Witness to Yesterday (The Champlain Society Podcast on Canadian History)
273 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsImmerse yourself in Canada’s history! Witness to Yesterday episodes take listeners on a journey to document a time in Canada’s past and explore the people behind it, its significance, and its relevance to today. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. To learn more about the Society and Canada’s history, subscribe to our newsletter at https://bit.ly/news_WTY.
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Episodes
Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia
April 19, 2024 00:00 - 39 minutes - 54.4 MBNicole O’Byrne talks to Sean Carleton about his book, Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia. Lessons in Legitimacy brings the histories of different kinds of state schooling for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples – public schools, Indian Day Schools, and Indian Residential Schools – into one analytical frame. Schooling for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and youth had distinct yet complementary functions in building Brit...
Canadian Criminal Law in Ten Cases
April 12, 2024 13:06 - 59 minutes - 81.1 MBNicole O’Byrne talks to Martin Friedland about his book, Canadian Criminal Law in Ten Cases. Canadian Criminal Law in Ten Cases explores the development of criminal justice in Canada through an in-depth examination of ten significant criminal cases. Martin L. Friedland draws on cases that went to the Supreme Court of Canada or the Privy Council, including well-known cases such as those of Louis Riel, Steven Truscott, Henry Morgentaler, and Jamie Gladue. The book addresses such issues as wro...
The Avro Arrow: For the Record
April 05, 2024 12:44 - 33 minutes - 46.1 MBLarry Ostola talks to Palmiro Campagna about his book, The Avro Arrow: For the Record. The controversial cancellation of the Avro Arrow — an extraordinary achievement of Canadian military aviation — continues to inspire debate today. When the program was scrapped in 1959, all completed aircraft and those awaiting assembly were destroyed, along with tooling and technical information. Was abandoning the program the right decision? Did Canada lose more than it gained? Brimming with information...
Terry & Me: Inside the Marathon of Hope
April 01, 2024 11:24 - 33 minutes - 45.5 MBLarry Ostola talks to Bill Vigars about his book, Terry & Me: Inside the Marathon of Hope. A twenty-two-year-old cancer survivor and amputee, Terry set out from St. John’s Newfoundland in April 1980, aiming to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. His first months on the road in Atlantic Canada and Quebec were not only physically taxing—he ran the equivalent of a marathon a day—but frustrating as Canadians were slow to recognize and support his endeavor. That all changed when...
We Shall Persist: Women and the Vote in the Atlantic Provinces
March 25, 2024 20:03 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBNicole O’Byrne talks to Heidi MacDonald about her book, We Shall Persist: Women and the Vote in the Atlantic Provinces. We Shall Persist captures both the long campaign and the years of disappointment. Suffrage victories across Atlantic Canada were steps in an unfinished and contentious march toward gender, race, and class equality. This insightful book will appeal to readers with an interest in women’s history, as well as to historians, political scientists, and women’s studies scholars an...
Mennonite Farmers: A Global History of Place and Sustainability
March 21, 2024 17:53 - 40 minutes - 55.4 MBGreg Marchildon talks to Royden Loewen about his book, Mennonite Farmers: A Global History of Place and Sustainability. The book reveals the ways in which modern-day Mennonite farmers have adjusted to diverse temperatures, precipitation, soil types, and relative degrees of climate change. These farmers have faced broad global forces of modernization during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, from commodity markets and intrusive governments to technologies marked increasingly by t...
Unsettled: Lord Selkirk’s Scottish Colonists and the Battle for Canada’s West, 1813–1816
March 15, 2024 00:00 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBLarry Ostola talks to Robert Lower about his book, Unsettled: Lord Selkirk’s Scottish Colonists and the Battle for Canada’s West, 1813–1816. The fascinating story of the Red River Settlement, now Winnipeg, in the years 1813 to 1816, told with archival journals, reports, and letters. Unsettled takes you inside the experience, relying on journals, reports, and letters to bring these days of soaring hope, crushing despair, and heroic determination to life — to bring their present into ours. Ro...
Cheated: The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land
March 08, 2024 14:10 - 29 minutes - 40.4 MBNicole O'Byrne talks to Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen about their book, Cheated: The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land published by ECW Press in October 2023. Cheated is a gripping story of single-minded politicians, uncompromising Indian Affairs officials, grasping government appointees, and well-connected Liberal speculators, set against a backdrop of politics, power, patronage, and profit. The Laurier government’s settlement of western Canada can never be looked...
