Under the Mat: A Dark History Podcast

Allen, C. (2010). Butterbox baby searching for her mom. Saltwire. https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/butterbox-baby-searching-for-her-mom-114603 Balcom, K. (n.d.). Scandal and Social Policy: The Ideal Maternity Home and the Evolution of Social Policy in Nova Scotia, 1940–1951. McMaster University. https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/acadiensis/article/view/10719/11433 Cahill, B. (1992). Bu...

Amad, A. (2018). Remembering the ‘Somalia Affair,’ Canada's Forgotten Abu Ghraib Moment. Vice . https://www.vice.com/en/article/remembering-the-somalia-affair-canadas-forgotten-abu-ghraib-moment/ Department of National Defence. (2018). International Operation: UNOSOM I . https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/past-operations/africa/cordon.ht...

Alexopoulous, G. (2017). Sick Labor: Illness and Treatment in Stalin's Gulags. Yale Books . https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2017/05/05/sick-labor-illness-and-treatment-in-stalins-gulags/ Applebaum, A. (2003). Gulag: A History . Doubleday. Bauer, B. (2005). Gulag: Life Inside. Hoover Institution . https://www.hoover.org/research/gulag-life-inside Britannica. (2024). Gulag . https://www.britannica.com/pl...

Britannica. (2026). Halifax explosion . https://www.britannica.com/event/Halifax-explosion Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Halifax Explosion, 105 Years On . https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/the-halifax-explosion-105-years-on/ Ingram, K. (2020). Remembering the Halifax Explosion. The Walrus . https://thewalrus.ca/remembering-the-halifax-explosion/ Kernaghan, L. & Foot, R. (2025). Hali...

Britannica. (2024). Chernobyl Disaster. https://www.britannica.com/event/Chernobyl-disaster Briggs, H. (2019). Will We Ever Know Chernobyl's True Death Toll? BBC Future . https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190725-will-we-ever-know-chernobyls-true-death-toll Galán-Madruga, D. et al. (2019). Chernobyl Has Become a Refuge for Wildlife 33 Years After the Nuclear Accident. The Conversation . https://...

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Dr. Elaine Hyshka about the drug poisoning crisis in North America, reducing stigma surrounding substance use, and how governments can address the crisis through evidence-based policy. Dr. Elaine Hyshka is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Systems Innovation at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, and Scientific Director of t...

Bains, C. (2024). More than 1 in 4 deaths among young people in Canada were opioid-related in 2021, study finds. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioid-young-people-1.7174098 Boynton, S. (2025). New Purdue opioid crisis settlement builds ‘momentum’ for Canada: B.C. AG. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/11247593/opioid-crisis-lawsuits-purdue-mckinsey-canada-bc-us/ CATIE. (2025). Reported...

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Dr. Harvey Imani Whitfield about the history of slavery in early Canada, the lives of enslaved people during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the legacy of slavery in North America today. Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield is a professor and Centennial Carnegie Chair in the History of Slavery in Canada at the University of King’s College in Halifax. Prior to his...

Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. (n.d.). Slavery . https://bccns.com/our-history/slavery/ Brown, K. G. (2019). Canada’s slavery secret: The whitewashing of 200 years of enslavement. CBC . https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/canada-s-slavery-secret-the-whitewashing-of-200-years-of-enslavement-1.4726313 Canadian Museum of History. (n.d.). Virtual Museum of New France . https://www.historymuseum.ca/...

Adams, P. (2025). Canada needs to move toward a public health model of supporting grief. Policy Options . https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/07/grief-support/ Australian Museum. (2018). Mourning - Victorian Era . https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/mourning-victorian-era/ Cole, M. (n.d.). Mourning After: The Victorian Celebration of Death. Oshawa Community Mus...

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Francine Pelletier about the legacy of the École Polytechnique massacre and the progress of feminism and with Makenna Kuzyk about the Order of the White Rose Scholarship and building brighter futures for women in engineering. Francine Pelletier has had a long career as a journalist, both in print and for electronic media, in French as well as in English. Her career...

If you're in need of support, dial 988 or text WELLNESS to 741741. Blais, M. & Dupuis-Déri, F. (2019). The Montréal Massacre is finally recognized as an anti-feminist attack. The Conversation . https://theconversation.com/the-montreal-massacre-is-finally-recognized-as-an-anti-feminist-attack-128450 DiBranco, A. (2019). The First Anti-Feminist Massacre. Political Research Associates . https://p...

