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The AIH transcript for December 27, 2024

For more episodes of this podcast, please click this link.

STEPHANIE SKENDERIS: Hello, I'm Stephanie Skenderis, sitting in for Nil Köksal.

TALIA SCHLANGER: Good evening, I'm Talia Schlanger, sitting in for Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[theme]

TS: Tonight:

SS: A star is born. NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe survives an unprecedented trip into the Sun's outer atmosphere. And our guest says protecting people right here on earth is the mission's guiding light.

TS: The Commons touch. With the world slowing down a bit for the holidays, things are still picking up steam in Ottawa. An expert on Canada's Parliament talks us through what could be an explosive New Year in politics.

SS: In a while, crocodile. We remember Burt -- the enormous crocodile featured in the ‘80s hit film Crocodile Dundee. And his keepers say he had an equally sizeable personality.

TS: Impeachy keen. Two weeks after voting to impeach the country's President, South Korean lawmakers have opted to impeach its acting president too -- plunging Seoul into still more chaos.

SS: The goats of Hanukkah past. Tonight's Hannukah story is Zlateh the Goat read by the late, great Al Maitland. And it will have you hugging your pets a lot closer this December night.

TS: And...Making if official. When our guest learned that the bald eagle was not in fact America's national bird, he set out to change that -- making his massive collection of eagle-themed paraphernalia that much more valuable.

TS: As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that's glad the eagle has finally landed.

Part 1: NASA Sun Probe, South Korea Impeachment, Bald Eagle Official Bird

NASA Sun Probe

Guest: Eric Christian

TS: While here on Earth, we've been enjoying the holidays...the Parker Solar Probe has been going through it. Six years ago, NASA sent the Probe on its mission to better understand the Sun's outer atmosphere. One thing we already knew: At millions of degrees, it's even hotter than our star's already quite hot surface. And on Christmas Eve, the Probe plunged into that atmosphere -- attempting to get closer than any human-made object has ever been. Yesterday, after days of ominous silence, news came that the Probe had survived. Eric Christian is one of the scientists who works on the Parker Solar Probe. We reached him in Greenbelt, Maryland.

SS: Eric, was it hard to relax this Christmas?

ERIC CHRISTIAN: No, not really. We've gone 21 times close to the Sun, but not this close. And this was what the mission was designed to do. There's always a little bit of worry because we lose contact with the spacecraft when it's that close to the Sun. But we were pretty confident that it was going to be good.

SS: So you've been working on the Parker Solar Probe mission for over 15 years. I mean, how did it feel to learn it had survived the mission?

EC: The excitement was just tremendous. The science we're going to get from this is just going to rewrite the textbooks on our knowledge of the Sun. One of the reasons why I wanted to work for NASA since I was a kid was you get to build things, put them on spacecraft, watch them launch and then get to do science from them. And so, this is the cumulation of years and years of work, and it's really tremendous.

SS: Wow. Okay. So, what is this Probe doing up there exactly?

EC: So, we have a bunch of scientific instruments that measure things like the magnetic field coming from the Sun, radio waves coming from the Sun, the light from the solar Corona. Particles coming streaming from the Sun, from everything from a half a million miles per hour up to almost the speed of light. And from all those pieces we can put together the puzzle that lets us answer three important questions that we've had about the Sun for the entire space age. Why is the atmosphere of the Sun that we call the Corona hotter than the surface of the Sun? Normally, when you get further from a heat source, like a radiator or fire, you get colder. Also, the solar wind streams out, its electrically charged particles streaming out from the Sun in all directions at a million miles an hour. How are those accelerated? And third is the Sun not only has these million mile per hour particles, but it's got much faster particles that are moving at a good fraction of the speed of light that we call solar energetic particles. And those are the radiation that's dangerous to satellites, to astronauts and can even affect us here down on Earth. And understanding how those are accelerated is what the instrument that I helped design and build is used for.

SS: So, so I understand the Probe got about six kilometres away from the surface of the Sun. What did it have to endure to get there? I mean, I get extreme heat, but what else did it have to go through?

EC: Things that orbit very close to the Sun are moving very, very fast. And so, Parker Solar Probe is also the fastest spacecraft that mankind has ever built. Because it's moving so fast, a little tiny piece of dust smaller than a grain of sand can have the impact of a bullet. It's, it's a very inhospitable environment. But the spacecraft was designed to handle it.

SS: How does the Parker Solar Probe not melt?