On Stony Ground: Russländer Mennonites and the Rebuilding of Community in Grunthal
March 04, 2024 15:11 - 35 minutes - 49.2 MBGreg Marchildon talks to James Urry about his book, On Stony Ground: Russländer Mennonites and the Rebuilding of Community in Grunthal, published by UTP in February 2024. On Stony Ground presents a historical ethnographic account of a generation of Mennonites from the Soviet Union who, following Russia’s revolution and civil war, immigrated to Manitoba during the 1920s. James Urry examines how they came to terms with a new land and with their new neighbours, including other Mennonites, Ukrai...
Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume XII: New Essays in Women's History
February 23, 2024 18:08 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O'Byrne talks to Lori Chambers and Joan Sangster about their book, Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume XII: New Essays in Women's History published by UTP in October 2023. Drawing on engaging case studies, Essays in the History of Canadian Law brings the law to life. The contributors to this collection provide rich historical and social context for each case, unravelling the process of legal decision-making and explaining the impact of the law on the...
The Slow Rush of Colonization: Spaces of Power in the Maritime Peninsula, 1680–1790
February 16, 2024 13:56 - 51 minutes - 70 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O'Byrne talks to Thomas Peace about his book, The Slow Rush of Colonization: Spaces of Power in the Maritime Peninsula, 1680–1790 published by UBC Press in February 2024. In The Slow Rush of Colonization, historian Thomas Peace traces the 100-year context that underpins the widespread Euro-American/Euro-Canadian settlement of the Maritime Peninsula. Thomas Peace is an associate professor of history and co-director of the Community History Centre at Huron Univ...
The Ontario Bond Scandal of 1924 Re-examined
February 08, 2024 21:41 - 23 minutes - 32.7 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O'Byrne talks to Ian Kyer about his book, The Ontario Bond Scandal of 1924 Re-examined published by Irwin Law in October 2023. In 1924, Peter Smith, the former treasurer of the Province of Ontario, and Aemilius Jarvis, one of Canada’s most prominent businessmen and a champion yachtsman, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy to defraud the Ontario government in connection with the repurchase of three series of succession duty–free bonds four years before. We...
Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF
February 01, 2024 14:19 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Graham Broad about his book, Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF published by the University of Toronto Press in October 2023. This extensively annotated wartime diary illuminates the military service of Leslie Howard Miller (1889–1979), a Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Miller joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in 1914. In his off-duty hours, he kept this extraordinarily eloq...
The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada
January 25, 2024 14:15 - 29 minutes - 40.9 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to John Ibbitson about his book, The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada published by Signal in October 2023. One of Canada’s foremost authors and journalists, Ibbitson offers a gripping account of the contest between John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, two prime ministers who fought each other relentlessly, but who between them created today’s Canada. The Duel is a tale of two men, children of Victoria, who led Canada i...
King and Chaos: The 1935 Canadian General Election
January 18, 2024 22:10 - 43 minutes - 60.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to David MacKenzie about his book, King and Chaos: The 1935 Canadian General Election, published by UBC Press in June 2023. In 1935, Canadians went to the polls against a backdrop of the Great Depression and deteriorating international conditions. This election was like no other, as five major parties competed for voters who were used to a traditional slate of Liberals versus Conservatives. King and Chaos examines the issues, personalities, and sig...
For a Better World: The Winnipeg General Strike and the Workers' Revolt
January 11, 2024 14:21 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to James Naylor, Rhonda L. Hinther, and Jim Mochoruk about their book, For a Better World: The Winnipeg General Strike and the Workers' Revolt, published by UMP in September 2022. Canada’s largest and most famous example of class conflict, the Winnipeg General Strike, redefined local, national, and international conversations around class, politics, region, ethnicity, and gender. The Strike’s centenary occasioned a re-examination of this critical...
In a ‘Land of Hope’: Documents on the Canadian Jewish Experience, 1627-1923
December 07, 2023 13:58 - 38 minutes - 52.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Richard Menkis and Pierre Anctil about their book, the 2023 volume of the Champlain Society, In a ‘Land of Hope’: Documents on the Canadian Jewish Experience, 1627-1923, published by University of Toronto Press in 2023. The first of two volumes, In a Land of Hope presents a uniquely complete overview of Canadian Jewish history up to 1923, from primary perspectives and over 150 significant historical sources. This collection includes documenta...
