The Current

CBC’s new weekly podcast, Two Blocks from the White House, takes a clear-eyed look at what’s happening in the U.S. right now and what it means for Canadians. This week Washington correspondents Paul Hunter, Katie Simpson and Willy Lowry digest Prime Minister Mark Carney’s striking remarks at the World Economic Forum, talk about the President’s latest moves on Greenland, and explore what this moment could reveal about where Canada-U.S. relations are headed. Find and follow Two Blocks from the White House wherever you get your podcasts, or here: https://link.mgln.ai/2BFTWHxCurrent

Teenage boys are going missing across Ontario and families say it’s not random. In this episode, we speak with Mark Kelley, co-host of the Fifth Estate, about his investigation into a troubling pattern: young Black boys disappearing, then turning up far from home often recruited by organized crime networks to sell drugs. We also hear from Shana McCalla, founder of the Find Ontario Missing Boys committee, who began sounding the alarm about these missing boys.

Scientists with the SuperAging Research Initiative are studying a group of superagers — people 80 and up who have the memory of people half their age — to understand what helps them stay sharp. We speak with Morry Kernerman, a lifelong violinist who’s 101 years old, and still hiking, travelling and teaching music, and with Angela Roberts at Western University in London, Ont., who’s leading the study in Canada, about how biology and lifestyle contribute to aging well.

Inuit in Canada's north share deep cultural ties with Greenlanders. This week, people in Nunavut protested in solidarity against U.S. President Donald Trump's threats against the Arctic island, alongside thousands of people in Greenland and Denmark. We speak with two MLAs in Nunavut about why they are standing up for Greenland.

Katherine May, author of 'Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times' offers advice on how to embrace this time of year by slowing down, reflecting and rejecting calls for endless productivity.

Teachers and families are struggling to manage complex classrooms, with students of all different needs together. But the research shows inclusive classrooms are the best option. So what needs to change to make inclusion work at school?

Rachel Collishaw is ready for a big change. She wants to leave her secluded rural home for something called cohousing. In an uncertain world, she and her husband are ready for a bit more connection. They would exchange their peaceful home for a much smaller condo, shared meals, commons spaces. But, right now, it's just a dream. One they aren't sure they can afford. Can Rachel and others like her find a better way of living with cohousing? Or is it a dream that just isn't ready to take root in Ontario?

Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech warning middle powers that "if you are not on the table, you are on the menu," drew a rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump. If, as Carney predicted, the old order is not coming back, what's next for Canada, Europe and the rest of the world?

Jane Darville helped create the hospice Casey House and then went on to be its Executive Director.  She was there when Princess Diane visited and made sure that day was smooth for the residents and the royalty. Darville later ran Canuck Place, the children's hospice in Vancouver.  As she is honoured with the Order of Canada, Jane reflects on the achievements in her career.

Could you run seven marathons in seven days? What if those marathons were in drastically different climates, say running in Antarctica, and the next day running in South Africa? That's the challenge Marcel Kasumovich has set for himself, as he attempts the world marathon challenge, the only Canadian competing.

Lisa Banfield was the common-law wife of the Nova Scotia shooter. She has now released a book; The First Survivor: Life With Canada's Deadliest Mass Shooter. We talk to her about the years of intimate partner violence that she suffered and what she wants people to understand about the cycle of violence. And she responds to some of the victims' families — who have expressed anger about her decision to tell her story.

Rassi Nashalik was the first person to ever host the Inuktituk news program Igalaaq.  As she receives the Order of Canada, she still works to educate both Inuk and non-Inuk about the importance of her language and her culture.

We'll hear from Oleh Zadoretskyy who came to Canada in 2023 after the war broke out in Ukraine. We'll also hear from Halifax immigration lawyer Elizabeth Wozniak about what options peel like Oleh have, and Senator Stan Kutcher who has been advocating for a permanent pathway to PR for the Ukrainians who came to Canada seeking safety, and now can't return home.

