Now or Never

When you're faced with a hard truth about yourself, it can be tough figuring out what to do next. Or to make any changes at all. On this episode, meet five people hit with a reality check they couldn't ignore.Andrew Barr thought he was showing up to help a friend but instead, he was surprised with an intervention. The Toronto comedian shares the moment that saved his life, and finding the funny sober. After 75 years in the family, Rob Benson has realized it’s time to close up shop at one of Winnipeg's last independent hardware stores. And he has a parting message about the reality of trying to keep small family-run businesses alive.Winnipeg’s Meghan Waters and Ryan Palmquist put their environmental convictions on the line when they sold their family vehicle and went car-free, with two young children and one on the way. Then winter hit. Did their car-free lifestyle survive the reality check?A moment of bliss in the Mississippi River compelled Gabe Thirlwall to upend her entire life, just so she could experience that feeling everyday.And Trevor Dineen sits down with one of his oldest friends about his recent near-death experience, and the reality of how hard it can be to change.

The average person will spend more than 90,000 hours at work. That's about one-third of your life.Depending on how you feel about your job, that time can feel like a dream...or a never-ending nightmare.So on this episode, Ify and Trevor are on a mission to help make your workplace work for you, starting with a makeover of their own grim office washroom.Even before the pandemic changed the world and made working from home a norm for many, Shane Solomon spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to keep his staff happy in the office. So his architecture firm in Winnipeg has a wellness director, board games, and protein balls in their well-stocked kitchen, plus regular workout classes for staff. We visit the shoe-less boss to find out how it's working.Kari Lentowicz left the mining industry years ago, after she says she experienced multiple instances of harassment. But she hasn't stopped the fight to make mining workplaces more inclusive for women, including starting up "Diamonds in the Rough," the world's first all-female team of mine rescuers.When Vanathy Adipola started her home daycare, she and her family made a lot of sacrifices - including moving into the basement. Now, years later, she's finally moving back upstairs - and into her dream location.For Iván Ostos, a bike courier in Toronto, there's one way to make his workplace better - unionize it.Akberali Batada has transformed his Toronto "office" - the back of a city cab - into a party on wheels, complete with disco balls, tambourines and a karaoke machine. We hop a ride in the Cosmic Cab to see how a bit of whimsy is shaking up people's commutes.Trevor and Ify hit the streets of Winnipeg to find out the workday improvement hacks that get people through their days, from blasting Red Hot Chili Peppers to ranting with co-workers.At Moody Middle School, vice-principal Kathryn Jung goes out of her way to make her workplace brighter for fellow teachers.At work, paramedic Mandy Johnston has feared for her safety - but she hasn't always felt comfortable telling her colleagues about the harassment and violence she's experienced. Now, she's on a mission to start that conversation.

Around the world, in the streets, people are raising their voices and demanding change. But not all protests involve placards and marching.Today on Now or Never, people who are rebelling against the way things are - and finding creative new ways to demand change.Maddy Nowosad loved skateboarding and the community of people she met at The Edge, a state of the art skate park in Winnipeg run by the Evangelical Youth For Christ. But when she came out, she no longer felt accepted in that space, so she rallied support and built a new skate park, but it took a huge toll.In a world that often asks us to work beyond our limits, Ontario's Golshan Abdmoulaie wants you to lay the f— down. Golshan shares her experience of losing hope during the Iranian uprisings, re-learning the power of rest, and what she’s risking by working towards a future rest retreat for artists and activists.   Fashion lover and content creator Erin Fszigeti protests the impact of fast fashion by challenging herself to shop her closet (no shopping!) for a whole year.When the images of bombed hospitals and soot-covered children in Gaza became too much to take, Ktunaxa poet Smokii Sumac had to put his feelings into words. He committed to writing 100 poems for his instagram page, but some days he’s not sure if he’s making any difference in such a colossal conflict.The Winnipeg faction of the Raging Grannies throw on their wigs, colourful hats, and boas, and storm the studio to sing a song and explain why humour helps get the message across.   As Canada's only Black winemaker, Hamilton's Steve Byfield never saw himself as a role model or activist. But after the murder of George Floyd, he didn’t feel like he had much choice. How he's changing the game in his field, and how he's managing his discomfort with the role.And delight in the petty acts of resistance Ify discovers when she talks to people in Toronto about their everyday frustrations.