Statesmen, Strategists & Diplomats: Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Making of Foreign Policy
December 01, 2023 10:00 - 37 minutes - 51.8 MBLarry Ostola talks to Patrice Dutil about his book, Statesmen, Strategists & Diplomats: Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Making of Foreign Policy, published by UBC Press in June 2023. Statesmen, Strategists, and Diplomats explores how prime ministers from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau have shaped foreign policy by manipulating government structures, adopting and rejecting options, and imprinting their personalities on the process. Contributors provide fresh, sometimes surprising pe...
A Cooperative Disagreement: Canada-United States Relations and Revolutionary Cuba, 1959–93
November 23, 2023 20:24 - 34 minutes - 46.7 MBGreg Marchildon talks to John M. Dirks about his book, A Co-operative Disagreement: Canada-United States Relations and Revolutionary Cuba, 1959-93, published by UBC Press in August 2022. John Dirks investigates efforts at the senior and working levels of Canada-US diplomacy and bureaucracy to find mutually advantageous ways of cooperating, despite their respective approaches to revolutionary Cuba. When Washington sought the downfall of the communist regime through political isolation and eco...
The Notorious Georges: Crime and Community in British Columbia’s Northern Interior, 1909-25
November 16, 2023 15:27 - 36 minutes - 49.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Jonathan Swainger about his book “The Notorious Georges: Crime and Community in British Columbia’s Northern Interior, 1909-25”, published by UBC Press in 2023. In The Notorious Georges, Jonathan Swainger explores how the local pursuit of respectability collided with caricatures of a riotously ill-mannered settlement frontier of Prince George, British Columbia, in its early years. Anxious that the Georges were being overlooked by the provincial...
Lifesavers and Body Snatchers: Medical Care and the Struggle for Survival in the Great War
November 09, 2023 21:06 - 30 minutes - 41.9 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Tim Cook about his book, Lifesavers and Body Snatchers: Medical Care and the Struggle for Survival in the Great War, published by Penguin Canada in 2023. Based on deep archival research and unpublished letters of soldiers and medical personnel, Lifesavers and Body Snatchers is a powerful narrative that reveals how medical services supported the soldiers at the front during World War I and, in turn, shaped Canadian public health. Cook offers a...
For the Encouragement of Learning: The Origins of the Canadian Copyright Law
November 02, 2023 09:00 - 38 minutes - 52.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Myra Tawfik about her book, For the Encouragement of Learning: The Origins of the Canadian Copyright Law, published by the University of Toronto Press in 2023. For the Encouragement of Learning addresses the contested history of copyright law in Canada, where the economic and reputational interests of authors and the commercial interests of publishers often conflict with the public interest in access to knowledge. It chronicles Canada’s earlies...
Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery
October 30, 2023 13:28 - 19 minutes - 27.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Ken McGoogan about his book, Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery, published by Douglas & McIntyre in 2023. Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective. Franklin’s expeditions were monumental failures, yet, many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discover the Northwest Passage. This...
Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice
October 19, 2023 11:00 - 30 minutes - 42.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Kent Roach about his book, Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2023. In Wrongfully Convicted, Kent Roach raises awareness about wrongful convictions in Canada at a time when DNA exonerations are less frequent, and the memories of most famous cases are fading. Roach exposes lesser-known cases where defendants feel they have no option b...
A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto
October 12, 2023 09:00 - 37 minutes - 51.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Russell Field about his book, A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto, published by University of Toronto Press in 2023. In A Night at the Gardens, Russell Field delves into the history of Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens and the social mores and norms that influenced both its architecture and operation. Drawing on archival records, the book explores the neighbourhood in which Maple Leaf Gardens was situated, the ...
Rough Justice: Policing, Crime, and the Origins of the Newfoundland Constabulary, 1729–1871
October 05, 2023 09:00 - 46 minutes - 63.8 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Keith Mercer about his book, Rough Justice: Policing, Crime, and the Origins of the Newfoundland Constabulary, 1729–1871, published by Flanker Press in 2021. In Rough Justice, Keith Mercer examines the history of policing and crime in early Newfoundland. It focuses on the period between the appointment of the first constables on the island in 1729 to the establishment of the Newfoundland Constabulary in 1871, now known as the Royal Newfoundlan...
Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics
September 28, 2023 11:00 - 41 minutes - 57.3 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Gary J. Smith about his book, Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics, published by Douglas and McIntyre in 2022. In Ice War Diplomat, Canadian diplomat Gary J. Smith gives his behind-the-scenes insight into the 1972 Summit Series at the height of tension during the Cold War. Caught between capitalism and communism, Canada and the Soviet Union, Smith shares stories from his first overseas assignment in Moscow where he opts for sports di...
