As It Happens: Thursday Edition
Part One
Liu Xiaobo obit
He lost his freedom fighting for it. Today, Chinese dissident and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer — and tonight, his friend and editor remembers a man imprisoned by the system he fearlessly criticized.
Raccoon attack
A Vancouver woman describes the harrowing fifteen-minute ordeal she suffered — along with the gruesome injuries — when she was attacked by a vicious, tenacious raccoon.
UK radio pirates
Eight times in the last month, pirates have interrupted the regular programming on a local radio station in England — to broadcast a song about masturbation.
Part Two
Aladdin casting
After a much-heralded international casting call, Disney still can't seem to find the actor to play "Aladdin" in a live-action remake — and our guest, who auditioned himself, has some ideas about why.
Cannibal caterpillars
Larva means never having to say you're sorry. Although I'm sure caterpillars are at least slightly apologetic when they eat a plant that releases a chemical that turns them into cannibals — and then eat their pals.