Podcasts
Our podcast shares lesser-known content from Library and Archives Canada (LAC). We tell stories about how people connect with Canada’s history.
Treasures revealed features experts who pick interesting items to discuss Canada's complex past.
Voices revealed highlights LAC's oral history collections. They give a voice to underrepresented communities.
The first miniseries, Porter talk, includes interviews from the Stanley G. Grizzle fonds. These interviews share the experiences of porters and their families. They focus on the racism porters faced and how they built community.
Latest episode
2025-07-10
Porter talk: Episode 6 (length: 58:29)
In the final episode of Porter Talk, we dive into how union gains paved the way for a brighter future for Black communities in Canada. This fight for basic human rights significantly contributed to a stronger and more progressive Canada for all.
Download MP3 (80.3 MB)
All episodes
| Release date | Episode | Series | Episode title | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-05-19 | 70 | Discover LAC | Bill Mason: Wilderness artist | Passionate about nature and art, Bill Mason spent his whole life combining his two passions and creating beautiful, nature-inspired artworks. On today’s episode, we will discuss Bill Mason’s life and legacy with the help of three members of the Mason family: his wife, Joyce, and his two children, Becky and Paul. LAC archivist Jill Delaney will also join us to highlight Bill Mason’s amazing body of work and discuss the vast collection of items that the family donated to Library and Archives Canada in 2016. |
| 2022-04-28 | 69 | Discover LAC | Kahentinetha Horn: Nothing but the truth, part 2 | In early 2020, we invited Indigenous activist Kahentinetha Horn and her daughter Waneek Horn-Miller to come to LAC for a visit. As we hosted them, we were thrilled to witness and record their reactions to the material in the LAC collection related to Kahentinetha’s fascinating life. They were seeing many of these items for the very first time. |
| 2022-04-21 | 68 | Discover LAC | Kahentinetha Horn: Nothing but the truth, part 1 | In early 2020, we invited Indigenous activist Kahentinetha Horn and her daughter Waneek Horn-Miller to come to LAC for a visit. As we hosted them, we were thrilled to witness and record their reactions to the material in the LAC collection related to Kahentinetha’s fascinating life. They were seeing many of these items for the very first time. |
| 2021-07-22 | 67 | Discover LAC | LAC is a gold mine! | klondike, yukon, gold, maps, drawings |
| 2021-01-13 | 66 | Discover LAC | Mount Logan: Moments in time | High in the mountains of southwest Yukon, as far west as one can go in Canada, lies Kluane National Park and Reserve. The park is home to the country’s highest peak, the 5,959-metre Mount Logan. From its earliest documented ascent in 1925, Mount Logan has been a continuously productive site for the advancement of scientific knowledge. Our guests on today’s episode, Dr. Zac Robinson and Dr. Alison Criscitiello, talk to us about the goal of their expedition which is to drill ice core samples from the summit plateau, and to re-take landscape photos from previous climbing expeditions, many of which are held here at LAC. Our colleague Jill Delaney also discusses repeat photography and gives us more details as to how LAC’s photography collection can be used by the public. |
| 2020-11-04 | 65 | Discover LAC | Avro Arrow: Uncovering the myth, part 2 | With the creation of the A.V. Roe Canada company following the Second World War, Canada became a leader in the aerospace industry. The company developed the C-102 jetliner and the CF-100 Canuck, the first Canadian-designed military fighter aircraft. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (the RCAF) commissioned A.V. Roe to design a new plane: a supersonic jet that could engage and destroy enemy interceptors before they reached their targets in North America. That supersonic jet was the Avro Arrow. It was intended to serve as the RCAF's primary interceptor, and was one of the most advanced aircraft of its era with the potential to establish Canada as a world leader in scientific research and development. Unfortunately, the project was ultimately cancelled. |
| 2020-11-04 | 64 | Discover LAC | Avro Arrow: Uncovering the myth, part 1 | With the creation of the A.V. Roe Canada company following the Second World War, Canada became a leader in the aerospace industry. The company developed the C-102 jetliner and the CF-100 Canuck, the first Canadian-designed military fighter aircraft. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (the RCAF) commissioned A.V. Roe to design a new plane: a supersonic jet that could engage and destroy enemy interceptors before they reached their targets in North America. That supersonic jet was the Avro Arrow. It was intended to serve as the RCAF's primary interceptor, and was one of the most advanced aircraft of its era with the potential to establish Canada as a world leader in scientific research and development. Unfortunately, the project was ultimately cancelled. |
| 2020-09-21 | 63 | Discover LAC | Call to duty: Canadian nursing sisters | During the First World War, more than 3,000 women volunteered with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This force was created by Canada for service overseas, with nurses working as fully enlisted officers in the specifically created all-female rank of Nursing Sister. Their dedication to their work, their country, and most importantly to their patients, earned them public respect and serves to measure their contribution to the Canadian war effort. |
