This week on Storylines, the voices of Canadian World War One soldiers, sharing their stories of the front lines. You’ll hear these veterans talk about poison gas attacks, shellfire, the mud, the air war, and even the food.   

The stories come from interviews with World War One veterans done for the CBC program Flanders Fields which first aired on November 11, 1964. 

Also, a story from Montreal about a century-old Catholic church that faced a dilemma over what to do with its bells.

After the bell tower was damaged, the church faced the prospect of losing bells that had rung out for generations during worship services, weddings, and funerals. Instead, the choir director at Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus found a way to preserve them, ensuring they will continue to resonate with the congregation and community for years to come.

Produced and reported by Simon Nakonechny and originally aired on The Sunday Magazine. 

Hear the Soldiers of WW1 Speak was produced by Craig Desson

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

In 2013, American psychologist James Hardt made a promise to Indigenous kids in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He said his brainwave training would transform their lives by increasing IQ, curing mental health issues and potentially giving them superpowers like levitation. 

Perhaps the most surprising thing — he convinced the Prince Albert School Board and the research ethics board at the University of Regina — to approve this proposal, allowing him to experiment on these children.   

On this week’s Storylines, investigative journalist Geoff Leo uncovers the disturbing details of what went on during this brainwave training that targeted vulnerable children.

Reported by Geoff Leo and produced by Joan Webber & originally aired on The Current in June 2024. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

On this week's Storylines, we start on January 6, 2021, when the U.S. Capitol was overrun by rioters

A few blocks away, as the dramatic scenes unfolded, CBC journalist Katie Nicholson was confronted by a group of angry Trump supporters who heckled her and said she should get out of their country. One woman accused her of “spewing BS” and said that she and her crew should run. 

Ever since that day Katie has been thinking about who those people were, and what compelled them to join the crowd marching to the Capitol. Now, with the U.S. in the midst of a volatile election campaign, she also wondered if their thinking has changed

So she decided to track down the women who told her to run. It turns out the woman's name is Tracey Danka and she lives in North Carolina. Tracey invited Katie to her home to talk about what happened that day and the deepening political divide in America.

In Katie’s documentary we learn surprising information about Tracey, including the fact she’s married to a Democrat.

Also, the story of Robert Miniaci, a master of the lost art of projector repair. While most cinemas use digital projectors, museums and film devotees still depend on the analogue ones. That’s where Robert comes in: from his garage in Montreal he repairs projectors that are used around the world. 

Katie Nicholson’s doc was produced by Liz Hoath and originally aired on The Current.  

The documentary on Robert Miniaci was produced by Craig Desson and Julia Pagel and originally aired last April on The Sunday Magazine. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

Some twenty five years ago, in a small, nondescript building in downtown Tokyo, children gather to look at a suitcase displayed behind glass. They write poems and draw pictures about the suitcase because of the tragedy it represents. The suitcase came from Auschwitz. 

This suitcase belonged to Hana Brady, who was born in the Czech Republic, and whose life was brutally cut short by the Holocaust. She was first deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942, and then to Auschwitz in 1944 where she died at the age of 13. 

A Holocaust education center in Tokyo acquired the suitcase with no further information about Hana. So, its director, Fumiko Ishioka, made it her mission to find out more of Hana's story.

Her search brought her to Toronto and George Brady. He is Hana’s older brother, the only member of their immediate family to survive. For him, the reappearance of the suitcase in Japan, 57 years after Hana’s death, was absolutely astonishing.  

Produced by Karen Levine/originally aired in 2001 on The Sunday Edition 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

Tiny forests are taking root around the world. These dense forests, often the size of a tennis court, are jam-packed with trees. The density means the forest grows faster, which has made them popular in communities who want to grow forest canopy, making them a popular trend in urban and suburban areas.

But do tiny forests live up to the hype?

Join CBC climate reporter Ben Shingler as he explores this forest phenomenon. Ben takes us on a journey that goes to a tiny forest college students are planting in Montreal, and to Japan to hear the origin story of this movement. On the way we’ll hear from experts about what they think about tiny forests. 

Plus, a replay of a CBC Radio classic documentary: The Change in Farming. This doc is about Adam Goddard, a young Toronto composer, and his 90-year-old grandfather, Henry Haws, a lifelong farmer. Adam isn’t a farmer but wants to honour his family’s farming past by doing what he does best, so he records his grandfather talking about farming and puts it to music. 

Tiny Forests was reported by Ben Shingler and produced by Craig Desson and Catherine Rolfsen. Originally aired on What on Earth. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit 

In 2015, Yasser El Tahan picked up a stranger while off roading in Newfoundland. Days later, Yasser learned that the man he’d taken into the woods was a missing person named Jonathan Hannaford. 

