Residential schools; Mary Norris; Living with Cancer; ISIS smashes history; Richard Flanagan

What's next for Canada's First People? - Michael's essay: (00:00:26) 

Here's an excerpt: "For the past six years, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools travelled the country and listened to former students tell their stories. Many of those stories made the strong and composed weep. The 94 recommendations made by the Commission are important, but to my mind not as important as giving people a chance to tell their stories to a humane and compassionate listener like Justice Sinclair."

New Yorker copy editor on the joys and perils of proper English: (00:04:54) For more than three decades, Mary Norris has been scouring the pages of The New Yorker magazine long before each issue is published. As a copy editor, she is responsible for ensuring the stories that land on her desk are written clearly, punctuated properly and contain no typos or misspellings. Her book, Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, explains the craft of editing, but also abounds with anecdotes about writers such as Philip Roth, Calvin Trillin, John MacPhee and the magazine's legendary editor, William Shawn.

"I refuse to accept that I am a cancer patient" - essay by Manjusha Pawagi: (00:33:20) Ms. Pawagi is a judge, a writer and a mother, whose campaign to find a stem cell donor was the subject of Alisa Siegel's documentary, "Manjusha's Match". Today, she is living in the land of cancer, where the word "acceptance" is often bandied about as a healing tool. Manjusha Pawagi is having none of it.

Smashing history - the impact of ISIS attacks on biblical Iraq: (00:40:47) Militant fighters have been destroying Christian graves, ancient ruins and statues in museums. But Eleanor Robson, Chair of the Council at the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, says the damage is not just to precious old stones. Iraqi and Syrian archaeologists and conservators, whose job it is to preserve and interpret the ancient world, are no longer able to do their work. Their careers - and their lives - are under threat. 

Listener mail: (00:54:47)Your response to our segments on the influence of money on politics. Michael talked to Henry Mintzberg about his book, "Rebalancing Society", and to Lisa Graves, about the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC.

A child of the "Death Railway": (01:01:35) Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan's latest novel is sweeping up the awards. The Narrow Road to the Deep North won this year's Man Booker prize, and is on the short-list for Ireland's IMPAC award. It tells a tale of savagery and survival on the Thailand-Burma "Death Railway", which was constructed by prisoners-of-war in 1943 - including Flanagan's own father.