As It Happens

As It Happens: The Thursday Edition

April 28, 2022

Episode Transcript

Part One

Blood Donations
As the slogan goes, "it's in you to give". And for years, our guest gave his all in the fight to get Canadian Blood Services to accept donations from LGBTQ donors -- a fight advocates like him have finally won. 

Poland Bulgaria Gas
Fuel to the fire. After Russia cuts off his country's gas supplies, Poland's undersecretary of state tells us it's time for the rest of Europe to end its dependency on a trade that's financing the war in Ukraine. 

Dialect Recordings
Talk radio. A lecturer in Leeds, England tells us about her team's efforts to compile a new database of dialects -- which includes such gems as "bishy barnabee" and "flittermouse". 

Red Not Chilli Peppers
Selling like not cakes. A Michigan man is in a serious funk, after excitedly buying Red Hot Chili Peppers tickets -- only to discover he was going to see a tribute band called the Red Not Chili Peppers.


Part Two

California Water Restrictions
Keep off the grass. With water reservoirs depleted and warmer weather coming, California insistutes stricter-than-ever policies on outdoor water use -- including lawn maintenance -- for nearly six million residents in the state. 

Millionaire Letters
Postage unpaid. In 1970, the heir to a family fortune promised 25 million dollars in giveaways to pretty much anyone who asked. But the tens of thousands of letters he received went largely unopened -- until now. 


Part Three

Western Comic Book Collector
Crash! Boom! Kap--how? Librarians at the University of Western Ontario are tasked with sorting through tens of thousands of donated comic books. But our guest says it makes for super fun work

Reading: Short Story Prize
A Montreal writer takes home her second CBC Literary Prize for a haunting short story about a young mother living in a foreign country -- written entirely in the second person.  

Half Loaf Bread
Rising to the occasion. Fed up with throwing out bread that had gone bad, an Indian software developer has created a website to help single people like him buy bread on their own terms.