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The AIH Transcript For September 15, 2021

[hosts]Carol Off, Chris Howden[/hosts]

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is “As It Happens”.

[music: theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

CO: Not what the doctor ordered. As COVID-19 surges in Saskatchewan, an emergency room physician in Saskatoon is pleading with his government to listen to medical advice.

CH: Blood in the water. After whalers kill hundreds of dolphins in the Faroe Islands -- sustaining a cove red -- A local MP tells us that despite Islanders general support of the hunt, an event like this could turn the tide of public opinion.

CO: A different goal in mind. The former captain of the Afghan women's soccer team helps 80 of her junior players to get out of the country, where they are facing a future full of fear and empty of sports.

CH: Unburying the hatchet. Archaeologists in the U.K. reveal what they've learned from a well-preserved wooden Bronze Age coffin containing an axe -- and what's left of the person it presumably belonged to.

CO: Off the beaten tracks. A Toronto historian releases a Second World War era song that marks the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur -- and explains the lyrics about Hitler, a chicken, and revenge are not your typical fare.

CH: And losing the super bowl. It's been two years since the theft of a solid gold toilet worth millions. And with no suspects and no leads, police say the potty’s over.

CH: “As It Happens”, the Wednesday edition. Radio that guesses they have nothing to go on.

[music: theme]

Part 1

Saskatchewan COVID

Guest: Paul Olszynski

CH: We're 18 months into the pandemic. And Saskatchewan's COVID-19 numbers are worse than ever. For the first time since the beginning, new daily cases exceeded 500 yesterday. And today, the province is reporting 475 cases. About 20 per cent of those are kids 11 and under who are not yet eligible to get the vaccine. Paul Olszynski is an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. He also works as an emergency physician in Saskatoon, primarily at Royal University Hospital. We reached him in Saskatoon.

CO: Dr. Olszynski, can you describe some of what you have seen in your emergency rooms in recent weeks as COVID surges in Saskatchewan?

PAUL OLSZYNSKI: You know, I think we started to notice that we were heading towards some bad trouble, probably as early as early August. We started to notice increasing and sustained surges. And we... we looked around and could see that our patients who were being admitted from the emergency room, for example, were not moving upstairs to the hospital wards because there was simply no capacity for them upstairs in the inpatient wards. And the volumes just continued and continued. It got to the point where I'd... for example, I'd show up at work. I would, you know, see that there were no... there were no emergency department beds to see a patient, no rooms to see them in. And so we make our way to the waiting room. And I remember being struck one time. I'd come into the waiting room to look through the charts, and there are people sitting, like, cross-legged on the floor because not only is the waiting room full, but there are even... not enough chairs for everyone. And so some people are now sitting. And it just... it's such a bizarre thing to see in a tertiary hospital, you know? This is supposed to be the hospital for the northern half of our entire province.

CO: And it's not just the people that are coming in, as you know, it always is. It's not just people who are suffering with symptoms of COVID. This is everything, right? From broken limbs to more serious things of life-threatening things, right?

PO: Absolutely. We continue to have kids fall off bikes and break their arms. We continue to have people have heart attacks. We continue to deal with mental health challenges and crises. So everything that we've been managing continues to kind of continue to come through our doors. And now we are increasingly dealing with this additional case burden of patients getting very sick with COVID.

CO: Saskatchewan lifted all of its public health measures on July the 11th. So now, two months down the line, how would you rate that decision?

PO: Well, if we look at the statistics, if we look at our numbers, clearly it didn't work. If the expectation was that that would motivate people to get vaccinated because they were... it was up to them now, then it... it clearly did not succeed. We are dealing with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. We have probably close to 300,000 people, some of them children that are ineligible for vaccine, who are currently being exposed to this virus at alarming rates with alarming levels of infection. And more concerning, almost in step, alarming levels of hospitalization for adults 30, 40, 50 years of age who are becoming critically ill from this virus. And I think the most... I think one of the very frustrating things about all of this is that, and I think, we're seeing it play out next door in Alberta as well. It's one thing to say you've got a plan that you expect people to get vaccinated. As misguided as I think that was, that was the decision. But in the face of overwhelming evidence that suggests that that it was a failed plan, to continue to ignore pleas from health care professionals, from our medical health officers, like from all of us across the board, to just ignore our pleas to institute some basic public health measures like indoor masking. You know, it just... it's... it's really tough to sit back and watch.

CO: And Premier Scott Moe, he has not implemented, again, the indoor masking. But he has reinstated a few things, right? I mean, the isolation requirements, some health services have been reduced. An order to redeploy health care workers has been invoked. So does it indicate at all that the premier might be listening to your message?

PO: Oh, I mean, there are so many things I would... I would like to just directly ask if I could. But I mean, I... I don't think... no, I don't think there are signs of... I don't believe that the advice from medical health officers and from the medical community is being listened to. And I... I think I would... you know, going back to the specific examples you gave, I mean, even essentially this idea that there was no... there was no public health order to even compel people who are sick with the virus to stay home. I mean, that is... that's such a bizarre thing that the fact that that ever even happened in the first place is against any kind of evidence or intuitive even response to something like this. So the fact that we now have a public health order around self-isolation in a positive case, I think just is, again, just a slow return towards some level of normalcy or evidence when it comes to managing this virus. But these other measures, I mean, they won't do anything to curb the spread of this virus. Enacting emergency legislation that's going to move your workforce. I mean, I think that's... the analogy would be it's, you know, summer of 2021. There's droughts throughout western Canada. Fires are raging. We're going to redeploy personnel to fight the fires, but we're going to do nothing about the people running around starting the fires. You know, a basic fire ban, right? So a mask mandate would go so far. And I think that's part of what makes this so much harder is now you're… now you're taking away choice and autonomy from care providers. You're making them work in extremely difficult conditions. And what would make it a little more bearable, I think, is if we do that, our friends, our community, our neighbours were in it with us and at least doing something like masking, universal masking, and moving towards things like vaccine verification, then... then it... it makes it... it makes it a little more bearable, I think. But when we are kind of just basically being told, you know, we're not going to do anything to slow the fires down, we're not going to decrease them, we're just going to expect you to work harder. I think that that is really disheartening.

CO: What's it like for you and your colleagues? I mean, there's a nurse today who said that she's ready to throw in the towel after two decades of working. How demoralizing is all this for you?

PO: Yeah, like it... it's... it is…. it is. I mean, I think everyone experiences this a little bit differently, but I think the... the themes that keep coming up are frustration, feeling abandoned. I think even for some people, feeling betrayed. Feeling as if we've been left to just deal with this... this human tragedy. Because ultimately, we are seeing people suffer. So the suffering continues. And I guess it's being displaced or moved on, you know, from one patient population to another. So, you know, it's the people who are waiting for care right now who are being forced to carry the weight of this and... and deal with the consequences of this unmitigated fourth wave. And I... and it's heartbreaking to be a witness to that.