Love can make us do crazy things. Hear from people going to extremes as they fall in love, chase love down, and find ways to keep it going strong. London, Ontario’s Frank and Patrick knew from day one that they wanted to start a family. Their wild ride to parenthood through foster care, adoption and surrogacy has tested their love for each other, their faith, and the very definition of what a family looks like.Hopeless romantic Golden Johnson tells us why she's auditioning to be on Love is Blind, even though part of her knows "it's insane."When they met on a beach in Italy, Jessica Kumah and Andrea Grimaldi had no clue their holiday fling would turn into something more permanent. We check in with the couple a year after Jessica uprooted her life in Toronto to be with Andrea in Naples - and the biggest learning curve since moving in together.A group of African LGBTQ+ refugees who escaped persecution in their home countries sit down with Ify to share their stories of love and survival.And Chiderah Sunny and Deidre Olsen made the ultimate commitment when they said ‘I do’ as platonic soulmates. While they’ve now ended their union, hear why they say their bond is still as strong as ever.

What’s it like to take a punch? Host Trevor has never been in a fight in his life, until now. This week Trevor follows his curiosity to Pan Am Boxing Club, the oldest boxing club in Winnipeg. That’s where he discovers that at this fight club, they’re changing lives. Every two weeks the rainbow and trans flags fly in the non-profit gym when Jesse Jordan leads the Umbrella boxing program for 2SLGBTQ+ community, challenging the binary nature of the sport and changing the face of boxing. Next door to the boxing club, Pan Am Place is described by resident Kyle Grenier as “a big house with lots of dudes who like to fight.” He then laughs heartily as he is corrected by former resident Will Bress, “I would also call it a sober living house.”  Run by the people who lead the gym, men who struggle with homelessness, addiction and incarceration can live at Pan Am Place rent free if they work out at the gym, volunteer their time, and actively strive to improve their lives. Hear how friendships are formed, lives are changed and what advice Will offers Kyle as he prepares to move out.Twice a week Chris Sarifa drives from his job, as manager of Pan Am Place, to the north end of the city where he opens the doors to the free North End Boxing Club for kids aged 12-17. From the boy with the lisp who’s gaining confidence to the kid who needs to let his “inner tiger” out, this club is helping keep these kids safe and making them strong.Back in the gym, volunteer trainer Tia Jakab brings her six week old baby, Olive, to Pan Am Boxing Club for the very first time. We discover this former competitive fighter has had two concussions and is struggling with her desire to get back in the ring, and her need to stay safe for her daughter. Harry Black has been involved with Pan Am Boxing Club almost since it opened in 1968. As President and head trainer Harry, and his wife Susan Black, built the non-profit gym into the volunteer-based high performance place it is. At 67, he’s never stopped training as a fighter, and has high expectations for everyone who comes through the doors. They share what it took to build Pan Am Place, and their visions for the future.It’s finally time for Trevor Dineen to get in the ring to throw (and take) his very first punch ever. With his self-appointed coach, Harry Black, in his corner, Trevor steps up to his opponent, Dylan Martin, a fighter with Canada’s national team. Can he go toe to toe?

The dream job can be hard to find, and even harder to hang on to. Hear from people at all stages of living their best work life, whether they're hustling to get it, or knowing when to walk away.For Brenda Hernandez-Acosta, making empanadas and churro cheesecake has always been her love language. Two weeks ago, she opened her first bakery in downtown Winnipeg, pulling her entire family in for the ride. She shares what it's like to combine business with family, and her hopes to make the bakery a hub for Winnipeg's Latin American community.In less than two years, Aaron Brown has turned his Jeopardy obsession into a full-time job as 'Toronto's favourite trivia host.'Meet Sekou James Osborne, the 20-year-old designer who is putting everything on the line for his very first fashion collection. Joanie Pietracupa was at the peak of her career as editor-in-chief of three Quebec fashion magazines, when she told her boss she needed to quit. How she is redefining success today, and finding the elusive work-life balance.There aren’t many jobs that have “drinking beer” as the first requirement. Calgary’s Don Tse, also known as the Don of Beer, left behind a successful law career to pursue his ultimate dream job — tasting, judging and writing about the bubbly brew.         And Dave and Mike Merklinger are a father and son duo who both hold a rare job: Head ice technician for Curling Canada. As Dave retires following a 30-year career in the role, his son Mike is just starting to come into his own in this super niche job.

