• The waterway the world is suddenly watching closely
    Mar 13 2026

    American officials claim they've got the situation under control -- but a former diplomat tells us that Iran throttling the Strait of Hormuz could spell political disaster for Donald Trump.


    An Iranian strike hit a Canadian bunker on a military base in Kuwait, almost two weeks ago. No one was hurt, but the government said nothing about it -- and the Conservatives' defence critic says that's a problem.


    Bill Kurtis has deployed his dulcet tones on the airwaves for six decades now; tonight, he'll tell us about leaving his gig as the judge and scorekeeper of the NPR news quiz show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!"


    This weekend, director Geeta Gandbhir is up for two Oscars; she's nominated in both the short and feature-length documentary categories.


    Nil talks to her about her short doc "The Devil is Busy" -- which covers one day at Georgia abortion clinic -- and her feature "The Perfect Neighbour," which tells the story of a neighbourhood shooting through police bodycam footage.


    A new high-tech glass floor for basketball courts is great at blasting your retinas with statistics and ads and graphics -- but it turns out to be not great at having basketball played on it.


    As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that finds itself in contempt of court.

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • What a day in London, Ontario says about the overdose crisis
    Mar 12 2026

    Police in London, Ontario are searching for someone they say was driving around downtown handing out free drugs -- and triggering a wave of overdoses on the doorstep of a local outreach centre.


    History in the unmaking. American and Israeli strikes have severely damaged at least four cultural and historical landmarks in Iran. An Iranian-Canadian scholar she says it's heartbreaking to watch -- but eerily familiar.


    When two young women left a cinema in the early 70s, they found an abandoned newborn. And now, half a century later, they’ve all reunited.


    A Norwegian researcher has not-so-fond childhood memories of getting his tongue stuck to a frozen pole. Now that he’s all grown up, he’s delving into the science -- to tackle tundra tongue.


    Colm Dalton can tell you what makes a real Irish pub -- because he's been to more than a hundred of them on four continents, as he attempts to drink at every single one on Earth.


    Scientists discover that we blink unconsciously to the beat of music -- although so far, they've only tested that theory on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.


    As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that thinks they should start thinking outside the Bach...s.

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    59 mins
  • A floor-crossing eases Carney’s path to a majority
    Mar 11 2026

    Another MP -- this time from the NDP -- has crossed the floor to join the Liberals. A by-election candidate in what was a must-win riding in Quebec tells us what that means for her campaign.


    A neighbourhood in central Beirut is in shock after an Israeli airstrike hits an apartment building. A journalist on the ground describes the scene.


    The British government is mulling a social media ban for children -- but the father of a teenager who took her own life after being exposed to harmful content online says just blocking those platforms isn't the answer.


    An Alabama restaurant never thought anyone would take up their offer of free oysters to any customer 80 years old accompanied by his father. But we'll talk to two men who are putting that pledge to the test.


    A para-alpine skier shares his frustration over mild March weather in Italy that's messing with the Paralympics -- and argues they need to be held much earlier.


    A British construction worker rushes to hospital after he wakes up with a bright blue body -- but is relieved and embarrassed to discover the blue-ity is only skin deep.


    As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that admires anyone who's so self-azured.

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    59 mins
  • The survival of Carney’s government may come down to this
    Mar 10 2026

    The one thing standing between Mark Carney and a majority government may turn out to be a by-election in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne -- where the Bloc Quebecois candidate says she's confident she'll win.


    It's not clear when the war in Iran will end -- but we'll ask an Iranian-Canadian historian what kind of order he foresees after the chaos.


    New Brunswick serial killer Allan Legere dies in prison; a reporter who covered the murders, the manhunt, and the trial tells us a lot of people are breathing easier.


    Heavy rain in Nairobi last week led to deadly floods. And for many including our guest, those floods cut off electricity and running water.


    A neuroscientist tells us about the leap he's made in understanding how mice view their surroundings -- with the help of action movies.


    Just weeks before athletes were scheduled to run the Pyongyang Marathon, the North Korean regime cancels the event -- and the reason it gives is "reasons."