EC: So, the heat shield is about 4.5 inches of carbon foam with a very special reflective white paint on the front of it. Most of the spacecraft hides in the shadows behind that heat shield. The front of the heat shield is actually hot enough to melt aluminum. But the back of the spacecraft, where all the important stuff is, is actually only at room temperature. And it's because that heat shield is a very good insulator.

SS: This is one of the hottest questions that we have, pun intended. But how can better understanding the Sun's atmosphere actually help us? What impact could this have for our everyday lives on Earth?

EC: So, space weather affects us actually here on the Earth. A solar storm has in the past done damage to our power grid. And a big storm in the future, as we get more reliant on technology, could take out the GPS system, or take down the power grid. We're way behind on space weather where we are in terrestrial weather. And partially is because it's so hard to measure space weather. The more we understand about the Sun, the better we can predict space weather and that helps us protect ourselves from power grid failures, from communications failures, from satellite damage and from astronaut damage.

SS: And what's next for the Probe? And what's next for your research?

EC: So, we're just going to get the data from this very close pass over the next week or so. But the spacecraft is going to continue to orbit the Sun, getting this same distance about three times a year. And we're hoping that continues for another 10, 15 years or more. Every time we get closer, we learn a little bit more because the Sun is always changing. We're going to continue to take science data on Parker Solar Probe and on other missions until we can predict space weather.

SS: But what happens to the actual Probe itself? Because it's never going to come back to Earth, right? So, what happens to it now?

EC: It's in a stable orbit. And so, it's just going to, like the planets, orbit continually. But we need fuel in order to keep this big heat shield in between the Sun and the important parts of the spacecraft. In 15 or more years, we're going to run out of fuel, not be able to keep the, what we call the attitude of the spacecraft correct. And the back parts of the spacecraft, including my instrument, are essentially going to melt off during these close passes. The heat shield itself could orbit the Sun for millions of years.

SS: Whoa! But in 15 years, the Probe just kind of falls apart?

EC: It'll, it'll rotate as it goes into the Sun and parts of the spacecraft that aren't meant to see the direct sunlight, which is hot enough at that distance to melt aluminum. And that's a good part of most of the spacecraft. So, it's going to melt off. Yeah, that's, that's its eventual fate. But not for, for many years.

SS: Not for many years. And giving us some good data in the meantime, right?

EC: Yes.

SS: Well, Eric, it's a real hot story for a cold December day. Thank you so much for bringing it to us.

EC: Thanks for talking to me.

TS: Eric Christian is one of the scientists who works on the Parker Solar Probe. We reached him in Greenbelt, Maryland.

[ambient]

South Korea Impeachment

Guest: Victor Cha

TS: Just two weeks ago, lawmakers in South Korea voted to impeach the country's president. And now, they've turned their attention to his replacement -- voting today to remove acting President Han Duck-soo from office. The backdrop to all of this is a surprising and short-lived declaration of martial law in the country and an opposition party eager to reshape the country's constitutional court. Victor Cha is the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We reached him in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

SS: Victor, South Korean politics can be turbulent, but were you expecting two impeachments in as many weeks?

VICTOR CHA: No, I don't think anybody was expecting that there would be a second impeachment. But clearly, the opposition party sees an opportunity to try to create more discomfort for the ruling party and to try to get these three additional judges on to the constitutional court.

SS: Tell me more about that decision. So, so just to recap, South Korea's now former acting president, Han Duck-soo, he came under fire after, after he refused to fill these three vacant seats on the constitutional court. That court set to investigate his predecessor's impeachment, now his impeachment. Why do you think he made that decision?

VC: He argued that the ruling party and the opposition party need to come to consensus on the three candidates to fill the remainder of the bench of the constitutional court. This court is basically the next step in the impeachment process because it determines whether the original impeachment motion by the legislature is constitutional. If they do find it constitutional, then President Yoon is impeached. And South Korea would have another election.

SS: So, what happens now when it comes to both of these sets of impeachment proceedings?

VC: Now there's the new acting president, who is the deputy prime minister and finance minister. He will come under the same sort of pressure of agreeing to the opposition party's slate of judges to fill the remainder of the constitutional court bench. And if he doesn't agree, they will probably try to impeach him also. So, we're kind of at this stalemate right now where the process is not moving forward. Broadly speaking, what we want is a resolution of this political crisis in Korea so that they can have an election and then have a new chief executive take over the country. But right now, that doesn't look like that's going to happen until sometime in mid-2025.

SS: So you think there could be another impeachment after this?

VC: It's possible that it could happen again. These are steps that will slow down the eventual transition of power that is so necessary in Korea to avoid continued political dysfunction.