| 2020-08-06 | 62 | Discover LAC | Upcoming episodes, 2020 | 2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. Due to the current circumstances, we haven't been able to release much new content, but we wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned for the upcoming months. |
| 2020-05-14 | 61 | Discover LAC | I leave you Éva Gauthier | Éva Gauthier's musical career took her from Ottawa, Canada, to the four corners of the world. Often considered ahead of her time because of her unique style and approach, Gauthier never let the critics stop her from expressing her true artistic self. Influenced by her journeys abroad, she did not stick to traditions and her inimitable flair, expressive singing style, talent and boldness allowed her to shape modern music in North America. |
| 2020-01-29 | 60 | Discover LAC | Tommy Burns: The Hanover heavyweight | Our guest today, Dan McCaffery, believes Tommy Burns is considered one of the best pound for pound boxers who ever lived. Measuring a mere 5'7", Burns was the shortest man ever to hold the world heavyweight title, and the only Canadian born to do so as well. The first champion to travel the globe defending his title, he was also the first to defend it against an African American. Burns had many contests with black boxers before his fight with the legendary Jack Johnson, and is credited with being the first white heavyweight to give a black man a chance to win the title. |
| 2019-12-23 | 59 | Discover LAC | Tom Longboat is Cogwagee is everything | In the early 20th century, no spectator sport captivated the world like long distance running. And no runner captured the hearts of Canadians like a Six Nations Indigenous man by the name of Cogwagee in the Onondaga language, or Tom Longboat in English. From his victory at the 1907 Boston Marathon, where he shattered the previous world record by five minutes, to his death-defying service in the First World War, he lived an extraordinary life. |
| 2019-11-19 | 58 | Discover LAC | Canada's continuing memory | Explore how LAC acquires documentary heritage through donations, purchases and through the transfer of government records, by focusing on some recently acquired Second World War items. |
| 2019-11-07 | 57 | Discover LAC | Upcoming episodes, 2019-2020 | 2019 has been an exciting year for us as we continue to work for you, showcasing the amazing items in our collection and the fascinating stories behind them. We wanted to give you a quick rundown on some of the things we have planned in the upcoming months. |
| 2019-08-28 | 56 | Discover LAC | Bill Miner: Last of the old time bandits | On May 8th of 1906, three armed and masked men held up the Canadian Pacific Railway's Transcontinental Express, at a place called Duck's Station, 17 miles east of Kamloops in British Columbia. It was a botched robbery to say the least. The bandits ordered the engine and mail car uncoupled, and moved the train a mile down the track. Realizing that the safe containing 35,000 dollars in gold had been mistakenly left behind in the second express car, which was still attached to the main passenger cars, they started going through the mail sacks. Overlooking a bag containing over 40,000 dollars in cash, they ended up with only 15 dollars and 50 cents, and a bottle of liver pills. The holdup set off one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. One of the men being hunted, was the notorious Bill Miner, the last of the old-time bandits… |
| 2019-06-27 | 55 | Discover LAC | Prime ministers and the arts | A new exhibition, curated by LAC employees Madeleine Trudeau and five time podcast guest Meaghan Scanlon, weaves artwork, artifacts, documents, objects, portraits and photographs together to reveal a less formal, but equally fascinating side to our former prime ministers. The overarching theme of this exhibit is prime ministers and their relationship with the arts. |
| 2019-05-29 | 54 | Discover LAC | UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake incident, part 2 | After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan Michalak returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and sees two glowing objects descending towards him. In the second part of this two-part episode, we discuss the evidence and investigation into the Falcon Lake Incident. Stefan Michalak's son Stan and researchers Chris Rutkowski and Palmiro Campagna once again join us to discuss Canada's most infamous UFO case. |
| 2019-05-15 | 53 | Discover LAC | UFOs at LAC: The Falcon Lake incident, part 1 | After a morning of working in the bush, and a light lunch, Stephan Michalak returns to the task at hand, chipping away at a quartz vein he has found. The cackling of some geese nearby, obviously frightened by something, startles him. He looks up, and sees two glowing objects descending towards him. In the second part of this two-part episode, we discuss the evidence and investigation into the Falcon Lake Incident. Stefan Michalak's son Stan and researchers Chris Rutkowski and Palmiro Campagna once again join us to discuss Canada's most infamous UFO case. |