Our families pass on all kinds of things to us - values, quirks, and that particular expression your mom makes when she finds something hilarious. On this episode, hear stories of people embracing, breaking (or reinventing) the imprint of their families.A reality check from ChatGPT sends Hamilton’s Shawney Cohen on a drastic health journey, as he grapples with a family history of disordered eating. When Doug Darling found out his dad had Alzheimer’s, he realized there were things about his dad's life he didn't know. So he started asking questions, carefully recording every last detail of his life - the childhood adventures, how he met his mom — as a way of keeping his dad's legacy alive, for both himself and the next generation.Nick Yoshida lived through the horrors of the Japanese internment during the 1940s, and since being forced from the province of British Columbia has refused to go back. Nick and his granddaughter Nicole share their thoughts and feelings as she prepares to move to Vancouver, a place that holds so much pain for him and so much possibility for her."We want to be like Wakanda." Curtis Whiley is on a quest to return parts of Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia to the descendants of the African Nova Scotians who settled there two hundred years ago.Metis twins Luc and Aidan Wrigley have been fiddling in a band with their dad Rob since they were kids, and it’s taken them around the country. But now, at 19, the twins have joined a new band with musicians their own age. What does their dad think?And Ify heads to the mall to ask strangers a simple question: "What is something your parents used to do that really annoyed you as a kid, that you now find yourself doing?"

They send you emails, they call your phone, they try to lure you on social media. But their promises are empty and they’re really just after your money.According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, scams cost Canadians at least 554 million dollars last year. But when you talk to the victims of these schemes, it becomes clear that more than money was lost.This week on Now or Never we’re with people as they put their lives back together and are trying to fight back after they’ve been scammed. When 9-year old Beydan, and her 8-year old sister Fatima, were ripped-off while playing Roblox, their mom Rahma Shafi took the game away. Today they’re getting it back plus a lesson on how to be safe onlineIn London, Ontario, Kim Stevens saved all her life for retirement, but is now declaring bankruptcy after being scammed out of her life savings just a few months ago. Now she is  actively sharing her experience in the hope of helping others.Over the years, Bonnie Bednarik has received multiple phone calls  from someone claiming to be her grandson, saying he’s in trouble and needs cash. Normally, Bonnie hangs up on these phone scammers. But one day, Bonnie decided to try something a little different. This 75-year-old Windsor grandmother shares how she set up her own sting operation to take the scammers down and the surprising turn her life took after that.On the west coast Kwagiulth artist Jason Henry Hunt has been carving for more than 30 years, like generations of his family before him. But it’s his unofficial job that takes up much of his time — battling the market of fraudulent Indigenous artwork that has flooded gift shops and even some galleries, and is threatening the future of the craft. Toronto’s Cindy Browne still looks at the picture of the man she was in love with years after she discovered he wasn’t real and stole $26,000 from her. Because he may have been fake, but her love was true. What does she have to overcome to try and love again?And just in case you’re losing your faith in humanity, a story of when trusting strangers goes right:  International students Sele Akere and Dipo Oksesola saw an ad for a room to rent in Kelowna, they thought it was a scam by a tough biker. But they reached out anyway and discovered Kelowna’s Bill Pittman is really a big softie..and that probably saved Bill’s life.

Could you imagine solving a Rubik's Cube in under one second? Or summing up your entire life in 6 minutes? On this episode, every story is a race against time. SIX MINUTES. Richard Kemick is looking to dip his toe into the dating world again. There’s just one problem. His living situation is a little…..complicated. And tough to sum up in the six minutes he has to make a good first impression at an upcoming speed-dating event. He shares the terror and exhilaration of trying to distill your life’s story in a crunch. ONE YEAR. Find out what's on the line for Shandy, a single mom in Winnipeg counting down to one year of sobriety. TWO WEEKS: Lisa Lapointe is just weeks away from retiring as British Columbia’s chief coroner. And in the time she has left, she is sounding off about the toxic drug crisis in her province that is claiming seven lives every day. ONE HUNDRED DAYS: As kindergarten kids get closer to celebrating their first 100 days in school, Trevor sits down with some five-year-olds to find out what time means to them. 24 HOURS. She had less than 24 hours to get to L.A. and be camera ready for a gig at the Emmy Awards, so Amanda Buhse dropped everything and said yes to a whirlwind adventure and evening with the stars. ONE SECOND: What can you do in one second? Probably not much...but If you're Kyle Santucci, you can solve a 2x2 Rubik's Cube and set a national record. And the crazy part is…he thinks he can do it even faster. TEN DAYS: Even on vacation, there’s always one nagging thought on Kelly Konieczny’s mind: will the call about her kidney transplant happen today? In February, Kelly is part of an intense 10-day window where she has the best chance of finding a donor. After 30 years of waiting, will she finally find a donor?

