The Current

The Current for December 6, 2018

Today on The Current: are new mothers who can't breastfeed being left behind by "breast is best" health policies?; we speak to Gina Parvaneh Cody, the first woman to have an engineering building and faculty named after her; we take a look at the phenomenon of celebrity deaths — where no one has actually died; and we look at how the fat-tailed dwarf lemur could hold the secret to human hibernation, and whether that could be the key to deep-space travel.
(CBC)

Full Episode Transcript

Today on The Current

  • The health benefits of breastfeeding are well-established, but not every new mother can do it. Those who can't are finding themselves relying on expensive formula — sometimes having to forage for it online or in food banks — with little help from health policy that insists "breast is best."
  • Gina Parvaneh Cody graduated from Concordia with a PhD in engineering in 1989, the same year that 14 women were murdered at École Polytechnique in Montreal. Now, she's donated $15 million to her alma mater, and is the first woman to have an engineering school named after her. She tells us about her career, and building a future for women in science.  
  • We look at how the fat-tailed dwarf lemur could hold the secret to human hibernation, and whether that could be the key to deep-space travel