The Sunday Magazine

The Sunday Edition for December 15, 2019

Listen to this week's episode with guest host Gillian Findlay.
(CBC)

Listen to this week's episode with guest host Gillian Findlay

The mental health crisis among young Canadians: Depression, anxiety disorders, self-harm and other mental health issues seem to plague young people as never before. Amy Gajaria, a child and youth psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Angie Holstein, a therapist who works with teens and university students, and Daphnée Lévesque, a peer support facilitator and student at UBC, discuss the factors driving the rise in mental illness among young people, as well as the help and supports, or lack thereof, available to young people in crisis.

The Paper Bag Princess at 40:  When it first came out, this flipped fairy tale — the princess rescues the prince — was almost revolutionary.  In the spunky, messy and very independent Elizabeth, girls in Canada and around the world — many of them now mothers themselves -- discovered a feminist heroine. Robert Munsch's beloved book, which has sold seven million copies around the world, will celebrate  a landmark birthday in the spring. Hear Munsch, illustrator Michael Martchenko, the "real" Elizabeth, Chelsea Clinton, Elizabeth May and others in Alisa Siegel's documentary tribute, "It DOES Have a Happy Ending."

Where we sit on a bus and how we behave says a lot about us: Public transit is an ideal venue to study what sociologists call "civil inattention." UBC Professor Amy Hanser is doing just that. She has embarked on a research project that looks at everything from where we sit to how we behave. She also investigates the tension we feel between ignoring other people on public transit, and acknowledging them too.

Canadian bishop speaks out about speaking out about sexual abuse committed by priests: Thomas Dowd heard rumours that a priest named Brian Boucher had sexually abused children in Montreal. He investigated, found victims, brought evidence to police and was instrumental in Boucher being convicted and sentenced earlier this year to eight years in prison. What's most notable about Thomas Dowd is that he, himself, is a Catholic Church bishop - an authority figure in a church that has long been accused of hushing up the crimes of its clergy, protecting the institution at the expense of its flock.

Social contract between panhandlers and donors: So many of us, it seems, simply pass the outstretched hands and entreaties of panhandlers.  Others seriously weigh whether to give or not...how much and under what circumstances. Sometimes they feel betrayed when things aren't as they seemed. An essay on giving later this hour. Doug Bowie's essay is called "Con Artist."

Mail: George Monbiot and alternatives to capitalism

Music this week by: The Canadian National Brass Project, Patricia O'Callaghan, Edvard Grieg, Johann Christoph Pez, Morten Lauridsen, The Shuffle Demons, Howard Shore and Oscar Peterson