The Sunday Magazine for October 18, 2020
This week on The Sunday Magazine with host Piya Chattopadhyay:
The 2020 U.S. election, according to Facebook: As the U.S. election nears, polls and mainstream news suggest that Donald Trump's days as president may be numbered. But Facebook tells a different story. New York Times columnist Kevin Roose tracks political content on the world's largest social media platform, and says right wing messaging is still king there. He speaks with Chattopadhyay about why conservative content connects on social, and whether Facebook may be helping deliver Trump another victory.
The Toronto Raptors turn 25: Doug Smith has covered the Toronto Raptors for the Toronto Star since the team was founded in 1995. He speaks with Chattopadhyay about his book reflecting on that journey, We the North, how the Canadian expansion team came to be crowned NBA champions and how the Raps have helped shape and reflect contemporary Canada.
Word Processing: The election edition: In the latest installment of our ongoing language segment "Word Processing," Online Etymology Dictionary founder Douglas Harper illuminates the backstories of election-related words, including the Roman origins of "vote" as a solemn vow, what it formerly meant to cast a "ballot," and the bright white togas of the first "candidates."
A 'viral' birdsong makes new revelations about animal culture: A landmark 20-year study has found that a new kind of birdsong has gone "viral" in sparrow populations from British Columbia to Quebec. Ken Otter, biology professor at the University of Northern British Columbia and Scott Ramsay, associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, join Chattopadhyay to talk about their discovery... and what it reveals about animal culture.
Canada's unsung healthcare heroes: Minnie Akparook: This season we're introducing you to some of Canada's unsung healthcare heroes, both from today and throughout our history... starting with Minnie Akparook. She was one of the first Inuit nurses working in Nunavik, and has witnessed and experienced six decades of sweeping transformation in northern Canada. She speaks with Chattopadhyay about her extraordinary path, and about what makes nursing in the north so different from nursing in the south.
READ: In her quest to become a nurse, Minnie Akparook faced relocation, residential school and racism