CO: Dr. Olszynski, I know you have lots of work to do. And I appreciate that work that you're doing. And I thank you also for speaking with us today.

PO: Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity.

CH: Paul Olszynski is an emergency physician. He's also the chair of the emergency medicine section at the Saskatchewan Medical Association. He was in Saskatoon.

[music: glassy guitar]

Afghan Women’s Football Follow-Up

CH: Khalida Popal has gone from coaching the Afghan women's soccer team on the field to working to save their lives. Today, she helped more than eighty players -- ages 14 to 19 -- leave Afghanistan. They were unlikely to be permitted to play soccer again -- and were facing threats. And they'd tried to get out on flights when the Kabul airport was still open. But until today, they'd been stuck at the border with Pakistan. Now, after a campaign by Ms. Popal -- and lots of international pressure -- they were finally allowed into Pakistan. We reached Khalida Popal in Copenhagen, Denmark.

CO: Khalida, how did it feel when you heard today that your team members had crossed safely into Pakistan?

KHALIDA POPAL: It was wonderful feeling. I feel happy. And I feel more relieved. Because everything was closed, and these amazing, amazing young players, who were displaced from the places that they came from, and they were in very vulnerable situations. So I was very worried for them. And I was nearly hopeless.

CO: They're very young. This is... these are teenagers who are 14 to 19 years of age. And... and they’re girls. And can you tell us a little bit about their journey? Tell us how difficult it was for them to go overland into Pakistan?

KP: It is scary. It is like hearing... like to go to the airport, then to... to hear that, OK, you have to cross a province and then, like, drive all the way to.. to the border. It's so scary. And they were worried. They were worried for the different Taliban checkpoints. Especially last night, they were... half of the team were in a Taliban checkpoint, and they were stuck there. And they were... and Taliban were not letting them to go. And they were beaten. They were violated. They were... they faced violence, and they faced harassment in the crowd. But they were again... once again, they were trying their best to push themselves towards the gate.

CO: It must have been horrifying for them. These girls had already been in hiding since the Taliban took over last month. And they... because they are athletes. And it must have been terrifying to encounter these Taliban checkpoints?

KP: Yes, that is what... that was what was worrying me. So they had to, like, cover themselves, wear burqas and have like some of the family members were with them. And some players had to leave the family members behind because... because we... we... we didn't have some of family member's names on that list. So... so they had to take a decision to leave the family members behind and just go by themselves to the border. They were very scared. They were so scared of Taliban because they were hidden. And all of a sudden, they were there.

CO: And when you say they were in burqas, so just to remind people, the burqa was…. so everyone remembers it from the Taliban era. Women completely covered with just a bit of mesh for seeing through their eyes. And so they were these. Did the Taliban, when they got stopped, did they know that these... these women were athletes, that these were football players?

KP: Not really. Because they were hiding, they were covering. Of course, they were trying to stay low-profile. At the same time, I always told them if they tell, like who are you? Just tell them that you're... you're just... like your... you want to go to the... to the doctors and to the hospital in Pakistan for treatment. Don't talk about anything about football, anything about sports.

CO: What would have happened to them if the Taliban had known that they were athletes, that they were female football players?

KP: I mean, they have already... some of the... some of the family members have been already chased by Taliban. And some of them... some... some... there were a few members that were caught by Taliban. So that is, like, what we are afraid the most. Is that the Taliban take people and then they disappear. So... and that's what is happening right now in Afghanistan.

CO: Is that what happened to the other women who were female athletes who were caught? They've disappeared?

KP: Yeah, the family members disappeared. And they have no idea. So some of these players that they left Afghanistan, especially the border. Their family members who were caught by Taliban, and they have no idea what happened to them. So that was the toughest... the toughest for... for this young players

to face.

CO: How difficult was it for them as teenagers to have made this decision?

KP: It was very difficult. I told them, like, listen, if you return, then I can... I cannot guarantee that I will help…. I can help you. Just don't miss this chance. Like, leave. It is tough. I understand. But... but just leave if... if you want to continue living. If you want to continue life.

CO: The girls and the women players, these footballers who have escaped, do you think they have... they will be able to play the sport that they love, that they've had to sacrifice so much for?

KP: I really hope. I really hope. When I talk with them, I hear that they still, like, want to play football. They are in this situation right now that they are in most vulnerable situation. They have missed their family members; they have no idea what happened. They're just, like, shocked. And they have no idea what is happening. All of a sudden, the country collapsed. And a group of people... we are talking about a new generation, a young generation that actually not lived under the regime of Taliban. So it is... it is very shocking. And at the same time, a lot of a mentally heavy for these players to... to... to understand. And then, I really hope that they can manage. And for me, the most priority number one is once we… our players settle, we give them the support of the mental health support. But that's what they need because they are missing the family members. What they have been through, they are traumatized.

CO: And just for yourself, if you could be with your... these girls, with these wonderful athletes, what would you say to them right now?

KP: I would say to them that they are champions, they are strongest human beings. And my message to them will be just stay united and... and use your voices to be the voice for all our voiceless sisters in Afghanistan. We will stand for our sisters.

CO: You must be a really good football coach as well [chuckling] because that is a great spirited message to give. And, Khalida, I appreciate speaking with you. I hope those girls are safe. Thank you.

KP: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

CH: Khalida Popal is the former captain of the Afghan women's soccer team. She just helped more than 80 young players flee Afghanistan. We reached her in Copenhagen. And you can find more on that story on our webpage at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[music: ambient]

Bronze Age Axe Find

Guest: Ian Panter

CH: We cannot know what sports people will be playing thousands of years from now. But this next story suggests that whatever those sports are, people might be playing them on top of us. In 2018, archaeologists in the UK discovered a surprisingly well-preserved wooden coffin -- with a skeleton inside -- under a golf course in Lincolnshire. The discovery is being thoroughly restored before it goes on display at the Lincoln Collection Museum. And research has already provided new insight into burial rituals during the Bronze Age. Ian Panter is the Principal Conservator at the York Archaeological Trust in York, England. That is where we reached him.

CO: Ian, can you describe what they discovered in this golf course?

IAN PANTER: Yes, it was the remains of a coffin, about 4,000 years old. And in the coffin, which has the... the remains of a male skeleton inside it.

CO: And how do you know that it's 4,000 years old?

IP: We're assuming that. We haven't been able to confirm the dating yet. But we know from other sort of examples of log coffins dated to the Bronze Age. So we're making that assumption. And the... and the axe that was found with it is also of that sort of period. It's around about 4,000 years old.

CO: And this is a log coffin. Can you describe what that looks like?

IP: Yeah, well, basically, it's they've sort of a tree. That's what we call they've split it. So they've taken, say, the... the top third off, and then they've hollowed out the bottom two-thirds of the tree to basically make it a coffin, a chamber to put the body in.

