The Sunday Magazine

Journalist Laura Trethewey joins guest host Megan Williams to explain why we know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the bottom of the ocean… and how a group of scientists is working to change that.

How to map – and protect – the bottom of the ocean | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen The OceanGate Titan submersible disaster in June reminded many of how deep, vast and unknown the Earth's oceans really are. But a group of scientists is trying to change that by creating a comprehensive map of the seafloor by 2030. They're not alone though. Mining companies are also pushing to explo...

Environmental philosopher Christopher Preston introduces us to the bison, bears, otters and owls that are beating the odds.

These 'tenacious beasts' are clawing their way back from extinction | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen The biodiversity crisis is very real and very dire. But University of Montana environmental philosopher Christopher Preston wants to draw our attention to some positive developments in the world of wildlife. He calls them "tenacious beasts" – the whales, bears, bison, otters, and beyond that have ...

As Team Canada keeps hope alive at the women's World Cup, we revisit Piya's conversation with soccer star Christine Sinclair about her remarkable career — and fight for equity.

Christine Sinclair on World Cups, equal pay and valuing the journey | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Team Canada is keeping hope alive at the women's World Cup, with a win or draw on Monday sending them to the next round of competition. One player on the pitch who knows this rodeo well is Christine Sinclair. This is her sixth World Cup, she's won Olympic gold, and holds the record for the most goal...

Our political panel is back to unpack last week’s cabinet shuffle in Ottawa. Toronto Star national columnist Susan Delacourt and The Line’s Matt Gurney join guest host Megan Williams to discuss the winners, the losers and the road ahead.

Sunday Politics Panel: What the cabinet shuffle tells us about the federal road ahead | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised fresh energy from the Liberal government this past week when he presented the new faces and new roles that will make up his A-team, following a cabinet overhaul. Our Sunday Politics Panel returns to size up that vow – as well as the winners, losers and road a...

ICYMI:

What's in a hot dog? Beef, pork, and a complicated history of class dynamics | CBC Radio Jamie Loftus travelled the United States in 2021 to learn more about the hot dog, including tasting dozens of regional variations, for her book Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs.

Philosopher Agnes Callard makes the argument that travel turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best. She makes her case against travel to guest host Megan Williams.

Hitting the brakes on the notion that travel transforms us | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Be honest, do you ever really want to hear about someone else’s vacation? Agnes Callard argues that we have falsely imbued travel with a sense of virtue... and the fact that you privately zone out when hearing about a friend’s overseas adventure is proof that travel is not the transformative, me...

Author Amy Brady explores the incredible impact of ice on our modern world in her new book, Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks — a Cool History of a Hot Commodity.

The cool history and climate conundrum of ice | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Periods of extreme heat may have you reaching for an extra cold treat or frosty drink, but Amy Brady says it’s worth considering how the things that keep us cool also play a role in keeping our planet warm. The environmental journalist and historian is chipping away at the history and outsized imp...

In his new book, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, climate journalist and author Jeff Goodell writes about the effects of extreme heat and offers a roadmap for the future as our climate continues to warm.

Hot and getting hotter: The dire consequences of extreme heat | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen With record-breaking heat waves gripping three continents at once this past week, extremely hot summers are starting to feel like the norm in many parts of the world, including here in Canada. The World Meteorological Organization says it’s likely the annual global average temperature will climb 1...

Barbie movie director Greta Gerwig is being lauded for giving the iconic doll a feminist makeover, but USC English professor M.G. Lord says the popular children’s toy has been a feminist since her creation in the 1950s. Lord is the author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll.

Feminist Barbie? How the popular toy has waxed and waned with women's movements through history | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen As the highly anticipated Barbie movie hits theaters this weekend, University of Southern California English professor and author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll M.G. Lord explains the feminist roots of the popular toy, how it's variously mirrored and clashed with broade...

ICYMI: A look back at 40 years of The Dream in High Park.

40 years on, open-air Shakespeare keeps casting its theatrical magic across Canada | CBC Radio When Guy Sprung launched an outdoor theatre program in Toronto's High Park 40 years ago, the dream was to bring accessible Shakespeare to all. Now, Dream in High Park is one of many open-air theatre companies in Canada.

Happy National Hot Dog Day! 🌭🌭🌭

Comedian Jamie Loftus has been spending the dog days of summer talking all things hot dogs – and eating her fair share of them, too.

She joins guest host Megan Williams to discuss the origins and cultural impact of the iconic food.

And if you are a fan of the hot dog, tell us about your favorite local joint. And if your city or region has a unique take on toppings or serving style, let us know!

Email us at [email protected].