    As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that assumes, for the out-of-shape runners, this is a staggering loss.

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    57 mins
  • The Iranians supporting the strikes
    Mar 9 2026

    We'll speak with an Iranian-Canadian who stands firmly behind the U.S and Israeli attacks on Iran -- saying he believes they're the only real hope for regime change.


    Donald Trump continues to suggest that Iran may be to blame for the strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed scores of children -- but a very different story is emerging.


    A para hockey player tells us about her journey to try and make the technically co-ed Canadian Paralympic hockey team -- which, at least for now, is really just a men's team.


    UNESCO has already recognized Dublin as a "city of literature," but an Irish arts organization thinks it's only right that an area farther north in the borderlands be named the world's first UNESCO literary region.


    We catch up with the Finnish couple that placed first in the UK's Wife Carrying Race -- and they attempt to convey how one of them conveyed the other.


    The centuries-old coat of arms of a Swiss canton features a black bear with visible genitalia -- and despite a parliamentarian's request, the local government won't be tucking it away.


    As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that supposes it's a package deal.

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    58 mins
  • A rare voice speaks out from inside Tehran
    Mar 7 2026

    After many days trying to connect, we reach a defiant resident of Tehran -- who says U.S. and Israeli bombs are the wrong way to topple the regime he opposes.


    We also connect with a longtime rights activist in Kabul who tells us that despite a horrifying new decree, there's not much else the Taliban can take away from women in Afghanistan.


    An Ontario library dealing with open drug use and near-daily overdoses tries a last-ditch effort to keep from closing its doors completely.


    At a funeral in Chicago, three former presidents pay tribute to the late civil rights pioneer Jesse Jackson.


    Researchers turn to the study of trees to discover one of the few mysteries left about what makes the world famous Stradivarius violins the best of the best.


    An opera singer in Florida shifts gears when the gigs dry up...using his prodigious pipes to sell used vehicles.


    As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that asks: Aria lookin' for some new wheels?

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • One of the most dangerous places to be in Iran
    Mar 6 2026

    The brother of a Nobel Peace Prize winner detained in Iran says there's no escape for those trapped in prisons -- and he's afraid of what the regime will do to them in the fog of war.


    A Nova Scotia father says provincial cuts to programs for people with disabilities, like the one his daughter uses, are a real punch in the gut -- and he's not sure how families like his will cope.


    We'll pay tribute to Yanar Mohammed, who was killed by gunmen in Baghdad this week -- after decades of fighting for equality and safety for women in Iraq.


    A Canadian man has been held in ICE detention for the past four months; his brother says his family wants him back home -- but first, they just want him to go before a judge.


    A curator of old movies tells us about finding a lost gem by a true pioneer of silent film -- and the man who gave him that lost gem tells us just how close he came to chucking it in a dumpster.


    A Las Vegas casino magnate lays his cards on the table: he wants Canadians who are avoiding travel to the U.S. back at his blackjack tables and slot machines -- and he's willing to take a gamble of his own to get us there.


    As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that's not sure it'll visit -- but won't roulette out.

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Spain’s standoff with Donald Trump
    Mar 5 2026

    The government of Spain is adamantly against the U.S. - Israeli attack on Iran, and it repeated that position today, even in the face of Donald Trump's trade threats.


    A non-profit that monitors financial markets says it's concerned that online prediction markets were allowing people to place wagers on the strikes on Iran -- and that many of those betting appeared to know too much.


    A Texas firefighter tells us what it was like to climb a very, very, very tall communications tower -- to rescue a pair of hot-air ballooners who got tangled up up top.


    A Vancouver city councillor is baffled as to why the mayor accused him of handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day. And despite the mayor's apologies, he's not feeling very forgiving.


    A Canadian comic working in the UK explains how Brits are responding to his blistering take on the peculiar culinary phenomenon known as "picky tea".


    When certain cockroaches couple up, they demonstrate their commitment by eating each other's wings -- an act of real tenderness. Or toughness, depending on the wings.


    As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that knows sometimes you have plans for dinner -- and sometimes you just wing it.

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    59 mins