Harvesting Labour: The Making of Canada's Agricultural Workforce
September 22, 2023 16:45 - 36 minutes - 49.9 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Edward Dunsworth about his book, Harvesting Labour: Tobacco and the Global Making of Canada's Agricultural Workforce, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022. In Harvesting Labour Edward Dunsworth examines the history of farm work in one of Canada’s underrecognized but most important crop sectors—Ontario tobacco. Dunsworth takes aim at the idea that temporary foreign worker programs emerged in response to labour shortages or the ...
The Ku Klux Klan In Canada (2023 Reissue)
September 14, 2023 00:00 - 34 minutes - 46.9 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Patrice Dutil examines the reach and impact of the Ku Klux Klan in Canada from its beginnings to today with Allan Bartley, author of The Ku Klux Klan in Canada: A Century of Promoting Racism ...
The history of the 1960s scoop of Indigenous children in Prairie Canada (2023 Reissue)
September 07, 2023 21:40 - 31 minutes - 43.4 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. My name is Greg Marchildon. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes of 2022. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: In this episode, Greg Marchildon interviews Allyson Stevenson on her book Intimate Integration: A History of the Sixties Scoop and the Decolonization of In...
The History of Canadian Spying (2023 Reissue)
August 31, 2023 18:17 - 26 minutes - 36.7 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Greg Marchildon talks with Greg Kealey (professor of history emeritus, University of New Brunswick) on the history of Canadian Spying (RCMP) before CSIS and his book Spying on Canadians: The ...
The Origins of the Security State (2023 Reissue)
August 24, 2023 20:56 - 22 minutes - 31.2 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Greg Marchildon talks with Dennis Mollinaro about his book An Exceptional Law: Section 98 and the Emergency State, 1919-1936 (University of Toronto Press, 2017). This podcast was produced by ...
Reconsidering the Legacy of Vimy (2023 Reissue)
August 17, 2023 16:10 - 15 minutes - 21.7 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Greg Marchildon talks with Ian McKay (Wilson Institute for Canadian History) about his book (with Jamie Swift) The Vimy Trap: Or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Great War (Betwe...
The War Measures Act in Canada (2023 Reissue)
August 10, 2023 17:42 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Patrice Dutil discusses the uses of the War Measures Act in twentieth century Canada with Xavier Gelinas, the curator of political history at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau and th...
Mi'kmaq Life before the Europeans(2023 Reissue)
August 03, 2023 13:22 - 23 minutes - 31.7 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Greg Marchildon interviews Matthew Betts, the editor and principal author of Place-Making in the Pretty Harbour: The Archaeology of Port Joli, Nova Scotia published by the University of Ottaw...
The Pre-History of Multiculturalism in Canada(2023 Reissue)
July 27, 2023 04:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon interviews Daniel Meister, the author of The Racial Mosaic: A Pre-History of Canadian Multiculturalism published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in...
The Canada-US border: a history of a fluid and unstable boundary (2023 Reissue)
July 20, 2023 14:24 - 36 minutes - 49.7 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon interviews Benjamin Hoy, the author of A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border across Indigenous Lands. Published by Oxford...
The Intrepid James Wolfe (2023 Reissue)
July 14, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 63 MBWelcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Patrice Dutil discusses the life and military career of James Wolfe, the commander of British troops that conquered Quebec in 1759, with Larry Ostola. Ostola is the editor of the 2021 Volume...
Lasting Legacy: The history of the warships of Point Frederick
July 06, 2023 19:57 - 33 minutes - 46 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Robert D. Banks about his book, Warriors and Warships: Conflict on the Great Lakes and the Legacy of Point Frederick, published by Dundurn Press in 2023. In his book, Banks provides a detailed history of the shipbuilding at Point Frederick on Lake Ontario and its lasting legacy. Warriors and Warships illustrates this history by including colour archival maps, aerial views, photographs, and 3D reconstructions. Banks highlights this part of Canada...
The Life and Times of Henry Kelsey of the Hudson’s Bay Company
June 29, 2023 09:00 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Arthur J. Ray about his book, From the Frozen Sea to Buffalo Country: The Life and Times of Henry Kelsey of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1667–1724, published by the Champlain Society in 2022. Henry Kelsey is remembered for being the first European to travel from Hudson Bay to the territories of the Plains Assiniboine and Cree as a young Hudson’s Bay Company servant in 1690-91. He remained with the Company for another thirty-one years, rising thr...