Relishing the cultural and historical impact of hot dogs with Jamie Loftus | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Whether it’s a Montreal steamie, Japadog from Vancouver or Toronto street meat – hot dogs have long been a summertime classic. In the summer of 2021, the pursuit of the perfect hot dog took Jamie Loftus across the U.S in a quest to find the top dog. The comedian and podcaster speaks to guest hos...

Toronto's Dream in High Park kicks off this week -- marking its 40th anniversary of mounting Shakespeare in the park.

We looked back on the makings of that first show and how it influenced productions across the country.

How the Dream in High Park set the stage for outdoor theatre in Canada | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen In 1983, Guy Sprung, who was the artistic director of the Toronto Free Theatre in the early 1980s, had a dream of a free outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with tons of local talent based in the wilderness of High Park. Forty years later, Sprung remembers that first summer with two of...

Shaped by conflicts, communism and genocide, modern eastern Europe doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. But according to journalist Jacob Mikanowski, there’s so much more to the region than its hardships.

Goodbye, Eastern Europe | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Since the Soviet era, the caricature of eastern Europe has been of a “gray, sunless place where no one ever smiles”. But to Jacob Mikanowski, the region stretching from the Baltics to the Balkans is so much more. The journalist and author joins guest host Megan Williams to discuss eastern Europe...

Newly-elected Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow joined guest host Megan Williams on Sunday to discuss her long road to the office, the challenges facing her city, and what municipalities across Canada can learn from each other as they tackle issues like housing, transportation and climate change.

Olivia Chow on taking the reins of Canada’s biggest city | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Olivia Chow officially took office as mayor of Toronto Wednesday, becoming the third woman and first racialized person to lead Canada's most populous city. She did so by defeating 101 rival candidates in a byelection — and with a promise to build what she calls a more caring and affordable city. B...

"Life is still going on. And life, I personally believe, is more powerful and more fierce than death and than war is." – Jamaluddin Aram, author of Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on a Wednesday

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-57-the-sunday-magazine/clip/15996243-focus-slow-times-life-amid-wartime-says-afghan

In today’s world it’s hard to slow down and do nothing. To its skeptics’ surprise, the pitch clock is actually part of the solution.

How baseball's new pitch clock creates more meaningful time (and better games) | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen It seems we live in a world where it’s impossible to slow down and do nothing. And when Major League Baseball decided to add a pitch clock to the game this season, one of the last spaces in life where we could truly be "off the clock"... disappeared. Halfway into the season, though, a funny thing ...

"We're living in a second gilded age, and it's been these workers who've been at the forefront of the labour movement, and of rebuilding the society based on economic equality, racial equality, global equality." - Mostafa Henaway, author of Essential Work, Disposable Workers

How migrant workers are building a more equitable Canada | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Canada is seeing record numbers of immigration – all part of a plan to shore up the workforce. But behind the image of our country as a welcoming nation lies a two-tiered society, says Mostafa Henaway. He is an organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal and the author of Essential Wor...

Former Wikimedia Foundation executive director and CBC journalist Sue Gardner; former broadcaster Kevin Newman; and Vass Bednar, the executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy Program join guest host David Common to discuss the state of Canadian media.

Cuts, concentration and C18: What will it take to save Canada's news industry? | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Amid an escalating fight between Ottawa and tech giants over the Online News Act, employee layoffs, and a shrinking media landscape... what will it take to save our news industry – and where does it all leave Canadians? David Common parses through the issues shaping our media world with former bro...

Rounding out our summer reading list is rising novelist Tsering Yangzom Lama.

In their book "We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies" Yangzom Lama illuminates Tibet's rich history and culture — and find parallels with Indigenous experiences in our country.

Exploring art, history and belonging through the lens of the Tibetan diaspora | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen In April 2012, New York's Rubin Museum of Art – which specializes in Himalayan regions – had an unnamed 15th century mudstone statue on display. It seemed to depict a mythic Buddhist figure from Tibet, but it was nameless and devoid of a backstory. When writer Tsering Yangzom Lama looked at the ...

Looking to add some CanLit to your summer reading list?

May we suggest Kevin Lambert's debut novel, You Will Love What You Have Killed.

Lambert joins guest host David Common to talk about this dark and daring coming-of-age story set in the suburban cul-de-sacs of Chicoutimi.

Rising literary star Kevin Lambert on his debut novel and newfound success | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen The borough of Chicoutimi in Saguenay, Que. is probably best known to the rest of the country for its historic pulp mill... or the nearby, breathtaking Saguenay Fjord. It's a quiet, pretty place. But that peace is shattered in You Will Love What You Have Killed, the decorated and daring debut novel....

Also on our summer reading list: comedian and CBC host Ali Hassan.

Hassan is used to playing his life for laughs.