| 2019-03-07 | 52 | Discover LAC | The battlefield art of Mary Riter Hamilton | From 1919 to 1922, Mary Riter Hamilton undertook a “special mission” for The War Amps to document the scarred landscape where Canadian soldiers had fought and died. Her canvases capture the devastation of war but also signs of hope and renewal. At great cost to her health, this artist created one of the few authentic collections of paintings of war-torn Europe. She considered her work to be a gift to Canada. She donated the majority of the collection of paintings to the Public Archives of Canada, now Library and Archives Canada, in 1926. Today, we sit down with retired assistant professor of history at the University of Manitoba, Kathryn Young, and Dr. Sarah McKinnon, former vice-president at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and former curator at the University of Manitoba. |
| 2019-01-15 | 51 | Discover LAC | Francis Mackey and the Halifax explosion | On the morning of December 6th, 1917, Pilot Francis Mackey was guiding the French ship Mont Blanc into the Bedford Basin when, at the narrowest point of the harbour, the Norwegian ship Imo collided with it. The Mont Blanc, laden down with high explosives, caught fire and, about 20 minutes later, exploded. The blast, which was the greatest man-made explosion until the invention of the first atomic bombs, levelled the Richmond district of Halifax, parts of Dartmouth, and wiped out the Mi'kmaq community of Turtle Grove. On today's episode, we talk with retired teacher and author Janet Maybee. Her book Aftershock: The Halifax Explosion and the Persecution of Pilot Francis Mackey attempts to clear Mackey's name and restore honour to the Mackey family. |
| 2018-12-11 | 50 | Discover LAC | Songs of the season | Library and Archives Canada has the largest collection of Canadian music in existence. There are over 250,000 sound and video recordings alone, not to mention huge collections of sheet music, printed scores, concert programs and books. Therefore, it goes without saying that LAC also has the largest collection of Christmas and holiday music as well. On today's episode, we speak with Joseph Trivers who elaborates on Christmas and holiday music in LAC's collection. |
| 2018-11-20 | 49 | Discover LAC | Upcoming episodes, 2018-2019 | We're currently working on a number of exciting episodes for you! Here's a sneak peek at what we have lined up: Christmas and holiday songs, Francis Mackey and the Halifax Explosion, the life and work of Mary Riter Hamilton, and Canada's most infamous UFO case. |
| 2018-08-15 | 48 | Discover LAC | Canada's canoe archive | For many Canadians, paddling in a canoe serves as a refuge from our hectic day-to-day lives, and as a means of reconnecting with nature, family and friends. But thousands of years before European settlers arrived in what we now call Canada, the lakes and rivers served as vital trade routes for the Indigenous peoples here, with the canoe at the heart of that experience. In this episode, we pay a visit to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of its incredible canoe collection with curator Jeremy Ward. |
| 2018-06-19 | 47 | Discover LAC | Get your summer read on, part 2 | The TD Summer Reading Club is Canada's biggest bilingual summer reading program for kids. Developed by the Toronto Public Library, in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, this free program fosters literacy while highlighting Canadian authors, illustrators and stories. In part one of this two-part episode, we sit down to chat with Kevin Sylvester. Kevin is an award-winning writer and illustrator, and the 2018 TD Summer Reading Club English author. We also have a special co-host for this episode, Presley. He's 9 years old, and a big Kevin Sylvester fan.. |
| 2018-06-05 | 46 | Discover LAC | Get your summer read on, part 1 | The TD Summer Reading Club is Canada's biggest bilingual summer reading program for kids. Developed by the Toronto Public Library, in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, this free program fosters literacy while highlighting Canadian authors, illustrators and stories. In part one of this two-part episode, we sit down to chat with Kevin Sylvester. Kevin is an award-winning writer and illustrator, and the 2018 TD Summer Reading Club English author. We also have a special co-host for this episode, Presley. He's 9 years old, and a big Kevin Sylvester fan.. |
| 2018-05-03 | 45 | Discover LAC | Mr. Lowy's room of wonder | Down an obscure hallway at our downtown Ottawa location, there is a mysterious room overflowing with majestic tomes and ancient wisdom. The Lowy Room is a self-contained museum housing over 3,000 rare, often unique Hebraica and Judaica items dating back to the 15th century. In this episode, we pay a visit to the current curator of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection, Michael Kent, who gives us a guided tour of some of the incredible items in the collection and shares the stories surrounding their journey. |
| 2018-03-28 | 44 | Discover LAC | Gratien Gélinas: One of our own | Gratien Gélinas is considered one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre and film. He was a playwright, director, actor, filmmaker and administrator of cultural organizations. His personifications of the common man paved the way for many of Quebec's leading scriptwriters, and he gave a voice, at home and abroad, to French Canada's culture and society. On today's episode, we speak with Anne-Marie Sicotte, granddaughter of Gratien Gélinas, who tells us about his life and legacy. |
