As It Happens

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.

As It Happens is a news podcast hosted by CBC, with 233 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

CBC hosts As It Happens, a news show with 233 episodes published.

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  As It Happens

  Her client survived execution months before Christa Pike

  Oct 2, 202657 min

  We hear from a lawyer whose client lived through a botched lethal injection in Tennessee just a few months before the state made another failed attempt to execute an inmate this week. Days before Quebeckers go to the polls, a political reporter in the province explains how its next premier could win with less than a third of the vote.  After witnessing a plane crash, a group of skydivers in Wisconsin made the spontaneous decision to jump to the aid of the survivors below. A Canadian banker who was detained in Dubai for months, fearing for his life, reflects on his sudden, unexpected freedom after being dumped at the side of a desert road.  After a CBC investigation reveals salespeople giving dangerous advice about e-bikes and e-scooters, we speak with a doctor who says she sees the effects of that advice in her ER.  Diesel prices keep fluctuating and a South Dakota truck driver says he doesn't have much hope that things will ever return to the way they were before the war on Iran.   Julia Donaldson's latest tale of the monster known as "The Gruffalo" and the new character in it are breaking records; she tells us what she sets out to achieve with her beloved children's books.  Thieves believe they've made a smooth getaway with trailers full of expensive computer chips, but the truth is much, much grittier. As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that's not afraid to get granular.

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  As It Happens

  A botched lethal injection reignites death penalty debate

  Oct 1, 20261 hour

  A reporter describes the agonizing, failed attempts to execute Tennessee inmate Christa Pike — and tells us how the state's Republican governor is responding.   On social media, a Milwaukee comedian said Norm Macdonald wasn't funny; that resulted in a targeted campaign of "swatting," during which police have shown up to his house 55 times. A blind man is taking the British Museum to court because it doesn’t offer live audio-described tours of the Bayeux Tapestry — a work of art he's waited years to experience. Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk blasts off to the International Space Station, and a researcher studying life in orbit says she's excited to monitor whether he's feeling down-to-earth or over-the-moon. As Brazilians head to the polls this Sunday, femicide is at the top of the ballot. A women's rights organizer tells us what the candidates say they'll do to stop it.  A new art installation in a Toronto park retraces the steps of Indigenous ancestors that were uncovered on the floor of Lake Ontario over a hundred years ago. It turns out, insects are more than just a tasty snack for animals; they also play crucial roles in removing parasites, treating wounds and in some cases, consuming waste.   As It Happens, the Thursday Edition, Radio that knows insects are just in it for the larva the game.

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  As It Happens

  What the withdrawal of U.S. troops means for Iraq

  Sep 30, 202645 min

  American forces have now pulled out of their last posts in Iraq and for many in the country, it's a belated moment of celebration after what felt like an endless war.  Peru's Humboldt penguins face a worsening food shortage, as a potential "super" El Nino rapidly warms the waters where they feed.   We remember Canadian radio pioneer Dave Marsden, the legendary former musical director of Toronto's groundbreaking station CFNY. We speak with a historian from the Peoria Nation who can finally spread the word that she's one of the recipients of this year’s MacArthur Fellowships, which come with a hefty cash prize and the even heftier title of "genius." Four never-before-heard recordings from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 classic "Songs In The Key of Life" have just been released — and mixing the new tunes was a labour of love for one of the record’s original engineers.  As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that marvels, "will Wonder never cease." 

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  As It Happens

  Special Episode: Community, culture and 'country food'

  Sep 30, 202626 min

  Nil Köksal speaks with director Malaya Qaunirq Chapman about her new documentary "Nirilaurta: Let Us Eat." She takes us to kitchen tables in Taloyoak, Nunavut, where food is as much about culture as it is about sustenance. On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we'll hear how generations of community members are striving to preserve their way of life in the face of sky-high food and gas prices -- and why access to food straight from the land is so crucial.

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  As It Happens

  How student journalists broke the story of the ‘Cornell 7’

  Sep 29, 20261 hour

  Two years after an alleged gang rape on Cornell University campus, prosecutors are reopening the investigation — and the new attention is largely thanks to reporting by student journalists.  Former Canadian spies and security officials want Parliamentarians to get to the bottom of what really happened to diplomats plagued with "Havana Syndrome" and whether Ottawa did enough to help them.  An American ban on some Canadian imports is now in effect — and the CEO of Moosehead beer says being at loggerheads with the U.S. is bad for lager heads.  At the start of the pandemic, the Cargill meat packing plant had one of Canada's worst COVID outbreaks. A new report finds the company and the Alberta government could, and should, have done more to protect workers.  A man linked to a notorious gang is suspected of shooting up a local radio station in Surrey. One of its hosts tells us he should be deported.   When the NHL season starts up tonight, not a single game will be available on a free Canadian TV network; our guest says that's really dropping the puck.  On a rare sunny day on a remote Scottish archipelago, one photographer took a phenomenal photo by waiting underwater for a northern gannet to execute a swan dive.  At an international tournament in Japan, Uzbekistan's volleyball team had a uniform emergency, which was solved by a whole bunch of convenience-store socks.  As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that knows even elite athletes have to do a little sole-searching sometimes.

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