CO: And how often was that done? Was that a typical way of burying people 4,000 years ago?

IP: We don't know, actually. Because the wood doesn't normally survive within sort of a normal sort of burial. But this... this coffin was buried in waterlogged deposits, and that's helped preserve the timber and everything inside the coffin. So they're actually quite rare. I think there's probably 20, 25 other known examples from the United Kingdom that have been discovered over the years. So it's quite a rare opportunity to have a look at Bronze Age burial practice and such like.

CO: This is… but it's a massive oak tree, isn't it? Ten feet long and hold out for this. And what was inside?

IP: Inside was basically the man, and he had an axe with him as well. It's a very beautiful axe. It's sort of stone... stone axe still with the wooden half attached, which again is very, very rare. These tend not to survive like that. We tend to get the... just the stone axe surviving, but not the not the two, the wood and the stone. He was also... or rather, because of the... the waterlogged burial conditions, we've also recovered sort of plant remains. So it looks like he may have been buried on some sort of... sort of plant litter, something like that. And from the evidence from that, we think he may have been buried in the springtime because there were just these little buds beginning to show on some of the twigs and suchlike.

CO: Is there anything just in the remains or in what was with this... this man in the coffin that indicates who he might have been, what his stature was, what was his importance to the society? Because this sounds like a lot of work went into burying this gentleman.

IP: That's right. Yes, well, we're still sort of working on that at the moment. We were sort of... we're in the middle of the research project to find out more information about... about the burial. So we're doing sort of what we call stable isotope from the bones to find out where... where the man actually was born, which part of the United Kingdom or... or maybe elsewhere, where he... where he came from. There's a lot of work that's gone into making this coffin. It's... you know, it's not a five-minute job to top-out the tree. So he obviously had some sort of position in society.

CO: And he was five foot nine is the estimate. So that's pretty tall for someone in the Bronze Age, isn't it?

IP: Yes. Yes. It's difficult to say what the... the average sort of stature was in the Bronze Age because, again, you know, we don't get a lot of... a lot of burials turning up. But the ones that we do get give us an indication of their stature and size.

CO: And now, the axe is... I've seen the picture of it. And it looks like it could have been made yesterday, doesn't it? I mean, the wood doesn't look at all worn, doesn't look like it was used at all. Is it... what do you make of that? What do you... what can you learn from this axe?

IP: Yeah, I mean, what we're going to do within the next couple of weeks is what we call microwear analysis. A colleague is going to have a look under the microscope and use some other techniques, which I'm not too clear about. [chuckling] But she's actually going to have a look to see whether the axe has been used at all, or if it was built... whether it was constructed specifically for the burial. So that in itself would be interesting.

CO: But it was rather deep, wasn't it? Was about 12 feet under. What is it that you think maybe... why it was so deep and why it's been so well-preserved?

IP: When you've got waterlogging, you've got no oxygen in the soil, in the clay. Without oxygen, you've got no biological activity that would. Digesting the wood. So... so that sort of material survives. That's why it has survived -- because of the waterlogging. And they didn't know it was there because they... when they would have buried the coffin, as I say, they would have buried it into the clay, and then they probably put a gravel mound over it. So normally, with these Bronze Age burial mounds, you can see the mound. Sometimes the mound survives. But in this situation, the mound has eroded over the centuries. And so there's nothing to show that there was a burial there at all.

CO: And the man who owns the... Mark Casswell said his family has farmed on that land for years and never could have imagined that there was a man buried under the field.

IP: That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And they... they did the best thing when they... when they discovered it, they stopped, called in the archaeologists, who were then able to excavate and recover a lot more information. So it was, you know, a good example of what to do when you find a discovery like this by chance.

CO: Ian, it's a fascinating story. And I look forward to hearing or reading what you can learn from this discovery. Thanks for speaking with us.

IP: Thank you.

CH: Ian Panter is the Principal Conservator at the York Archeological Trust. We reached Mr. Panter in York, England.

[music: vocalization]

A Gold Toilet And Avocado Toast?

CH: It's never good news when someone tells you they melted the toilet. But it's especially bad when the toilet was made of gold. Two years ago this week, thieves stole an 18-karat solid gold toilet, worth over eight million dollars, from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the work of conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, and it functioned as a comment on economic inequality and "the excesses of affluence". It also functioned as an actual toilet. Which made it all the more impressive, and disturbing, when the thieves ripped it off, and out. And somehow, escaped undetected. To this day, no one has been charged. On the two-year anniversary, British police told the BBC they believe it's been melted down and sold by now. Which makes it a crime story as chilling as a solid-gold toilet seat. So you can write that particular artwork a "Dear John" letter. But don't worry: the field of absurdly expensive art commenting on how things are absurdly expensive is still thriving. Currently up for sale in a gallery in Wiesbaden, Germany is a new solid-gold sculpture. A piece called "Who Wants to Live Forever?" A 3.7 million-dollar gold sculpture of...avocado toast. Now a warning: it functions as a critique of "turbo-capitalism" -- but it does not function as avocado toast. So be careful. That's the kind of biting commentary you could really chip a tooth on.

[music: hip-hop beat]

Part 2

Faroe Islands Dolphin Hunt

Guest: Sjurdur Skaale

CH: The images are like something out of a horror movie. On the weekend, hunters in the Faroe Islands killed more than a thousand dolphins, turning the shallow water near the shore red. Critics of the traditional hunt say the number of dolphins killed is almost unprecedented -- and more than what's needed to feed the local population. Sjurdur Skaale is an MP for the Faroe Islands. We reached him in Copenhagen, Denmark.

CO: Mr. Skaale, I know you spoke with people who were on the beach after this hunt. What did they say to you?

SJURDUR SKAALE: There are quite divided opinions in the Faroe Islands. And some people who went to the beach turned back, said, I can't participate in this. This is not acceptable. This is not... you can't... we can't defend this. But some continued, and to kill the dolphins. So it's a really... it's a very hot issue. And people are very, very divided into the Faroe Islands. But a clear majority -- about 60 per cent -- want it stopped, want a ban for killing dolphins. But one-third think it's OK and it should continue.

CO: Now, but this is a traditional practice in the Faroe Islands. What was different about this particular hunt?

SS: What is traditional in the Faroe Islands is the hunting of pilot whales, which they're not dolphins. They're small whales. They live in abundance around the Faroe Islands, not threatened in any way. It's really sustainable, and it goes really fast. We've been fighting for our right to kill pilot whales for many, many, many years because we've been under attack from animal welfare organizations. That killing takes place regularly in the Faroe Islands. And it's very humane. There's no suffering whatsoever. And there's a very, very broad agreement, like about 90 per cent of the population think we have the right to do it because it's sustainable and in the whale lives its free life in the ocean until it's killed. And it's killed without pain. Nothing… it takes around one second to kill a whale. Seen from an animal welfare point of view, it's far better to eat meat from a whale that has lived its free life than to eat meat from, for example, a pig that's, you know, born in a prison, who lives in a prison, and was killed in a prison. We can defend that. What's different here is it's not pilot whales. It was dolphins, which is another animal. And the group was far too big. Far, far too big. And there were too few people on the beach. And that's why it took far too long time to kill them.

