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The AIH Transcript for March 24, 2021

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight:

CO: Seas slanty. A massive cargo ship gets stuck sideways in the Suez Canal, causing global shipping chaos, creating a hull of a lot of problems and spawning lots of memes.

CH: Going down with the leadership. Hospitals across Brazil are overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, and many are blaming President Jair Bolsonaro for failing to take the pandemic seriously.

CO: Raising helicopter. A tiny chopper that arrived on Mars in the rover Perseverance is set for its first historic flight. But one of the people who built it tells us the butterflies in his stomach have already taken off.

CH: Boarding crawl. An oil patch worker's commute from Alberta to Newfoundland used to take nine hours or so. But during the pandemic, that trip can easily take more than 24 hours each way.

CO: Nose candy. Police in Paris announce they've broken up a drug operation worth a million euros, only to discover the pink powder they seised is ground up strawberry candy that won't give you much more than a sugar rush.

CH: And bottle rockets. A case of Bordeaux that spent more than a year in space has finally been cracked. And it may hold the key to safeguarding the world's food supply from climate change. As It Happens. The Wednesday Edition. Radio that figures after months without oxygen, you should really let it breathe.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: How does wine taste after a year in space? 'Wonderful,' says the man who sent it there

Suez Ship Blocked

Guest: John Konrad

CH: In the Suez Canal, one ship captain is having a very bad day. The massive container ship MV Ever Given has managed to lodge itself sideways across the canal, looking like a nightmare parking job that you just can't back out of. And to make matters worse, the ship is blocking one of the most used routes in the world which has even affected global oil prices. Captain John Konrad is watching. He's the founder of the shipping news website gcaptain.com. We reached him in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

CO: Captain Konrad, what was your first thought when you saw the picture of that ship stuck crosswise in the Suez Canal?

JOHN KONRAD: My first thought was someone made a big mistake.

CO: Yeah. And then what did you think?

JK: I thought that this is the choke point for all commerce. It's probably the second most important waterway in the entire world. And this ship is hard aground in this canal, and it could be a major problem.

CO: What do you think the captain of that ship was going through?

JK: So we know that they were coming down the canal. They were going a little faster. We're going 13 knots, and typically ships go 8. And it's a very confined waterway and we're not sure exactly what happened. Some reports are saying that there were high winds and gusts. Some were saying that there were mechanical errors. But when you have a ship that size going that fast in that confined space, it's like trying to drive a supertanker down Broadway, Times Square in New York -- it's not very manoeuvrable. And the time element, the time runs really quickly when things start to go wrong.

CO: Now, just give us a sense of how big the Ever Given is, this ship.

JK: Well, this is 400 metres, 1,300 feet. So it's 200 feet larger than the biggest aircraft carrier in the world, the Nimitz-class. So these ships have grown exponentially larger, but the crew size has not expanded at all. And the technology is old. They are running off of technology developed 20 years ago. You have an old school radar. You have a chart system that was developed over 20 years ago. It doesn't tell you everything that's happening with the engine. It doesn't tell you everything that's happening with the wind and current like a modern aviation cockpit has. So it's really up to the human intuition to figure out how to solve this problem. And you don't have very much time because you don't have very much space. And the inertia is pulling, right. It's not just the size of the ship, the 1,300 feet, it's the weight of this ship that really, you know, once the wind catches it and it starts going out, you simply don't have the power to get you back on course.

CO: Okay. So you've got these massive ships that are moving through these canals. You've got the same sized crew as you would have on something much smaller. You've got technology that's not keeping up with the size of it. And they're in a place where I can see of the effort to get it out, that the tugboats that are there -- I mean, maybe they're either very tiny or just seeing them up against the size of that ship they just don't seem that they're going to get that boat out.

JK: Yeah, they are large tugboats. They're not small. It's just the ship is so enormous. And they have a challenge ahead. Usually if you can get it out within the first few hours, that's your best opportunity. But as the time advances, the clock is really working against us here. They can't get it out. By the time this episode goes on air, it could sit there for a couple of days and have real problems. The other problem is you've got to think of this ship --- it's sitting on this cushion of water, and it's very comfortable there, right. But now it grounded and bow and we think it's probably grounded in the stern. So as the tide goes out, this cushion of water sinks and you could potentially crack the hull. It would be like lifting a car from the two bumpers. It's not meant to carry the weight. It's just like an enormous lever, an immense amount of weight on board the ship.

CO: But the cargo is stacked sky high. So if that should happen, might it lose the cargo into the canal?

JK: The cargo is pretty well secured on there, but that cargo is heavy. So first they're going to pump out all the water, the ballast tanks, to lighten it up. It looks like they've already tried to do that. And then if they can't get it out, if they haven't lifted the ship enough, they're going to have to remove these containers. They'll probably find a barge with a tall enough crane. I mean, these are towering high. So you need a really large crane, really high, and start pulling these containers off to lighten the ship.

CO: Yikes. And meanwhile, of course, this is one of the busiest passages in the world. How many billions of dollars are being tied up in cargo not moving right now?

JK: So 90 percent of everything, if you look around your office, your car, whatever, 90 percent of everything we own is on ships. And people don't realise it because it's out of sight. But this is a huge impact on the global economy. Think back to COVID, we shut down the airport,. We shut down the highways, we shut down the rail lines, but we kept waving the ships into the ports. If you went to the port, the ships were coming in at the height of COVID, because those containers have masks, some of them have respirators, they have critical supplies. So we couldn't stop the flow of ships. And now we're sort of forced to, right, if we cannot solve this problem quickly.

CO: And do you think that there are some people out of a job at the end of all this?

JK: Yes unfortunately, I'm biased because I'm a ship captain myself, and so I try not to blame the captain, but that's what the authorities usually do in incidents like this they put the blame on the captain. There are oftentimes arrests made. And definitely in some reports he may lose his licence, he may lose his job. But again, you know, he's just one component in this larger thing. Why didn't they have the better technology on board the ship? Why haven't the industry developed this technology? Why are there so few people there to help the captain? Why aren't they doing more training? It's all of these larger events that take place. Like I said, this is unusual because it's the Suez Canal. But we lose large ships like this all the time, maybe not this large. We have lost a few, but this is not a rare incident. It just happens to be in a very bad place for an accident.

CO: All right. We'll leave it there. Captain Konrad thank you.

JK: Excellent. Thank you so much Carol.

CH: Captain John Konrad is the founder of the shipping news website gcaptain.com. We reached him in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

[Music: Calm Music]

Mars Helicopter

Guest: Josh Ravich

CH: On December 17th, 1903, history was made on Earth, the Wright brothers flew a plane for the first time, specifically, Orville and Wilbur Wright conducted the first powered controlled flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Now, NASA wants to make history too, but this time on Mars. Yesterday, NASA engineers announced that in early April, a small helicopter named Ingenuity will conduct its first flight. It will help the rover Perseverance explore Mars. And this flight will make it the first powered controlled flight on another planet. Josh Ravich is the mechanical engineering lead for Ingenuity at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built the helicopter. We reached him in Pasadena, California.

