The Current

Canada’s gun buy back is almost over, but did it work? CBC's national reporter Sam Samson walks us through the passionate and divided debate across Canadian cities. We'll hear from gun owners, politicians, and police about where they stand about the program.

Father James Martin had many jobs before he became a priest. In his new book “Work in Progress” he writes about how he found faith in unlikely places, the importance of kindness, and why his most important life lessons came working as a busboy.

Actor and writer Andrew McCarthy talked to former police officers, oil rig workers, cowboys and record store owners. And he found a common thread: men who weren't great at their friendships with other men. He chronicles his road trip to explore male friendship in his new book "Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America."

It's a slur that denigrates people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Joe Rogan, Elon Musk and Donald Trump use it. And they're not alone. An artist with Down syndrome tells us hearing the r word feels "like having the wind knocked out of you.”

Despite declining support for the war in Iran, President Trump says the US isn't going anywhere. So what does that mean for stability in the region, and an increasingly stressed supply chain?

If you're a parent of an elementary student, chances are you are familiar with things like smartboards and Danny Go! But with many schools relying on technology in class, questions are being raised about how we determine the quality of screen time at school, and if we need better guidelines for teachers, and support staff, to make sure kids are using screens to learn, not pass the time. 

As Artemis II gets ready to launch, while NASA prepares for longer trips to space. We look at what traveling to space does to the human body with Scott Solomon, an evolutionary biologist and professor at Rice University, and the author of “Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds” and Susan Bailey, Professor and Radiation Cancer Biologist in the Department of Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, at Colorado State University.

Friends and colleagues of Stephen Lewis remember his life and work. We hear from Former UN Ambassador Bob Rae, former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy, and New York Times global health reporter, Stephanie Nolen.

Are the days of yelling at the umpire gone? Major league baseball is using new technology to check if a strike is really a strike called ABS, the Automated Ball-Strike system — and it’s getting applause and criticism.

Imagine a world where you can bet on everything from when the war in Iran will end to how many tweets Elon Musk will post in a week. That world exists in prediction markets, and now those markets are coming to Canada. We talk to Werner Antweiler, an Associate professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, and he ran his own not-for-profit prediction market experiment for more than 20 years. 

It’s been just over four months since Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding giving Alberta special exemptions from federal environmental laws and setting the stage for a new oil pipeline to the west coast. But both sides are set to miss an early deadline on April 1st because of sticking points. Former oil executive Richard Massen and Clean Prosperity President and CEO Michael Bernstein discuss what's at stake if delays continue.

Most Canadians know comedian Mary Walsh from her iconic characters on the CBC TV show, This Hour has 22 Minutes.But the story of Mary Walsh's life goes far beyond her comedic and acting triumphs. She tells those stories in her new book, a collection of essays about the highs, and the lows. We talk to Mary Walsh about her life and her new book “Brassy Bit of Aging Crumpet.”

Newly elected federal NDP leader Avi Lewis lays out the steep climb ahead for the federal NDP and the new vision endorsed by party members this weekend.

They're not tone-deaf. They don't have the blues. Music just falls flat for them. Host Matt Galloway speaks with Bill Weiss, who is among a small percentage of people who don't derive pleasure from music. He also catches up with one of the first researchers to study the rare condition; Robert Zatorre from Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University.

Talk of negotiations is everywhere but so are signs of escalation, in the U.S., Israel and Iran war. Inside Iran, people are trapped between fear of war and fear of what comes after. Outside, military movements suggest this conflict may be heading somewhere much harder to stop.

After facing their worst-ever election result less than a year ago, the federal NDP are electing a new leader at their party convention in Winnipeg this weekend. Two-party veterans — former B.C. MP Libby Davies and former Saskatchewan cabinet minister Pat Atkinson weigh in on the competing visions of frontrunners Avi Lewis and Heather McPherson.

Brig.-Gen. Christopher Horner, commander of 3 Canadian Space Division, explains why Canada is interested in cementing the ability to launch its own satellites from a spaceport on home soil — and why, for the military in particular, it's a matter of security and sovereignty.

Cuba is still recovering from a major blackout this past week as it continues to grapple with severe fuel shortages, rolling blackouts, and dwindling supplies of essentials. The country has long suffered from economic woes. But the situation has grown far worse since the U.S. deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, cut off Venezuelan oil to Cuba, and threatened other countries with tariffs if they send fuel. That’s all on top of President Donald Trump’s threats to Cuba itself. It all stands in stark contrast to the relationship that Canada has long had with the Caribbean nation. A new CBC documentary explores that history and the efforts Canadians are making today to help a country in crisis. 