CO: And we're talking about… we're talking about possibly as many as 1,500 dolphins slaughtered on this beach. And so this is... the argument that this was done... this is traditionally done for food. Is there an appetite? Is there a place for 1,500 dolphins, the meat from them, to be actually distributed in the Faroe Islands?

SS: Yeah, it was all distributed. And all the meat is going to be eaten. Nothing is thrown away. So that's, of course, the good part. But it's a far, far, far too big group. There's never, ever in the Faroe Islands been killed a group that big. Last year, we killed all together, I think, it was like around 40 dolphins because they were, you know, mixed up with groups of pilot whales. And, you know, killing 1,500... almost 1,500 is unheard of. And there were too few people on the beach. And that's why it took, like, more than an hour to get them killed. And they suffered during that time. People don't like that. We are under pressure from animal welfare organizations constantly on a daily basis. This... that's why we have to do things the right way. We can't let the animals suffer. And that's what happened on Sunday.

CO: OK, but... so why did it happen? I mean, they... the pod had been identified, had been driven into this cove for this slaughter. They must have known that they were dealing with a large number of dolphins. It was way beyond what was traditionally slaughtered in this... in this hunt.

SS: Yeah. The thing is that the local authorities gave their licence, gave their admission to let it happen and let it go forward. And the killing was… though it was stopped when there were like 300 dolphins still alive. The killing was stopped. But it went on too far.

CO: But to kill all but 300 dolphins in a pod. These are animals that not only in this slaughter, watched their relatives, the other members of their pod, their siblings, their mothers, fathers be killed. But then, they were left now without their pod, right? So, it's... it's cruel in both directions, isn't it?

SS: Yeah, it's not right. It can't be defended. And this is why it's... it's... the debate is so heated right now. And... and the clear majority of the various people want it stopped. Want it banned.

CO: But this is what we've seen in the Oscar-winning film called The Cove. And this is something that was... that shocked the world to see the slaughter of these animals in this way, and the water turning red with the blood of these creatures. That has turned much of the world against these kinds of hunts that go on in the Faroe Islands. Do you think that what happened on the weekend is likely to lead to the end of this tradition?

SS: It's possible. It's possible. Of course, the fact that the seawater is coloured red is because when you kill an animal, there is blood. You know, people in big cities that buy their meat in dishes and supermarkets, they don't realize often that what they eat also is… are dead animals. And these animals are living in, we call them prisons, where they're born and live their lives, and then they're killed. And there's a lot of blood, but nobody can see the blood. We have a slaughterhouse out in the open. With that, follows a great responsibility to get it done the right way. And when we just for one... one single time do not do it the right way, we're really sad. And it could cause a heavy, heavy pressure on the Faroe Islands. That's obvious.

CO: But it seems that even the people in the Faroe Islands have come to that conclusion that this... what they saw was so unacceptable that this hunt possibly or probably should not continue. Is that right?

SS: Yeah. A clear majority of the population want the hunt of dolphins to stop, to be banned. But there's an even bigger majority -- like 90 per cent -- want the hunt of pilot whales to continue. Almost everybody agrees that this is a right, a good thing, and defensible thing to do.

CO: Mr. Skaale, I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

SS: Thank you.

CH: Sjurdur Skaale is an MP for the Faroe Islands. He was in Copenhagen.

[music: banjo]

Yiddish Folk Song

Guest: Anna Shternshis

[music: Yom Kippur Without Fascists]

CH: This is a song about Adolf Hitler and a chicken . Not exactly your typical holy day song. The words are in Yiddish, but in English, it translates as Yom Kippur Without Fascists. It was recently released by the people behind Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II -- an album made up of songs written by Jewish people in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. For decades, those songs were believed to be lost. But in the early 2000s, Anna Shternshis made a discovery. She is a historian and professor of Yiddish studies at the University of Toronto. We last spoke with her in 2018, and we reached her today to talk about this new release -- just in time for Yom Kippur.

CO: Anna, first of all, welcome back to "As It Happens".

ANNA SHTERNSHIS: Thank you. It's so great to be back. And thank you for inviting me again.

CO: This song we just heard a bit of at the beginning, Yom Kippur Without Fascists. Can you tell us what the song's about?

AS: Yes. So, it... it's sang from a point of view of a person who observes the holiday of Yom Kippur. And it says that instead of this ritual of spinning the chicken over one's head to redeem all the sins that we committed, might have committed throughout the year. Instead of the chicken, we're going to spin Hitler. And Hitler has done so many horrible things. And we hope that, you know, [clears throat] this will be the last year that we even talk about Hitler. And it calls for the world without Nazism, without fascism, and for the world where Jews can laugh again and celebrate holidays without fear.

CO: This idea of spinning the chicken -- Kapporois -- above your head spin Hitler as the Kapporois. It also… and the chicken doesn't end well, does it? [laughing] I mean, they… they... you kill the chicken after you've swung him over your head.

AS: No!

CO: So, and that's how the song ends, right? Take... take the German fascist and kill him. Too many long and sweet years, l'chaim. It's… [laughing] it's quite a song, isn't it?

AS: Right. It is. And, you know, I think it gives a really insightful window on what Jews surviving the war in Kazakhstan, Jewish refugees were thinking about, what they were excited about, also what they were worried about. I mean, there's a combination here of incredible joy but also almost unbearable anger.

CO: Who... and now, it's written in Yiddish, as the other songs are that you have found. And so... and who is likely the author of the song? Do you have any idea?

AS: So we don't know exactly who wrote the song, but we do know something about the person who collected it. And that... that person's name is Yakov Merzon. He's actually an interesting person. He was born in Vienna, was a communist. And then, in the 1920s, moved to the Soviet Union, settled in a town in Ukraine and was teaching in the Jewish school. And then, and sometime in the early 1930s, he was arrested by the Stalin's government and sent to jail. That jail happens to be located in Kazakhstan. So he spent the war in that jail, where he got really sick, lost all his teeth, and was sick, I think, with tuberculosis. So he was released sometime in 1944 on compassionate grounds. So that's when he was begging on the streets of Almaty. Some kids, probably kids of Jewish refugees from Poland or Romania, saw him and somehow heard him curse in Hebrew. So one of them reported that incident to their parents. And their parents went to see who was this person, a beggar in Kazakhstan who curses in Hebrew and hired him to teach a little bit of Hebrew alphabet and Jewish literacy to the kids. And as Merzon was doing that, he kept a little notebook, where he wrote down songs that he heard from these kids. And because Merzon did not know who to be afraid of more, of Stalin's government that, you know, put him in jail, or of Hitler, that was destroying his people. The notebook has all the texts and all the dates, but all songs are authored anonymous. So we know that it was created then by people who were there, but we don't know exactly the name. And the notebook ended up in this archive, which itself also got lost and buried in the basement of the Ukrainian National Library, and only recently came to life when I began working with these materials and with artists. And that's how this work by this incredible man, Yakov Merzon, came to light. And now, we're singing the song that he heard from some refugee child.