CO: Josh, this flight on Mars is just a few days away. How long have you been working toward this moment?

JOSH RAVICH: I personally have been on the job since the summer of 2016, I think it was, so almost five years now.

CO: And so what -- butterflies in the stomach, sitting on pins and needles, what?

JR: All of the above. It's kind of exciting. I personally try to reserve my excitement, you know, for the first flight. I don't want to get too excited until then. But yeah, that said, it's every emotion you can imagine, right? I mean, it's kind of like going into the big game. Here we are after so many years, you know, we're days or a few weeks away from flight. So, yeah, the whole team, I think it's kind of got that buzz.

CO: So is the little helicopter, is it in place? Is it on its landing strip at this point on Mars?

JR: Not yet. It is on its way. Perseverance is driving there. In a few days, it could reach there if not sooner, and then begins the deployment process quickly to get Ingenuity on the ground, which all in all actually takes around a week of time.

CO: The airfield where it's actually going to be departing from, why is it having to go to a location? What are you hoping to get from that exact place?

JR: Yes. So, yeah, the airfield is chosen to be safe enough to do the demonstration. We want to make sure that it has, within the airfield, the local airfield, as well as as far as its planning to fly -- identify a dangerous rock, two large feature size that could damage the vehicle on landing, and only getting so much ground clearance you wouldn't want to land on a rock -- that's taller than the ground clearance. You want to make sure the slope of it, the ground isn't too big. And we really want to provide the safest place to conduct the demonstration. The main purpose of the mission is proving can we actually fly, you know, what the rotorcraft can call on Mars. So really providing the best that environment for it to do so -- improves the chance of a successful mission.

CO: But this little helicopter, it's going to be independent of Perseverance, right? This little thing. How does it get enough power to do to fly?

JR: Yes. So it's mostly independent. It does fly by itself. It does communicate through Perseverance. Perseverance is the link between Earth and Ingenuity through some onboard electronics and an onboard antenna. However, once it's free, yes, it is on its own to survive the environment. It has solar panel actually mounted on the top of Ingenuity. If you look, there's a rectangle on the top, that is a solar panel that charges batteries that are held inside, the electronics box is on the bottom of the vehicle. So, yeah, every day bits get the sun, charges up the batteries and is able to not only complete the flight missions, but also survive the very cold Martian night, a lot of the energy or the batteries actually use to keep it warm once it's away from the rover, from Perseverance, you know, it's going to kind of do that itself, whereas up until now, Perseverance has been kind of a safe, warm cocoon for Ingenuity.

CO: Yikes. It has to stay warm. It has to stay powered. But I mean, you do get some wind storms on Mars. And this little thing -- Ingenuity is only a couple of kilograms in size and weight, right? So are you worried that a big windstorm might come up and take it?

JR: So, yes, it is a very light vehicle, actually, little under two kilograms. So yes it is very really light weight. However, you know, at least as far as the winds go, luckily the atmospheric pressure is extremely low on Mars, it's about 1-100th of pressure at sea level on Earth. So while wind speeds can get fairly high, the air is just so thin that there's not that much air really hitting the vehicle. As far as flight -- we've actually done some flight testing in windy conditions. We're also hoping to gain some insights from Perseverance as to the weather conditions on flight day, and make sure we don't fly if we do see a storm coming.

CO: Yeah. Good advice. And does Ingenuity know what to do when it gets up in the air?

JR: Yeah, it's all part of it. It gets the flight plan, you know, go here to there. And then yeah, it kind of figures it out itself. It has onboard inertial sensor, navigation camera, laser altimeter to see how high off the ground it is. And it actually figures out its way to get where it's going to go.

CO: And how many Martian days will it be active?

JR: 30 is the mission -- 30 days and up to five flights.

CO: Wow. And then that's it? So then Ingenuity is done?

JR: Yeah, at the moment that's it. Perseverance has a lot of other stuff planned. Yeah. The 30 days we selected, as likely to be able to do the flights we need to gain the knowledge that we want to gain, to see in future helicopter design.

CO: But 31 earthling days, right, for us?

JR: Yes, I believe so. Yeah. Martian day is like 40ish minutes longer than an Earth day. So yeah Earth days I think it goes around the 31 days.

CO: There's something really interesting, though, that I want you to tell us about that actually connects Ingenuity, which is the first independent flight on another planet. But it's connected to the first independent flight on Earth, right, with the Wright brothers? Can you tell us what's on board?

JR: Yes, I'm very excited to talk about that. For a long time, our chief engineer and our project manager have been kind of describing this as the potential Wright brothers moment, you know, representing first light on another planet. In honour of that, we were lucky enough to be able to include a small piece of fabric from the original Wright Flyer One that I think it was called -- the original first flight Wright Flyer. We were able to include that on the vehicle as a little token. So hopefully our first flight will be successful. And we were so happy we were able to honour that accomplishment in our vehicle.

CO: Okay. Well, I'm sure you are not going to get much sleep as you await this to happen. And I hope it's successful. Josh it's good to talk to you. Thank you.

JR: Thank you so much. Have a great day.

CO: You too. Bye.

CH: Josh Ravich is the mechanical engineering lead for the helicopter Ingenuity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We reached him in Pasadena, California.

[Music: Synth Music]

ISS Fancy Wine

Guest: Nicolas Gaume

CH: Earlier this year, some very precious cargo crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, 12 bottles of Bordeaux. The wine had spent 438 days in zero gravity, orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station. Now, finally, some of those bottles have been uncorked and sampled. Nicolas Gaume has been waiting a long time for this moment. He's the CEO and co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited, the French organisation responsible for the experiment. We reached him in Bordeaux.

CO: Nicolas tell us, what did this space aged wine taste like?

NICOLAS GAUME: Well, it was absolutely different, which really was one of the outcome and one of the questions we had is, would that be the same? Would that be good? We're just starting the process. So we did one important wine tasting on March 1st, which was with two great wines, the earth wine and the space wine. And the space wine had differences in the look and the colours as much as in the taste itself.

CO: Okay. Well, for those people who travel know that they are always told wine doesn't like to fly. And so it's discouraged from taking a bottle of good French wine home with us from a holiday, wondering if it will survive. And did your's survive? Did it taste good?