Baseball is back! After a shorter-than-usual off-season, the Blue Jays return to the Rogers Centre, kicking off the MLB season. So what does the team have in store, and what challenges lie ahead as the team eyes a return to the World Series? Acclaimed Blue Jays announcer Dan Shulman and his son Ben, also a play-by-play commentator, but for radio, walk us through what we can expect.

We’re just over a month away from the 30th season of the WNBA and there are going to be some big changes in the league this year. Players signed a historic new collective bargaining agreement that’s giving them an almost 400% salary increase. Savanna Hamilton, sports journalist and host of the women's sports podcast, Cinderella Stories Podcast, breaks down what this moment means for the league.

The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing arguments about a Quebec law that, among other things, forbids teachers from wearing religious symbols at work. We hear from political science professor Daniel Beland about why secularism or "laïcité" has become such a central political fight in Quebec. We also hear from Eric Adams, constitutional law professor at the University of Alberta.

Millennials were the first generation to grow up with the internet. Now, some are looking at their parents and questioning how much time they are spending on it. Sherry Bagnato, 67, and her Matthew Cira, 33, talk about how this is playing out in their family. And McMaster University professor Nicole Dalmer, who studies aging alongside technology, says for many older adults, using these devices is more seamless than people expect.

Playwright Ava Alavi moved from Iran to Canada shortly before Mahsa Amini was arrested and beaten for allegedly violating Iran's headscarf law. Amini's death and the movement that followed inspired Alavi's new play, "Sound," which premiered at Ottawa's Undercurrents Festival in early February. Alavi shares how creating geopolitical theatre helps her deal with what's happening back home.

Justice Lise Maisonneuve weighs on what needs to change in sports in Canada so that athletes can feel safe. Plus, Adam van Koeverden, the federal Secretary of State for Sport on the government’s role.

Montreal is the gourmet capital of Canada, and the cookbook author and former restaurant critic Lesley Chesterman is an evangelist for the food culture of her hometown. For decades, she has been writing about what makes Montreal food great, from the bagels and smoked meat to the restaurants, markets, patisseries and cheese shops. Now, she wants you to cook like a local.We talk to her about her new book, A Montreal Cookbook: Recipes and Reflections From My Kitchen.

A CBC investigation reveals how RCMP spies surveilled, infiltrated and wiretapped legitimate political Indigenous organizations in the 1970s. "It just never leaves you," says Dene leader and former NWT premier Stephen Kakfwi. CBC reporter Brett Forester walks us through the story.

Canada's Auditor General Karen Hogan lays out her latest report findings, which detail lags in RCMP recruitment and gaps in sharing information around international students who have been flagged for potentially not complying with study permits.

For the past four decades, world renowned biologist Nalini Nadkarni has risked her life studying trees. In 2015, she fell from a 50-foot bigleaf maple tree in the Olympic Peninsula. She tells The Current host Matt Galloway what her recovery from that catastrophic fall taught her about resilience and trees.

Kassy Zanjani in Vancouver found out she had been secretly recorded on a stranger's Meta smart glasses after seeing a video of herself on social media. It's a growing trend that's seeing men approaching women in public and recording their encounters for viral content. New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac talks about his reporting that Meta is considering integrating facial recognition technology into the glasses. University of Ottawa law professor Teresa Scassa talks about concerns around privacy in public spaces and whether our privacy laws are doing enough to protect Canadians.

Two pilots died when an Air Canada Express jet crashed into a fire truck. Former air traffic controller Michael McCormick says more than one thing likely went wrong and investigators will look at everything from the weather to control tower staffing to communication.

With the legalization of sports betting in Canada, and much of the United States, watching your favourite team has changed. If you don't partake, you're bombarded with ads, and if you do, it's likely changed the way you view and cheer on your team. But it's changed the game for players, officials, and sports journalists too. Author Danny Funt on his new book Everyone Loses, The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.

Stuck ships, wrong ports, and higher costs: war in the Middle East is causing headaches for worldwide supply chains. New York Times reporter Peter S. Goodman explores the mounting impacts on supply chains that remain highly integrated.

A new study shows the number of young Canadians treated for self-harm has more than doubled in the last 25 years. Montreal filmmaker Alex Anna talks about her own experience with self-harming and how it shaped how she saw herself as a teen.