Atlantic Voice

How did a 30-year-old American come to captain a fishing enterprise in rural Newfoundland? A few twists, a little luck, and a lot of friends are all involved in Lillian Saul's journey, one that shows both the possibilities and pressures facing the next generation of fish harvesters. A documentary from Caroline Hillier.

How much do you meddle with Mother Nature? Atlantic Salmon and striped bass have always lived in the Miramichi watershed, but with populations of each out of whack - the salmon waning, and the bass surging - anglers, scientists and politicians are weighing in about what to do. Wade into a world with no easy answers, and no shortage of opinions, in Jacques Poitras' documentary, Two Fish Stories.

Or anywhere else, really. Austen fans spent 2025 celebrating her 250 birthday, and Halifax was no exception, with empire waists and cutting wit galore. Why does Austen hold so much sway, centuries later? Christina Harnett takes us deep into the fandom, in this documentary that first aired in December 2025, Austen's big birthday month.

The work of the Brooklyn Volunteer Fire Department has fundamentally changed in the last few years. Follow along with these Nova Scotian fire fighters as they face floods, wildfires, and the climate crisis head on. How have they coped, and what happens going forward? A documentary by Moira Donovan, that first aired in January.

Acclaimed author Donna Morrissey is once again a resident of The Beaches, a small community in White Bay, Newfoundland. We meet up with her at her summer home, to hear about her new memoir that reflects on her father, the caretaking adult kids do for their parents, and the pull of this wild, beautiful place.

Tuck your pants into your socks, people. That's the new Maritime fashion if you want to enjoy the wilderness without ticks these days. It's a world away from Vett Lloyd's bite, back in 2010, where authorities told the scientist there were no ticks in New Brunswick. That bite provoked Vett to become a leading scientist in the fight against ticks, and helped inspire a new wave of research being carried out today. Get up grossly close to the creepy crawlies with producer Myfanwy Davies in her documentary, More Voices In The Wilderness.

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How do you squeeze complicated history into 60 seconds of iconic Canadian television? Find out by visiting the filming of the latest Heritage Minute, set in Gander N.L., that marks the town's role in the wake of 9/11. With bonus appearances from classic Heritage Minutes of old - "but I need my baskets back!" anyone? A documentary produced by Melissa Tobin.

Not only was Yassir El-Tahan the last person to see a missing man in St. John's - Yassir actually took him deeper into the woods, where he disappeared. The encounter stayed with Yassir for nearly a decade, until he decided to find out what really happened. A documentary by Yassir El-Tahan, that won a gold award at the 2025 Atlantic Journalism Awards.

You know about purebred dogs. But what about purebred...ducks? Or chickens? Meet the Maritimers dedicated to beautiful poultry, and tag along on their roadtrip to show them off on Canada's biggest stage. Plus, hot tips for how to give a chicken a bath. That's all in Phlis McGregor's documentary. Standard of Perfection. This story first aired in March.

Newfoundland's Gander Lake is so long and deep, that a warplane once crashed there, never to be seen again. So you get the picture that paddling it is a challenge. But the dragonboat teams taking on a 40km route through it know all about a challenge. They're all dealing with cancer. An award-winning doc of grit and healing from producer Wanita Bates, from our archives back in 2017.

Renford Farrier was past his parole date by decades, when he met a Halifax lawyer who changed everything. Ren's journey in and out of prison, and the friendship he found, is chronicled in this documentary by Jane Sponagle, called Ren & Emma. Please note this story does contain some strong language. This story first aired on Atlantic Voice this past winter.

Eliza Showell's family in the UK never knew what happened to her, after she was sent at the age of 12 to Cape Breton to work. That is, until a woman from Inverness came forward. Part detective story, part personal tale of the British Home Children scheme, that saw tens of thousands of children sent to Canada to work on farms and homes. This story first aired in 2025, and won a 2026 silver Atlantic Journalism Award.

A 150-year-old photo of a giant squid has an even stranger backstory. Follow squid mystery from its St. John's photo studio, to archives at Yale University, to deep below the sea. And if you want to see the picture at the heart of it all, we recommend Googling "Moses Harvey giant squid." It's one weird looking photo. This story was produced by Mike Rossiter and first aired on Atlantic Voice in 2023.

Meet the cricket lovers finally have their own pitch, where people from all over the world come together to break a sweat. As these athletes take part in the world's second most popular sport, they're also creating an unofficial immigration strategy, attracting newcomers to Fredericton with a little taste of home. A documentary from Myfanwy Davies that first aired in 2025.

Teaching is a stressful career, and for Patrick Guindon, the classroom became too much to handle. But after burning out, he new inspiration in the aftermath - and has made a new life out of it. Hear his career-switching journey from Ontario to PEI in this moving story from Sarah Keaveny Vos, that won a silver 2026 Atlantic Journalism Award. The Art of Life first aired in the fall of 2025.

Working on a cruise ship is kinda like its own reality TV show: there's love, lust, and more than a few parties on board. So it's no surprise that babies eventually end up in the mix. Jen Winsor of St. John's is one such "ship mom" - and she's written about her story, and others' from around the world, in her book Ship Moms. She tells her story this week, and stick around at the end to hear from her own ship baby. This episode first aired in September 2025, and we'll have more from the Atlantic Voice archives all...