When you don’t see eye-to-eye on something, how do you bridge the gap? Stories of people trying to understand each other better across cultural, generational, and family divides. After his father’s sudden death while on vacation in the Philippines, Jim Agapito rushed to his funeral. But when he arrived, he was thrown into an unfamiliar world where his somber understanding of mourning was replaced by superstition and festivities. Skipping school, debating strangers, and making muffins lowers the heat on climate change conversations for 16-year-old-old climate activist Teegan Walshe. On Tiktok and Instagram, content creator Nimay Ndolo is bold, funny, and incredibly open in ways that has her cousin Ify wondering just how well she knows her. Tired of being the only girl on the high school cricket team, Mahee Patel helped create Manitoba's first, and only, all-girl cricket team. Mahee and her teammates share about finding their competitive spirit and unexpected friendships on the cricket field. Desiree Kendrick may not always understand the acronyms in the frequent texts she gets from her daughter, Devonne, but when it comes to bridging the generation gap, this mom and daughter are BFFs. (OMG IMO this story is GR8) And be it resolved: Debating teams can argue passionately on both sides of a polarizing disagreement. Yay or Nay? Ify and Trevor seek advice on how to disagree more constructively with newly crowned national champions, the University of Northern BC debate team.

When humans and nature collide, you never know what will happen. This week on Now or Never, stories of close encounters with the natural world. Andrew Phung brings us into the battle zone: the laneway of his Toronto home, where he faces off every day against a team of raccoons.  After witnessing the effects of the climate crisis in BC this past year, Hafsa Salihue and Ryan Laing are on opposite sides about whether they should have a child.  Meet Colleen Cassady St. Clair, the Queen of Coyotes! This University of Alberta professor has dedicated her research to Edmonton's urban coyote population, and her freetime to getting coyotes and humans to co-exist peacefully. It just involves some weighted tennis balls, umbrellas, and a very loud voice.  And in the face of  town bylaws and disapproving neighbours, Beth and Craig Sinclair are determined to let the lawn of their Smiths Falls, Ontario home go wild.

There are lots of reasons to volunteer - and many excuses not to. So as Canada faces a critical volunteer shortage, what is motivating those who do? Seven days a week, Ashley Van Aggelen is out there coaching. She gives up all her evenings, barely sees her friends, and bounces between multiple basketball, hockey, and soccer games in a single week. So what keeps this super-volunteer going? After getting fed up with the lack of emergency services in his community, Ian Hicks decided to buy a fire truck from the set of Rambo: First Blood. And just like that, a small town B.C. fire department was born. How a rag-tag collection of volunteers transformed into critical first-responders. Michele Botel grew up afraid of felines. So why did she volunteer to feed a colony of feral cats? Ify takes to the streets of Toronto to find out why people are volunteering (or not). Lyall Davis has one mission: to keep the community radio station in Killaloe, Ontario from going off the air. But without volunteers, the station will have to sign off for good - something he's worked too hard to let happen. Since the remains of 215 children were uncovered at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, Vanessa Genier (Missanabie Cree First Nation) has been volunteering her time making quilts for residential school survivors. And Angela McBride volunteers to sit with people at the end of their lives - listening to music, playing games, and talking about whatever people want to talk about. What these end-of-life conversations have taught Angela about living.

