Storylines

Inmates recall seeing feces on the walls and using tampons for earplugs to drown out the constant screaming of other prisoners.  Today in Ontario, thousands more people are behind bars than just a few years ago. But the number of cells remains the same. Reports of violence, lockdowns and inadequate healthcare are on the rise. Most inmates haven’t been tried yet and this is all happening while...

Laura and Nick Bordignon fell in love with their daughter before she was born. They named her Makayla. They decorated her nursery. Nick snuggled up to Laura's stomach and read to her at night.  But seven months into the pregnancy Laura stopped feeling Makayla's movements, and doctors confirmed the worst. Makayla is one of about 3-thousand stillborn babies delivered every year in Canada. And d...

When Arthur Arnold resigned from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he walked away from one of the world's most prestigious symphony stages. This decision would bring him a world away, to Powell River, British Columbia, a town tucked between the ocean and the mountains with a population of 13,000. This town is at a crossroads. Two years ago, its economic hear...

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 Sh...

Stephanie Azzarello was dying. To survive, doctors told her she needed to find someone willing to donate part of their liver.  Her story went out on social media and late one night, it reached the phone of a nurse and mother in Portland Oregon. There was something about Stephanie’s story that made Trisha Beard want to help.  Liz Hoath brings us this story about two women whose lives beca...

In July 2024, seven fishermen from around New-Wes-Valley, Newfoundland set out on their fishing boat in search of turbot.   While at sea that day a fire broke out near the engine room, before long the bunkroom was full of smoke. The seven sailors had no choice but to abandon ship and before long they were sitting in a small life-raft.  What followed was a 52-hour ordeal that te...

One Yukon community is fighting back against wildfires with an unlikely weapon —trees. The plan seems counterintuitive, using trees to stop a fire, but Aspens are fire-resistant unlike the flammable trees like spruces and pines found around the city.  But growing the almost two million trees to make the firebreak isn’t easy.  It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of little seed...

Complaints are common. Cormorants kill trees. They eat too many fish. Their colonies stink.  Warren Hoselton has had enough. After three years of watching his beloved trees around his Ontario home be decimated by cormorant poop, he wants action. The birds have to go.  But not everyone has a hate-on for cormorants. Avian ecologists say it's not fair to fault birds for doing what nature de...

It was supposed to keep Canada together but a massive 1995 rally nearly did the opposite. In 1995, Canada was on the verge of breaking up. The province of Quebec was about to vote on whether to become a sovereign nation. Just days before a referendum on that very question, tens of thousands of Canadians from across the country poured into Montreal. Travelling by planes and trains - they gathered f...

Russian trucks drive across Canada’s arctic. Foreign ships appear along our northern shores. For decades, it’s fallen on Tuktoyaktuk to be Canada’s watchful eyes in the Arctic. But the recent surge of attention about arctic sovereignty and security from politicians in the south raises a host of concerns for residents. Will promised military funding and federal focus on security solve the local pro...

Stephanie Azzarello was dying. To survive, doctors told her she needed to find someone willing to donate part of their liver.  Her story went out on social media and late one night, it reached the phone of a nurse and mother in Portland Oregon. There was something about Stephanie’s story that made Trisha Beard want to help.  Liz Hoath brings us this story about two women whose lives beca...

As wind energy continues to grow in Canada, so does the body count for migratory bats. Biologist Cori Lausen has spent years advocating to help prevent bats from being killed by wind turbines. She even helped inform the rules around wind energy development and bats in Alberta. But she worries it may have been too little too late to prevent some species from going extinct.  Molly Segal travels...

Indigenous communities in South America say mining threatens their water supply. But the world needs lithium for EVs to fight climate change. In the Salinas Grandes salt flats, which hold significant lithium deposits, some residents are saying no to mining. But towns are divided. Some want the jobs that come with mining while others fear what this lithium extraction will do to the water table. Sto...

In Finland, bomb shelters double as playgrounds. 900,000 reservists on standby. In Sweden, millions received war prep pamphlets. Defense spending doubled in four years. These Nordic nations aren’t taking any chances with Russia’s war in Ukraine raging. They remember what happened in 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Both countries also joined NATO, so Canada is bound to defend them too.&...

At just 46, Jennifer Brady, a Halifax single mother and professor, made the shocking decision to apply to die. She couldn't get surgery in Nova Scotia for a painful condition called lymphedema. After six years of fighting, she saw medical assistance in dying as her only option. But what happened next set off a chain reaction that would take her case to the courts and the premier’s office. Angela M...

When a grizzly bear swam to Texada Island, 5 kilometres off the mainland of BC, it arrived in a place that was known to have no predators. The bear, which soon had the nickname, “Tex,” quickly divided this community of a little more than 1000 people. Some saw a beautiful animal that deserved protection, while others saw a dangerous predator that needed to be removed. In her documentary, “A Bear Ca...

Starting when she was two years old, Robin Heald endured years of sexual abuse by her stepfather.  As a young teenager, she told police, child protection services and her mother what was going on, yet little changed. Her mother even chose to stay with the man who was abusing her.  In the documentary, “It Ends with Me,” Robin takes us on a road trip to visit her mother and sister - a jour...

It’s Friday prayers at the Masjid Al-Noor mosque in St. John's, Newfoundland and the building is packed. Worshippers squeeze into the basement, they spill into the kitchen and lay prayer mats on the lawn. The Muslim community here desperately needs a bigger space.  Soon they’ll have one because a new mosque, under construction just up the road in a former church.   The story of how...

When tariffs on goods from China reached 145 percent, a cargo ship carrying tens of thousands of dollars worth of dog toys arrived in Los Angeles but was not unloaded. The toys remained on the ship as it sailed to New York City, in the hope that the tariffs would be lifted by the time it arrived. Had that plan failed, the entire cargo might have been destroyed. This was the kind of costly decision...

When Arthur Arnold resigned from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he walked away from one of the world's most prestigious symphony stages. This decision would bring him a world away, to Powell River, British Columbia, a town tucked between the ocean and the mountains with a population of 13,000. This town is at a crossroads. Two years ago, its economic hear...

Storylines is taking a break for the summer but we'll be back in the fall with a brand new season of audio documentaries.  Until then, scroll back through our feed to discover a collection of audio stories to keep you company all summer long. See you in September! 

It’s a little money saving trick Canadians who live near a provincial border know well. They drive to another province to save a bit because products are cheaper there. It’s the kind of thing you’d do without giving it a second thought. However, for Gerard Comeau, driving from New Brunswick to Quebec to buy a case of beer resulted in a ticket and a constitutional challenge that made it all the way...

In West Sacramento, California, an unlikely team of firefighters is helping save homes from wildfire. They have four legs, love to eat, and bleat when they're happy. If you haven’t guessed already, we’re talking about goats!  When flames raced toward a condo complex in 2022, the fire suddenly stopped. Residents credit the goats who had recently cleared the area of dry grass and brush. Tim Arr...

In 2014, Shams Erfan was pulled off a bus by members of the Taliban who accused him of being a traitor. A bystander intervened, saving his life, but Shams knew he was no longer safe in Afghanistan.  This threat set Erfan on a treacherous eight-year journey. He hoped to find a safe haven in Indonesia. Instead, he spent years stuck in a refugee prison camp. When he finally reached Canada, Shams...

For decades, Maria Grazia Filipucci carried on a secret love affair with a Catholic priest. They met as children and became friends, but when he turned 14, his parents sent him off to seminary. They stayed in touch, and as adults began a romantic relationship. Through periods of separation and togetherness, she had to navigate the emotional complexity of loving a man bound by a religious vow of ce...