SS: If we just take a step back for a second, South Korea has, has a pretty tumultuous political history, previous impeachments, military rule. How does this current crisis compare?

VC: Well, I think the first thing to remember is it is tumultuous and it is a bit of a crisis now. But Korea is, has one of the most peaceful democratic transitions, certainly in the history of East Asian transitions to democracy in 1987, when the decision was made to go for direct presidential elections with very little bloodshed when you compare it to other cases. And past crises have all been dealt with constitutionally. So, South Korea has impeached the president before. The constitutional court has approved that. And they had elections and they elected a new president, all done peacefully and by the book. They are following all the rules in that sense. So, that's a good thing. But this process is taking a long time, and that's not to the benefit of Koreans or to other countries that deal with Korea.

SS: Do you think Koreans should be worried about the future of their democracy?

VC: I don't really see democratic backsliding as being the problem. I think that was certainly the case when President Yoon declared martial law. But this is a case of using the democratic institutions probably in ways that stretch the spirit of democracy. Because it's much more about political infighting and revenge. But at the same time, I expect that Korea will emerge from this, however long it takes, will emerge from it with a constitutionally appropriate process and a newly elected president.

SS: Is that how you see this ending? Because we're talking about the finance minister stepping up now as interim leader, but a possible impeachment of him too. Where does this end?

VC: We don't know where it's going to end. Where it should end is that the constitutional court should make a decision on the constitutionality of the impeachment motion. If they do rule that it is constitutional, then there are two months that the parties have to campaign to elect a new president. That new president would basically take office the day after he or she won the election. There is no transition period in this sort of extraordinary election. They would have to start work right away, start appointing their cabinet ministers right away. There's no transition. There's no honeymoon period.

SS: Wow. And people in South Korea do not seem shy about letting their officials know how they feel about them. We've seen so many protests out on the streets, people, people really fired up and letting their opinions be known. What is it like in the streets right now? What is the mood like?

VC: It's quite politically active. The whole country has been paying attention to this. They go out there, and they protest. Sometimes, whole families will go out there and protest. But at the end of the evening, when the protests are finished, they clean up the streets and all of the material and everything as if the country were to be getting ready for the inauguration of the president the next morning. The streets are absolutely spotless after they have these demonstrations. So, again, a sign of sort of citizenship and citizenry participating in democracy, but also trying to ensure that it doesn't get unruly or messy.

SS: But how do you think people are feeling about another impeachment and I mean, maybe even the possibility of a third?

VC: If I were in Korea right now, I would certainly be worried about how long this is going to go on. This is taking place at a time when, you know, North Korea and Russia are becoming closer and closer partners. At a time when the United States is about to have Donald Trump come in for a second term in office. And there won't be any leader in Korea, you know, possibly until July, August of 2025, that's a long time from now. And so, that would be concerning.

SS: And I mean, I know that we don't know exactly what is going to happen next, but if you were to, to hazard a guess, when do you think the next election could actually be?

VC: I hope that will happen sooner. I think the soonest it could happen would be something around June, given that the court has up to six months to decide on the case. In the past two impeachment cases recently that the court has ruled on, they haven't used the whole six months. They've done it between two and three months. So, hopefully, by June. But, you know, who knows? They could keep going down this rabbit hole of just impeaching more and more acting presidents.

SS: Okay. Victor, thank you so much.

VC: Thank you.

TS: Victor Cha is the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

[ambient]

Bald Eagle Official Bird

Guest: Preston Cook

TS: If I asked you to name the national bird of the United States, you might make the same assumption countless others have and cite the bald eagle. And I wouldn't blame you. I mean, the bird has long been a national emblem in the country -- appearing on U.S. documents since the late 18th century. And it's become a ubiquitous American symbol, printed on everything from textbooks to money to clothing. But it turns out the eagle's status as America's Bird in Chief was always, well, just kind of implied -- until now. On Christmas Eve, Joe Biden finally signed a bill officially declaring the bald eagle the national bird of the United States. Preston Cook is a longtime bald eagle lover. He's a collector of eagle-themed paraphernalia who campaigned for the bill. We reached him in Wabasha, Minnesota.

SS: Preston, as far as Christmas gifts go, how does this one stack out?

PRESTON COOK: Well, this is probably, at 78 years old, probably the best one I ever had, ever since the Lionel train in 1956 arrived under the tree.

SS: So, pretty darn good!

PC: It's been a great Christmas.

SS: How are you feeling knowing this bill has finally been signed into law?

PC: Well, I'm soaring with the Eagles. I'm elated. I am delighted that after 248 years, America now has a national bird.