CO: This is not obviously the only song. We spoke with you a few years ago about all the other songs that you were able to discover in that collection and bring back to life. And there... so how does this particular song, how does it compare? Because not all the songs... this song has humour and revenge and... and [laughing] a very strong image in it. How does it compare with the other songs that you've discovered?

AS: So all of them show different kind of aspects of life in Kazakhstan. One song called Kazakhstan, it was performed by... on the Yiddish Glory collection by Sophie Milman. It talks about how grateful refugees are to actually be there. And the story of Kazakhstan, the land which had this very small Jewish population before the war, welcomed so many Jewish refugees during the war. It's really important to tell through music. So that's one song. Another song also now in the collection is called Purim Gifts for Hitler is also a humorous song. And, just like the Yom Kippur Without Fascists. And that song was talking about both celebration of life, but also condemned the German army for murdering children, for really treating Jews without any consideration for them being human. And this combination of anger and joy is something that we also see in the song Yom Kippur War Without Fascists. So I would say that that notebook gives us an insight, not only on just Jewish refugees, in general, in Kazakhstan, but also what was funny and what was relevant to these kids, refugee kids who ended up there. And that's the voice, the authentic voice, of people living through those horrible experiences. It's something that we hear so rarely.

CO: And the... the authenticity is very much because it was... these songs were written at the time. This was not a reflection later on. This was... this was coming right from the soul of the... the era when the fascists were persecuting Jews in this... in this part of the former Soviet Union. And you mentioned a couple of there, one of them, Kazakhstan. And we want to play a bit of that. And this is the one you just referred to. And we... was on that original album of Yiddish Glory from 2018. So here's Kazakhstan.

[music: Kazakhstan as performed by Sophie Milman]

CO: The beautiful voice of Sophie Milman, singing Kazakhstan. And this was such an important album you put together. [chuckling] And we had so much response when we talked to you and played some of this in 2018. And how much... how important was it for Sophie Milman to take part in that? Tell us a bit about the Canadian jazz singer.

AS: [chuckling] Well, it was important for Sophie for a number of reasons, but it was really important for us that Sophie agreed to participate in this project. I think her incredible voice just, you know, gave us all both historical pleasure, but also aesthetic pleasure from this music. And Sophie... Sophie's story of... story of her grandparents, who one of them survived the war in Kazakhstan. Another one served in the Red Army. Her grandfather was a wartime physician. That's the story of her personal heritage. That is the story of this album.

CO: Your discovery of these songs, this notebook, and the... and bringing them to life, not just a little bit, not just having [both chuckling] a few tunes sung, but these beautiful productions that went into Yiddish Glory. And it... this album was nominated for a Grammy. You've now travelled the world, or it's travelled, putting on concerts. This has been shared with so many people. What's been the response to these songs and people listening to it?

AS: So we did travel to… well, when travel was still possible, you know, in-person to Austria and to Israel and the Czech Republic and all over the United States. And I want to say that in each country, people found something different for themselves. When we travelled to Israel, for example, this was a story of so many people's families. And the story that gets obscured for a number of reasons. One of them is that, you know, people who survived the war in Soviet Central Asia often didn't talk about that experience because compared to what the other family members lived through under the German occupation in Poland or Ukraine, that seemed like not worth telling. So the story remained in families because, you know, because of that. So we brought this music. And people often came to us and said, well, you know, we know our grandmother lived through this. And it's like you brought her up, brought her back from dead because it felt like these stories finally came to life without people who were around to tell them. In Austria, it was an interesting experience. So, this concert was broadcast on the national radio. And we heard that there was a positive response, but there was also negative response because these songs are so incredibly anti-German. And people were talking about, well, we've never heard from our great grandparents that, you know, when they went to the Soviet Union, that they were not welcome there. Like, the stories we heard are completely different. So we can't imagine that there was so much hostility to the German army. That's the reaction I did not expect. But we also performed for a large international audience, as most of our listeners were not Jewish. And this story resonated with them partially because this whole story of refugees going through horrible experiences and being ignored, sadly, it's still alive, you know? Like, it's one of the reasons why we keep working on this project. Because every time you turn on the news, we hear about refugees being stuck, from Syria, now it's from Afghanistan. And it's always women and children who are the most vulnerable. And people who don't get to tell this story. Or tell their story, but we don't want to hear it for one reason or another. And I think that these songs, they just remind us to wait a second. There is a voice there. We as a society just cannot ignore that voice.

CO: Anna, it is so good to speak with you again, to hear yet another of these amazing songs. And we're speaking to you in the middle of the afternoon. But people will be hearing this interview, well, just before sunset for... and Yom Kippur's beginning. And so, I wish you g'mar chatima tovah and everyone else who's listening.

AS: Thank you so much. And thank you so much for talking to me and playing this music on your show. It means a lot.

CO: Bye-bye.

AS: Bye-bye.

CH: Anna Shternshis is a professor of Yiddish studies at the University of Toronto. And the co-creator of Yiddish Glory. She was in Toronto.

[music: folk]

Part 3

Simone Biles Testimony

CH: Today, gymnast Simone Biles began her emotional testimony to a U.S. Senate committee by saying she could imagine, quote, "no place I would be less comfortable right now than sitting here in front of you sharing these comments." Unquote. And yet, there she was, contributing her voice to hearings on the handling of the sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar. Because, Ms. Biles pointed out, while he is in prison, the system that allowed the abuse of hundreds of girls and women has not been held to account.

SOUNDCLIP

SIMONE BILES: I have won 25 world championship medals and seven Olympic medals for Team USA. That record means so much to me, and I am proud of my representation of this nation through gymnastics. I am also a survivor of sexual abuse. And I believe without a doubt that the circumstances that led to my abuse and allowed it to continue are directly the result of the fact that the organizations created by Congress to oversee and protect me as an athlete, USA Gymnastics, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, failed to do their jobs. Nelson Mandela once said there can be... there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. It is the power of that statement that compels and empowers me to be here in front of you today. I don't want another young gymnast, Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that I and hundreds of others have endured before, during, and continuing to this day… [beginning to cry] in the wake of the Larry Nassar abuse. To be clear... [whispered] Sorry.

MAN: Take your time.