Nova Scotia's Aquakultre is exploring his own family history and the history of Black Nova Scotians in his new album 1783. We talk to him about how the birth of his daughter drove him to find answers to his own past.

Autoimmune encephalitis is a condition that causes a person's immune system to mistakenly attack the brain. It’s rare, hard to diagnose and the consequences can be deadly. CBC’s John Chipman shares the story of an Alberta family whose lives were turned upside down by a case of autoimmune encephalitis in his new documentary.

Fishing is at the heart of our east coast provinces — but Atlantic Canadians have been struggling for months amidst a global trade war and high tariffs on Canadian seafood from China. Now that China has dropped some of those heavy hitting tariffs on Canadian seafood, Atlantic Canadians are hopeful this will relieve some of that pressure — but many say more needs to be done to diversify our trading partners to create a more resilient economy for future generations of fishers.

The defence alliance's most powerful member is threatening the sovereignty of another. Whether or not the United States actually invades Greenland, the mere prospect shows the crisis facing NATO. Three defence experts from Canada, the United States, and Europe on what comes next.

Life in Attawapiskat is undeniably hard. But it's where Juno-nominated Cree musician Adrian Sutherland chooses to live and raise his family, even though he has means to leave. In his debut memoir, "The Work of our Hands," he paints a portrait of his world that headlines — about poverty, despair and a decaying water system — fail to capture. We talk to him about how the hard work required to survive in Attawapiskat allows him to find true meaning and freedom.

A new co-op development in Toronto will provide more than 600 new units. It's the first major new co-op built in the city for decades. Across the country, waitlists for existing co-ops are years long. We talk about why residents at Helen's Court Co-op in Vancouver love where they live — and why Thom Armstrong, CEO of the Co-operative Housing Federation of British Columbia, sees it as the future way of living. 

There’s a new CBC podcast we think you’ll enjoy. Two Blocks from the White House takes a clear-eyed look at what’s happening in the U.S. right now and examines how it stands to impact Canadians. In the first episode, reporters from CBC’s Washington bureau dig into America’s increasingly aggressive global posture. Has President Donald Trump’s promise of “America First” evolved into something closer to American imperialism? And what are the consequences for Canada?For more unscripted, smart analysis from journalists with a foot in both countries and a press pass to the White House, find and follow Two Blocks from the White House wherever you get your podcasts, or here: https://link.mgln.ai/2BFTWHxCurrent

Last February, Liam Toman went missing in the resort town of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, while on a weekend ski trip with two friends. The 22 year-old from Whitby, Ontario, went out for dinner and drinks, after a day on the slopes, and never returned to his hotel room. Almost a year later, his family is still searching for clues, renewing calls for help from the public to find their son. The CBC's investigative programs The Fifth Estate and Enquête return to Mont-Tremblant with Toman's mother, Kathleen, to retrace Liam's final moments caught on surveillance footage before he vanished. We speak with investigative journalist and host of Enquête, Marie-Maude Denis, and his mother, Kathleen Toman.

As the U.S. moves into phase two of its plan for Gaza, many Palestinians say little has changed. Aid workers and doctors report that food, medicine, and medical equipment are still not reaching people at the scale needed. At the same time, Israel says it may revoke licences for dozens of international aid groups working in Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders. We speak with Sana Bég, executive director of Doctors Without Borders Canada, and Khaled Elgindy a senior research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute at Georgetown University.

After nearly 2 decades of advocating for a National Portrait Gallery, Sarah Lazarovic decided to take things into her own hands and build one herself. The Current’s producer Shyloe Fagan visited ‘The National Portrait Gallery of Bloorcourt’ and spoke with Lazarovic about portraiture, its role in national building, and what faces can teach us about the places people come from.

Elon Musk and his platform X announced they are reigning in Grok after public outrage over the spread of sexualized deepfakes on his social media platform. We speak with tech analyst and journalist, Carmi Levy, about the backlash, Musk's response, and how governments need to keep up with emerging technologies to protect citizens from social media harms.