SS: I think many people might be surprised to learn the bald eagle was not actually already America's national bird. But you've known this for some time now. How did you find out?

PC: Well, if you ask anyone, they would say the bald eagle is our national bird. The government says it. And ornithological organizations say it. Bird-watching organizations say it. So this, this started when I was writing a book in 2010, and I was doing a chronology on the eagle and how it follows through ornithological and also symbolically through American history. And I was looking for an entry on when the bald eagle was named our national bird. And I could not find anything. And I searched the Internet and I even went back to the original minutes of the meeting on June 20th, 1782, to see if there was any notes in there making the bald eagle our national bird. And I found none. So I wrote to the now late Senator Dianne Feinstein in California back in 2011 and asking her to have her staff do some research back in Washington at our National Archives. And she wrote a letter back to me shortly thereafter. So the research has been done and there no proclamation, presidential proclamation, and there's no laws that were ever passed naming the bald eagle our national bird. In fact, we have never had a national bird in America. So, I sat on this information for about 15 years, and then I joined in with the National Eagle Center last year and asked them if they would help me sponsor this bill. So, I wrote a bill last year and gave it to Senator Klobuchar here in Minnesota and gave it to our congressmen, Brad Finstad, and asked them if they would introduce it, and both of them decided to introduce it. So, it passed the U.S. Senate July 29th. And then a couple of weeks ago, it passed the House of Representatives and placed on President Biden's desk. And then he signed it as a Christmas gift to all Americans.

SS: Why wasn't it enough to just leave the eagle as the unofficial national bird? Why did it matter so much to you for it to become the official national bird?

PC: Well, my, my life has been involved with the bald eagle since I was 19. That's 58 years ago. And I started collecting items having to do with the symbolism of the bald eagle. So I have 40,000 items in the collection, and I take notes on things, and I keep track of everything, and everything's in order. And so, it was not enough for me just to leave an assumption. I needed to know the facts. And if the facts did not bear out that it was our national bird, I felt that America needs a national bird. And I was able to accomplish it with the help of quite a few other people. We had tribal support. We had American Legion support. We had raptor centers around the country. So we had a great deal of support.

SS: Where do you think your fascination with the bald eagle came from?

PC: Well, in 1966, I saw a movie called A Thousand Clowns. And it had one line in the movie. The protagonist was in an antique shop buying another eagle for his collection. And he had collected eagles. Nothing like I collect eagles. But he collected eagles. And he made the comment to someone nearby and said, well, you can't have too many eagles. So I took that charge and made it my motto and said, I'm going to start collecting eagle items. And I guess, as my wife says, I got a little carried away and now have some 40,000 items in the collection. So, I have donated the entire collection to the National Eagle Center. So, some of it's on, up on exhibits as we speak.

SS: What were some of your favourite items?

PC: Well, in many ways, the first eagles that were given to me are important because they are buttons off my military uniform. And I was drafted shortly after I saw that movie. And I was issued a dress uniform with these beautiful gold-plated brass buttons that had the great seal eagle on every button. So, there's a a great deal of meaning between those buttons.

SS: So, you've donated your collection to the National Eagle Center, but I understand you can still see real eagles from where you live.

PC: So, I'm sitting here looking out across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin into a preserve, and there's cottonwood trees lining the Mississippi River. And I see eagles every day -- live eagles.

SS: What do you, when you're watching the eagles that are, that are close to your home, what do you enjoy about watching them come and go?

PC: Well, what we see quite often here is them perching. Of course, eagles perch 90 per cent of the time. So, right across the river, for several years until the tree fell down, an eagle or a pair of eagles would, would, would sit directly across the river from me every single day. And so, that's exciting for me to get up in the morning, have my cup of coffee, sit here and watch the eagles perch. And I have the opportunity here because hundreds of eagles come down from Canada, and they winter down here because the water is always open here. The river is very narrow and it's always moving, so it never freezes over. So they always have a food source down here.

SS: Well, there you go. Something that connects us to the, to the eagles that come visit you every day. Thank you so much for speaking with us, Preston.

PC: Well, thank you.

TS: Preston Cook is a lover of all things related to bald eagles, and the author of a bill naming the species as America's national bird. We reached him in Wabasha, Minnesota.

[glam pop]

Crocodile Dundee Crocodile Obit

TS: If you remember anything about the 1980s comedy Crocodile Dundee, it's probably this scene:

SOUNDCLIP

MAN: You got a light, buddy?

CROCODILE DUNDEE: Yeah sure, Kid. There you go.