SB: To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar. I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. USA Gymnastics in the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee knew that I was abused by their official team doctor long before I was ever made aware of their knowledge. I didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening until the Indianapolis Star published its article in the fall of 2016 entitled "Former USA Gymnastics Doctor Accused of Abuse". [sniffle] Yet, while I was a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, neither USAG, USAOPC, nor the FBI ever contacted me or my parents. While others had been informed, and investigations were ongoing, I had been left to wonder why I was not told until after the Rio Games? [sniffle] This is the largest case of sexual abuse in the history of American sport. And although there has been a fully independent investigation of the FBI's handling of the case, neither USAG nor USOPC have ever been made the subject of the same level of scrutiny. These are the entities entrusted with the protection of our sport and our athletes. And yet, it feels like questions of responsibility and organizational failures remain unanswered. As you pursue the answers to those questions, I ask that your work be guided by the same question that Rachael Denhollander and many others have asked: How much is a little girl worth?

CH: Gymnast Simone Biles testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today. The committee is investigating the handling of sexual abuse complaints against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

[music: folk]

Election: Liberal Analyst

Guest: Scott Reid

CH: Justin Trudeau took a break today from his usual warnings about the dangers posed by the Conservatives and Erin O'Toole. The Liberal leader was speaking to reporters in Halifax. He got a question about strategic voting, which allowed him to share some thoughts with progressive voters considering the NDP and Jagmeet Singh.

SOUNDCLIP

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I think it is cynical of Mr. Singh to continue to pretend that there is no difference between a Conservative government and a Liberal government. I understand that he's open to working with a Conservative minority government. Perhaps that highlights and underscores the fact that he doesn't have a real plan to fight climate change. And he'd be perfectly happy with Mr. O'Toole's plan. But we're not. And I think Canadians know that over the past six years, there was a massive difference in what we were able to deliver when we turned the page on 10 years of Conservative government. Whether it's stepping up with a price on pollution across the country that we thought Conservative premiers on all the way to the Supreme Court and won. Whether it's moving forward on reconciliation that's put tens of thousands of kids in new classrooms. Mr. Singh can pretend that the Conservatives might have been just as good in this pandemic as we have, even as they were calling to cut benefits for people, cut benefits for the most vulnerable. We were there to support people. We had your back through this pandemic. And we have your backs as we build a better future. So I think Canadians see that the choice is very, very clear. Do we go back with the Conservatives, or do we choose to move forward for everyone with the Liberals?

CH: That was Liberal leader Justin Trudeau in Halifax today. We've been trying, as we have with all the major national parties, to set up an interview with a Liberal candidate to talk about their platform and the campaign. Unfortunately, the party hasn't been able to confirm when or if that will happen. Now, fortunately, we've reached someone who's seen the inside of a few Liberal campaigns. Scott Reid was the Senior Advisor to Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. We reached him in Toronto.

CO: Scott Reid, was that the sound of Justin Trudeau running scared, or just a classic Liberal bid to pick off NDP voters at the end of the campaign?

SCOTT REID: Pretty clearly both. I think he's running scared because he needs to pinch those NDP voters. He needs them. This isn't a luxury. This is a necessity. And he's hoping, and he's probably right in thinking, that he could scrape three to four per cent of those NDP voters right off the bottom of that ice cream barrel. And he needs them in order to win on Monday.

CO: But when he says... he says that it's cynical on the part of the Jagmeet Singh to say there's so little difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals. [chuckling] I mean, what is the difference? I mean, lots of people are wondering that. I mean, he... we heard in that clip Mr. Trudeau going back to say that this Liberal government is not, or wasn't, the... Harper's Conservatives. But hasn't Mr. O'Toole gone a long way to actually move to the area of the Liberals, to cut their grass quite a bit?

SR: Well, I think Mr O'Toole's made a concerted effort to try to position himself as more moderate than his predecessor, Andrew Scheer, who, let's face it, put such a low ceiling on himself that he couldn't win. But I think that Trudeau's appeal, and it's a very narrow appeal, he's... he's using a microphone that's heard by the whole country, but he's really appealing to a very small number of people who could vote NDP or could vote Liberal. And those people do worry about whether or not you could have a Conservative government, and what that might mean? It's also why you're hearing Mr. Trudeau talk as much about Stephen Harper as he is about Mr. O'Toole. He wants to conjure up that decade of Conservative rule. He wants to try to remind us three to four per cent of NDP-Liberal switchers that it is a possibility. Justin Trudeau's best friend at this moment in the campaign is not a sense of momentum. It's not a sense of victory. It's not a sense of let's get this job done. His best friend at this moment in this campaign is the fear the Conservatives might take power. That's what he needs to unlock the remaining votes that he requires for a victory.

CO: That effort to... to demonize the Conservatives, to show them as being... this message that he gives, that you're either with us or with the anti-vaxxers. And to associate the Conservatives and Mr. O'Toole with the... the gravel-throwing gangs that are showing up at some of these events. Is that working?

SR: I think that it has worked to some degree. I think along with issues like guns, it's stalled Conservative momentum, which was pretty profound in the first two weeks of the campaign. But it stalled it prior to the debates. And since then, it's really just been a game of inches. So I think, you know, Mr. Trudeau is going to have to put together the whole package of arguments. And that's why we're... we're hearing that. He's talking about climate change. He's talking about the pandemic. He's talking about vaccines. He will, and has talked, and his ads talk about guns. So they're going to put all of that together and say that the base you're going to get if the Conservatives serve up a winning dinner on Monday. And, again, he's hoping that three to four per cent of Canadians who might vote Liberal or might vote NDP will say, all right, fine, I got to go Liberal.

CO: Well, why is Mr. Trudeau and Liberals... why are they even... even having to scrape these votes out of other parties, given that he called this election? I mean, he didn't have to. And so, what was the calculation? And how failed is this calculation when he launched it, thinking he was going to have a majority on Monday?

SR: Yeah, it's been a hairy mess of an election. And, you know, I think people say, oh, we should have never called the election. I would make a counterargument. I would say if he was going to call an election, he always had an obligation to make a clear, principled, precise argument as to why that election was in the public interest, not just his interest, because it's so obvious to people. People aren't stupid. People say we know that it's in your interest because the polls show you could get a majority. So tell us why it also happens to be in our interest? At least harmonize those two things. He failed to do that on the opening day of the election, and it haunted him for the first 10 days of the election. I think that was the big mistake. It wasn't so much that he called the election, but he didn't actually show up with a purpose that he called the election.

CO: But here we are in the middle of a pandemic, where we need leadership, we need people to be telling us get vaccinated. We're in this together. We need to do this as a society. At the same time, Mr. Trudeau is using this very serious health issue, this pandemic, as... as leverage, trying to say, well, these are people like Scott Moe in Saskatchewan or Jason Kenney in Alberta. They're not working for you to keep people safe. People on the right are anti-vaxxers. And driving a wedge, using this as a weapon in this election campaign. I mean, speaking of things that are cynical, would you not agree that this casts a pall on this campaign?