NG: Well, you know, it tastes absolutely wonderful. Yes, it was very unique and very exclusive. And it had travelled quite a bit because it actually travelled from 300-million kilometres, about 300 times the earth to the moon equivalent in terms of a distance. So, yes, it did travel quite a bit. But what is more important is really this particular tradition that space actually -- the environment of space is very unique on the International Space Station. It's pretty much earth as we know it, the same temperature, brightness, humidity, oxygen level, but no gravity. And that is really what we're trying to capture, the absence of gravity. Gravity is the only parameter of life, the only one that since life exists on Earth that hasn't moved. All the others have changed considerably over the hundreds and millions of years of life on Earth. You know, there were ice age, there were warmer period of time, there were hundreds of years of darkness. All this kill species, and made others evolve. And in every evolution of life, gravity was always the backbone. So when you recreate Earth and remove gravity, you actually create amazing new phenomenons.

CO: So how did a year in zero gravity, what effect did it have on the Bordeaux?

NG: So the absence of gravity did change the colour of the wine. It is a little bit brick colour, it is a little different. And the taste itself made it unique. Some of the prunes were revealed like maybe an older version of the Earth wine, but also in a different fashion. Wine tasting is a very personal analysis. You know, we don't really have a full understanding of what makes the taste of the wine. So we need further analysis. And we are going to do a lot of more test tasting and testing as we move forward. But what I can tell you right now is it tastes different.

CO: The astronauts at the International Space Station must have been very tempted to crack those Bordeauxs open.

NG: You know, they couldn't open. It was in a sealed canister. And it was part of what makes this project unique. You have to appreciate that alcohol is forbidden on the space station as well as glass container. So we had multiple conversations with a number of organisations managing the safety on board the ISS. And it's really because we really were going straight into the core of the science and the research program that we actually got authorisation to proceed. But it has been a very difficult process because, again, safety of the astronauts is paramount. And when you can expose them to any kind of risks and alcohol is perceived as one, you have a lot of scrutiny.

CO: So you sent the wine, but you also sent clippings from the vines. What did you want to learn about them?

NG: As I said, when you recreates Earth's environment in space and then you remove gravity, which is the backbone of life all these years, you create and accelerate, you generate some evolution of nature. Basically, the plants need to find ways to survive this peculiar environment. And the simple theory is that we are very conscious that Earth is changing because of humankind impact. And as we move forward, agriculture is going to be affected. And so the key question is how are we going to feed humanity tomorrow? We choose viticulture because it's a very interesting component of agriculture. But what we're looking at is really holistically of what are the opportunities that space brings for back to Earth. And the simple theory is that facing the absence of gravity, the plants that we sent will find a natural evolution to fight and resist and will gain a better resilience to lesser stresses than the absence of gravity and namely the stress related to climate change.

CO: So, I mean, you're concerned that plants are going to need to learn how to survive in space because they may not survive on Earth?

NG: Well, you know, that's a fact. I mean, you take wine just as an example -- when you're producing wine in the 70s in the Bordeaux region, you would have 11-12 degrees of alcohol in the wine. Today, most of the wine produced have 13-14 degree of alcohol. And if you project yourself in a few decades, you might not be able to produce wine anymore in the Bordeaux region. So that's one of the many examples of the damage we've done to our planet and the way that climate change is affecting the way we grow food. And in the case of wine it's a particular product, but it's going to be applied to many others. So if we question ourselves, hopefully we will all as a species react and take actions to behave differently and do the right thing to preserve our planet. Even though damage has been done, we will have evolution, there will be adaptation. The question is, will these evolutions be fast enough to be able to sustain what is humanity? So, yes, by exposing plants to the stress of absence of gravity, we intend to make natural evolution and create species of this plants that will be more resilient to climate change's stresses.

CO: Just finally, when are you going to drink the rest of the wine?

NG: Well, most of the wine is going to be tested and tasted. So obviously we love wine and we will enjoy tasting further. But we want to make a better understanding of the impact of space and the absence of gravity on this liquid.

CO: All right. We'll be following what develops on that. Nicolas thanks for speaking with us.

NG: Thank you so much Carol.

CH: Nicolas Gaume is the CEO of Space Cargo Unlimited. We reached him in Bordeaux, France. And you can find more on the story on our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Candy

CH: Ecstasy, molly, E-bomb, the hug drug, micro hype, chuckle dust, pep festival. When it comes to nicknames for the drug methylene deoxy methamphetamine, MDMA for short, officers on the drug squad have heard them all. Not all the ones I just said -- I made up several of them, but they're plausible. So when police in Paris made a huge MDMA bust last week, they weren't fazed by the suspect's insistence that the powder they had seised was ground up strawberry candy. Sure, the police probably thought ground up strawberry candy, GUSC, and they probably filed it away mentally as hip slang for ecstasy. They were so proud of the operation that they tweeted about it, claiming to have busted an MDMA packaging workshop that had fuelled clandestine parties. 1-million euros worth of seised goods, the tweet trumpeted. Well, you know, in TV shows where a detective sticks a finger in a bag of cocaine or runs it around her gums and says, "Yep, this is the high grade stuff." One of the cops at the bust should have done that. If they had just tasted the pink powder before they'd tweeted, they would have discovered that GUSC was not cool street slang for MDMA, it was literally ground up strawberry candy. Why was someone grinding up large quantities of strawberry candy? Only the grinder knows. But regardless, that huge bust was really a huge bust and there's no way to sugarcoat it.

[Music: Piano Music]

Part 2: Brazil's health-care workers overwhelmed as country reaches its highest COVID-19 death toll yet

Brazil Covid

Guest: Fabio Biolchini

CH: Yesterday, 3,158 people died of COVID-19 in Brazil, the most deaths ever in a single day. The total number of COVID deaths in that country since the beginning of the pandemic was expected to break 300,000 today. As hospitals across the country are being overwhelmed, many are placing the blame on President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the severity of the pandemic since the very start. Fabio Biolchini is the emergency coordinator for Brazil with Médecins Sans Frontieres. We reached him in Porto Velho, in northern Brazil.

CO: Fabio, as I'm sure you know, the number of deaths from COVID in Brazil will probably reach 300,000 today. What are people where you are in Porto Velho, what are they saying about that?

FABIO BIOLCHINI: I think it's not only in Porto Velho, but in the entire Brazil. Everybody is very concerned. Everybody is very scared about the situation. The impression that we all have is that this wave is completely out of control. Yes, so everybody's staggered by the current situation.

CO: And so just alone, I guess, yesterday, more than 3,000 people in Brazil died. What is the situation of COVID-19 where you are?

FB: In Porto Velho, we see many hospitals that are overcrowded. We see clinics or emergency rooms that are not equipped to admit patients, and they are obliged to admit patients because there are no more beds in secondary and tertiary level hospitals. That's a very critical situation.

CO: And are people getting vaccinated?