But in his personal memoir, Is There Bacon in Heaven?, Hassan shares a more complicated look at who he is.

Ali Hassan's journey to belonging | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Ali Hassan has long entertained us as a comedian and actor on stage, in films and of course on CBC Radio and TV shows including Laugh Out Loud, Canada Reads and Run the Burbs. Now, Hassan is sharing a more personal side of his life in a memoir called Is There Bacon in Heaven? — which charts his up...

Can you judge a book by its cover?

Two Canadian authors and designers discuss the novel experience of having a work of fiction translated into cover art.

Judge away: A cover can actually tell you a lot about a book | CBC Radio It turns out an old saying might be wrong. You can judge a book by its cover, in a sense. Authors and cover designers say there’s a lot you can glean from a book’s front.

Kicking off our Sunday Magazine summer reading guide we have Adam Gopnik.

The New Yorker writer tried his hand at boxing, drawing, and learning to drive... to find out what it takes to master a craft.

Gopnik tells guest host David Common why he thinks the journey toward accomplishment is key.

adam-gopnik-book-the-real-work | CBC Radio New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik learned to drive at age 55. It was just one of the ways Gopnik put himself through the ringer for his latest book, The Real Work, attempting to master a variety of skills from boxing and baking to magic and art.

Fifty years ago this month, Canadian jockey Ron Turcotte and Secretariat won the Triple Crown and began what would become the Turcotte brothers’ horse racing dynasty.

Sports writer and author Curtis Stock walks us through the winning races that started it all in 1973.

Remembering Secretariat's Triple Crown win and the Canadian jockey who got him there | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Fifty years ago this month, the thoroughbred horse Secretariat and Canadian jockey Ron Turcotte won the Triple Crown and began what would become the Turcotte brothers' horse racing dynasty. The Sunday Magazine producer Tracy Fuller revisits those historic races and the bond between horse and jockey....

Landon Jones was the top editor at People magazine.

On Sunday, he joined guest host David Common to share why he now believes the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to become famous.

Landon Jones helped create our celebrity-obsessed culture. Now he has regrets | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen As the former managing editor of People magazine, Landon Jones helped create the celebrity-obsessed culture we live in today. And now he has some serious misgivings. Celebrities, he says, used to be famous for their accomplishments. Today they're famous… for being famous. He joins David Common to ...

How detrimental is social media to kids’ mental health?

Psychologist Jean Twenge has studied the connection and joins guest host David Common to share her research.

Worried about your kids scrolling through summer? This psychologist says you should be | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen For many parents, summertime means concern about increased screen time for kids. Last month, the United States Surgeon General warned kids face a "profound" risk to their mental health from social media. In Canada, surveys show a majority of Canadians want the government to regulate social media, an...

What does Canada’s population growth and housing crisis mean for the future of city living?

Simon Fraser University’s Andy Yan, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Murtaza Haider, and Calgary developer Alkarim Devani join guest host David Common with their analysis.

Amid a housing crisis, what's the future of city livability? | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Canada's largest city decides who will lead it into the future when Torontonians vote for a new mayor on Monday. The emerging issue from the election campaign – as with most major cities around the world – is housing. With Canada's population hitting 40 million, we ask three experts on urban dev...

First up on today's program, guest host David Common digs into that dynamic standoff in Russia over the weekend with Washington Post reporter Mary Ilyushina.

What the conflict in Russia means for its political future and the war in Ukraine | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen On Friday, the head of Russia's Wagner Group private militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, called for rebellion against the Russian army after alleging it had killed fighters from his force. A Wagner convoy proceeded to seize a Russian city and head for Moscow, while President Vladimir Putin vowed punishment....

On this National Indigenous Peoples Day, guest host David Common's conversation with acclaimed Cree writer Michelle Good about the conversations she thinks we need to be having about Indigenous life in Canada today.

Michelle Good continues Canada’s conversations on colonialism with new essays | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen When Michelle Good’s debut novel Five Little Indians was released, it was seen as a major pillar in our public conversations on reconciliation. The Cree writer is hoping to expand on the dialogue she helped start in a new book of essays called Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Li...

Aisha Harris is interrogating the pop culture benchmarks of her 90s childhood and all of the tropes from within. She tells guest host David Common why even seemingly inconsequential pieces of entertainment can make a big impact on shaping the world around us.

Aisha Harris reckons with representation in art – from the 'Black friend' trope to 'toxic' criticism | The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay | Live Radio | CBC Listen Aisha Harris didn't particularly like the new reboot of The Little Mermaid. But the co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour says critiquing Black art or artists – as a Black critic – is complicated. And as predicted, her negative review of the film garnered backlash. Harris speaks with guest hos...