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Wayne Garnons-Williams about his experience as a Sixties Scoop survivor, the work of the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada, and what's required to protect the rights of Indigenous children in Canada and globally. Wayne Garnons-Williams, BA (Windsor), LLB (Queen’s), MPA (Dalhousie), LLM (Oklahoma) is the CEO of the not-for-profit registered charity,...

Alston-O’Connor, E. The Sixties Scoop: Implications for Social Workers and Social Work Education. University of Windsor . https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5816/4747 Cameron, C. (2018). The Sixties Scoop tried to extinguish our culture and our spirit. It failed. CBC News . https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/sixties-scoop-1.4595402 Hoye, B. (2025). 10 years after apology, '60s Scoop s...

Bradburn, J. (2021). ‘A turning point in our history’: Remembering Canada’s first major gay-rights protest. TVO Today . https://www.tvo.org/article/a-turning-point-in-our-history-remembering-canadas-first-major-gay-rights-protest Benchetrit, J. (2023). How the parental rights movement resurged in response to trans inclusivity in classrooms. CBC News . https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/parental-rights-...

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth. Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Benjamin Kucher about unmarked burials, residential school denialism, balancing academic and community responsibilities, and the future of reconciliation. Benjamin Kucher is a Métis archaeologist, writer, and activist from the Métis Nation of Alberta and a descendant o...

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth. If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Baskatawang, L. (2023). A Brief History of Reconciliation in Canada. Peace Review , 35(1), pp. 109-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402...

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth. If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm. CBC News. (2016). A history of residential schools in Canada . https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-can...

Anderson, A. (2023). Prison Abolition is Needed Now. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives . https://www.law.georgetown.edu/mcrp-journal/blog/prison-abolition-is-needed-now-prisons-and-jails-do-not-keep-anyone-safe/ Bauer, S. (2018). The True History of America’s Private Prison Industry. Time . https://time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industr...

Chmielewski, K. (2025). The First Atomic Bombs Tested and Used During World War II. Brittanica . https://www.britannica.com/story/discover-more-about-the-first-atomic-bombs-tested-and-used-during-world-war-ii Harry S. Truman Library. (n.d.). Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb . https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/decision-drop-atomic-bomb International Campaign to Abolish...

Disclaimer: I experienced some minor tech issues with my microphone while recording this episode. I apologize for any impact on the sound quality and appreciate your patience — everything will be back to normal next episode! Butts, E. (2018). Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case. The Canadian Encyclopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case Eate...

Breckler, S. J. (2004). How Can the Science of Human Behavior Help Us Understand Abu Ghraib? American Psychological Association . https://www.apa.org/topics/physical-abuse-violence/abu-ghraib Chaloux, L. (2012). Convergence of Errors: Leadership Failures Contributing to Abu Ghraib Abuses. Royal Military College Saint-Jean . https://www.cmrsj-rmcsj.forces.gc.ca/cb-bk/art-art/2012/art-art-2012-1-eng...

Elton, G.R. & Morrill, J. S. (2025). Henry VIII. Brittanica . https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VIII-king-of-England   Historic Royal Palaces. (2025). Henry VIII, Terrible Tudor? https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/henry-viii/#gs.mckfb5 Historic Royal Palaces. (2025). Henry VIII’s Wives: Six Queens, Six Women . https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-pala...

Concordia University, St. Paul. (2020). A History of Mental Illness Treatment: Obsolete Practices . https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/history-of-mental-illness-treatment/ Department of Justice Canada. (2023). The Mentally Ill: How They Became Enmeshed in the Criminal Justice System and How We Might Get Them Out . https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/mental/p3.html Goodman, J. T. (2014). M...

Boileau, J. (2022). Titanic. The Canadian Encylopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/titanic Daugherty, G. (2025). The Long, Strange Trip of the Titanic Victims Whose Remains Surfaced Hundreds of Miles Away, Weeks After the Ship Sank. Smithsonian Magazine . https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-long-strange-trip-of-the-titanic-victims-whose-remains-surfaced-hundreds-of-mi...