| 2018-02-20 | 43 | Discover LAC | Mackenzie King: Against his will | William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's longest serving prime minister, an accomplished politician and a prolific writer. He kept an ongoing diary from 1893, until a few days before his death in 1950, in which he wrote down meticulous accounts of his life in politics and fascinating details from his private life. On today's episode, we talk with professor and author Christopher Dummitt, whose latest book details the history behind the diaries and how they became available for the world to read. |
| 2017-12-19 | 42 | Discover LAC | A look inside the Preservation Centre | Ever wonder where Library and Archives Canada (LAC) stores, protects and preserves Canada's diverse and rich documentary heritage? Join us for this episode as we take you on a walking tour of LAC's Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. On our tour, we will guide you through the Preservation Centre, discussing its award-winning architecture and offering insight into how we store and preserve our national treasures. |
| 2017-11-30 | 41 | Discover LAC | Canada 150: Reflect and reimagine | As Canada marks its 150th year as a nation, we look back on our past with immense pride, but also with a critical eye. In this episode we teamed up with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to talk about the future of Canada and look at the ways in which examining our history can help to inform decisions about the future. |
| 2017-11-10 | 40 | Discover LAC | Former enemies are now friends | In this episode we speak with LAC employee Tim Hack about the amazing journey he undertook to reconnect with his great-grandfathers, who fought on opposite sides of the First World War. Tim came across the Canadian Expeditionary Force files right after starting work at LAC. This discovery inspired him to retrace his great-grandfathers’ footsteps across northern Europe. Listen to his audio diary from the trip, as well as our pre- and post-trip interviews with him. |
| 2017-09-07 | 39 | Discover LAC | 50 years of Expo 67 | The 1967 Universal and International Exhibition, better known as Expo 67, was the highlight of Canada’s centennial celebrations. It was held in Montréal from April to October 1967, and was considered the most successful world’s fair of the 20th century. LAC has maintained the majority of the Expo 67 records for the last 40 years. In this episode, we talk with Margaret Dixon, senior project archivist at LAC, about the legacy of Expo and the work that has gone into archiving these documents. |
| 2017-07-06 | 38 | Discover LAC | Healing journey: Project Naming at 15 | Over the past fifteen years, Project Naming has provided a virtual space enabling First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit communities to access Canada's historic photo collections and engage in the identification of people and locations, thereby reconnecting with their history to share memories and stories rekindled by the photographs. Join us as we celebrate the project with stories from individuals who attended Project Naming’s 15th anniversary event held in March 2017. |
| 2017-05-04 | 37 | Discover LAC | Beyond Vimy: The rise of air power, part 2 | April 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the attack and capture of Vimy Ridge, when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps worked together for the first time. During the First World War, over 25,000 Canadians served with the British Flying Service as pilots, observers and mechanics, and even though the Battle of Vimy Ridge is better known as a ground offensive, many of the preparations for the assault on Vimy took place in the air. In Part 2 of this episode, we once again sit down with Bill Rawling, historian and author of the book Surviving Trench Warfare, and Hugh Halliday, author and retired curator at the Canadian War Museum, to discuss the role Canada and her allies played in the air over Vimy Ridge and Arras in April 1917, a month known as “Bloody April.” |
| 2017-04-06 | 36 | Discover LAC | Beyond Vimy: The rise of air power, part 1 | April 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the attack and capture of Vimy Ridge, when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps worked together for the first time. During the First World War, over 25,000 Canadians served with the British Flying Service as pilots, observers and mechanics, and even though the Battle of Vimy Ridge is better known as a ground offensive, many of the preparations for the assault on Vimy took place in the air. In Part 2 of this episode, we once again sit down with Bill Rawling, historian and author of the book Surviving Trench Warfare, and Hugh Halliday, author and retired curator at the Canadian War Museum, to discuss the role Canada and her allies played in the air over Vimy Ridge and Arras in April 1917, a month known as “Bloody April.” |
| 2017-02-23 | 35 | Discover LAC | William Topley: Exposure on Ottawa | The William James Topley photographic collection is one of the most important visual records of Canada. The photographs produced by the Topley Studio provide a vivid documentation of the political, social, cultural, economic, technological and architectural changes during the first fifty years of Canada after Confederation. The collection documents life in the Ottawa area—as well as people and events in other regions of the country—between 1868 and 1923. |
