Witness to Yesterday (The Champlain Society Podcast on Canadian History)

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Robert D. Banks about his book, Warriors and Warships: Conflict on the Great Lakes and the Legacy of Point Frederick, published by Dundurn Press in 2023. In his book, Banks provides a detailed history of the shipbuilding at Point Frederick on Lake Ontario and its lasting legacy. Warriors and Warships illustrates this history by including colour archiv...

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Arthur J. Ray about his book, From the Frozen Sea to Buffalo Country: The Life and Times of Henry Kelsey of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1667–1724, published by the Champlain Society in 2022. Henry Kelsey is remembered for being the first European to travel from Hudson Bay to the territories of the Plains Assiniboine and Cree as a young Hudson’s Bay C...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Kent Roach about his book, Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2019. In August 2016, Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on a Saskatchewan farm by white farmer Gerald Stanley. In a trial that bit...

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Asa McKercher and Michael D. Stevenson about their co-edited book North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, which will be published by UBC Press in October 2023. North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, is an edited volume that looks at postwar Canada and Canadian-American relations of the 1940s and 1950s. F...

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Norman Poser about his book From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne, published by McGill-Queens University Press in 2022. In From the Battlefield to the Stage, Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign of 1777, but also elements of Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Julian Walker about his book Wires Crossed: Memoir of a Citizen and Reporter in the Irving Press published by Friesen Press in 2021. Wires Crossed is first and foremost a love letter to the free press. In Julian Walker’s personal memoir as a citizen and reporter, he calls for a healthier New Brunswick free press—one that is more diverse, competitive...

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Mary-Ann Shantz about her book What Nudism Exposes: An Unconventional History of Postwar Canada published by The University of British Columbia Press in 2022. As nudism took root after World War II, its Canadian adherents advanced the idea that going nude and looking at other’s bodies satisfied natural curiosity, loosened social taboos, and encourage...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Thomas Telfer and Virginia Torrie about their co-authored book Debt and Federalism: Landmark Cases in Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, 1894–1937 published as part of the Landmark Cases and Canadian Law Series by the University of British Columbia Press in 2021. Despite having been enshrined in the constitution since confederation, Canadian ba...

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Malcolm Lavoie about his book Trade and Commerce: Canada's Economic Constitution published by McGill-Queens University Press in 2023. In recent decades, the economic framework of Canada’s Constitution has been a subject largely neglected by judges, scholars, and commentators. With Trade and Commerce, Malcolm Lavoie fills this gap by bringing to lig...

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Ted Barris about his book The Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet of Victory published by HarperCollins in 2022. In Battle of the Atlantic, Ted Barris provides a well-researched account of Canada’s longest continuous military engagement during the Second World War. The years 2019 to 2025 mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic - the war’s...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Joan Sangster about her book Demanding Equality: One Hundred Years of Canadian Feminism published by the University of British Columbia Press in 2021. In Demanding Equality, Joan Sangster weaves together various moments of women’s activism over a 100 year period to explore what feminism is in Canada. Sangster delves into the riches of Canadian femin...

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Steve Paikin about his book John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada's 17th Prime Minister published by Sutherland House in 2022. In this biography, acclaimed journalist Steve Paikin illustrates the life and times of Canada’s 17th prime minister, John Turner (1929-2020). One of Canada’s most glamorous and successful politicians, John Turner was bo...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Ravi Malhotra about his books Able to Lead: Disablement, Radicalism, and the Political Life of E.T. Kingsley published by University of British Columbia Press in 2021 and Class Warrior The Selected Works of E. T. Kingsley published by Athabasca University Press in 2020, both of which he co-authored and edited with Benjamin Isitt. In October 1890, Eu...

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon speaks with P. Whitney Lackenbauer about his book People, Politics, and Purpose: Biography and Canadian Political History published by University of British Columbia Press in 2023 and co-edited by the late Greg Donaghy. People, Politics and Purpose presents a collection of micro-biographies on key figures—including lumberjacks, prime ministers, and Indigeno...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks with award-winning author Jim R. Miller about his book Residential Schools and Reconciliation: Canada Confronts its History published by University of Toronto Press originally in 2017 and reprinted in paperback in 2022. In his book, Miller addresses and explains the institutional responses to Canada’s residential school legacy. Providing an analysis o...

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais speaks with Dan Malleck about his book, Liquor and the Liberal State: Drink and Order before Prohibition published by UBC Press in 2022. The book explores the history of liquor regulation in Ontario in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Malleck discusses how notions of individual freedom, equality, and property rights were debated, challenged,...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks with Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson about their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation published by HarperCollins Canada in 2022. Valley of the Birdtail was awarded the OLA Evergreen award in 2023. The book weaves together the multi-generational stories of Indigenous and non-Indigeno...

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola speaks to David Charters about his book, Canadian Military Intelligence: Operations and Evolution From the October Crisis To the War In Afghanistan published by Georgetown University Press in 2022. In this book, Charters explores recent Canadian military history, focusing on how tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence impacted Canadian military opera...

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais speaks with Lois Harder about her book, Canadian Club: Birthright, Citizenship and National Belonging published by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. Harder explores how Canadians confronted situations in which the certainty of birthright citizenship turned out to be less secure and less unassailable than generally presumed. She particularly looks at th...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks to Daniel Rück about his award-winning book, The Laws and the Land: The Settler Colonial Invasion of Kahnawà:ke in Nineteenth-Century Canada published by the University of British Columbia Press for the Osgoode Society Canadian Legal History in 2021. Based on his doctoral dissertation, Rück’s work is a history of the relationship between Kahnawà:ke an...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks to Keith S. Grant about his book, Enthusiasms and Loyalties: The Public History of Private Feelings in the Enlightenment Atlantic published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022. Grant examines the emotions of the communities in Atlantic Canada during the Enlightenment as they grappled with the turnout of the War of 1812, the Loyalist settlement...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks to Colin Campbell about his co-authored book with Robert Raizenne, A History of Canadian Income Tax, Volume One, 1917 to 1948 published by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and the Canadian Tax Foundation in 2022. It is the first installment in a three-volume series on the history of Canadian Income Tax and focuses on the periods of World...

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon speaks to P. Whitney Lackenbauer about his book, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations: Science and Sovereignty in the High Arctic, 1946-1972. The book is co-authored with Daniel Heidt. This history is a fascinating look at the Joint Arctic Weather Station (JAWS) initiative, and its five locations in Alert, Eureka, Resolute, Isachsen, and Mould Bay. Lackenbauer...

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon speaks to Ted Glenn about his book A Very Canadian Coup: The Rise and Demise of Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell, 1894-1896. Glenn provides a detailed and intriguing account of a little-known period of Canadian history, the life and times of Canada’s fifth Prime Minister, Mackenzie Bowell. Initially intended to be a “caretaker” Prime Minister, the Manitoba s...

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks to Barry Wright about his book Canadian State Trials, Volume V: World War, Cold War, and Challenges to Sovereignty, 1939–1990, co-edited with Susan Binnie and Eric Tucker. The book was published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. It is the final installment in a five-volume series on the hist...