Merilyn Simonds and Beth Robinson are two friends from Kingston, Ontario, who decided during the COVID-19 pandemic to make it a priority to get together, once a week, for a walk. Since then, they've faced the challenges of aging and discovered the joys of deep connections. The Current producer Alison Masemann spent an afternoon with them, and found out about Beth's passion for sports cars, and how they handled the role reversal when Merilyn — the younger of the two — became ill.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is in China to talk trade, but the US warns it could hurt relationships back in North America. From EVs to canola oil — what has Canada got to lose as it thaws tensions with Beijing?

After two successive majority governments in Quebec, leading the party he founded, Premier François Legault is resigning. Émilie Nicolas, columnist at Le Devoir, and Martin Patriquin, Quebec correspondent for The Logic, join us to talk about why Legault decided to leave now, long after much of the Quebec public had turned on him — and what it means not just for the province, but also for the rest of Canada.

Rob Frith assumed the old reel-to-reel Beatles tape sitting in his Vancouver record store was just a bootleg. It stayed behind the counter for years until he finally pressed play. What he heard was a pristine recording of the Beatles’ 1962 Decca audition, long believed to be lost. People immediately asked what it was worth. Frith had a different idea. He decided to give the Beatles tape back to Paul McCartney, a choice that led to an unexpected, joyful meeting between a lifelong fan and his musical hero.

Mandy Rennehan started her construction company Freshco as a teenager in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. At the time, she couldn't imagine it would grow into the multimillion-dollar business it has become. Now, she’s been appointed to the Order of Canada. We talk to her about how she got here, and became a champion of the trades and women in the trades. 

She's a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, but for Terri Clark, being inducted into the Order of Canada is extra special. We talk to the Canadian country star about her roots in Medicine Hat, and why she proudly wears the maple leaf tattooed on her arm. 

While it's easy to find a hops-forward IPA or a crisp lager that fools even the best beer connoisseur… de-alcoholized wines leave something to be desired. They are often too bitter, too sweet, or too watery, tasting more like something you would serve at a kids' party than an adult beverage. So we speak with Wes Pearson, a senior research scientist and sensory group manager at the Australian Wine Research Institute about why that is, and how we can change that. 

Provincial politics in Quebec have been in turmoil for months. Now the premier Francois Legault has announced that he is resigning, as soon as his party finds a leader to replace him. We speak with Emilie Nicolas, a columnist for Le Devoir in Montreal about what this means for the province, and the rest of Canada.

We speak to Laura LeBleu, the founding editor of GEEZER. It is a print-only magazine focused on the Gen X aging experience. LeBleu reflects on reaching midlife and realizing the stories we’re told about aging do not quite match how it actually feels. She talks about uncertainty. About pressure. About humour. And about what it means to reach this stage of life without a clear script.

We speak with 25-year-old Abhishek Parmar, who has his work permit expiring in March, and is working hard to ensure he can stay in Canada. We also speak with Mireille Paquet, director of the Concordia University Institute for Research on Migration and Society, and economist Mikal Skuterud on Canada’s changing policies and views on immigration.

New research has found the amount of glacier ice lost in western Canada just in 2025 was 30 gigatonnes. That loss of ice isn’t just changing what the mountains look like, it’s also changing how dangerous they are. Professional mountain guides see the changes first-hand. We speak with Mike Adolph, the Technical Director of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, and Tim Ricci, the Director of Operations for Yamnuska Mountain Adventures about what the future of their jobs with warming climate looks like.

Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan talks about what’s at stake when power rules. As the US intervenes in foreign states, and starts alienating long-trusted allies, what message does it send about what could happen in Ukraine, Taiwan and Greenland. MacMillan says warnings from history show we may be on the cusp of a new world order.

