The Secret Life of Canada (Archive)

Have you heard? We joined CBC Podcasts! All new episodes will be published in our new feed. Subscribe here: http://hyperurl.co/secretlifeofcanada and check out the first episode of season two, all about the iconic Hudson's Bay point blanket. This feed will not be updated in the future, but we'll keep it up so you can still listen to your favourite season one episodes!

Bonus! Meet Beryl Potter, an early activist and advocate for rights of persons with disabilities who didn't take no for an answer. 

Bonus! Meet Kenojuak Ashevak, the world-renowned and multi-award winning artist and first lady of Inuit Art. 

How would we get anything done if not for New Brunswickers? Visit the country’s only bilingual province and meet the Acadians, the Maliseet, and generations of migrant workers. Hear local French dialects, and learn for yourself why NB’s “drive-through” reputation is a lie. *Note: This version contains translated interviews. For the bilingual version, check our feed. 

How would we get anything done if not for New Brunswickers? Visit the country’s only bilingual province and meet the Acadians, the Maliseet, and generations of migrant workers. Hear local French dialects, and learn for yourself why NB’s “drive-through” reputation is a lie. *Note: This episode features interviews conducted in French. 

We dive into one of Canada’s most-visited tourist destinations—and self-professed honeymoon capital of the world—Niagara Falls, Ontario. First, we explore the falls’ geological formation and how they were divided between Canada and the United States. Next, all of the ways people have tried to make a buck off this natural wonder: from industrial polluters to daredevils in barrels to the wax museums of Clifton Hill. We also talk to some locals about what it’s like to live there, and find out why the Maid of the Mist “legend” is so problematic.

Meet Elsa Gidlow and Roswell George Mills, creators of North America’s first LGBTQ publication, Les Mouches Fantastiques.

This episode might be the strangest piece of Canadiana we’ve found yet: and warning, it’s not suitable for children. First, we go deep down a rabbit hole to investigate Bear by Marian Engel, a novella that won the Governor-General’s Literary Award decades before it became an internet meme—because it’s all about lady/bear sex. Next, we explore first- and second-wave feminism and the lives of women in Canada during Bear’s time.

Bonus! Meet Abby Hoffman former Olympian and trailblazer.

What we do really know about the history of black people in Canada? Sure, there’s the Underground Railroad and the jazz prowess of Oscar Peterson—but what else? How about 200 years of slavery in Canada; the first race riot in North America; the false promise of “freedom and a farm”; or Birchtown, Nova Scotia, home to one of this country’s first settlements of black people.

Bonus! Meet Susan Olivia Poole, the first Indigenous woman to receive a patent with an invention that has been sold all over the world. 

Ah, dock life—a crackling fire and the sound of loons on the water. But where does cottage country come from? In one part of Ontario, we look at how the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation were pushed off their land to make way for cottages, a park and even an army base.

A new episode is coming soon! But before that happens, we need to shout out someone wonderful named Rosemary Brown.

How did Banff come to be? A look back at how Indigenous people were kicked off their land—and then how the national park was built by the forced labour of interned Ukrainian-Canadians. Skiing at Lake Louise will never feel the same again.

A podcast that looks at all the people, places and events regularly left out of Canadian history. Hosted and written by Leah-Simone Bowen & Falen Johnson, produced by Katie Jensen.