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Private Notes
Paul Decarie rolls out of bed in his tiny apartment on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Shuffling to the bathroom, he gulps down some pills, lights a cigarette, and begins an intense monologue with himself in the mirror. Paul's mental illness may have relegated him to the fringes of the city, but this is no delusional indulgence.
He's rehearsing for one of the biggest nights of his life - his debut as a professional comic. When he steps up to the microphone, it will be the end of an incredible journey that began one year ago. That's when 11 courageous people signed up for a pioneering course that teaches stand up comedy to people with mental illness.
Driving Dreams is about China's new love affair with the car – how it promises freedom to travel and a better life – and how the world's automakers see it as a market as large as the rest of the worlds' combined. Driving Dreams is also about the environment and what's at stake as cars – to some degree everywhere but especially in China, pollute the skies.
Part One: Jaguar has a new model, the XK. It's being presented at the London Auto Show and, for Jaguar's chief stylist Ian Callum, it's important that this beautiful, fast car stand out. Jaguar is resting its future on it.
Driving Dreams is about China's new love affair with the car – how it promises freedom to travel and a better life – and how the world's automakers see it as a market as large as the rest of the worlds' combined. Driving Dreams is also about the environment and what's at stake as cars – to some degree everywhere but especially in China, pollute the skies.
Part Two: Cars are racing into China – creating jobs, making millionaires, changing lives – and fueling ambitions of world economic dominance. This episode takes us shopping for a car in Beijing with the Rens, a young couple who can't wait to own one.
CBC cameras follow actress Mia Farrow on an emotionally harrowing journey through the desolate refugee camps along the Chad/ Darfur border.
There are two things you can say for sure about hurricanes. One, they are Nature’s most destructive force, and two, another big one will soon be on its way.
The average consumer is exposed to 6,000 marketing messages on any given day. - Joe Jaffe, New Marketing Guru
It's a bizarre new world of persuasion. The Selling Game takes a High Definition tour from New York to Silicon Valley, to a tiny cheese factory in England, to get to the bottom of it all... Give us an hour of attention, and we'll see that you never look at ads the same way again. Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back. Honest.
On August 29, 2005, Frank Stronach watched on his TV as water and chaos raged in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Shocked to see abandoned victims fend for themselves while FEMA fumbled over red tape, he decided to command a private rescue operation. Stronach, chairman of the $20-billion-plus Canadian Magna International auto-parts empire, began by whisking hundreds of New Orleans residents to safety. Then, with the purchase of an 800-acre plot of land in sleepy Louisiana bayou country, he laid the foundations for a bold social experiment. With five years free rent and the aim to produce the “best organic food in America,” Stronach would give evacuees a fresh start and a chance to escape the vicious cycle of poverty that controlled their lives long before Katrina hit. Affectionately, the evacuees called the community Canadaville for the effort, commitment and volunteer work that Canadians contributed.
You've heard about China's Cultural Revolution and its sizzling Economic Revolution. But you haven't heard about its other great social upheaval - the Chinese Sexual Revolution - and like everything in that country it's happening at warp speed.
There are twenty million websites that depict sex with children - and tens of thousands of children abused by people they know and once trusted - neighbours... school teachers... even family members. This is the story of the men and women who are working around the clock in a desperate race against odds to save these kids from their lives of unimaginable horror.
DUBAI: MIRACLE OR MIRAGE? is a one-hour documentary that examines one the world’s most fascinating and fastest developing city-states.
We are drowning in celebrity culture and certainly no tabloid topic has been as big as Paris Hilton. Her incarceration– and subsequent release, then re-incarceration and her ultimate release once again–left us submerged knee-deep in the twists and turns of her life.
But to truly get at this world the documentary begins and ends with Paris…Hilton that is. Famous for doing nothing, she is the ultimate manifestation of our obsession with celebrity culture and the massive profits that it wields. As long as we are willing to watch and read, who can resist feeding our habit?
What if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament – the cornerstone of Christianity – is based on myth and metaphor?
Based on Tom Harpur’s national bestseller, The Pagan Christ examines these very questions.
Question: How did the polar bear become the rock star of the animal kingdom? The answer may be that around the world millions of otherwise ordinary people have developed a serious case of polar bear fever. It afflicts photographers, environmentalists, eco-tourists and ordinary citizens who can’t bear the thought that this magnificent solitary creature may be in trouble.
As Canadians, we loved to brag about our efficient and universal health care system that was the envy of the world. But the system is broken, and nearly 5 million Canadians are now without a family doctor. Last year alone, 2 million Canadians went in search of a doctor and came up empty-handed. They discovered firsthand that Canada is in the middle of a critical doctor shortage. The family doctor that Canadians know and love is at risk of extinction.
Do we really know what we're feeding our pets? In the Spring of 2007, pet owners across North America were devastated when upwards of 50,000 of their beloved pet dogs and cats fell seriously ill after eating tainted pet food. Many of the animals died. Menu Foods of Toronto, the manufacturer, initiated the biggest recall of pet food in North American history.
It's hard to imagine life in the 21st century without them. Plastic bags only got a handle on the mainstream about 25 years ago but in that time they have become ubiquitous, not only here in Canada but around the globe.