FB: They are, but it's really slow. So for now, there are around three to four percent of the population of this state that has been vaccinated, which is clearly not enough to achieve immunity.

CO: You have in Brazil, a third of all the deaths in the world right now are in your country from COVID-19, you are second only to the United States in infection rates. How did things get so bad in Brazil, in your view?

FB: I think one of the factors is that it's really hard to keep people inside their homes for a long time if they do not have a financial support to do that, because people at some point you just have to go to work so they can have their income. It's a choice between starve to death or get COVID. So they take the risk to get COVID. Secondly, I think we have a very weak response in terms of centralised, let's say, decision making on the minister of health. We have a communication that is not well established. We have each state in Brazil who are taking their own decisions. So it's really really complicated. We see people that in some cities they are still out there just going around as nothing was happening. Many of the people, they believe in prophylaxis against COVID, such as hydroxychloroquine. And so many people will those drugs, even if they don't have symptoms as a prophylaxis and they have the delusion that they are protected against COVID, which is clearly a mistake we have seen here in Rondonia. According to the health state secretary, 90 percent of people that are hospitalised today, they were under this so called prophylaxis treatment. But it's still a very rooted belief in the local population.

CO: Those kinds of drugs, what you're describing, those treatments that they people believe will prevent them from getting COVID -- they heard that from your president, did they? I mean, President Bolsonaro said that he thinks those are what people need. He has said that the pandemic is exaggerated and it's a little flu. He's also said even most recently that you will all soon be leading normal lives. Do you think the people, the infection rates, you are seeing is because people believe what President Bolsonaro was saying?

FB: Well, I think it plays a very strong role on the attitude of the population, that's for sure. He's the leader of a country and many people will listen to him, despite the fact that there's no scientific evidence that works . This for sure, is not helping at all, to say the least.

CO: The fact that you have in that country a lack of centralised planning for what to do about the pandemic, and a government and a president who doesn't believe in the science of the virus. What effect does that have on health care workers like yourselves? What impact is it having on the workers who are trying to treat all these people?

FB: It takes a very very hard toll on all the health workers. They are working sometimes 48 hour shifts. We have seen cases of health workers working even 72 hours straight shifts. They are literally collapsing. And that's been the case for months now. People are really tired that they have signs of burnout, who have many doctors and nurses with suicidal thoughts. So in addition to the workload, there is also this frustration that they are doing the best they can, but nobody else is helping them. But for sure, it is frustrating to them to see that those kind of speeches that do affect society and behaviour and it will only increase their workload and the patients inside the hospitals.

CO: What's at stake now that there seems to be a new variant in Brazil that could be even deadlier than the previous? What do you fear is coming?

FB: Well, I think the entire scientific community is very concerned that virus, they multiply, they mutate. So as long as we have this virus around us, there is a possibility that at some point there will have a new mutation and the vaccines will be useless against it.

CO: Fabio what toll is taking on you personally?

FB: Well, to be honest, I don't know yet. I think I'm going to know when I stop because we are all working on adrenaline mode -- so it's action, action, action. And there is a lot of things to do all the time. Myself, I feel that I am at the place that I should be. But of course, it's not easy to see, especially as being also a Brazilian, so it's my own population. So seeing people in these conditions, and corpses that are piled up at the entrance of hospitals because they just don't have a place anymore in the morgue, that's quite shocking. So I think in the future I will be in a better position to respond to your question. But so far, all those, let's say, self-consciousness is a bit apart for a while. But we will all have to deal with that at some point, that's for sure.

CO: Fabio, I wish you strength when you finally have to deal with all that. It just sounds overwhelming. I appreciate that you'd find some time for us today. Thank you.

FB: My pleasure Carol.

CH: Fabio Biolchini is the emergency coordinator for Brazil with Medecins Sans Frontieres. We reached him in Porto Velho, Brazil, and you can find more on this story on our webpage: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Drum & Bass Music]

Freediving

CH: Freediving is not a sport for the faint of heart. And it's definitely not for the faint of lung. It takes an incredible amount of dedication, training and the ability to hold your breath for an amount of time that would make me lapse into an immediate coma. It seems impossible. But for Calgary veterinarian Lorenza Malaguti, the sport is exhilarating. Although she has actually increased the level of difficulty, not only does she free dive without any scuba gear, she does it in bone chilling temperatures. It's basically like the ice bucket challenge times several million. Here's Lorenza Malaguti speaking to CBC Calgary.

LORENZA MALAGUTI: So when we do it under ice, it's a different experience. It's not so much for performance. Like how long can I stand, or work on your breath hold, work on your depth training. It's not about that. It is the experience. The water is so cold, it's one degrees Celsius that you can barely hold your breath. You can't really reach the depths you usually do. So it's for that experience. I think the worst part is getting into the suit and getting out of the suit because you're outside and your covered in lubricant. But once you're in the water, after, I'd say 15-20 minutes, you start to kind of acclimatise and try to relax a little bit and try to meditate, try to loosen the breath. And then you go down and it's quite the experience.

ROB BROWN: Why do it in the cold depths of local waters when you could do it in the warm tropics?

LORENZA MALAGUTI: That's very good question. Well, first of all, we can't really go to the tropics. Second of all, it's a different experience. It's actually great for training -- once you get good at diving in cold water, you can then dive in warm water with more ease.

ROB BROWN: How did you get into it?

LORENZA MALAGUTI: I started when I was a child. I grew up in Europe. My grandfather taught me before I could walk really, so I started doing it when I was young.

ROB BROWN: That's incredible. And so your grandfather did it before it had a term?

LORENZA MALAGUTI: In Europe it's very popular. I guess it's always been called apnea. He would tell me to dive down and go get a little rock or something. And I didn't realise I was free diving until I was much older. I didn't know. Physiologically, anybody can freedive. It's actually a fantastic form of meditation. Honestly, I highly recommend it if you like breath work, meditating, kind of escaping your mind -- it is fantastic. I do think that everybody should be trained at least for level one training if you're going to free dive.

CH: That was Lorenzo Malaguti speaking to Rob Brown on the Calgary Eyeopener this morning.

[Music: Banjo Music]

Fort Mac Travel

Guest: Derek Barrett

CH: Talks between Ottawa and the airline industry on a bailout package have been dragging on for months now as thousands of flights have been cancelled and regional routes have been cut. That kind of slow progress is now very familiar to Canadian air passengers. Take Derek Barrett. He's a mechanic supervisor in the Alberta oil sands. Twice a month, he commutes from Fort McMurray home to St. John's, Newfoundland. What used to be a nine hour trip now regularly takes him more than a day. We reached Derek Barrett in St. John's.

CO: Derek, I know you are back and forth to Alberta all the time, but there was one particular trip in February that was quite drawn out. Do you want to tell us about it?

