This week: We hear from the spokesperson for secret pilot project that’s been housing Nova Scotia inmates in unused condominiums, we talk with the CBC Radio One historian, and we travel to Saskatoon to meet the paramedics behind the silly siren. Plus, we make a very serious announcement.

We hear from a group pushing for kids as young as ten to be able to get tattoos, we have a visit from the Pedestrian-Driver-Cyclist Alliance, and Pat Kelly tells us why the ponytail rescue documentary is his favourite.

We hear from the person building an adult-themed, nude water park in Lake Louise, we talk with a stuffy old man who has listened to every episode of the show, and we travel to Cape Breton to meet a group of youths breaking all the rules of quilting.

This week we look back at all of our stories that fooled the internet: We hear from a Montreal city councillor about a bylaw requiring all dogs to understand commands in French and English, we learn about a new program that’s training Canadian border guards to be more friendly, and we visit with a man emerging from a bunker he entered in the year 2000.

We look back on all the tourism stories we’ve covered on the show. We hear from an Alberta town creating its own accent, we find out about this year’s International Pen Festival in Winnipeg, and we meet a man who hopes to bring Spain’s running of the bulls to Thunder Bay.

After librarian Dorothy Shunt finds an old letter written to Santa hidden inside an encyclopedia, she becomes compelled to find its author. When she discovers that the letter was in fact written over 30 years ago by a boy with a wish, the story then becomes much more than just about a letter and a librarian.

Listen to this week's episode with host Michael Enright.

Listen to this week's episode with host Michael Enright.

Listen to this week's episode with host Michael Enright.

Listen to this week's episode with host Michael Enright.

Mohammed Hashim on how he became the “unofficial crisis manager” for Canadian Muslims. Victoria Yang remembers how she was treated as a Chinese-Canadian during the SARS outbreak.

Guest host Laurie Brown speaks to 2020 Juno nominees Frank Kadillac of Neon Dreams and singer iskwē about how finding their voices changed the way they make music.

Bina Venkataraman, author of The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age, studies the art of looking ahead for solutions during dangerous times. It's a skill she honed while working on the Ebola Task Force for former U.S. president Barack Obama.

Monsignor John Armitage talks about Christians in England rededicating their country to Mary; and whenever Talia Lavin sees U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, she sees a zaydie, the Yiddish word for grandfather.

Tapestry launches its Soundtrack for the Soul, a collection of songs to lift your spirits and calm your nerves during the COVID-19 pandemic; and rabbi Denise Handlarski leads SecularSynagogue.com, an online Jewish community.

Eleanor Wachtel revisits her 2000 conversation with comedian, satirist, doctor and stage director Jonathan Miller. He died on Nov. 27, 2019.

The Serbian-American writer spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about how death, afterlife and American West mythology inspired her novel, Inland.

The award-winning British author spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about amplifying the voices of marginalized people through literature.

In conversation with Eleanor Wachtel, the American author spoke about the novel's timely depiction of power dynamics, memory and consent.

The Toronto-based British author talks about his love of film and society's fascination with actors and celebrity with Eleanor Wachtel.

In conversation with Eleanor Wachtel, Matar talks about the ways that place, art, loss and grief can intersect.

The American cartoonist spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about how his childhood shaped his distinctive art style and outlook on life.

In honour of International Women's Day, we revisit Eleanor Wachtel's 2012 conversation with the celebrated British writer.

In conversation with Eleanor Wachtel, the Ethiopian-American writer spoke about writing historical fiction that looks at the real-life pride and power of an African nation.

The Russian-American journalist, author, translator and activist spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about the abuse of power and rise of modern totalitarianism.

The American author and translator's memoir is a poignant exploration of language, sisterhood and overcoming personal tragedy.

The Dose and Dr. Brian Goldman separate fact from fiction regarding the rumour that COVID-19 spread to humans after it escaped from a lab in China.

A personal support worker (PSW), who has worked for a decade in long-term care homes, told White Coat, Black Art the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis on top of an already existing crisis for PSWs.

Renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar and artist, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson talks about the philosophy and ethics that undergird Anishnaabe worlds in her 2020 Kreisel Lecture entitled, A Short History of the Blockade: Giant Beavers, Diplomacy and Regeneration in Nishnaabewin.

Coronavirus isn't the first pandemic to sweep the world. Typhoid and flu killed millions. But history's really big killer was the bubonic plague. Three historians discuss what we can learn from the history of plagues of the past.

Extreme leaders, inequality, and unhappy citizens: what happened to the promise of a new day in Eastern and Central Europe? From the fall of the Wall to this pandemic era, looking at the legacy of an ill-fitting “politics of imitation,” with 2020 Gelber Prize-winners Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes.

American legal scholar Brett Frischmann says we have to wake up to the risk of losing our humanity to 21st techno-social engineering. He warns humans are heading down an ill-advised path that is making us behave like ‘perfectly predictable’ simple machines.

The songs and stories of prehistoric humans are gone. All that remains of their culture is their art. IDEAS contributor Neil Sandell introduces us to the French archaeologist Jean Clottes, a man who’s devoted his lifetime trying to decipher the rich, enigmatic world of cave art.

Seventeen years before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, another mysterious, virulent respiratory illness suddenly appeared — SARS. On the Enright Files, conversations with public health experts from those unnerving times, as they were assessing what we learned from the SARS and Ebola outbreaks.

Last year, in Toronto, 40 pedestrians were struck by a moving vehicle and killed. But in Oslo, Norway, zero pedestrians died from car-related incidents last year.

Concerns about the novel coronavirus have spurred some people to stockpile masks, bottles of hand sanitizer, food and other supplies. Parents, meanwhile, are cancelling school trips and family vacations — and wondering how much of a hit their wallet will take in the process.

April 24, 2020

May 1, 2020

May 8, 2020

Today on The Current: Should you wear a mask?; Teaching kids remotely; Sir Patrick Stewart; Historian Yuval Noah Harari on pandemics past and present

Today on The Current: Finance Minister Bill Morneau; Conservative leader Andrew Scheer; Prepping rural hospitals for COVID-19; Depopulating prisons during the pandemic, Love and sex in the time of coronavirus; Samin Nosrat on her new home cooking podcast

Today on The Current: Non-medical frontline workers; Checking in on the pandemic in Italy; COVID-19 and Indigenous communities; China and case counting; Communicating science during a crisis

Today on The Current: COVID-19 death toll projections; Mark O’Connell on doomsday preppers; Helping kids cope; Paul Salopek’s Out of Eden Walk

Today on The Current: COVID-19 risk to apes; Romeo Dallaire; Pandemic puts other patients in limbo; Cutting your own hair

Today on The Current: Your money questions answered; Understanding pandemic data; Moral fatigue; Quarantine Book Club

Today on The Current: COVID-19 and racial inequality; Brené Brown on vulnerability; Triage decisions; Sharing the sidewalk; Dreams in the time of COVID-19.

Today on The Current: Faith and COVID-19; Seniors’ perspective on the pandemic; Porch portraits; Vinyl Cafe: Sourdough

Today on The Current: Quebec care home deaths; Sports withdrawal; Vinyl Cafe; Students providing meals for front-line workers

Today on The Current: Inside a Toronto hospital; Having a baby during the pandemic; Margaret Atwood; Lessons from Spanish flu

Today on The Current: Are families of elders in care homes ‘essential workers’?; Balancing pandemic restrictions and civil liberties; Isolation tips for introverts; Grief during the pandemic