| 2017-01-19 | 34 | Discover LAC | Glenn Gould: Remixing the classics | Thirty-four years after his death, Glenn Gould's extensive catalogue of recordings, and the bold artistic vision behind them continue to resonate with music fans the world over. His irreverent interpretations of piano repertoire and perplexing idiosyncrasies have become the stuff of legend. In this episode we speak with Kevin Bazzana, author of the award-winning biography Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould. He tells us about Gould's extraordinary career in music and the surprising secrets revealed to him about Gould's private life while conducting research at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2016-12-22 | 33 | Discover LAC | For the greater good | >Collectors are a breed apart. Quite commonly, their motivations are not simply for personal gain but as a means of ensuring that future generations can enjoy the fruits of their labours in ways that can only be imagined. In this episode, the second edition of our donor interview features, we speak to author, comic book historian and retired LAC archivist John Bell who generously donated his Hulk-sized comic book collection to LAC in 1996. His collection includes over 4,000 comic books ranging from Second World War comics to 21st century zines and related ephemera. |
| 2016-11-17 | 32 | Discover LAC | Wilfrid Laurier: It's Complicated | Sir Wilfrid Laurier had the largest unbroken term of office as Canada's seventh prime minister. He was considered one of Canada's greatest politicians, full of charisma, charm and passion, qualities that served him well in office, and also in his personal life. This passion is seen in many of the letters he wrote to his wife Zoé. But perhaps we gain a deeper insight into his character through his letters to Émilie Lavergne. |
| 2016-09-08 | 31 | Discover LAC | Sifting through LAC's cookbook collection | In this episode, we sit down with Erika Reinhardt, archivist at Library and Archives Canada, to discuss LAC's cookbook collection. We discuss how culture and technology have shaped these books and recipes over time, and the impact they have had on our relationship with food and cooking throughout our history. |
| 2016-08-04 | 30 | Discover LAC | Kindred spirits after all | Few Canadian authors have achieved the universal appeal of Lucy Maud Montgomery, whose iconic series “Anne of Green Gables” continues to resonate with book lovers of all ages. In this episode, we speak with inveterate book collector Ronald I. Cohen who donated his entire Lucy Maud Montgomery collection to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) between 1999 and 2003. Mr. Cohen speaks to us about his relentless pursuit of a Lucy Maud Montgomery collection that would be unmatched the world over, and his gracious decision to donate it all to LAC. |
| 2016-06-30 | 29 | Discover LAC | Peter Rindisbacher: Beauty by commission | In this episode, Library and Archives Canada’s former collections manager Gilbert Gignac discusses the life of Peter Rindisbacher, an artist that immigrated to Canada from Switzerland with his family when he was just 15. Living in the Red River Colony from 1821 to 1826, he became the first artist to paint and sketch the Canadian west. |
| 2016-04-21 | 28 | Discover LAC | La Bolduc: Queen of Canadian folksingers | In this episode Library and Archives Canada’s Music Historian and Archivist Rachel Chiasson-Taylor discusses Mary Travers Bolduc, a traditional housewife who became known as the “Queen of Canadian Folksingers.” Find out how and why her career, which began out of simple economic necessity and, building on the music of her own roots, became the stuff of legend. |
| 2016-02-25 | 27 | Discover LAC | Hiding in Plain Sight: The Métis Nation | As descendants of First Nations and Europeans, citizens of the Métis Nation were related to both groups while not belonging fully to either. Their culture and nationhood were unique and resulted in an independent identity. Following the Métis resistance at Red River in 1869–1870 and in Saskatchewan in 1885, it became unwise and sometimes dangerous to publicly self-identify. As a group, Métis survived largely by being invisible, a tactic that existed until the 1960s. |
| 2016-02-03 | 26 | Discover LAC | Rising from the ashes | On February 3rd, 1916 at 8:37 p.m., the alarm was raised on Parliament Hill that a fire had broken out in Centre Block. By the next morning, the building had been reduced to a smoking ruin, encrusted in ice. The exact cause of the fire was never determined. In this episode Johanna Mizgala, curator for the House of Commons, takes us back to that chilling night in Canada's history. She also discusses the bold vision of the architects charged with the task of rebuilding parliament. |
| 2016-01-07 | 25 | Discover LAC | Shot stone: Curling in Canada | Curling could be considered the unofficial national sport of Canada. In this episode, we will explore the game’s evolution, its development as an organized sport, and the creation of a Canadian curling culture. We will also let you know about the extensive collection of materials at Library and Archives Canada related to the history and the development of curling in Canada. Our guest for this episode is Warren Hansen. Warren is not only a curling historian and expert, but a Canadian men’s curling champion. He and his Alberta team, skipped by Hector Gervais, won the 1974 Brier. Recently retired, Warren had worked for the Canadian Curling Association since 1974. |