DEREK BARRETT: Yeah, I was supposed to leave on February 8th. My flight got cancelled because of weather in St. John's. Flight got booked for the next day. And I had to go to Halifax, spend 19 hours there, go to Toronto and spend three hours there. Go to Calgary, spend another two hours there and then fly into Fort McMurray that same day.

CO: Yikes. You add that up for us and say how many hours that took.

DB: That was a 30 hour trip there for sure.

CO: When things are normal, how long does it take you to get to work in Fort Mac?

DB: Well, there's times in the summertime you can fly direct to Calgary from St. John's and Fort Mac, so you're looking at about eight to nine hours or otherwise 10 to 11 hours is typical.

CO: So that I mean, the commute is difficult in the best of times, but this is certainly not the best of times. So what is that like to have to spend all those hours and I guess not even know what the next leg of the journey is going to be?

DB: Yeah, it's hard and each endm when you're coming home, I mean, you can lose your days off. When you're going to work, you could lose pay because of it. When you leave, you don't know if a flight gets cancelled then when the next one is. So you don't know how long you're going to be in an airport or a hotel or anywhere along your trip.

CO: When you say this is cutting into either your hours of work or your hours at home, what's your on and off periods for work?

DB: I work 14 days on. And I get 14 days off.

CO: Yikes. Okay, so there's not much wiggle room. What about quarantine? Do you have to go into some restrictions there as well?

DB: Not when I go to Alberta. I just go on to work there. When I come home, last time home it was a full 14 days, not allowed to leave my property, no testing. But just before I came home, they implemented testing where I would get tested on days zero to two, and then I could go for a drive after that negative test and go for a walk and stuff like that. And now I can get tested day seven and nine, which I did yesterday, and I'm free to go to public buildings like stores and things like that now.

CO: What effect this is having on you?

DB: You're less likely to want to go. I don't feel at risk while travelling, it's just a matter of when you get home your isolation and there's been a lot of talk about, especially on social media, about us coming home and stigmatism against us and our kids and things like that. So it's been a little difficult for that reason for sure.

CO: Can you tell us a bit about that?

DB: Yeah. I mean, on social media, you get a lot of people saying stuff that they normally wouldn't say to you. But I've been told by people that I was selfish to work out of province during a pandemic -- my response was, this is my profession, this is my job, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. So that's just one example. Like our kids, if they didn't change the rules this time when I came home, like my daughter would not be able to go to school while I came home. She could go when I was gone. But when I was home, she would have to stay home. And there was no options for online learning at that point either.

CO: What difference would it make if they could start to restore some of the service to the flights and the flight routes that have been truncated or cancelled?

DB: You have more options of when you can go or if you get stuck somewhere for weather or even it doesn't matter what kind of delay you get, just there's another flight coming behind you to put you on. So it's not a big deal if you spend a couple extra hours in an airport somewhere. I've been doing that for years where either it was a delay or cancellation or connection or stuff like that. But that's the worst of it now, you don't really know.

CO: WestJet has been the principal airline for a lot of you as you make this journey. But some many flights they cancelled. They've just announced they'll be restoring service to a number of airports in the Atlantic region towards the end of June. And so this will make a big difference then for you if these flights are restored?

DB: Yes, for sure. And everybody has seen a significant price increase in flights recently. I mean, you're talking 20-30 percent easy, more than what we were paying before the last six months or so.

CO: A lot of this was being contingent on the airline industry getting some kind of bailout from the federal government that they've been talking about this since November. What's it like for you watching and waiting to see those deals get done?

DB: Frustrating to see for an industry that's so important to business and our economy, not just guys travelling for work, for people who travel for business or even leisure. What's going to happen hopefully by sometime late this year, I would think maybe -- but I think the government needs to step up. And if they do offer a bailout, then make sure that certain routes have to be in place, not just get a bailout and not use it for something beneficial to everybody like that.

CO: Do you ever consider just not doing this anymore -- just packing your tents and forgetting about heading out to Fort Mac?

DB: Yeah, we actually had the conversation with our daughter last time I was home that if we didn't see like an easing restrictions for us and being able to be a family here, then we would absolutely consider selling our house and stuff here and moving away. And there's a lot of guys that already have made the choice to go for the simple reason of Newfoundland with the higher taxes, and it's just an expensive place to live in general Newfoundland.

CO: You're going to hold out for the time being?

DB: For now, I'm going to hold out and see how it goes for this year and we'll get back to some kind of normal, hopefully.

CO: Well Derek, I hope you have happier travels in your future and thanks for speaking with us.

DB: All right. Thank you so much for having me.

CO: Take care.

DB: Derek Barrett works in the oil sands industry in Fort McMurray, Alberta. We reached him at home in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Satisfaction

CH: You'd think our collective well-being would have been radically diminished by the collective challenge of well-being over the past year. But according to the 2021 World Happiness Report, the shocking upheaval of 2020 has done shockingly little to influence rates of so-called life satisfaction in 95 countries surveyed. As a wise man once said about life satisfaction, 'I try and I try. And I try. And I try. But I can't get no closer to understanding how a survey could reach this conclusion.' But the researchers are standing by their methodology, which they explained takes a longer view of satisfaction. Okay, unfortunately, the report doesn't specify precisely how long. But in the meantime, it offers proof that, "people have not thrown up their hands about their lives." And while I have occasionally thrown up my hands, I will happily put them together for any research that suggests people can remain basically satisfied despite any number of reasons not to be. And that apparently, even though we seem increasingly factionalised, we're still satisfaction-lised.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Alphonso Davies

CH: At 20 years old Canadian, Alphonso Davies, has already accomplished a phenomenal amount, and now his accomplishments have earned him another accomplishment. Today, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, announced that the soccer superstar would be its newest global goodwill ambassador. He's the first soccer player and the first Canadian to ever fill the role. That role is deeply personal for Mr. Davies. After his parents fled Liberia, he was born in a refugee camp in Ghana. He came to Canada when he was five and his family made their home in Edmonton. Back in 2018, we spoke with the then 17 year old Alphonso Davies, who was transferring from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Bayern Munich in Germany after signing a record breaking deal. He talked about how he was feeling about moving to Europe.

AD: Yeah, I'm happy for the opportunity. It’s going to be different, different language, different culture, different environment — but I'm looking forward to it.

LL: Do you speak German?

AD: No. Some of the players are trying to teach me.

LL: What have you got so far?

AD: Nothing. [LAUGHTER]

LL: I'm wondering what all of this means to your parents? For example, what did your mother say to you when you told her that you were off to Germany?

AD: She couldn't believe it. And she gave me mother’s advice, be safe, be careful. I’m like ‘Mom, I’m not leaving yet,’ She just said ‘OK, just be a good boy.’