MAN: And your wallet.

WOMAN: Nick, give him your wallet.

CROCODILE DUNDEE: What for?

WOMAN: He's got a knife.

CROCODILE DUNDEE: That's not a knife. That's a knife.

TS: That was Paul Hogan as the daring Australian crocodile hunter seamlessly translating his outback survival skills to the mean streets of New York City. He's more accustomed to using that knife to kill crocs, especially those that happen to be attacking the female lead. If you remember that scene then you remember Burt. Specifically you remember Crocodile Dundee plunging his machete into Burt's head. Burt the saltwater crocodile was not actually stabbed in the head during filming. He weighed over 700 kilograms and was named after fellow silver screen icon Burt Reynolds. He later modelled for the visual effects in the killer-croc film Rogue, which incidentally is one of my favourite holiday films, right after Love Actually. Years later, Burt correctly predicted the winner of the 2018 World Cup final using the highly scientific chicken-pieces-attached-to-team-flags method. He ate France. But by and large, the big guy lived a peaceful if grumpy life at a crocodile sanctuary, and officials there have now announced his passing. They believe he was over 90 years old. This week, Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin posted this quote, "He wasn’t just a crocodile; he was a force of nature and a reminder of the power and majesty of these incredible creatures. While his personality could be challenging, it was also what made him so memorable and beloved..." unquote. And allow us to add -- jaw-inspiring.

[heist music]

Part 2: Parliamentary Scenarios

Parliamentary Scenarios

Guest: Lori Turnbull

TS: After a week of shocking cabinet departures and high-stakes caucus meetings, an eerie sense of calm descended over Ottawa this week. Except the thing about eerie senses of calm is that they can be deceiving. Justin Trudeau is still facing calls to step down from inside and outside his own party. The opposition parties are still saying they are ready to bring this government down in one way or another. And Canadians paying attention to all of this are once again reminding themselves what words like "prorogue" mean. It's all shaping up to be one of the more consequential New Years in recent Canadian political history. Lori Turnbull is a professor of political science at Dalhousie University. We've reached her in Ottawa.

SS: Lori, today the Conservatives said they would start working on a vote of non-confidence that could happen as soon as the House of Commons returns from its break. Right now, that date is January 27th, a month from today. What are the chances that a month from today this government falls?

LORI TURNBULL: So I think the chances are very, very good that this, that if the House meets again, that this motion will be tabled on that day. I think they wouldn't, the whole House probably won't vote on it until later in the week. So, the government might have a few more days after that. But again, this is if they meet the House at all. But at this point, I think the Conservatives are very serious about what they plan to do, and I would not be surprised if it totally happens.

SS: Okay. So, what has to happen for the opposition parties to make it happen?

LT: Okay. So, the Public Accounts Committee is going to be meeting in January to put things in motion. And so, when, when the whole house meets on January 27th, the plan of the committee chair is to table this motion in the House of Commons. That would indicate that it would basically be a motion of non-confidence in the government. And so, then the whole House would have to vote on it, and that would have to pass by a majority of MPs in order for it to succeed in bringing down the government. All of the opposition party leaders now are saying that they, they intend to vote non-confidence in the government. The conservatives are confident in going through with this because they, they are assured that it will, well, they are as sure as they can be, I guess, that it'll pass.

SS: Okay. And we're told that Justin Trudeau is spending this holiday break reflecting on his options. If he were to step down as party leader before the 27th, where would that leave things?

LT: Okay. He might, you know, come back and do his walk in the snow and say, I'm not going to do this anymore. So if that happens, my guess is that he would ask for a prorogation of Parliament in order to give the Liberals time to choose a new leader. Because if they do this and they, you know, if they try to choose a new leader and they come back to the House, the opposition parties have indicated they plan to defeat the government. And so, then there'd be a defeat while the leadership race is going on, which would be crazy. So, I think the prime minister would look to prorogue the House before it comes back on the 27th. And so, the whole confidence motion thing that the Conservatives are planning wouldn't actually happen.

SS: And let's refamiliarize ourselves with this notion of proroguing Parliament. What would that look like?

LT: Okay. So, prorogation is basically an end to a parliamentary session. So, it doesn't mean that we go to election. It's not a dissolution, which means the full House is dissolved. A prorogatgion means essentially that the work of Parliament stops. And so, the membership stays the same but committees stop working, no bills are passed, the House doesn't meet, nothing happens, basically. And if the prime minister wants to do that, he would have to indicate a timeframe so that he would have to say, you know, we're doing prorogation now. We are going to come back on March 5th or whatever the date would be.