| 2015-10-15 | 24 | Discover LAC | Mirrors with memory | Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in preparation for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada? Since 2013, as part of an ongoing partnership between Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the National Gallery, items from LAC’s collection are being exhibited on the walls of the National Gallery. In this episode, we speak to LAC curator Jennifer Roger, and head conservator of photographic materials Tania Passafiume about the work that went into the latest collaboration, which features 15 rare daguerreotypes dating back to the very beginnings of photography. |
| 2015-07-28 | 23 | Discover LAC | Yousuf Karsh: Pursuing greatness | In this episode we explore the story of Yousuf Karsh who came to Canada as a teenager and pursued his dream to become an internationally renowned photographer. We are joined by Karsh expert Dr. Robert Evans and LAC photo archivist Jill Delaney. They will speak to us about who Yousuf Karsh was, what makes his photographs so unique and appealing, why he's important to Canadians and what is included in Library and Archives Canada's Yousuf Karsh fonds. |
| 2015-05-28 | 22 | Discover LAC | Guardians of the North: Comic books in Canada | You don't have to go far to see the influence that comic books have had on contemporary culture, but you might be surprised to learn that Library and Archives Canada holds an extensive collection of comic books and related material within its vaults. In this episode, we speak with comic book historians Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey about their work and LAC's role in it. We also talk to special collections librarian Meaghan Scanlon who takes us deep into the comic book collection, and tells us what can be found there and online. |
| 2015-04-30 | 21 | Discover LAC | In Flanders Fields: A century of poppies | The poem, In Flanders Fields—which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year—is considered to be the most popular poem from the First World War. In this episode, we are joined by LAC archivist Emily Monks-Leeson who will guide us through the life of John McCrae, the Canadian soldier who penned the poem. She will help us understand the conditions from which he drew inspiration, how and why the poem became so popular and its role in recognizing the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. We’ll also look into the John McCrae and war poetry resources available at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2015-03-26 | 20 | Discover LAC | Digging into the past: Family history in Canada | Many Canadians have a growing interest in discovering their family heritage. Their quest can be simple in the beginning, but often it becomes the work of a lifetime. In this episode, genealogy consultants Sara Chatfield and Richard Lelièvre from Library and Archives Canada join us to discuss genealogy research. We explore what genealogy is, what is involved, how to start, suggest resources to use and how Library and Archives Canada can help you with your genealogy research. |
| 2015-03-13 | 19 | Discover LAC | Celia Franca: Shall we dance? | Discover the story of Celia Franca, a woman who introduced Canada to world-class dance performances, pioneered the internationally famous National Ballet of Canada and devoted her entire life to dance. In this episode we are joined by LAC archivists Michel Guénette, Théo Martin and assistant archivist Judith Enright-Smith who will speak to us about who Celia Franca was, and the dance-related resources available to researchers at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2015-02-12 | 18 | Discover LAC | Canada's flag: The maple leaf forever | Our flag, with its distinctive maple leaf and bold red-and-white colour scheme has become such a potent symbol for our country that it’s hard to believe it has only been around for 50 years. On February 15, 1965, the new flag flew for the first time on Parliament Hill for all to see, but unveiling the new design was anything but easy. In this episode, we speak to retired LAC archivist Glenn Wright about the history of the flag, and the controversy that almost kept it from coming into being. |
| 2014-11-20 | 16 | Discover LAC | William Hind: Illustrating Canada from sea to sea | Go back in time! Discover Canada in the mid-1800s through the works of an artist who documented the country from sea to sea. In this episode, retired Collections Manager of Artworks Gilbert Gignac and Art Archivist Mary Margaret Johnston-Miller, both from Library and Archives Canada, join us to discuss William Hind, an artist who played a key role in the development of art in Canadian society. |
| 2014-10-23 | 15 | Discover LAC | Out of the ordinary: Rare books | When you hear the words “rare book,” you might think of an old, valuable book that’s hard to find, but there is much more to rare books than this. In this episode, Special Collections Librarian Meaghan Scanlon joins us to discuss rare books and the collection (held at Library and Archives Canada) that has grown from relatively modest beginnings into one of the finest collections of rare printed material in the country. |
