Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
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Soviet leader Joseph Stalin tries to build an image as the sole conqueror of the Second World War as he consolidates his grip on Eastern Europe. Within Germany's borders, a game of psychological chicken between east and west leads to the dramatic Berlin Blockade and Airlift. While Americans enjoy unprecedented prosperity, Senator Joseph McCarthy's House on un-American Activities leads a witch-hunt against anyone suspected of pro-communist views. Stalin...
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Franchise chains account for $90 billion a year in sales-10 percent of Canada's gross domestic product and employing over one million Canadians. Even in an economic downturn, franchising is a reliable business. Experts predict that people eager to create their own jobs in a time of uncertainty are more attracted to a proven concept. Follow Amanda and Chris Collucci as they try to sweep the world off its feet with their housekeeping franchise concept,...
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Farming in North America has become a "cash cow" for a handful of multinational corporations at the cost of the environment and rural culture. This program examines the growth of corporate factory agriculture, an industry that is capable of generating severe environmental, social, and cultural repercussions. Environmental activists and lawyers in North Carolina stress the need for a functional high-tech wastewater treatment plant to stop the pollution...
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How do plants and animals stave off overheating and dehydration under a relentless sun-especially when burdened with thick skins, hides, or shells? This program looks at adaptations and survival techniques that cope with intense heat, particularly in desert environments. Venturing into the Sonora Desert, viewers learn about the sprawling root system of the saguaro cactus and the water recycling abilities of the desert tortoise. Moving into the human...
5) First Flight
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Whether it's aviation devotees recreating Canada's first flight in the Silver Dart, a young immigrant taking his first flight to a dramatically different life in Canada, a fighter pilot assuming command of a CF 18, or Canadian astronaut Julie Payette being blasted into space, this episode demonstrates how flight has changed individuals and revolutionized a country.
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If great runners are born, not made, what roles do training and technology play? Will cutting-edge engineering and chemistry create vehicles that move faster than previously thought possible? This program presents a quest to understand speed in all its manifestations. Viewers get a look at the North American Eagle, an automobile that's more fighter jet than car, designed to challenge the world land speed record. At the Walthamstow dog track in east...
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From the prairies to Canada's vast boreal forest, we reveal a huge wilderness of extremes that has been shaped over millennia by both humans and wildfires. Here pronghorn antelope, the fastest hoofed land animal on earth, still haunt the grasslands, the elusive wolverine thrives in the icy remote northern forests and beaver share their cozy lodges with grateful muskrats.
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In 1905, Albert Einstein released a series of groundbreaking papers on relativity, quantum theory, and Brownian motion. This program hosted by David Suzuki identifies technologies that have evolved from or were influenced by Einstein's revolutionary ideas-TVs, nuclear power plants, digital cameras, medical imaging devices, CD players, GPS devices, and more-while showing just how profoundly Einstein's thinking continues to shape modern life more than...
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Berlin became the Cold War under a microscope: German authorities manufactured their own pop star, Frank Schöbel, in hopes of eclipsing Western rock groups. The Soviet Union invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was overwhelmed by the US government's struggle to contain the Vietnam War. The Soviets sent the first man into orbit, and the Americans sent Neil Armstrong to the moon. In this era, even a gentlemanly game of chess turned into a high-stakes...
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For years, companies have used temporary employees to keep costs low, but with jobless numbers rising amidst a recession, starting an employment agency is risky business. In this program, Meighen Nehme, founder of The Job Shoppe, a Windsor, Ontario-based temp agency, faces a challenging economy and crosstown competition. Her business plan and decisions are critiqued by Arlene Dickinson, CEO of a national marketing communications firm, and Sylvie Hyndman,...
11) Save My Lake
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This "Nature of Things" program reveals how agriculture, hydro practices, sewage run-off, flooding and marsh destruction is devastating Lake Winnipeg. As a direct result of human activity, an excess of chemical nutrients in the lake is causing massive algae blooms. The green sludge washing up on the lake's shores threatens the natural ecosystems underlying it. Learn what some are doing to help restore the lake.
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Why are one third of amphibian species threatened by extinction? Hosted by CBC news anchor Kelly Crowe, this program summarizes the major reasons for the near-disappearance of hundreds of types of frogs, toads, and salamanders across the world. Dr. David Green, professor of biology at McGill University, and Toronto Zoo curator Bob Johnson explain one cause for the mass destruction of frogs-the chytrid fungus, which infects their skin, eventually causing...
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Judee Sibbitt's company, AmberSAFE, uses GPS bracelets to track the whereabouts of children and seniors. In this program, Sue Abu-Hakima, co-founder and CEO of a wireless emergency notification system for schools and government agencies called Amika Mobile Corporation, and Peter Martin, a crisis management and risk assessment expert whose firm, AFI International Group, provides security for people and property, evaluate the AmberSAFE start-up. The...
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Our ears may have evolved for purposes of survival, but they also afford us the gift of music. How is it that a melody can "give wings to the mind," as Plato said, and so profoundly affect the human heart? In this program, finding the answer to that question will take viewers on a journey through the ear, into the brain, and straight into the core of the human psyche. Viewers meet world-class neuroscientists like Daniel Levitin, author of This Is...
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Go on an extraordinary journey from the spectacle of humpback whales feeding on capelin off Newfoundland to the world's largest intact temperate rainforest in British Columbia that is home to the rare "white" black bear. Acrobatic flying squirrels and thousands of red-sided garter snakes are just some of the incredible array of wildlife we see.
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For biologist Mark Winston, bees aren't just insects. Their behavior, as well as their physical characteristics, sheds light on the interconnectedness of all life. This program presents an overview of Winston's distinguished career while focusing on his most recent activities-specifically, passing on his extensive knowledge to the next generation of entomologists. Having identified nine queen pheromones and studied hundreds of bee colonies, Winston...
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Green business means big money-and with global warming on the rise, the eco trend is hotter than ever. This program focuses on Easywash, a profitable and eco-friendly carwash franchise that is in hot water due to a seven-figure debt. Also profiled on the show is millionaire Glenn Bailey, founder of Canadian Springs water company. The guest experts in this episode of Fortune Hunters are Vicky Sharpe, of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, and...
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Take a trip to historic Tombstone, Arizona, and relive Wyatt Earp's gunfight at the O.K. Corral-or watch 21st-century vigilantes scour the landscape for Mexican invaders. Modern pseudo-cowboys haunt Southwestern communities with growing frequency, and they represent one of several new trends examined in this documentary on America's immigration anxiety. Focusing on the porous U.S.-Mexico border separating Arizona and Sonora, the program records the...
19) Inuit Odyssey
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Who are the Inuit, and what are their origins? In this program, host Niobe Thompson, an anthropologist of Arctic cultures, explores the Inuit, or Tuli, migration from Siberia, across Canada, and ultimately to Greenland during the Middle Ages. First, Thompson examines Tuli life in 11th-century Russia, specifically the reliance on Asian iron to make weapons and boat parts. Anthropologist Max Friesen then explains how the Tuli crossed the Arctic circle...
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As North America becomes more and more ethnically diverse, there is a growing appetite for every type of cuisine. This program focuses on Anita Saini and her Devya Indian Gourmet line of ready-to-eat sauces-heartened by a demand for her products but hampered by a lack of money to meet it. Also profiled on the show is millionaire Cindy Lee, a housewife who launched T&T Supermarket and has built it into Canada's largest Asian food chain. The guest experts...