SR: Like this, a neck-and-neck election. If you're looking for anything other than cynicism, you're going to have to put on bifocals because you are not going to find it from any of the parties at this point. But, yeah, I agree with you. On the other hand, I do think that there's still an innate truth to many of those arguments. I actually think that he should have surfaced those arguments on the first day of this election and said, what's this election about? Well, we have different views in this country about vaccine passports. We have different views in this country about how to rehabilitate our economy after we get the pandemic behind us. And those different views ought to be pounced on by people. He didn't make that argument as sharply then. Now he's making it. And, of course, you know, he has to take the discount that people apply, that the only reason he's making these arguments is out of cynical self-interest.

CO: But isn't his job as... as a leader to if this wasn't an election campaign to convince people to come on the side of vaccines and accept the passport and accept the mandates, instead of accusing those who are not doing that as people who are against the health of the nation? I mean, I guess what I'm referring to is... is that... is he's using it as opposed to being what he should be doing, which is trying to unite the country if he was... he was acting as the prime minister.

SR: Well, I think that's a super interesting question, almost a philosophical question, and it's an important one. My argument would be, look, if there are 15 to 20 per cent of people who think the government institutions are so failed and so failing that we ought not to trust doctors and science and that we will never accept vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations, and we're willing to put our neighbours and others at risk. I think that's an... personally, I think that's an argument worth exploiting. And so, yes, it's going to come wrapped in the politics of the moment. And therefore, cynicism will be seen as part of it. But it doesn't mean that there isn't a valid argument there. So, I mean, I don't know, how far can you get saying to people, listen, we need to come together, I'm going to try to win you over with honey. I think at some point when you take a look at people that throw gravel and say, I'll have no concern for others, I'll show up, and I'll picket, I'll, you know, yell at schoolyards and hospital workers. I think at some point you say, well, you know what? I've tried... I've tried to make that argument to you. Now we just have to say, sorry, the majority is spoken, and you're wrong. So, you know, there are different ways to go about this. I don't mind having an argument and saying it's now settled because you lost it.

CO: Hasn't this election campaign drawn those people out, though?

SR: Well, yeah, but is there anything wrong with that? Aren't elections ultimately supposed to be about arguments over very big issues? And what on earth would be a bigger issue than this after what we've been through in the past 19 months? So, of course, people's political agendas and political self-interest is going to get wrapped up in it. But, again, to come back to it, I don't know that that doesn't mean that it isn't worth having a big fat argument and exposing the differences and having people say in the main, we will pick one way or another.

CO: How afraid is Justin Trudeau of losing this election?

SR: Well, I worked for a prime minister, and I can tell you you're afraid of losing power all the time. Because if you dedicate yourself to public life and getting elected, that's the measurement of whether or not you're succeeding. There's no such thing as losing pretty because nobody looks at the loser to see whether they're pretty or not.

CO: And what's Mr. Trudeau's future if he doesn't get a majority?

SR: I think that's super interesting. I really think that's super interesting. You know, the Liberal Party is not the Liberal Party that I worked for 25 years ago. As an institution, I think it's very much built around Justin Trudeau now. And, you know, in a leader-driven political culture like we have now, he may have more options than people might think. If he loses a narrow election, it's not obvious to me that he has to step down or that he will step down. On the other hand, he may say, all right, I've washed my hands of it. If I had to bet my own money, I'd say 60 out of 100 dollars I'd bet right now that he's going to win this thing, probably 150 to 160 seats.

CO: And what does he have to do in these final days of the campaign in order to get there?

SR: You're not going to like what I had to say because it's ugly. It's an ugly... this thing's a bar brawl right now. So he's going to keep doing what he's doing right now. He's going to have to keep... he's offered people for four weeks the opportunity to say, we really like you, and we're for you. People have not been thrilled with the options on offer. The same goes for Mr. O'Toole, to be very blunt. They're deadlocked at almost a basement number for both of them in the low 30s. So what's going to happen is he's going to have to grind through and say the other guy is worse than me. And you, if you're sitting in the middle, are going to have to make a choice. And that's how this campaign is going to end. It is going to be ugly. It is a brawl. It's a knife fight. And that's the truth of how it's going to end.

CO Charming. All right. We'll leave it there, Mr. Reid. Thank you.

SR: Thank you.

CH: Scott Reid was an aide to Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. We reached him in Toronto. And we're still working to bring you interviews with candidates for all the major national parties.

[music: electronic]

Cobber Challenge Winner

Guest: Ben Jeffery

CH: Every year, the Cobber Challenge takes the phrase "working like a dog" to a whole new level. The competition uses GPS collars to track how many kilometres each of the competing dogs put in during their workday. The dog that covers the most ground wins. This year's winner was Skyblue Jack. The six-year-old Australian Kelpie ran circles around eleven other dogs from Australia and New Zealand. His record-setting total of 1012.6 kilometres, over the three-week competition, shepherded him to victory. Ben Jeffery is the owner of Skyblue Jack. We reached him in Wannon, Australia.

CO: Ben, how proud are you of your dog, Skyblue Jack?

BEN JEFFERY: Oh look, I couldn't be prouder of him, to be honest. He's... he's done a really good job for me and I'll probably be forever in his debt.

CO: Well, your friends and family, were they cheering him along and both of you along the way?

BJ: Constantly. I had phone calls, messages through the whole three weeks of the competition, just really egging us on and making sure we kept going.

CO: Now, what's it... what's it like to be in this competition? I mean, your dog, Jack, he works anyways. So do you. So what's different about these past... about the three weeks of the competition?

BJ: I think... I think the only real difference, to be honest, is just the media coverage and the fact I've got to put a different collar on every morning. That’s it. We just went and worked. Did what we normally do. Came home, and then, yeah. It turned out he was the top dog.

CO: And how long have you and Jack been working together?

BJ: Jack and all have been together for four-and-a-half, coming up five years. So, yeah, we're best mates.

CO: [chuckling] What kind of work does he do on your farm?

BJ: Erm, Jack’s an all-arounder. So he'll either be out in the paddock or in the yards, working sheep, cattle. He'd walk on water if I asked him to, to be honest.

CO: And so how hard-working is he even on... when he's not in a competition?

BJ: Jack's older now. So he works hard when he needs to. He’s a fairly clever dog so if he knows there's no work on, he won't be working. He'll go sit down and have a rest when he needs to. But if we're out in the paddock on a big muster, he won’t come near until we finish the muster.

CO: And was he always like that? I mean, you said he's he's older now, [chuckling] so maybe he's... he's matured.

BJ: And, you know, when he was a puppy he was a handful. You couldn't stop him. You know, you’d really have to chase him in the yards to make him sit down. But, you know, like I said, since he’s got older, he's working smarter, so he's definitely improved.