| 2014-09-18 | 14 | Discover LAC | Sign me up: CEF files, 1914-1918 | Over 640,000 men and women enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War as soldiers, nurses and chaplains. In this episode, Library and Archives Canada archivist Marcelle Cinq-Mars and genealogy consultant Sara Chatfield will look at the service files of these men and women to find out the types of documents that are found in them, their research value, and how they ended up at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2014-09-04 | 13 | Discover LAC | William Redver Stark: The soldier and the artist | Discover the life of a soldier through his eyes and gain insight into how day-to-day activities may have unfolded during the First World War. In this episode, Art Archivist Geneviève Morin and Conservator Lynn Curry from Library and Archives Canada join us to discuss the William Redver Stark fonds. We explore William Redver Stark’s background, his time as a soldier during the First World War, and the artwork he produced, specifically the 14 sketchbooks included in his fonds. |
| 2014-07-09 | 12 | Discover LAC | Between the sheets | Library and Archives Canada's Canadiana sheet music collection has grown to become the most comprehensive in the country. It includes over 20,000 patriotic and parlour songs, piano pieces, sacred music and novelty numbers; some of which date back to the 1700s. In this episode, archival assistant Gilles Leclerc from LAC joins us to discuss LAC's sheet music collection. We will explore what sheet music is, what is in LAC's collection and how it came about. We'll also talk about the historical value of sheet music and why it's still relevant today. |
| 2014-05-28 | 11 | Discover LAC | Underwater Canada: Investigating shipwrecks | Shipwrecks have stirred up interest in Canada's maritime heritage for many decades. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, one of Canada's worst maritime disasters. |
| 2014-03-28 | 10 | Discover LAC | The Virtual Gramophone: Early Canadian sound recordings | In this episode, we explore the music collection at LAC. Gilles Leclerc, Archival Assistant, and Gilles St-Laurent, Head Audio Conservator from LAC discuss the different aspects of the collection and bring to light some incredible stories about maintaining the collection for future generations. |
| 2014-01-23 | 9 | Discover LAC | Pulp Canada: Between the covers | Pulps, with their screaming story titles and attention-grabbing cover art, already began to capture the public interest by the turn of the 20th century. In this episode, we explore the pulp magazine collection at Library and Archives Canada. Professor Carolyn Strange and author Ian Driscoll will discuss the different aspects of the collection and bring to light some of the incredible stories surrounding this literature form. |
| 2013-08-13 | 8 | Discover LAC | Canada's photographic memory | The invention of photography in the early 1800s revolutionized the way humans communicate and share information. And while it's hard for us to imagine not having a device with a camera at our side at all times, photography has only recently become available to the masses. In this episode, we explore the evolution of photography using Library and Archives Canada's extensive photographic collection as our guide. Archivist Jill Delaney takes us through the collection and brings to light some of the incredible stories surrounding these iconic images. |
| 2013-03-14 | 7 | Discover LAC | Canada's Royal Winter Game | Few things define what it is to be Canadian more than our love of hockey—“Canada's Royal Winter Game”. In this episode, author and hockey expert Paul Kitchen joins us to discuss the origins of hockey, the evolution of the game, and what our love of hockey says about the Canadian character. Mr. Kitchen also speaks to us about the wealth of hockey-related resources held by Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2013-02-13 | 6 | Discover LAC | Home Children | Between 1869 and the late 1930's approximately 100,000 children were brought to Canada from Great Britain. Predominantly motivated by social and economic forces, a number of religious and philanthropic organizations encouraged the child migration movement for many abandoned and poor children to begin a new life in Canada. In this episode, Library and Archives Canada's Marthe Séguin-Muntz and John Sayers of BIFHSGO, join us to discuss the lives of Home Children and to share the wealth of resources available at LAC. |
| 2012-10-30 | 5 | Discover LAC | Faces of 1812 | This year, Canada is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a unique opportunity for all Canadians to take pride in our traditions, and our shared history. Therefore, Library and Archives Canada has developed the exhibition, Faces of 1812, which features a number of collection items related to the war. In this episode, Professor Michael Eamon joins us to discuss his work as curator of the exhibition, some of the works included, how it came about and why the War of 1812 is significant to all Canadians. |
| 2012-09-27 | 4 | Discover LAC | Double Take | Rebel, imposter, knitter, and heartthrob—these are words not typically associated with figures from Canadian history. Get up close and personal with some of Canada’s most prominent men and women in Library and Archives Canada’s Double Take exhibition; discover how they dispel the stereotype of Canadians as mild-mannered and self-effacing. |
| 2012-06-22 | 3 | Discover LAC | The Shamrock and the Fleur-de-Lys | In this episode, we consult a panel of experts about the massive immigration of Irish settlers to Quebec in the 1800s, the journey they undertook to establish their new lives on foreign soil, and the cultural bond that formed between the Irish and the Québécois. |
