Day 6

The climate is changing. So are we. On What On Earth, you’ll explore a world of solutions with host Laura Lynch and our team of journalists. In 1970, 20 million people showed up to fight for the environment on the first Earth Day. More than five decades later, is it time for this much tamer global event to return to its radical roots? OG organizer Denis Hayes recounts how – amidst other counterculture movements at the time – his team persuaded roughly one in ten Americans to take to the streets. As he approaches 80, Denis offers his singular piece of advice to the next generation of climate leaders. Then, environmental warriors Maria Blancas and Axcelle Campana share ideas on what a reinspired Earth Day could look like – including making it a public holiday. More episodes of What On Earth are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/PobYcvVY We love to hear from our listeners and regularly feature them on the show. Have a question or idea? Email Earth@cbc.ca

PLUS: Bluey's season finale has left everyone wondering about the show's future; after 30 years the bus from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has been found; a researcher worried no one would read her work on coral reefs, so she turned the data into music; how the year 1999 broke the music industry; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Maia Kobabe's graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir is the most challenged book in the United States; how China uses WeChat to undermine democracy around the world; Civil War imagines a United States at war with itself; a new documentary tells the story of Judee Sill, a celebrated folk-rock icon only now getting her due; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: How records of past eclipses help us understand human history; an unpopular Israeli government stares down growing international criticism and domestic protests; what Beyoncé's cover of Blackbird means to one of the Little Rock Nine; one of the few female crossword puzzle makers makes a case for diversifying the grid; a New York Times investigation reveals disturbing connections between child Instagram influencer accounts and self-described pedophiles; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: 10 Things I Hate About You turns 25; Naheed Nenshi shakes up Alberta politics; Hatsune Miku, the vocaloid, hologram and pop star poised to take on North America; how a retired couple from Idaho became among the best in the world at recovering the bodies of people who drown; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: A local soup kitchen in Gaza helps people facing hunger and a looming famine; Amrit Kaur lands her first leading film role in The Queen of My Dreams, a multi-generational, queer, Bollywood-inspired coming-of-age story; the incredible story of Rose Dugdale, the English debutante who became a bombmaker for the IRA; the documentary As We Speak tracks what happens to justice when rap lyrics are considered admissible evidence in court; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Politicians calling for a TikTok ban should first understand why it's so appealing, says researcher; how the Toronto Law & Order spinoff's story of a crack-smoking mayor compares with covering Rob Ford; Girls5Eva creator Meredith Scardino parodies the 90s in song; Diné musician memorializes the Long Walk of the Navajo with a 4 year-long performance project; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

Caitlin Clark is breaking basketball records and bringing huge audiences to women’s sports; how anti-vax activists used the pandemic to get richer and more powerful; YouTube drag queen star Kyne Santos teaches math to show people how to see the world differently; a payphone turned art installation connects people to the birds that surround them; Oscar-nominated short doc the ABCs of Book Banning; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: How the Montreal Protocol helped avert an environmental crisis; families of Israeli hostages march for urgent action from their government; the scientist who created a mouse ICU to study the link between respiratory infections and dementia in older adults; reviewing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth; the Oscar-nominated documentary The Last Repair Shop affirms the life-changing power of music; and our weekly news quiz, Riffed from the Headlines.

Canadian doctors bear witness to life in Rafah as aid dries up; what Beyoncé's chart-topping country song could mean for other Black country music artists; genealogical activist documents the missing histories of enslaved people in America; how a pop-up kitchen in Vancouver became a popular restaurant and a life-line for its Syrian refugee chefs; Canadian music legend Ron Sexsmith looks back on a remarkable career with a 60th birthday concert at Massey Hall; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: As Canada's gig economy grows, workers push back; a romance bookstore owner embraces the fairy-driven frenzy of romantasy; international law scholar Philippe Sands says the ICC must do more to prosecute Russia's invasion of Ukraine; from Uncle Vanya to Henry Higgins, Canadian actor Tom Rooney is having a moment; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: In Rafah, a displaced Palestinian runs out of room to keep fleeing Israeli attacks; the prop bets for all the Super Bowl speculation about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce; the new documentary, I Will Survive, follows Gloria Gaynor's late life musical comeback; as Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin' turns 60, the strange musical it inspired is still awful; how relaxed performances set the stage for accessibility at live events; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

New documentary Israelism paints a portrait of young Jewish Americans increasingly alienated from Israel; why Twitter-X is full of fake celebrity photos trying to get you to click on cryptocurrency scams; as five professional hockey players face sexual assault charges, a hockey culture expert says there's still more work to be done; a deadly drone attack on U.S. soldiers highlights the end of America's monopoly on unmanned aerial attacks; why Suits was a streaming juggernaut in 2023; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

A fake message from Joe Biden appears to be an AI deepfake; how weather and climate change pose a threat to the Panama Canal; loud budgeting calls out the cost of keeping your personal finances to yourself; Mark Rothko's son curates one of the most comprehensive exhibits of his father's work; and our weekly news quiz, Riffed from the Headlines.

A new kind of climate change denialism has taken hold on YouTube; as temperatures plummet, tensions over access to housing are on the rise in Edmonton; why a Vancouver theatre festival canceled The Runner, a play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; a documentary maker wrestles with the consequences of her profession in the new podcast, Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative.

An engineer who stress tests phones weighs in on the iPhone that got sucked out of an airplane; what the Iowa Caucuses mean for the future of the Republican Party; Wet'suwet'en land defenders head to trial; the case for a climate disaster response organization modelled on the Red Cross; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly news quiz.

Mickey Mouse's first week in the public domain got weird, fast; the researchers using satellites and radar to measure the destruction in Gaza; the future of Broadway as movie remakes and jukebox musicals threaten to take over; and democracy at risk as more than half the world goes to vote in 2024.

This week, Day 6 serves up some of our favourite musical stories of the year. Tony King recounts his life serving and partying with the icons of 1960s and 70s rock; Kid Koala explains the theatrical alchemy of The Storyville Mosquito; music critic Melissa Vincent charts André 3000's progress from hip-hop icon with Outkast to ambient flautist on New Blue Sun; and wardrobe manager Rebecca Sevrin takes us backstage on Kiss' farewell tour.

Palestinian Christians prepare for a subdued Christmas in Bethlehem; an Edmonton theatre group stages Die Harsh: The Christmas Musical; the best under-the-radar video games of 2023; and the year in pop music.

The consequences of not funding Ukraine's war against Russia; a researcher working on electric planes says battery-powered domestic flights are within reach; meet the actor-turned-psychotherapist who played Veruca Salt in the original Willy Wonka; Becky Toyne's guide to holiday book gifts in 2023; the origin story of White Christmas; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly news quiz.