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!

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

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.

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

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 Abby Hoffman former Olympian and trailblazer.

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.

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

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.