LL: Do you ever reflect on the fact that you were born in a refugee camp in Ghana in 2000 after your parents left war torn Liberia, and you've gone from there to this and think ‘Oh, my God, how did they get this far?’

AD: Yeah, I do. The video that I think VICE made, the Whitecaps made the documentary, watching that back and also listening to stories for my parents, it's amazing coming this far and just got to keep working, keep striving.

LL: What gives you that strong drive to keep working and striving to get better?

AD: I think looking back on my past and where I came from. You know, coming from a country like Ghana and then coming to a country like Canada and getting all these opportunities, it is an amazing feeling. That's why I keep working so hard — and also for my parents as well.

LL: You're moving into a much more competitive environment when you're talking about playing in Europe and with those clubs. I'm wondering how much room you think you have to improve as a player?

AD: I have until the end of the year, so I think I can develop my skills a little bit more here and then go there and then learn more and more each day we are training or each match we play.

LL: I hear you're pretty good at foosball. Do they play that in Germany?

AD: I think so. I don’t even know, but yeah, I'm pretty good.

LL: And also, not to mention your dance moves, you can show those off too. I saw that in the documentary, you’re pretty good at dancing.

AD: Yeah, I dabble.

LL: What are you gonna miss most about Vancouver?

AD: I'm just gonna miss the city and the people around me, my teammates, coaches, the stadium and the fans as well including the amazing city.

LL: You're still in high school aren't you?

AD: Yes.

LL: Are you going to graduate before you leave for Germany?

AD: We are going to try to if I start cramming in all my subjects in those six months.

LL: Can I ask you just finally what your message is to fans in Vancouver who have just so loved watching you play for the Whitecaps?

AD: I want to say thank you to all the fans. Me stepping on the field as a 15-year-old they've all been supportive of me and then growing now into a 17-year-old guy, the fans have always welcomed me. Vancouver is a great city and I'm going to miss it a lot when I leave.

CH: That was Canadian soccer player Alphonso Davies speaking with guest host Laura Lynch in July of 2018. Today, the UNHCR announced he would be its new global goodwill ambassador.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Part 3: Why this Mauritian climate activist held an underwater protest in the Indian Ocean

Mauritius Underwater Protest

Guest: Shaama Sandooyea

CH: It's fair to say a lot of us feel at sea when it comes to the climate change crisis. It's hard to know how to take meaningful action, but some take that at-sea feeling and actually take to the sea. Shaama Sandooyea had never been on a ship before, but for the past several weeks, she's been calling the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise home. The climate activist and researcher from Mauritius recently took part in the first underwater protest of the global climate strike. She took the plunge in the hopes of raising awareness about the vast seagrass meadows in the middle of the Indian Ocean. And that's where we reached her.

CO: Shaama, can you tell us what it's like to be out on the ocean aboard the Arctic Sunrise today?

SHAAMA SANDOOYEA: So I'm currently with the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and it's been amazing so far. We've been here since the beginning of March. And for the first weeks, we've had really nice weather and the sea was so calm we could see everything. Bryde's whales and pilot whales, different kinds of dolphins, sharks, and rays now.

CO: But you're describing what it's like from the boat, from the ship, to see what the ocean looks like on top. You went underneath. This underwater protest. Can you describe what you saw, this huge seagrass meadow?

SS: It was amazing because the whole seabed was covered in green patches. It was like really dense. And we could see the sea grasses swaying with the currents and fish swimming above and some corals growing in the patches. So it's fantastic to see the sea life on the seafloor. I don't know, but it's a feeling I never got seeing that much seagrass because I've always seen seagrass as dredged, cleared and destroyed. And this is the first time I'm seeing such a pristine area.

CO: This was not just a visit to see something beautiful, this was a protest. Can you describe what it is you wanted people to know?

SS: Well, first of all, with Greenpeace, we are here to carry out a scientific expedition at the Saya de Malha. Basically, what we know about the Saya de Malha is that it's a really shallow area in the middle of the ocean, in the high seas, and it's also the largest seagrass ecosystem around the planet. So we've been here to make an assessment of what we can see as biodiversity, of what we can find, because it's an area which hasn't been really documented. So being here for the past weeks, we've seen so many animals and so much life on the sea from the seagrass. And we are fighting against the climate crisis. And we know that the seagrass, they capture the carbon from the atmosphere 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. But they are underestimated. They are neglected. And this area, Saya de Malha, it's threatened by the climate crisis itself because we also found dead corals here and it's threatened by illegal fisheries, it is threatened by pollution, by so many things. But at the same time, the seagrass here, they can help us fight the climate crisis. And that is an amazing thing to know. So this is the message that I'm trying to to to get out that here in Saya de Malha we have the world's largest seagrass, which could be a really efficient carbon sink, and we need to protect it.

CO: Now, what are the threats, though, to the seagrass ecosystem, the one that you're in now?

SS: Well, basically, the Indian Ocean is surrounded by land, so it heats up really quickly and we've had severe events in the past, bleaching corals. And we found some bleached corals here as well. And we also found out that the seagrass and the corals, they live together. I mean, they both interact with each other and they need each other to thrive. And the second thing we know that with the rising temperatures, some populations of fish will migrate to cooler regions because it's too warm here. But this seagrass, they need the fish, they need the animals, they need all the biodiversity that's already here. But they are affected by the climate crisis already. So these are like the main threats that the Saya de Malha is facing. But we don't know about it because we haven't been documenting about the biodiversity here, about the ecosystem, about the impact of the climate crisis on it.

CO: You're from Mauritius and so you are dealing with, where you come from, with a huge oil spill, is that right?

SS: Yeah, yeah. We've had an oil spill last year in August.

CO: And so what effect is that having?

SS: Well, for now, we are still waiting for the government to publish the reports about the water analysis, about the samples taken from fish and corals. But so far, we don't have like an exact detail of what's going on in the marine environment. But for sure, we know it's affecting it because the oil -- I mean, it's 1000 tons of oil that was spilled in the lagoon. And our lagoon is very sensitive because the water temperature is rising already. So that's one stress and the oil is just another stress. So in some places, the mangroves they started losing their lives. But we also noticed, like health impacts on the local communities, they started getting like respiratory problems, migraines, and developing skin problems on the long term. So, yeah, these are the things that we know. There are many things that we don't know about the impacts of the oil spill, and we still have to monitor it in the long term because I mean, the oil, we know it has a short term impact, but it has also long term consequences on life.

CO: What does it mean for you personally to be out on that boat on the Arctic Sunrise and be part of this protest support of this seagrass?