Indigenous Injustice and Canada’s Legal System: The Death of Colten Boushie
June 22, 2023 09:00 - 23 minutes - 32.7 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Kent Roach about his book, Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2019. In August 2016, Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on a Saskatchewan farm by white farmer Gerald Stanley. In a trial that bitterly divided Canadians, Stanley was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter by a jury in Batt...
The American Century in Canada: Canadian-American Relations from 1945-1960
June 15, 2023 08:59 - 29 minutes - 41 MBIn this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Asa McKercher and Michael D. Stevenson about their co-edited book North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, which will be published by UBC Press in October 2023. North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, is an edited volume that looks at postwar Canada and Canadian-American relations of the 1940s and 1950s. From constitutional reform to transit policy, from national security to the arrival of television...
The Battle of Saratoga and the life of General John Burgoyne
June 05, 2023 18:08 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Norman Poser about his book From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne, published by McGill-Queens University Press in 2022. In From the Battlefield to the Stage, Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign of 1777, but also elements of Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been adequately explored. Burgoyne was a socialite, welcome in London’s fashionable drawing rooms, a...
Wires Crossed: How the Irving empire jeopardized free press in New Brunswick
June 01, 2023 09:00 - 20 minutes - 27.7 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Julian Walker about his book Wires Crossed: Memoir of a Citizen and Reporter in the Irving Press published by Friesen Press in 2021. Wires Crossed is first and foremost a love letter to the free press. In Julian Walker’s personal memoir as a citizen and reporter, he calls for a healthier New Brunswick free press—one that is more diverse, competitive, independent, and feisty. Through its traditional emulation of KC Irving and his family’s empir...
The intersections of thought laid bare by postwar nudism in Canada
May 25, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 55.1 MBIn this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Mary-Ann Shantz about her book What Nudism Exposes: An Unconventional History of Postwar Canada published by The University of British Columbia Press in 2022. As nudism took root after World War II, its Canadian adherents advanced the idea that going nude and looking at other’s bodies satisfied natural curiosity, loosened social taboos, and encouraged mental health. By the 1970s, nudists switched focus to promoting the pleasurable aspects of th...
Four landmark cases in bankruptcy and insolvency law in Canada
May 18, 2023 09:00 - 41 minutes - 57.1 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Thomas Telfer and Virginia Torrie about their co-authored book Debt and Federalism: Landmark Cases in Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, 1894–1937 published as part of the Landmark Cases and Canadian Law Series by the University of British Columbia Press in 2021. Despite having been enshrined in the constitution since confederation, Canadian bankruptcy law eludes straightforward interpretation. Debt and Federalism traces the shifting mean...
How the Canadian Constitution structures economic relations
May 12, 2023 09:00 - 33 minutes - 46.5 MBIn this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Malcolm Lavoie about his book Trade and Commerce: Canada's Economic Constitution published by McGill-Queens University Press in 2023. In recent decades, the economic framework of Canada’s Constitution has been a subject largely neglected by judges, scholars, and commentators. With Trade and Commerce, Malcolm Lavoie fills this gap by bringing to light a lost understanding of how the Constitution structures economic relations. The Constitution ...
The 80th anniversary of the Battle of The Atlantic
May 03, 2023 03:54 - 34 minutes - 47.1 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Ted Barris about his book The Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet of Victory published by HarperCollins in 2022. In Battle of the Atlantic, Ted Barris provides a well-researched account of Canada’s longest continuous military engagement during the Second World War. The years 2019 to 2025 mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic - the war’s most critical and dramatic battle of attrition. For five and a half years, German surface warsh...
Equality, Autonomy, and Dignity: Canadian Feminism over 100 Years
April 27, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBIn this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Joan Sangster about her book Demanding Equality: One Hundred Years of Canadian Feminism published by the University of British Columbia Press in 2021. In Demanding Equality, Joan Sangster weaves together various moments of women’s activism over a 100 year period to explore what feminism is in Canada. Sangster delves into the riches of Canadian feminism, beginning with nineteenth-century tracts and continuing beyond the recent intersectional tu...
Success and Glamour: Steve Paikin’s Biography of Prime Minister John Turner
April 19, 2023 20:14 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MBIn this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Steve Paikin about his book John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada's 17th Prime Minister published by Sutherland House in 2022. In this biography, acclaimed journalist Steve Paikin illustrates the life and times of Canada’s 17th prime minister, John Turner (1929-2020). One of Canada’s most glamorous and successful politicians, John Turner was born in England but raised in British Columbia, Canada. He was a champion sprinter and a Rhodes sc...