SS: And this doesn't happen. The last time this happened was 2020, right?

LT: I think that's right. Right. And it isn't always controversial. You know, like sometimes it is. Sometimes the government is just doing it because they want to come back and do a new speech from the throne and announce a new agenda, which is not going to make people too angry. But sometimes governments prorogue because they want to avoid something. They want to avoid scrutiny. They want to avoid a conversation. And so, that would be, you know, in the event that it happens like that, a prorogation would probably be pretty controversial in this space. People will react to the prime minister proroguing at a time where it seems clear to everybody that he doesn't hold the confidence of the House.

SS: Right. And the point of it would be to buy them time to choose someone new?

LT: I mean, that's one option. If the prime minister chooses to prorogue and does not announce his intent to step aside, despite everything, I think that would lead to a massive outcry. Not just from opposition parties, but from, you know, members of the public, too, who would think, look, you know, the writing's on the wall. You can't just not come back. You can't just choose not to meet Parliament. But prorogation is actually exactly that.

SS: Okay. But it's an option. It's, it's a, it's a possibility right now?

LT: Yes. We don't know what he's thinking.

SS: Lori, sometimes it's, it's tempting to view these times that we're in as unprecedented. But as someone who studies this kind of thing, are there any moments in Canadian history that we can look to for examples?

LT: Sure. I mean, this bears some resemblance, actually, a lot of resemblance, to what happened at the end of 2008 when Prime Minister Harper decided to ask the governor-general for prorogation. He was also a minority government prime minister who was also looking at a defeat in the House of Commons. The opposition parties announced their intent to do it. Like in some ways it was very, very similar. And so, we can look to that as an example of a time where there was a major question about whether the prime minister could continue to govern, and it really looked like he couldn't. But as it turns out, he prorogued, everybody calmed down, came back. He continued to govern after that. I don't think it would happen this way this time. I think if the prime minister, if Prime Minister Trudeau chooses, chooses to use prorogation as a kind of pause button to give himself more time, I don't think his fortunes will change. It will just be a kind of extension of a time that's already really awkward.

SS: Lori, there are so many questions about where things are going. What's the question you're getting the most from people as you make your way through your holiday gatherings this year?

LT: The question I'm getting the most is what will Prime Minister Trudeau do next? Is he going to step aside? Is he going to prorogue? Is he going to go to election? Which he could also do. He could also decide he wants to go to the governor-general and ask for dissolution and go to election on his own terms. Maybe he just wants to get to an election so badly that he's willing to go into the House and be defeated. Or maybe he's, he's going to hang up his skates and he's going to do this prorogation thing and let the Liberals choose somebody else. I don't know. I mean, the fact that he's hung on this long. The fact that Chrystia Freeland just blew a hole in the Liberal government by leaving, and with that letter that she wrote, that was a terrible moment for Trudeau. I can't imagine really how it was going to get much worse. But he still didn't quit. So I'm not convinced he's going to do it. There's a world where he decides to, to hang on to this and go to the people in another election. But we shall see.

SS: All right, Lori, thank you so much.

LT: Thank you, too. Take care.

TS: Lori Turnbull is a professor of political science at Dalhousie University. We've reached her in Ottawa.

[ambient]

Reading: ‘Zlateh The Goat’

TS: I imagine Jimmy and Hector's trip was very different from the one the characters in tonight's Hanukkah reading embarked on. Jimmy and Hector had Tim Hortons and goat-friendly hotels. Whereas Aaron and Zlateh had a lot of snow. But they also had an unbreakable bond -- one that saved a life. Here is Al Maitland reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's story, Zlateh the Goat.

Reading:

ALAN MAITLAND: At Hanukkah time, the road from the village to the town is usually covered with snow. But this year, the winter had been a mild one. Hanukkah had almost come, yet little snow had fallen. The sun shone most of the time. The peasants complained that because of the dry weather, there would be a poor harvest of winter grain. New grass sprouted, and the peasants sent their cattle out to pasture. For Reuven the furrier, it was a bad year. And after long hesitation, he decided to sell Zlateh the Goat. She was old and gave little milk. Feival, the town butcher, had offered eight gulden for her, such as some would buy Hanukkah candles, potatoes and oil for pancakes, gifts for the children, and other holiday necessaries for the house. Reuven told his oldest boy, Aaron, to take the goat to town. Aaron understood what taking the goat to Feival meant, but he had to obey his father. Leah His mother, wiped the tears from her eyes when she heard the news. Aaron's younger sisters, Ana and Miriam, cried loudly. Aaron put on his quilted jacket and a cap with earmuffs, bound a rope around Zlateh’s neck, and took along two slices of bread with cheese to eat on the road. Aaron was supposed to deliver the goat by evening, spend the night at the butcher’s, and return the next day with the money. While the family said goodbye to the goat, and Aaron placed the rope around her neck, Zlateh stood as patiently and good naturedly as ever. She licked Reuven’s hand. She shook her small, white beard. Zlateh trusted human beings. She knew that they always fed her and never did her any harm. When Aaron brought her out on the road to town, she seemed somewhat astonished. She'd never been led in that direction before. She looked back at him questioningly, as if to say, Where are you taking me? But after a while, she seemed to come to the conclusion that a goat shouldn't ask questions. Still, the road was different. They passed new fields, pastures and huts with thatched roofs here and there. A dog barked and came running after them, but Aaron chased it away with a stick. The sun was shining when Aaron left the village. Suddenly, the weather changed. A large black cloud with a bluish centre appeared in the east, and spread itself rapidly over the sky. A cold wind blew in with it. The crows flew low, croaking. At first, it looked as if it would rain, but instead it began to hail, as in summertime. It was early in the day, but it became dark as dusk, and after a while, the hail turned to snow. In his 12 years, Aaron had seen all kinds of weather, but he had never experienced a snow like this one. It was so dense, it shut out the light of the day. In a short time, their path was completely covered. The wind became as cold as ice. The road to town was narrow and winding. Aaron no longer knew where he was. He could not see through the snow. The cold soon penetrated his quilted jacket. At first, Zlateh didn't seem to mind the change in weather. She too was 12 years old and knew what winter meant. But when her legs sank deeper and deeper into the snow, she began to turn her head and look at Aaron in wonderment. Her mild eyes seemed to ask, Why are we out in such a storm? Aaron hoped that a peasant would come along with his cart, but no one passed by. The snow grew thicker, falling to the ground in large swirling flakes. Beneath it, Aaron's boots touched the softness of a ploughed field. He realized that he was no longer on the road. He had gone astray. He could no longer figure out which was east or west, which way was the village, the town. The wind whistled, howled, world the snow about an eddies, it looked as if white imps were playing tag on the fields. A white dust rose above the ground. Zlateh stopped. She could walk no longer. Stubbornly, she anchored her cleft hooves in the earth, and bleated as if pleading to be taken home. Icicles hung from her white beard, and her horns were glazed with frost. Aaron did not want to admit the danger, but he knew just the same, that if they did not find shelter, they would freeze to death. This was no ordinary storm. It was a mighty blizzard. The snowfall had reached his knees. His hands were numb and he could no longer feel his toes. He choked when he breathed. His nose felt like wood, and he rubbed it with snow. Zlateh’s bleating began to sound like crying. Those humans in whom she had so much confidence had dragged her into a trap. Aaron began to pray to God for himself and for the innocent animal. Suddenly, he made out the shape of a hill. He wondered what it could be. Who would pile snow into such a huge heap? He moved toward it, dragging Zlateh after him. When he came near it, he realized that it was a large haystack which the snow had blanketed. Aaron realized immediately that they were saved. With great effort, he dug his way through the snow. He was a village boy and knew what to do. When he reached the hay, he hollowed out a nest for himself and the goat. No matter how cold it may be outside, in the hay it is always warm, and hay was food for Zlateh. The moment she smelled it, she became contented and began to eat. Outside, the snow continued to fall. It quickly covered the passageway Aaron had dug. But a boy and an animal need to breathe, and there was hardly any air in their hideout. Aaron bore a kind of window through the hay and snow, and carefully kept the passage clear. Zlateh haven eaten her fill, sat down on her hind legs, and seemed to have regained her confidence in man. Aaron ate his two slices of bread and cheese, but after the difficult journey, he was still hungry. He looked at Zlateh, and noticed her udders were full. He lay down next to her, placing himself so that when he milked her, he could squirt the milk into his mouth. It was rich and sweet. Zlateh was not accustomed