SS: Well, for me personally, it's a privilege to be with Greenpeace on Arctic Sunrise and in the middle of the Indian Ocean because for me the Indian Ocean is home and I've been trying to, while protesting for the climate I've seen how much the Indian Ocean has been suffering, like not just in terms of the climate, because all islands are suffering in their own ways. I mean, I wanted to do something more for the Indian Ocean for a long time now. And I'm just really glad I can contribute to it, because if it's not us from the Indian Ocean fighting for it, who's going to do it for us? But to be here, I'm raising more awareness about the climate crisis and how it's affecting the islands and how this ecosystem here, Saya de Malha, the seagrass can help us fight it. So for me, it's a really huge opportunity and a great privilege.

CO: Well, I'll let you get back to the beauty, what you're looking at. Shaama it's good to talk to you. Thank you.

SS: Thank you so much.

CH: Shaama Sandooyea is a climate activist and researcher from Mauritius. She was aboard a Greenpeace ship in the Indian Ocean. We have more on this story on our webpage: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Deer Rescue

CH: Brenan Isabelle was working from his home in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, when his partner noticed something out on the water. It was a deer and it was in trouble. It had fallen through the ice and was struggling to stay afloat in the frigid water. So Mr. Isabelle quickly grabbed a few supplies from his shed to make a sling and jumped in his canoe to help. He told the CBC what happened next.

BRENAN ISABELLE: By that point, the deer had pretty much gone back out into the bay and was kind of out in the middle of the bay where the ice was thin and was swimming away. But it headed back to an area where the ice was pretty thick. And so I followed it through the path that it had made with my canoe, which was not too difficult since the ice had broken there. I tried to kind of get in front of it so that it would hopefully turn around. I mean, at that point, I had no thoughts of lifting this thing into the canoe. And I tried to sort of block its way and make it go back the other way into the open water where it might be actually able to get out of the ice. But it just seemed to be panicked and was just something more along in the thick part of the ice. I put the sling around it and I tied it to the canoe and I turned around and started paddling out back towards the open water. And so it was trying to swim toward shore rather than back out into the open water. And I was trying to paddle through the ice and we weren't going anywhere. And by this point, it did start to seem to be getting tired. So I decided to try and lift it into the canoe. This was where it got a little bit tricky because when I tried to lift it in the canoe, the canoe was getting quite close to dipping into the water. So I reached around the deer's neck and pulled on the sling around his chest. And I was able to kind of by balancing off the other side of the canoe to pull it in. At first it didn't move at all. And I think maybe it was relieved. Obviously it was pretty cold too.

BROOKLYN CURRIE: And what happened once you did finally, you know, get back to shore with the deer in tow?

BRENAN ISABELLE: Well, when I was getting closer to shore, the deer did start kicking and I had to kind of adjust where I was sitting. As it warmed up, I guess, it was trying to get up and started to kind of ticket its hoses against the gunnels of the canoe. And so I sort of sat on top of it and told it, you know, whatever you say to a deer. And as we got to the shore, my wife was there watching. And actually my mother in law was on Skype watching the whole thing from a laptop. So I had bit of an audience. It came out of the water and just kind of stood between the house and the water for probably 20 minutes or so. And then eventually I just saw it walking away.

CH: That was Brenan Isabelle speaking with CBC Nova Scotia reporter Brooklyn Currie about how he rescued a deer last week in his canoe.

[Music: Flute Music]

EU & India

CH: Justin Trudeau insists Canada supply of COVID-19 vaccines will not be interrupted. But during question period today, conservative health critic Michelle Rempel asked the prime minister to respond to reports that suggest the European Union and India are considering imposing export controls on vaccines, controls that would restrict Canada's access to millions of doses. Here's part of that exchange.

MICHELLE REMPEL: Mr. Speaker, today we learnt that vaccine deliveries to Canada from Europe and India, two of the biggest sources of vaccines to our country, may be restricted. 92 countries have written formal exemptions from the EU's export control regulations, but Canada does not. Today, the minister of public procurement declined comment to the Globe and Mail on how proposed restrictions might affect the delivery of EU-made vaccines to Canada. Can the Prime Minister absolutely guarantee that zero doses of vaccines will be held back from the EU to our country over the next two months?

SPEAKER: Right Honourable Prime Minister.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: Mr. Speaker. We share the urgency of all Canadians to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines. We are concerned with the new reports of restrictions out of the EU or potential restrictions out of the EU, and we will be continuing to work with our counterparts, including direct contact from me to the highest levels of the European Commission in order to ensure that Canada's supply of vaccines is not in danger, is not interrupted. This is something that we are working extremely hard on and we will ensure that Canadians continue to receive the vaccines that we need.

SPEAKER: The Honourable Member for Calgary Nose Hill.

MICHELLE REMPEL: It just blows my mind, Mr. Speaker, we've known this was our problem two months ago and we still have no guarantees from the prime minister on that issue. So let's try another country. On top of EU restrictions. India has put a hold on major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Has the prime minister contacted the Modi government yet to determine how many doses may be held back by India to our country over the next two months? And if so, how many doses may be affected?

SPEAKER: Right Honourable Prime Minister.

MICHELLE REMPEL: Mr. Speaker, on this file as well, we continue to work very closely with officials of both of our countries ensuring that the promised doses continue to flow. At this point, we have no indications that the two million doses we will be receiving from the Serum Institute over the coming two months will in any way be affected. We will continue to ensure that that be the case.

CH: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responding to conservative health critic Michelle Rempel during Question Period today. In a statement to the CBC an EU Commission spokesperson wrote, "Today, The EU has strengthened the COVID-19 vaccines, export transparency and authorisation mechanism to preserve the security of our supply chains. This is not an export ban. It is about making sure that Europe gets its due share of vaccines and inviting other countries to open up for exports." And a statement from the High Commission of India reads, "The government of India is working hard with vaccine manufacturers to expand the production capacity as soon as possible to meet both domestic and external demands."

[Music: Drum Music]

Montana Young Doctorate

Guest: Kimberly Strable

CH: There's no official list, but Kimberly Strable is confident she's the third youngest person in the world to earn a doctorate. What is certain is that she is a high achiever. At just 17, an age when some of us were saying "When will they ever even use maths in life anyway?" She has completed a doctorate in business administration. We reached Kimberly Straubel in Great Falls, Montana.

CO: Dr. Strable, congratulations.

KIMBERLY STRABLE: Thank you.

CO: How does it feel to have your doctorate?

KS: I'm just super excited. It's been a long journey. And so to finally be done and officially a doctor was just amazing and still is.

CO: And was it important to you to graduate with a doctorate at the age of 17?

KS: Yeah, it was very important. It wasn't just 17 too, it was a certain timeline. It was been a goal of mine for a while to be the youngest in all of American history and third youngest in world history. And so there was a deadline I was trying to meet and very happy that I was able to actually successfully meet and make that goal.