In an age where over-sharing and trauma-dumping has become the norm, is there such a thing as TMI anymore? On this episode, hear how people are navigating the freedom and discomfort of letting it all out. Would you reveal how old you are? The last time you cried? How much money is in your bank account? Trevor and Ify get nosy with their fellow CBC Radio hosts Paul Haavardsrud (Cost of Living), Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe (The Block, CBC Music), and Piya Chattopadhyay (The Sunday Magazine), to find out how much personal information they are willing to reveal...on air. After serving as an intelligence officer during the Persian Gulf War, Sean Bruyea risked everything to expose a government secret - and he’s still experiencing the consequences of that today. Lindsay Wong is a bit of a conundrum: She's uncomfortable with attention, but she also wrote a best-selling memoir about her family's struggle with undiagnosed mental illness. Five years after spilling her family's secrets, Lindsay is reconsidering how much is too much to share in such a public way. Hairstylist Meghan Kinitaon reveals the most jaw-dropping things people have told her in the salon chair - and how she deals with trauma-dumping. And writer Danny Ramadan says challenges to his children's books as being "too much information" for their LGBTQ+ content feel personal. Why he's not letting these challenges slow him down.

It’s January in Canada, and if the cold and dark is getting you down, Now or Never is offering you an escape. Turn on your SAD lamps, turn up the heat and tune in to be transported to summertime. Eight-year old Simon Khaoniam of Winnipeg wants to go to a sleep away camp for the first time. But because of his life threatening allergies, mom Morgan Klachefsky is struggling to let him go. Cochrane’s Bailey Shellenberg made history as the first girl to qualify in junior steer riding on one of the biggest rodeo circuits in the country in 2019. In this encore presentation we hear her try to take a title. A ring for a ring. That’s the ultimatum British Columbia's Justin Griffore’s girlfriend gave him when he asked if they could put a wrestling ring in their backyard. Hear what happened next in this encore presentation. Host Ify Chiwetelu and her younger sister Chisom hop in a tandem kayak and head out on Lake Ontario for the first time, even though neither of them can swim. After a life-changing accident injured his spinal cord, Manitoba engineer Corey Mazinke used his skills to invent devices that help him navigate his new normal. Including a wheelchair that will take him to the beach. Minnie Schentag spent more than 40 years building her backyard Winnipeg garden, but had to move due to failing health. When she heard the new owners planned to tear up the plants, neighbour Gail Howell sprang into action to preserve Minnie’s garden. (encore presentation)

On this winter solstice -- the longest night of the year -- we're jumping in with people finding ways to bring light into the dark. As the sun sets earlier and earlier, thousands of Winnipeggers head to the zoo to bask in the glow of 1.5 million Christmas lights. Trevor Dineen joins in the fun and asks kids just how important it is to brighten up the night. Lena Griffin zip ties thousands of lights along a swaying suspension bridge over a wild northern river in her Nisga'a village, to create a dazzling display that honors lost family and friends. In Ausuittuq (Grise Fiord), Nunavut, the northernmost community in Canada, Laisa Watsko shares a glimpse of life in the middle of dark season. Virginia O’Dine, a stand-up comedian on the small town circuit, tries to make sense of the joy and pain in her life, after her daughter’s Olympic victories and the loss of her son to cancer. As the sun dips behind the rocky mountains in southern Alberta, Tracey Klettle and Tim Mearns are strapping on snowshoes for another stargazing tour. It’s their way of passing along messages from Tim’s mom, about the importance of making friends with the dark. Kerry Kijewski shares her changing relationship with darkness as she becomes almost totally blind, and more Now or Never listeners share their solstice traditions and memories.

If you're scrambling to find the perfect gift this holiday season, get inspired with stories and advice from people working through their gift-giving dilemmas. (And best of all...most of these gifts are completely free!). After 23 years of marriage, M.J. Kang is determined to break the gift-giving rut she and her husband Oren have fallen into…as soon as she finds the perfect gift. After a northern miner’s home burns to the ground, more than 100 strangers in a distant city pitch in to help him rebuild. So why is it so hard for Guy Martial to accept their gift of kindness? Ophira Eisenberg attempts some high-level negotiations with her 8-year-old son over his epic Hanukkah wish list. Newly dating couple Marcello Di Cintio and Shari Beverage have thrown down a Christmas challenge for each other: all their gifts have to be made by hand. Except Marcello isn't particularly crafty. And the wooden nesting dolls he's painting look like a horror show. We check in on how they're each dealing with the pressure of high (and crafty) expectations. Singer-songwriter Ila Barker gifted herself a tiny chihuahua puppy for her birthday two weeks ago, to celebrate a whirlwind year of travel and hustling to promote her music. Will Sunny the puppy behave as she and her musicians perform? Luna Bella Zuniga has transformed hundreds of kids’ bedrooms over the years, using nothing but paint and her imagination to create lush forests, starry ceilings and playful shrines to Elmo. How the gift of a magical space to call their own helps kids going through tough times.

