Tag Archives: Canada

History Slam 216: Heroin & the History of Canada’s Drugs Laws & Use

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/History-Slam-216.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In recent years, there has been no shortage of news stories on opioids and overdose deaths in Canada. What tends to be missing from these reports, however, is the historical context that shapes public understanding of these issues. The legal, social, and cultural processes that have shaped both access and perception… Read more »

History Slam 213: Colonial Violence, National Myths, & the Lynching of Louie Sam

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/History-Slam-212.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham On February 24, 1884, Louie Sam, a Stó:lo teenager, was accused by an angry mob of starting a fire that killed James Bell, a shopkeeper in the settler community Nooksack, in what is now Whatcom County, Washington, which borders British Columbia. Without any evidence, the assembled mob determined that Sam was… Read more »

Stories from coast to coast to coast: An interview with Adam Bunch

A man in a suit jacket, jeans, and hat facing away from the camera. He is looking out over a grassy landscape.

Sara Wilmshurst Author, documentarian, and educator Adam Bunch met with one of our editors to talk about his work bringing Canadian history to the masses. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. SW: One of the things that is notable about your Canadian history documentary series, Canadiana, is how much of the country you visit to make it… Read more »

The threat of the truckers protest

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Lesley Wood The trucker’s convoys are a serious problem, not because of their demands, nor even their disruptive tactics, but because of their appeal to the many folks, frustrated about their jobs, their lives and the inaction of governments. Their ostensible goal is to end vaccine mandates.  Which were happening anyway, despite the risk, because all levels of government are… Read more »

History Slam 203: Flying to Extremes

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/History-Slam-203.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham If you read any edition of the Year in Review (100 Years Later) series, you’ll notice that I, to the great frustration of my co-author Aaron Boyes, insist on including advancements in aviation each year. There is something that I find completely riveting about flying – that we can get into… Read more »

History Slam 201: A Canadian Canine War Hero

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/History-Slam-201.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In 2011, War Horse hit screens around the world. Telling the story of a British teenager’s horse being purchased by the military for service in the First World War, the film grossed over $175 million worldwide. Based on a 1982 novel, the story has also been successfully adapted to the stage and is… Read more »

History Slam 198: Atacama

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/History-Slam-198.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In the 10 years that we’ve been doing the History Slam Podcast, I’ve learned that there is no correct way to tell historical stories. Over the years we’ve talked with playwrights, musicians, and literary authors about the ways in which they tell accurate (and moving) stories from the past within their respective… Read more »

History Slam 197: History Podcaster Roundtable

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/History-Slam-197a.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham When we started the History Slam back in 2012, podcasting was still pretty new. The major platforms were hosting shows, but the analytics weren’t very good, many people had difficulty accessing episodes, and a lot of academics – including every faculty member I talked to before starting the show – didn’t… Read more »

How to Celebrate New Year’s Day Like a Fur Trader

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Jessica Di Laurenzio It is impossible to study early Canadian history without understanding the fur trade, and impossible to study the fur trade without coming across the records of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Some of the most useful and interesting records are the journals that kept daily accounts of post activities. Among the entries that jotted down the weather, visitors… Read more »

History Slam 196: Becoming Vancouver

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/History-Slam-196.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham The first time I was fortunate enough to visit Vancouver, it was October and the weather was unseasonably cold. It was a damp cold – the type that feels like it sticks to you – so I spent 4 days struggling to get warm. Having lived in Regina since that initial… Read more »