How many times have you thought: "I just want to be happy"?
Since the time of Aristotle humans have been trying to find the key to happiness, and how we can be happier. More than 35,000 books have been published on the topic, and it's been the subject of numerous TV shows, movies and motivational seminars.
Blue jeans are the world’s favourite fashion statement — so popular they’ve become an American icon. Here’s a garment that’s remained hip for more than half a century, that’s thrived from World Wars to the present. We trace blue jean culture, from mining days to the ranch, from the beat and hippie generations to the world’s designer labels and celebrity cachet.
After ruling Cuba for close to fifty years, Fidel Castro has stepped down. From his childhood in rural Cuba through his fight in the Sierra Maestra to winning the revolution and transforming the country, Fidel Castro: A Life of Revolution presents an account of his life and times that has rarely been heard – the account of Castro himself, taken largely from private letters, correspondence, speeches and interviews.
Canine Confidential explores a contemporary coexistence like nothing else in the human-animal world. We've always claimed dogs are "man's best friend," but it now seems they've become full-fledged members of our family, too. Today, doggie couture is a multi-billion dollar business, dog dancing is an unlikely but highly competitive craze, and in Texas, you can find the only military base in the world training dogs for the frontlines of war.
Contests! We've all filled out a form, mailed in a ballot, or rolled up a rim. The temptation is irresistible: after all, who doesn't like to win something? But for some people, the lure of big prizes turns into a marathon dance with Lady Luck. These dedicated - some might call obsessed - individuals are known as "contestors".
A witty and entertaining look inside the heart and sole of the running shoe. We'll discover how sneakers have become the footwear of the day. Through interviews with athletes, designers, scientists and sneakerheads, we'll explore the dominance of the running shoe in popular culture. We'll find out why the shoe was invented. We'll race to the finish line and the assembly line to understand how these high-tech marvels are made and marketed. We'll get a sneak peek into the latest trends on the streets of New York. And we'll put ourselves in superstars' shoes to find out how they get their kicks
Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta captures the intersecting storylines of a remarkable cast of characters eager to cash in on the oil boom in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Washington lobbyists, pipefitters from Newfoundland, Chinese investors and Norwegian industrialists descend on tar-soaked "Fort McMoney", a modern-day Eldorado, where rents are sky rocketing and cocaine abuse is four times the provincial average. Up for grabs - a stake in a $100 billion energy bonanza and Canada's economic sovereignty.
Wine-makers have discovered that there are huge profits in making quality wine at reasonable prices. The result is an industry worth over 200 billion dollars worldwide. It's nothing short of a revolution and wine lovers around the world are lapping it up. Millions are being spent at auctions, and celebrities have now joined the ranks of top winemakers. We pop the cork on this widespread phenomenon.
Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear takes viewers into the heart of a country that has been the subject of such intense debate and asks whether or not the lives of ordinary citizens are improving. In order to gain unique access to Afghans living in remote and particularly dangerous areas the CBC engaged local journalists and camera crews.
Gardening Confidential takes us on an international exploration of one of the most obsessive hobbies in human history, and discovers some surprising modern twists. From robotic lawnmowers to gardens on Mars, from trendy Manhattan rooftops to virtual gardens in cyberspace, this ancient craft has entered the space age and become a multi-billion dollar industry. Meet some of the most single-minded gardeners in the world and discover how gardening can get you in trouble with the law.
On October 5th, 1982, Laurie Skreslet scaled more than twenty-nine thousand feet to become the first Canadian on Mount Everest. For Canadians, it was moment of unadulterated pride. For Skreslet and his fellow climbers, it was a triumph littered with bitterness, broken relationships and the bodies of four dead men.
The Climb takes Skreslet and fellow summiter Pat Morrow back to Base Camp, reliving the traumatic and triumphant events of 1982. But this is no stroll back to the mountain. Pat Morrow faces the challenge of a mystery illness that might prevent his return to the mountain. And Laurie Skreslet has brought his nineteen year old daughter, Natasha – a young woman who has hardly seen her father in ten years.
One little gadget, 3.3 billion subscribers -- half the population of the planet! It may fit in the palm of your hand, but the cell phone packs a powerful punch. By the year 2010, an estimated 90% of the world will have cell phone coverage. So what does that mean to all of us who are the foot soldiers in the mobile revolution?
Security experts the world over agree about one thing in the so-called War on Terror: If we do not try to decipher jihadi and terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and how they communicate with operatives, potential converts and the disaffected Muslim masses worldwide, then we will never be able to counter the growing global jihadist movement. Global Jihad does not only consist of terrorist attacks or military actions. The global war waged by Muslim fundamentalists is also a war of images.
A look at one of the worst plane bombings of the 20th century. In 1985, an Air India 747 flying from Montreal, Canada to Delhi was blown up in mid-flight by Khalistani extremists. All 331 passengers were killed, most were of Indian origin.
Although many would argue that Canada’s favourite sport is played on the ice, a group of young female soccer players beg to differ. These Canadian teenagers dream of playing for Canada at the FIFA Under 17 World Cup — but only 20 of them will make the cut. The Girls of Summer is a story about soccer, but also about all the normal pressures of being a teenage girl — from peer pressure to parental pressure to the pressure to excel in school.