Jonathan would be found a few days later, but this chance encounter on a country road haunted Yasser. So he decided to find Jonathan and talk to him about what happened that day. 

In this documentary, Yasser and Jonathan reconnect to retrace their steps. Together, they dig into what led to Jonathan’s disappearance and what happened after Yasser dropped him off. 

Reported by Yasser El Tahan and produced by Caroline Hillier / Originally aired on Atlantic Voice

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit 

She pretended to be a nurse in Colorado, Ontario, Alberta and B.C., posed as a teacher in Alberta and Quebec and worked as a hairstylist in multiple cities.

And no matter how many times this serial imposter ends up behind bars, Brigitte Cleroux just keeps returning to her life of deception.

In the documentary, “The Professional,” Bethany Lindsay follows Cleroux as she zig-zags across North America, racking up criminal convictions along the way. Disturbed patients, a bullied former student and a whistleblowing nurse all share their experiences — and talk about the pain Cleroux caused them.

Every person who’s crossed paths with Cleroux has a very different story to tell, but they’ve all been left with the same question: Why does she keep doing this?

Reported by Bethany Lindsay and produced by Joan Webber / Originally aired on The Current 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

Every day, hundreds of people cross the border from Sudan into Chad, searching for safety. They’re escaping a brutal civil war in Sudan which has been raging since April of 2023. In the conflict, men have routinely been rounded up and killed. Women have been raped. Homes and villages have been raided and destroyed. The conflict has forced 10.5 million people from their homes. More than 600,000 of those refugees have ended up in Eastern Chad. For many, their first stop is an area of open desert near the town of Adre. More than 200,000 people are living there right now. Shelters are made of sticks covered with scarves or plastic. Aid groups are distributing meager food and water but it’s nowhere near the standard set for an official camp. 

In this documentary, producer Elizabeth Hoath introduces you to a few of the people who are living in these terrible conditions. You’ll hear about what they escaped, and what they’re planning for the future. Then we travel to an official camp to meet women who are survivors of gender based violence. Sexual violence has been used as a tool in the war in Sudan but the women who managed to escape, are still not safe.

Produced by Elizabeth Hoath with help from Joan Webber/Originally aired on The Current. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

In this episode, we step inside a Toronto classroom where some 30 students from diverse backgrounds lift their voices and sing as part of the University of Toronto’s first-ever Black gospel choir class. Led by Professor Darren Hamiliton, the students, many with no background in gospel music, learn that there is more to this musical tradition than they imagined. 

In this documentary, Let it Shine, CBC doc producer Alisa Siegel follows these students over the course of the academic year as they discover a deeper understanding of Black musical tradition and its message of faith, freedom and joy.  

Produced by Alisa Siegel, with thanks to Julia Pagel and Greg Kelly and originally aired on The Current

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

Dylan Bullock, a former firefighter with the BC Wildfire Service, has heard about close calls. Like the time a colleague lost sight of the vehicle ahead and ended up in the path of a forest fire. They had to abandon their truck after it got stuck on a tree stump and escape on foot. Another time Dylan was hospitalised after his clothes caught fire during a controlled burn, caused by improperly mixed fuel.

Talk to people like Dylan, and they'll tell you fire seasons are getting hotter, harder, and more dangerous. They’ll share stories of exhaustion and near-misses. But, for some experienced workers, the mounting fatigue and risks are forcing them to quit.

In Joan Webber’s documentary The Burn, former wildfire fighters in B.C. speak about how that burnout is making conditions more perilous.

Produced by Joan Webber with help from Julia Pagel, this documentary originally aired on The Current. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit

Early in the morning in Winnipeg, outside a grocery store, Dmytro is about to start his shift. Dmytro, who is in their mid-20s and identifies as non-binary, has only been in Canada for 18 months. They fled Ukraine when the Russian invasion was looming and could only leave the country because of a medical condition. 

However, Ukraine amended its medical military exemptions, and Dmytro now fears they would be considered fit for duty. Plus, under Ukraine’s new conscription laws, they is required to return to Ukraine and register with a military enrollment office. Dmytro, though, wants to stay in Canada.

A version of this story is happening across many Ukrainian diaspora communities, as the Ukrainian government wants Ukrainian men living in countries like Canada to return and fight.

But many, like Dmytro, wish to remain where they are, as going home and putting on a uniform can mean being sent to the front and fighting in a war where there is a very real possibility of being killed.

However, for the Ukrainian government and for many who chose to go fight, this war is an existential fight for survival, and they need all the soldiers they can get.

In his documentary "Flight or Fight," John Chipman goes to Winnipeg, where the new conscription laws are sparking tensions among Ukrainians who fled the war, and those who stayed behind to fight. It’s a conflict over what it means to be loyal to your country. 

Reported by John Chipman. Story Editing by Julia Pagel. The documentary originally aired on Sunday Magazine 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit