As It Happens: Thursday Edition
Part One
Santa child story
The story of a child dying in the arms of a professional Santa went around the world faster than the bearded man himself — but some unwrapping shows it may not be what we thought it was.
Concealed carry school
On the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook, a rural Colorado school board votes to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons.
Archived burger
We investigate the case of the hamburger that's been sitting in the archives of the Alberta legislature for forty-seven years.
Part Two
North Carolina power
A Democrat will be the governor of North Carolina, after a hard-fought election — but state Republicans are doing everything they can to make sure the winner loses.
Asparagus pee study
A Harvard epidemiologist tests the genes of thousands of asparagus eaters, to find out why some people can't smell the stench the vegetable leaves in our pee — and some can but wish they couldn't.
Part Three
Lakes database
A McGill geographer plumbs the depths of the world's million-plus lakes — and produces a computer model that will help us monitor everything from algae blooms to climate change.
New ransomware
Ransomware is always bad: you can't use your computer 'til you pay up. But a new version is even worse: you can pay up — or you can attack others.
Toxic fish
A new study describes how populations of Atlantic killifish survived lethal levels of pollution by rapidly evolving.