Amid reports of a bloody crackdown on protests in Iran, the White House says many options are on the table -- from air strikes to diplomacy. An Iranian exile tells us what she's hearing from inside the country about the deaths of protesters. And we get an expert view on Donald Trump's options and what might come next.

From hunting for a mythical treasure, to solving the mystery of life in the universe -- why some people are driven to dedicate their lives to unachievable goals, and what that commitment to optimism means to the rest of us.

When the Taliban banned girls from attending school beyond Grade 6, Hazrat Wahriz knew what was coming and quietly began preparing. A former Afghan diplomat and educator now living in Canada, Wahriz helped launch Daricha, a network of underground schools run from homes and supported by local communities across Afghanistan. In this conversation, he talks about teaching under constant risk, why real change has to come from within a society, and what keeps him hopeful  even as he knows he may never see the full results of his work.

Research shows most people give up on their resolution four months into the year -- but experts say, it doesn't have to be like that. We speak with two people who study the science behind setting goals and changing behavior about how we can make our new years resolutions stick. And what's so special about January 1st, anyway?

We check in with the National Affairs Panel on the eve of the Prime Minister's visit to China. After a dramatic week when the U.S. captured the leader of Venezuela and made a series of threats against countries across the Western Hemisphere, should Canada risk warmer ties with authoritarian regimes?

A cocktail bar with what must be the world's smallest dance floor. A locavore restaurant inside the proprietors' farmhouse. An experimental Chinese dining room tucked inside another restaurant. Their owners have embraced tiny because it brings them and their customers joy.

Amid threats to take over Greenland by force, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to meet with Danish officials next week. He says President Trump wants to buy the Arctic territory. That rattled people in both Greenland and Denmark.

Grip strength might seem like a small thing,  but researchers say it can reveal a lot about how we age. Health and fitness journalist Alyssa Ages explains why grip strength is linked to longevity, what it actually reflects about the body, and how to maintain strength in realistic, everyday ways.

With Ontario considering getting rid of elected trustees and school boards, questions are being raised about the role of boards. Across Canada, there isn’t a clear answer with some provinces moving to eliminate boards, and others fighting to keep them. We look at the options, and what the research says is the best approach to help kids learn.

Calgary is dealing with a busted water main… again. One of the city's major water lines recently burst for the second time in 18 months. Crews are scrambling to fix it but it's shone a spotlight on the city's infrastructure issues. Plus Calgary is not alone, other Canadian cities use similar pipes and could be on a clock for a burst of their own. 

Christian Weedbrook's company Xanadu has announced major breakthroughs in quantum computing and just received $23 million in funding from the federal government to advance their technology. As part of The Current's series speaking to Canadian business leaders, he joins us to discuss the significance of quantum technology for Canada's economic future and why he wanted to build his company here in Canada. 

The hit Canadian TV show that follows the secret relationship between hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov is everywhere right now. It's prompting conversations online about LGBTQ love and hockey culture. We speak with Matt Kenny, a former competitive hockey player, who had a similar experience to the fictional characters about why the show is striking such a chord with people. Plus Brock McGillis, one of the first male professional hockey players to come out as gay, talks about why he thinks there's still more work to do in making hockey a more inclusive sport. 

With the Winter Olympics just weeks away, Canadian athletes are speaking out about the rising cost of representing their country. Luger Trinity Ellis says she’s cutting pennies just to stay competitive. Speed skater Hayden Mayeur says even athletes at the top of the funding scale are struggling to cover rent, food, travel, and equipment. We hear from Hayden Mayeur about working part-time and why he believes future athletes may depend more on private sponsorship than public support. Then, David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee on why funding hasn’t increased and what he’s asking Ottawa to do now.

And prediction markets, where people bet real money on real-world events are moving into the news itself. CNN and CNBC have struck deals with a company called Kalshi, bringing betting odds into their coverage of politics, the economy, and even war. Reporter Danny Funt explains why this alarms journalists and ethicists, the risks of conflicts of interest and insider trading, and what happens to public trust when news becomes something you can wager on.