CO: Why was that goal important to you?

KS: You know, a couple of years ago, I was brought up of the youngest who ever had a doctorate degree. And I was looking at the list and it just kind of became a goal of mine. And that was something I wanted to achieve. And so the more work I put into it, the bigger the goal came or became. And I was quite dedicated to it.

CO: Who are you up against? Who have you beat out at this point as the youngest?

KS: There's about four other people that got their doctorates at 17. And I beat the third youngest in all of world history by 36 days. He was 17, 294 days old. And when I got it, was 17, 268 days old. So definitely an accomplishment there. And then obviously the youngest North American history by a little bit more than that.

CO: When did you turn 17?

KS: I turned 17 on July 3rd.

CO: Okay. And this past year, have you been under COVID restrictions? Has it limited your time, actually, at university?

KS: So I was doing it all online. It's actually a school out of California. So before COVID hit I was doing online. So it didn't really impact me. I was lucky enough. I was never sick with COVID, still haven't been. So COVID did not really change anything as far as school wise for me, I was able to continue as normal.

CO: Did you do any part of your degree on campus?

KS: For the doctorate, it was all online course which worked out well since I've done a lot of online college before.

CO: But what about your undergraduate degrees?

KS: So most of them were online classes as well. There was a campus here and I had the ability to do classes on campus and I was on campus a few different times. But for the most part, I preferred to do them online, just a little easier with my schedule.

CO: How old were you when you started university?

KS: I graduated high school at 12 and I instantly went into the bachelor's degree, so 12 years old, I was fully working on my bachelors.

CO: Wow. And so why did you choose the Business Administration?

KS: So I've always been very business minded. It was beyond just the jobs I've held. And even as a young kid, business was just a passion of mine and I really seem to do well with it. So it made sense to pursue that area.

CO: Did you find any sort of pushback that you were too young and that you shouldn't be in college at your age?

KS: I didn't have a lot of pushback with the schools as far as, you know, business and the bachelors. Most people didn't even know my age, so it wasn't a big issue. I've had a lot of pushback with different jobs and that's been a struggle I've been trying to overcome. But it's been pretty good with the education side.

CO: So you have encountered some ageism in the workforce?

KS: Yeah, I've encountered a lot of different barriers with my age and actual discrimination because of how old I am for various reasons. And so that's been a challenge that I've tried to work through and I'm still currently in the process of trying to fight that.

CO: Can you tell me a bit about that, what you've been experiencing?

KS: Yeah, there's multiple different jobs that have told me that because I'm not 18 that I'm not eligible to apply or they won't accept someone in the management field, even though I do have management experience. And so, interestingly enough, that's actually illegal here in Montana. And so I'm actually in the process of fighting some age discrimination lawsuits and hopefully to bring some policy change, as I've experienced quite a large amount of companies pressing back, saying I can't work there even though I'm qualified. And ideally, I just would love to get a job where I can work my way up and eventually get into executive management. So that's a very interesting area of my life right now that I'm working on.

CO: You want to go right into the workforce?

KS: Yes. Yep. So get with a company and just kind of work my way up. And eventually I'd like to, you know, become a high level manager and really bring change on that level. But yeah, my goal is just to jump right into the workforce. And that's the plan.

CO: Is there anything of as far as being a teenager that you gave up or sacrificed for all this?

KS: You know, I don't think there has been a lot of sacrifice. I think I've had a lot of different experiences from things that were non-traditional, but I think I'm very happy with where I'm at and I've experienced a lot of different things. And so I'm sure it's not traditional or didn't go to high school like most people did. But I'm very pleased with where I'm at.

CO: But are there things you'd like to do for fun at this point?

KS: So I have a lot of different hobbies. Some of the main ones -- I absolutely love oil painting and cake decorating. And I spend a lot of time doing that, some more extreme hobbies, I love travelling and have actually been to other countries to try and help other people and different volunteer service trips. And so in my free time, I definitely like to travel. I actually just got back from a trip where I was able to enjoy some horseback riding and some travelling for my graduation.

CO: How did your parents feel about you graduating so young?

KS: They've been very supportive throughout it all. And they knew for a long time this was my goal and so they've supported me throughout this and encouraged me that if that's what I wanted, that you have to work for it and that I can make it happen.

CO: All right. Well, congratulations.

KS: Thank you.

CO: All right. Take care.

KS: Thanks. Bye.

CH: Kimberly Strable is 17 years old and just completed her doctorate in business administration. We reached her in Great Falls, Montana.

[Music: Synth Music]

Promo: Perdita Felicien

CH: Most of us know Perdita Felicien, the two time Canadian Olympian and world champion hurdler. But most of us don't know her mother, Cathy Felicien Browne, without whom Perdita never would have achieved what she did on the world stage. In Ms. Felicien's upcoming memoir, My Mother's Daughter, she tells her mother's story. She writes about Cathy Felicien Browne's decision to leave Saint lucia and about her early years in Canada, where she had little support and children to take care of. Perdita also looks back at her infamous fall at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the effect that had on her family. On Friday, we'll air a feature interview with Perdita and Cathy. Here's an excerpt in which Cathy talks about the first time she saw her daughter hurdle.

CATHY FELICIEN BROWNE: Oh my gracious. Oh it was wonderful. I never thought that Perdita could jump over the hurdles because I never see her run hurdles. When you became a hurdler, I could not believe it. I was overjoyed. I was a proud mom -- ten hurdles. I can't even jump on one.

CO: Perdita, what kind of a spectator was your mom?

PERDITA FELICIEN: Listen, you would have to have earplugs in your ear whenever my mom showed up at the stadium. To the point where her voice was so shrill and so loud -- it was like this boom box that was just going to woah, right, like max volume all the time. So frantic, so frazzled. And I think she equated the volume to how fast I could go for. The louder she was, faster I would be, and the more it meant I could win or I would win. To the point where in high school I was so embarrassed by it that I banned her. I said, you cannot scream this loud for me in the stands. It's embarrassing. But what did my mom do? Oh she found a way because my mom is very, very, very crafty. So she goes to the Pickerington Town Centre, our local mall, and she gets a custom made t-shirt. And the day of this race where I first banned her, she shows up at the stadium. And of course, she's not screaming or yelling, which is like, oh, that's interesting. Good she learnt. But then she zips off her jacket and she has this t-shirt that says "Go Perdita go." And she would continue that -- Perdita's mom -- continued that tradition of making t-shirts to cheer me on, like, forever.

CH: That was retired Canadian hurdler Perdita Felicien and her mother, Cathy Felicien Browne, speaking with Carol. That full interview about Perdita's upcoming memoir, My Mother's Daughter, will air on Friday's program.

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March 24, 2021 Episode Transcript

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