CO: Now,if you can tell me that Jack is has... has been more focussed and slow down, but yet still averaged 48 kilometres a day in this competition. This is not much of a slowdown, is it?

BJ: Well, I think it's more of a mental slowdown. He's still physically able and fit. We've taken Jack to visit a few friends with us that are stockmen and know the job, and I can't believe the condition I’ve got him in. So, running over 1,000 kilometres in three weeks to have him trotting around what it looks like he's done nothing and wants to go to work.

CO: But that's... I mean, basically the amount of running he did each day is... is more than running a marathon every day for three weeks, right?

BJ: Yeah, yeah. But I guess it’s the saying it's all in dog’s life, you know? They're designed and built and we train them for these jobs. Jack... Jack was pushed to his limits, but never in a dangerous manner.

CO: How did you prepare? How did you... how did you practice for this?

BJ: We just went for our runs at night. We've got a lot of hills behind where I live. So trekking up and down them helped. The main reason I was conditioning before the competition was to make sure his leg was sound. He got in a fight with another dog a few months previous to the competition and hat to have his toe and connecting bone amputated. So his leg was pretty banged up.

CO: So he was injured in a fight with another dog. And so did you worry that he wouldn't be able to compete?

BJ: No, it was more just that his recovery had been done properly. And I'd broken down the scar tissue properly in his... where the operation had happened. And just things like that. And I just really felt sort of... I always look after my dogs. You know, I push them hard. But if there's a problem with him or his leg had blown out in the second week, he would have finished the competition that day.

CO: But he did have one of his claws, one of his toes, amputated. Is that right?

BJ: Yeah, a claw and the connecting bones had to be removed from his leg.

CO: Oh dear! But so he still competed. What kind of competition was he up against?

BJ: He had some... he had some competition from another dog in this state, and another dog in a neighbouring state. Credit to him, they kept coming up until the end. And I think it was probably the last three days where they sort of did the math, so to speak, and I was too far ahead and sort of just stopped, you know, I’ll dismiss the dog and that'll be it.

CO: Uh-huh. So do the others recognize that... that Skyblue Jack is the superior dog when it comes to work?

BJ: Oh, yeah, no, I've had messages from... not all the over competitors, but some of the competitors have messaged me with, you know... and it's all been lovely, you know? There's never been a bad word said between any of the other competitors. It's all been very, very nice and talked amongst ourselves during the competition.

CO: So Skyblue Jack, not only did he break... is this a record-breaking stretch of work on his part, but I understand there is some prize money. So what are you planning to do with it?

BJ: So the prize money I've already spent. That's... that's been spent on another dog, which is sort of... it's part of the competition conditions. You've either got to spend it on trialling a dog, purchasing another dog, or training a dog.

CO: But Skyblue Jack is six years old at this point. Does he have offspring who might be coming up the ranks?

BJ: Depending on pregnancy tests with a couple of other dames I've got here, he could have two litters coming within the next three months.

CO: OK, so that's a good... that's a good bloodline you've got going there.

BJ: Oh, yeah. I've... I've had a lot of queries of people wanting to breed with him. I've actually had to tell a few people no. So I've got a couple of other breeders that are interested, and I'm interested as well in breeding with them. And so, kind of build another lifeline with another female with good stamina. So, yeah, hoping it works out really well.

CO: But I guess there's only one Skyblue Jack?

BJ: Oh, there is. There is. You know, just typical black and tan Kelpie from Australia. And he’s done a ripper job.

CO: Ben, it's good to talk to you. And congratulations.

BJ: No, thank you mate.

CO: Bye-bye.

BJ: see ya.

CH: Ben Jeffery is the owner of Skyblue Jack, winner of the 2021 Tran-Tasman Cobber Challenge. We reached him in Wannon, Australia.

[music: inde rock Rubber Ducky]

Alberta Rubber Duck Race

CH: Vladimir Matusevitch may have to give up his rubber ducky. The Russian man found it in 2019 while on holiday with his family along the Arctic coast of Russia's Rybachy Peninsula. He decided to find out where it came from. And his research revealed something called rubber duck racing where people send lots of rubber ducks floating down a river. But none of the nearby rubber-duck racers was missing a rubber duck. So Mr. Matusevitch put up a web post. Then last week, he got a message from 10,000 kilometres away -- from a woman who runs a rubber duck race on the Beaver River, in Ardmore, Alberta. Here's Vladimir Matusevitch, describing what it was like to find the duck's owner.

SOUNDCLIP

VLADIMIR MATUSEVITCH: I was like wow! It’s impossible! Wow, wow, It’s happened! [laughing] I’m still… wow! It’s been gone for so long, and it’s like this is my duck. It’s my handwriting. My wife is, I don’t know, proud because it’s really great. It’s something great. It’s… Canada. We know it’s… wow, really great!

ROD KURTZ: I want to tell you both this in case you don't know, Paul Myers, who's with the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences here at the University of Alberta, he speculates that the duck floated about 10,000 kilometres from the mouth of the Churchill River, which the Beaver River flows into, flowed counterclockwise in the Hudson Bay, across the mouth of James Bay. And then it went through the Hudson Strait on top of Quebec, down the Labrador coast to St. John's, Newfoundland. Then it hit the Gulf Stream and zoomed between Scotland and Iceland up to Norway, the coast of Norway, then travelling north up that coast until it landed on the arctic shore of Russia, near the Norwegian border. So that's what he believes the trek of that duck. [chuckling] When you... when... when I explain that to you, Monika, what do you think?

MONIKA IVERSON: It's amazing. I mean, the fact that that duck even made it as far as he started, yeah. it's astronomical the things that duck might have bypassed. [laughing]

RK: Apparently, there's some speculation it got lodged in sea ice in Hudson Bay, and actually floated with an iceberg to Newfoundland and then got into the Gulf Stream.

MI: Oh wow!

RK: So... so, Vladimir, what's happened with the duck? Has it been sent back to... to... to Monika?

VM: Oh, I'm sure. Yes, if Monika wishes to receive the duck.

MI: Yes, well, we haven't gone that far yet, actually. [RK chuckles] Like I said, it's pretty new for both of us. We just found this out last week, so --

RK: OK.

MI: So me and Vladimir had talked just a little bit, but we haven't got a chance to talk much more about maybe that little ducky coming back home to Ardmore. He'll probably never see the water again. [all laughing] But he’ll definitely have a very special place of honour in our school.

CH: That was Monika Iverson, the organizer of the Ardmore Duck Race in Ardmore, Alberta, and before her, Vladimir Matusevitch, who found one of her ducks on the shores of Russia's Rybachy Peninsula. The were speaking to Rod Kurtz on CBC Edmonton's "Radio Active".

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September 15, 2021 Episode Transcript

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