to being milk that way, but she didn't resist. On the contrary, she seemed eager to reward Aaron for bringing her to a shelter whose very walls, floor and ceiling were made of food. Through the window, Aaron could catch a glimpse of the chaos outside. The wind carried before it whole drifts of snow. It was completely dark, and he didn't know whether night had already come, or whether it was the darkness of the storm. Thank God that in the hay it was not cold. The dried hay, grass and field flowers exuded the warmth of the summer sun. Zlateh ate frequently. She'd nibble from above, below, from left and from right. Her body gave forth an animal warmth, and Aaron cuddled up to her. He’d always loved Zlateh, but now she was like a sister. He was alone, cut off from his family, and wanted to talk. He began to talk to Zlateh. Zlateh, what do you think about what has happened to us? He asked. Meeh, Zlateh answered. If we hadn't found this stack of hay, we would both be frozen stiff by now, Aaron said. Meeh, was the goat's only reply. If the snow keeps on falling like this, we may have to stay here for days, Arron explained. Meeh, Zlateh bleated. What does Meeh mean? Aaron asked. You'd better speak up clearly. Meeh, meeh, Zlateh cried. Well, let it be meeh then, Aaron said patiently. You can't speak, but I know you understand. I need you and you need me. Isn't that right? Meeh. Aaron became sleepy. He made a pillow out of some hay, leaned his head on it and dozed off. Zlateh too fell asleep. When Aaron opened his eyes, he didn't know whether it was morning or night. The snow had blocked up his window. He tried to clear it, but when he had bore it through to the length of his arm, he still hadn't reached the outside. Luckily, he had his stick with him, and was able to break through to the open air. It was still dark outside. The snow continued to fall, and the wind wailed, first with one voice, and then with many. Sometimes it had the sound of devilish laughter. Zlateh too awoke, and when Aaron greeted her, she answered Meeh. Yes, Zlateh’s language consisted of only one word, but it meant many things. Now she was saying, We must accept all that God gives us. Heat, cold, hunger, satisfaction, light and darkness. Aaron had awakened hungry. He had eaten up all his food, but Zlateh had plenty of milk. For three days, Aaron and Zlateh stayed in the haystack. Aaron had always loved Zlateh, but in these three days, he loved her more and more. She fed him with her milk and helped him keep warm. She comforted him with her patience. He told her many stories, and she always cocked her ears and listened. When he patted her, she licked his hand and his face. Then she said, meeh, and he knew it meant I love you too. The snow fell for three days. Though, after the first day, it was not as thick, and the wind quieted down. Sometimes, Aaron felt that there could never have been a summer that the snow had always fallen. Ever since he could remember, he, Aaron, never had a father or mother or sisters. He was a snow child born of the snow, and so was Zlateh. It was so quiet in the hay that his ears rang in the stillness. Erin and Zlateh slept all night and a good part of the day. As for Aaron's dreams, they were all about warm weather. He dreamed of green fields, trees covered with blossoms, clear brooks and singing birds. By the third night, the snow had stopped. But Aaron did not dare to find his way home in the darkness. The sky became clear, and the moon shone, casting silvery nets on the snow. Aaron dug his way out and looked at the world. It was all quite quiet, dreaming dreams of heavenly splendour. The stars were large and close. The moon swam in the sky as in a sea. On the morning of the fourth day, Aaron heard the ringing of sleigh bells. The haystack was not far from the road. The peasant who drove the sleigh pointed out the way to him. Not to the town and Reuven the butcher, but home to the village. Aaron had decided in the haystack that he would never part with Zlateh. Aaron's family and their neighbours had searched for the boy and the goat, but had found no trace of them during the storm. They feared they were lost. Aaron's mother and sisters cried for him. His father remained silent and gloomy. Suddenly, one of the neighbours came running to their house with the news that Aaron and Zlateh were coming up the road. There was great joy in the family. Aaron told them how he had found a stack of hay and how Zlateh had fed him with her milk. Aaron sisters kissed and hugged Zlateh, and gave her a special treat of chopped carrots and potato peels, which Zlateh gobbled up hungrily. Nobody ever again thought of selling Zlateh. And now that the cold weather had finally set in, the villagers needed the services of Reuven the furrier once more. When Hanukkah came, Aaron's mother was able to fry pancakes every evening, and Zlateh got her portion too. Even though Zlateh had her own pen, she often came to the kitchen, knocking on the door with her horns to indicate that she was ready to visit, and she was always admitted. In the evening, Aaron, Miriam and Anna played dreidel. Zlateh sat near the stove, watching the children and the flickering of the Hanukkah candles. Once in a while, Aaron would ask her, Zlateh, Do you remember the three days we spent together? And Zlateh would scratch her neck with her horn, shake her white bearded head, and come out with the single sound which expressed all her thoughts and all her love.

TS: Zlateh The Goat read by our former host, the late "Fireside" Al Maitland -- an As It Happens Hanukkah tradition. The Isaac Bashevis Singer story was illustrated by Maurice Sendak and it is published by HarperCollins.

The AIH Transcript For December 27th 2024

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