The Sunday Magazine

In our monthly challenge That's Puzzling! , Piya Chattopadhyay competes against one familiar voice and one clever listener in a battle of brain games devised by puzzle master Peter Brown . Playing this week are  Andi Petrillo , host of CBC's daytime coverage of the Milan-Cortina Olympics, and Annapolis Royal, N.S. listener  Jennifer Goddard .

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with Canada's former NATO ambassador  Kerry Buck  and international politics professor  Mark Webber about the future of NATO Reporter Jacob Soboroff explores what last year's L.A. fires reveal about the politics of disaster Canadian Nobel Prize laureate Peter Howitt unpacks the economic theory of "creative destruction" Our monthly challenge That’s Puzz...

To kick off a new year of  Word Processing , our ongoing look at language, Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with lexicographer  Susie Dent  about the old words you didn't know you needed to sum up our modern times, and her pitch to get "recombobulation" – the opposite of discombobulation – properly in the dictionary. So, nevermind the "snollygosters," just gather round your "copemates" and...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero , Lulu Garcia-Navarro from The New York Times, and University of Ottawa's Roland Paris about the bigger implications of U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro Lexicographer Susie Dent resurfaces old words you didn't know you needed to sum up our modern times Actor, author and director Stephen Fry reimag...

In October, the legendary naturalist  Jane Goodall  died at age 91. During her life, Goodall not only saw a lot of change in the world, but made a lot of it too. Her field work with chimpanzees transformed how both science and the general public view our fellow primates. In later years, as an activist and conservationist, she inspired countless young people to follow her lead and change...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The New York Times' Stephanie Nolen , Council on Foreign Relations fellow Ebenezer Obadare and international affairs expert Suparna Chaudhry about the consequences of recent cuts to foreign aid We revisit our conversation with the late conservation icon Jane Goodall about keeping hope for our planet alive Chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat shares how grief re...

Did you replace your chocolate orange with Dubai chocolate this year? Spike your eggnog with matcha? According to  Ruby Tandoh , algorithms and search engine optimization are the hidden ingredients in the food we crave. The baker and writer joins Piya Chattopadhyay to explain how frothy adjectives came to dominate recipes, why we can't get enough of the colour green, and what today's top tren...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The Atlantic's Toluse "Tolu" Olorunnipa and Politico's Hailey Fuchs about the revelations in Friday's partial release of the Epstein files – and how they intersect with U.S. politics, baker and writer Ruby Tandoh explains how virality shapes our appetites, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee discusses breakthroughs in cancer research, and novelist Gary Shteyngart explores...

This past week, Time magazine named "The Architects of AI" its 2025 Person of the Year, even as the stock market wobbled with fears of an artificial intelligence-fuelled bubble. One way to help make sense of this moment is a tech industry concept known as the "hype cycle." As  The Sunday Magazine’s   Pete Mitton  explains, the time-tested idea suggests that, as with other new techno...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with journalists Shannon Proudfoot and Rob Russo about the year in Canadian politics, The Sunday Magazine ’s Pete Mitton explains how the "hype cycle" concept can help us understand where we stand with artificial intelligence, Russian-American journalist Julia Ioffe explores the feminist history that shaped modern Russia, and journalist Stefan Fatsis shares what the...

In our monthly challenge That's Puzzling! , Piya Chattopadhyay competes against familiar voices and clever listeners in a battle of brain games devised by puzzle master Peter Brown . In this special edition, recorded live in Toronto as part of CBC's national holiday campaign Make the Season Kind, Bookends host Mattea Roach , actress and comedian Jennifer Whalen and a whip smart audience member ent...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with journalist Ana Vanessa Herrero and Latin America expert Rebecca Hanson about U.S. President Donald Trump's growing threats to Venezuela and his administration's strikes in the broader region, Ali Kharsa shares his experience fleeing Syria's civil war for Canada a decade ago and University of Ottawa professor Christina Clark-Kazak discusses the current state of C...

When she became prime minister of Finland at age 34,  Sanna Marin  was the youngest government leader in the world. During the day, she steered her country through crises including the pandemic and neighbouring Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But her life off-the-job, having fun with friends, tended to catch the attention of the global press and led to scandals at home. Marin joins Piya Ch...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The Hub's Alberta bureau chief Falice Chin , Calgary-based CBC News journalist Jason Markusoff and The Logic's Ottawa correspondent  Laura Osman about Ottawa's energy deal with Alberta, psychologist Robert Coplan explores the virtues of being alone, former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin reflects on the challenges she faced in office, and forester Peter...

In his hit 2003 pop science book,  A Short History of Nearly Everything , writer  Bill Bryson  took readers on a journey from the birth of the universe to the inner workings of a cell, and had them laughing along the way. Over 20 years on, Bryson joins Piya Chattopadhyay to explain why he's now updating his seminal work to explore what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what still amazes h...

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with The Globe and Mail's Tony Keller about how Canada's desire for immigrants gave way to debate, writer Bill Bryson brings wonder to science in a refresh of his seminal work A Short History of Nearly Everything , former national security analyst and policy advisor Dennis Molinaro explores the complicated history of Canada-China relations, and comedian Charles Demer...

Do you ever peer into your pet's face and wonder... what's going on in there?  Jay Ingram  has been wondering, too. The science writer and broadcaster joins David Common to discuss his new book, The Science of Pets, and delve into what scientific research says about the bond between humans and non-human animals, the ways we try to understand our fellow creatures, and how pets a...

Guest Host David Common speaks to The Toronto Star's  Susan Delacourt  and  Rob Russo  from The Economist about the week in politics, science writer and broadcaster  Jay Ingram delves into the bond between humans and non-human animals, the CBC's John Chipman considers whether double-crested cormorants should be purged or preserved in our Sunday Documentary,  The...