around New-Wes-Valley, Newfoundland set out on their fishing boat in search of turbot.
While...
Can trees stop a wildfire?
One Yukon community is fighting back against wildfires with an unlikely weapon —trees. The plan seems counterintuitive, using trees to stop a fire, bu...
Birds behaving badly? Or as nature intended
Complaints are common. Cormorants kill trees. They eat too many fish. Their colonies stink.
Warren Hoselton has had enough. After three years o...
When a Unity Rally almost led to Quebec leaving Canada
It was supposed to keep Canada together but a massive 1995 rally nearly did the opposite.
In 1995, Canada was on the verge of bre...
Here’s what northerns think we actually need to secure the North
Russian trucks drive across Canada’s arctic. Foreign ships appear along our northern shores. For decades, it’s fallen on Tuktoyaktuk to be Canada’s wa...
Her life depended on the selfless act of a stranger
Stephanie Azzarello was dying. To survive, doctors told her she needed to find someone willing to donate part of their liver.
Her story went ou...
Bats vs wind energy: a gory tale
As wind energy continues to grow in Canada, so does the body count for migratory bats.
Biologist Cori Lausen has spent years advocating to help...
Global lithium demand divides communities in South America
Indigenous communities in South America say mining threatens their water supply. But the world needs lithium for EVs to fight climate change.
Finland and Sweden are preparing for the next Russian attack
In Finland, bomb shelters double as playgrounds. 900,000 reservists on standby. In Sweden, millions received war prep pamphlets. Defense spending doub...
In a losing battle for care, she requested MAID. Now she's ready to live
At just 46, Jennifer Brady, a Halifax single mother and professor, made the shocking decision to apply to die. She couldn't get surgery in Nova Scotia...
The bear that divided an island
When a grizzly bear swam to Texada Island, 5 kilometres off the mainland of BC, it arrived in a place that was known to have no predators. The bear, w...
It Ends with Me: breaking the pattern of sexual abuse
Starting when she was two years old, Robin Heald endured years of sexual abuse by her stepfather. As a young teenager, she told police, child protect...
The Best of Planners
It’s Friday prayers at the Masjid Al-Noor mosque in St. John's, Newfoundland and the building is packed. Worshippers squeeze into the basement, they s...
The customs brokers caught in Trump’s trade war
When tariffs on goods from China reached 145 percent, a cargo ship carrying tens of thousands of dollars worth of dog toys arrived in Los Angeles but...
War and Peace
When Arthur Arnold resigned from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he walked away from one of the world's most...
That's a wrap for this season of Storylines
Storylines is taking a break for the summer but we'll be back in the fall with a brand new season of audio documentaries.
Until t...
A Case of Beer ... and Borders
It’s a little money saving trick Canadians who live near a provincial border know well. They drive to another province to save a bit because products...
Firefighting Goats
In West Sacramento, California, an unlikely team of firefighters is helping save homes from wildfire. They have four legs, love to eat, and bleat when...
The three strangers who rescued refugees trapped in Indonesia
In 2014, Shams Erfan was pulled off a bus by members of the Taliban who accused him of being a traitor. A bystander intervened, saving his life, but S...
The women who fell in love with Catholic priests
For decades, Maria Grazia Filipucci carried on a secret love affair with a Catholic priest. They met as children and became friends, but when he turne...
B.C.'s Sunshine Coast nearly ran out of water. Experts say other Canadian communities could be next
On B.C.'s Sunshine Coast, climate change is changing the region in surprising ways, especially considering it’s nestled in a rainforest.
...
In a small Alaskan town, the Canada-U.S. fight feels personal
When a Whitehorse resident wrote a letter to the mayor of a little Alaska border town to say she's boycotting the US and that she's "breaking up with...
Year Zero: Remembering the Khmer Rouge's deadly political experiment
In the countryside across Cambodia, mass graves known as the killing fields, haunt the landscape. They are reminders of the reign of Pol Pot, one of t...
An Innu community's fight against a new cocaine crisis
In the small Innu community of Sheshatshiu, Labrador, 27 people have died from drug-related causes in just two years — a staggering number for a popul...
The longshot candidates who run against the odds
As election signs crowd our streets, leaders hold rallies and our airwaves are full of political advertising, we seldom consider the candidates who ru...
A controversial psychedelic drug some say offers freedom from addiction
Some people struggling with opioid addiction are turning to a powerful psychedelic called ibogaine. The drug is derived from the bark of an African ra...
Surrey’s Peacock Standoff
In Surrey, B.C., a bird renowned for its beauty became the centre of an ugly dispute. In the quiet Sullivan Hights neighbourhood, a group of peafowl d...
The Vienna violinist who changed Chinese classical music
A black-and-white photograph shows 11 young Chinese boys in untucked shirts standing in a row, with a middle-aged Western man in a suit smiling behind...
Practically Mexico Now
In central Mississippi the poultry industry dominates, with massive processing facilities operating around the clock. Employing tens of thousands of w...
A Case of Beer …. and Borders
It’s a little money saving trick Canadians who live near a provincial border know well. They drive to another province to save a bit because products...
Missing in Action: the decades-long effort to get stunt workers their Oscar due
Over the past near-century, Academy Award categories have come and gone. In the silent film era there was an award for Best Title Writing. You know, t...
The irreplaceable Chinook salmon of the Yukon River
The Chinook salmon of the Yukon River are on the brink of extinction. This cultural keystone species has the longest salmon migration in the world, u...
52 Hours Lost at Sea
In July 2024, seven fishermen from around New-Wes-Valley, Newfoundland set out on their fishing boat in search of turbot.
While...
Talking to Undocumented Canadians
The stories of undocumented people living in the United States are well known, especially since President Donald Trump began a major immigration crack...
Inside the extortion rackets targeting South Asian Canadians
Early one August morning, the cameras outside Jas Arora's house in Abbotsford, B.C., recorded someone throwing glass bottles at his home. When Jas ste...
The dangers of rogue waves
A rogue wave is defined as being at least 2.2 times as high as the average waves which have come before. They are described as coming out of nowhere a...
A mom’s mission to stop her daughter’s drug dealer
In Vancouver's Lower Mainland, a dealer known only as "Jay" sold drugs to teens, making drop-offs right next to their high schools and homes, offering...