Relationship need a rescue? All our friends are talking about how to keep it hot, so we scoured the country to bring you six couples who are #relationshipgoals and asked them for their secrets. Thank us later. T.A. and June MacKay have been together more than 60 years and rarely fought. Why these 90-year-olds swear by a double bed. Amelia Merrick and Res Krebs climb into a bath together and share why she chose him as her first lover when she was a 39-year-old virgin. Martine Dugazon slid into Michelle Osbourne’s DMs and went from the friend zone to engaged thanks to acts of service and words of affirmation in Quebec City. Taunting,teasing, and making each other laugh. That’s how Sheena Melwani and her husband, 'The Real Indian Dad' keep it hot and share with their over 10 million followers on Tik Tok. For Peter Verge and Shelley Hunt, living apart - but under the same roof - has actually brought them closer together. Find out why the laundry room is their favourite room in the house. With parenting getting in the way of romance, Toronto's Domenique Raso and Josh Roarke are finally heading out on a date. The last one was an epic fail…will they make it out the door this time?

Come along for the big moments Canadians are experiencing around the world right now. He used to be a DJ at The Moose radio station in small-town Smithers, BC. Today, Dancin’ Wayne hypes up tens of thousands of soccer fans as a World Cup stadium host, energizing crowds with his breakdancing, chanting, and hot-pink suits. When Stephen and Sara Cole decided to sell their home in Fergus, Ontario, they knew they wanted something different -- but they never dreamed they’d end up with an 11-bedroom, 6300 square foot chateau in Southwestern France. Or the upkeep that comes along with it. #chateauproblems News headlines, social media posts, and messages in the family group chat carry Lima Al-Azzeh, a Palestinian-Canadian living in Vancouver, straight into Gaza. What do you pack to take to space? How do you handle the fear? And how do you prepare your family to watch you blast off? Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen gets personal ahead of his moon mission next November. And ten years after a life-changing car accident left Jen Schuringa with a traumatic brain injury that impacts her ability to move voluntarily and speak, she and a group of family and friends take on Spain's Camino de Santiago.

Stories of people saying enough is enough, and taking matters into their own hands.Seven days a week, Jenny McDougall drives from homeless shelters to motels and tents by the river, delivering prescription medication to drug users, hoping to stop overdose deaths. Sophie Davie always knew she wanted kids, but at the age of 35, she hadn’t found the right partner. So instead of waiting, she decided to have a baby on her own. At five months pregnant, Sophie shares how she's preparing for single parenthood - and why she chose a sperm donor who's really good at basketball.Shawn Bath wouldn't exactly call himself an eco-warrior. Yet this former fisherman spends all his free time and money cleaning up trash dumped into the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland.Tired of seeing the impacts of violence they witnessed in their community, Mohamed Hassan and Ahmed Shiddo decided to take action by hosting gatherings for Somali youth in the GTA. And Amanda Caskenette and Dave Barrett are fed up with capitalism -- so for the past five years, they’ve been trying to remove themselves from the system by growing most of their own food, and experimenting with off-the-grid living on the shores of Lake Superior.

When everyone else has given up and gone home...what does it take to be the last one standing? Trevor pays a visit to the last typewriter repair shop in Winnipeg, and finds out why 76-year-old Izu Gephter has no plans of packing it in. Jimmy Chau finished dead-last in the most recent Manitoba Marathon, and tells us what kept him going on his nearly seven-hour race. William Liu’s dim sum shop in Vancouver's Chinatown has been in his family for three decades. But as boxing gyms and yoga studios move in, can small family-run businesses like his survive? Trevor writes an ode to 'that guy' - the last one to leave a party. When you feel like the odd one out in your circle, find a new circle. At the Toronto meetup group SWaNK - Single Woman and No Kids - Melissa Ramage, Sarah Dukes, and Binesh Lodhi are finding friendship, good vibes, and reminders they are not alone. Mike Parsons and his partner Georgina are the last remaining people on Little Bay Islands, a resettled community accessible only by boat. So what do you do when you live alone on an island in the North Atlantic? Mike Parsons says you stock up, wind down — and surprisingly, don’t bicker. And 96-year-old Marion Marten is likely the last of the women electricians who worked on warplanes at a Toronto plant during WWII. She shares her memories of that time.