Rumour is, no one ever quits the Shore Club. The beloved dance hall turns 80 this year, staffed by generations of families from tiny Hubbards, N.S. Along the way, its simple formula of lobsters, live music, and secret ingredients (even Col. Sanders was denied its coleslaw recipe) have turned it into a staple of Nova Scotian summers. Spend one epic Saturday night at the Shore Club in this documentary, produced by Jeff Douglas.

This episode was recorded live at the Echo Podcast Summit in Halifax, with an awesome technical crew and audience. Atlantic Voice...

Want a free, peaceful spot for summer camping? If you're wily enough, you can make it in to a handful of rustic, century old cabins in Nova Scotia's wilderness. Why they exist, who looks after them and how the heck you get there are all questions the CBC's Dave Irish set out to answer. Hop in his canoe for an audio adventure, that just won a 2026 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in sound. Monuments of the Backcountry first aired in September 2025.

Mark Black was given about 5 years to live after receiving a heart and two lungs. That was in 2002, and he's been defying doctors ever since... or at least, until 2026. Now, he's in need of another organ. Producer Maeve McFadden follows Mark's extraordinary medical journey - part of an extraordinary life - in her documentary Four Gifts.

KJ Denny gives pure diva on stage as the drag queen Kage. But getting there was a years-long struggle - from self acceptance to sobriety, from Membertou First Nation to Halifax - that KJ says healed his inner rez kid. (Dr. Seuss helped a little too.) Check out this audio diary, produced by KJ Denny.

Every year, people in Forteau raise the flag of a First Nation hundreds of kilometres away. They do it to honour the moments and days after a plane crash took one of their own - a beloved son and young pilot - in a tragedy that bonded these two communities for decades. This episode was produced by Andrea McGuire of CBC Labrador.

The longest Gaelic immersion program in Nova Scotia just wrapped up. What happened during those four months, and how did it change the people who lived fully in their favourite language? CBC's Brittany Wentzell followed this latest effort of language's revitalization... and found out what a stuffed octopus has to do with it. That's all in her documentary, The Shieling.

Throughout his life, Craig Mackie used his voice to help others. And he decided to do the same as he faced death, and his choice of medical assistance in dying. A encore presentation of a documentary by Jessica Doria-Brown, first aired in March 2023.

Few places are warming quicker than the far north. It's a reality Inuit in Labrador know all too well, and are working to adapt to. In today's episode, meet a team of Inuk youth and researchers in a week-long camp at the northernmost tip of Nunatsiavut, learning about how climate change is affecting their land and culture, and what they can do about it. This documentary by Heidi Atter first aired in 2025, and has now been shortlisted for the New York Festivals Radio Award.

Danica Roache didn't see her life experience reflected much in fiction, so she wrote it herself. The result is a funny and tender book, Five Seasons of Charlie Francis, that follows a young Mi'kmaw woman of mixed ancestry as her 5-year plan goes sideways. The book has three nominations at the Nova Scotia and Atlantic Book Awards, and Danica joins Atlantic Voice this week to talk about Indigenous joy, the threats to Nova Scotia publishing, and her top 3 songs currently on repeat.

When pro-wrestler Jennifer Crawford (a.k.a. Moon Miss) faces a setback, they’re determined to make a comeback. Follow their journey from ice cream inspiration to injury and beyond, in this doc from Dave Irish and Emma Smith. First aired in 2023, To The Moon won an Atlantic Journalism Award and was shortlisted for the New York Festivals Radio Awards.

Meet one St. John's mom who got sober during pregnancy, and one pediatrician trying to help every similar case she comes across. Both of them want to change a system that's struggling to help moms and babies in Newfoundland and Labrador, as the drug crisis climbs. Listen in Treated Together, a documentary by Caroline Hillier.

"Being part of the cancer club sucks." But Samantha Keays is also a member of a pretty awesome club - a choir in Saint John, made up of people who have been touched by cancer. Listen in as they practice for their first concert, and share their stories of both darkness and joy. A moving documentary - with great music - produced by Hannah Rudderham, called Healing Through Harmonies. Featuring the voices of the Healing Voices Choir.

Thousands of people wrote to Joey Smallwood with questions, needs (and even insults) around the time Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949. 76 years later the letters live on, and actually have a lot to say to our world in 2026. Tour the archives and hear these letters come to life in this episode, that features the book Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation in the Words of Those Who Lived it.

The Titan submersible implosion grabbed the world's attention in 2023. Away from the headlines, the family of two of its victims found solace with the St. John's Muslim community, and ended up making a generous, and much needed, gift. That's all in The Best of Planners, a documentary from Caroline Hillier. This story first aired in June 2025.

"My biggest fear is not protest, it's not anger, it's not division - it's apathy." So starts Randy Boyagoda's thoughts on finding common ground to talk to each other in deeply partisan times. Hint: it involves putting aside the smartphone and getting curious about others lives. A talk for everyone wondering where we go from here, and how.

Randy is a writer, thinker and advisor for civil discourse at the University of Toronto. This talk was recorded live at the Halifax Central Library, with the CBC's Adam Walsh, as part of the Hear Me...