| 2012-03-28 | 2 | Discover LAC | The Lest We Forget Project | In this episode we'll examine the Lest We Forget project. Since 2001, Library and Archives Canada has been supporting the initiative to connect youth to Canada's history by making military service files available in person and online. Each year, on Remembrance Day, we reflect on the sacrifices made by our veterans in order to preserve our values and freedoms. What better way to acknowledge the sacrifices of these men and women than to bring their stories to life. In this episode we speak with Project Manager Kyle Browness about the project, its expansion across the country and how teachers, students and Canadians alike can participate. |
| 2012-02-09 | 1 | Discover LAC | Project Naming and Canada's North | Have you ever wondered about the unknown people in your old family photographs? What if an entire community of people was photographed and never identified? This is what happened in Canada's North in the last century. Today we'll introduce you to Project Naming, a community-engagement and photo-identification project launched by Library and Archives Canada in 2004. |
| 2024-04-18 | 16 | Treasures revealed | Last spike | The hammering of the last spike into the Canadian Pacific Railway expanded access to the nation immeasurably, physically and symbolically connecting it from coast to coast. While seen as a victory in the dominant narrative of Canada, it served as a catalyst for the mass displacement of Indigenous peoples and the exploitation and even death of labourers involved in the construction of the railway. Join us as Marcelle Cinq-Mars delves into the historic image depicting this moment, and we reflect on the real human cost that was paid in the name of progress. |
| 2023-12-14 | 15 | Treasures revealed | The prince of Canaday | In this episode of Treasures Revealed we follow the journey of a rare document which is considered to be the first publication in English entirely about Canada, with the help of Senior Special Collections Librarian Meaghan Scanlon. Once carelessly discarded, this broadside is later discovered in an unrelated publication, miraculously preserved. |
| 2023-11-07 | 14 | Treasures revealed | Raczyński's note | Did you know that 22% or roughly one in five Canadians under the age of 34 either hadn’t heard about the Holocaust, or were unsure if they had heard about the Holocaust? In this episode, Michael Kent delves into the significance of Raczyński's Note, a Second World War publication regarded as the first official communication with the Western Hemisphere about the atrocities of the Holocaust. |
| 2023-10-12 | 13 | Treasures revealed | Nell Shipman silent film | In this episode we speak with Steve Moore about the most successful silent film in Canadian history, Back to God's Country – a lusty tale of jealousy, murder and betrayal starring trailblazer Nell Shipman, Canada's first female director. Tune in to discover why the restoration of this film received international accolades and how it projected a light on the action heroine who co-wrote and starred in this groundbreaking film. |
| 2023-08-17 | 12 | Treasures revealed | Pregnancy photos | In this episode of Treasures Revealed, we speak with Krista Cooke about the curious absence of pregnant women in photos from the birth of photography in the 19th century up to the Second World War. |
| 2023-05-11 | 11 | Treasures revealed | Robert Hood watercolours | Robert Hood was only 24 in 1821, when he participated in the 1st of the infamous Franklin Expeditions. Hood was to take navigational, geographical and meteorological observations, and to make drawings of the land and of various objects of natural history. Unfortunately, Hood would not live to see his paintings published in Franklin’s account. In this episode LAC Archivist Shane McCord tells us about the tragic story of Robert Hood and the treasures he left behind, which are now part of the LAC collection. |
| 2023-01-19 | 9 | Treasures revealed | Masonic mystery | In the 9th episode of Treasures Revealed, LAC Curator Forrest Pass unravels the mystery of a Masonic Tracing Board dating back to the early 1800s. |
| 2022-12-01 | 8 | Treasures revealed | Woman on snowshoes | In this episode of Treasures Revealed, Indigenous Research Archivist Elizabeth Montour relies on knowledge and instinct to decipher the story of a Kanienhkenha:ka woman she observes in a 19th century watercolour. As Elizabeth examines the painting, she imagines what life might have been like for her ancestors living in her home of Kahnawake, in a time of great transition. |
| 2022-11-15 | 7 | Treasures revealed | Sefer torah | In the 7th episode of Treasures Revealed we speak with Senior Archivist Christine Barrass about an extraordinary scroll, or Sefer torah, that is part of the Shearith Israel synagogue collection held at LAC. This scroll is a document hand-written in Hebrew by a scribe and measures approximately 35 metres in length when fully unrolled. The Sefer Torah is considered to be the most valued object in Judaism, and is a highlight of the Jewish collections at LAC. |
| 2022-10-20 | 6 | Treasures revealed | Pimm panorama | In this episode of Treasures Revealed, we speak with Marcelle Cinq-Mars, senior military archivist in the Government Archives Division at LAC. Marcelle tells us about the amazing discovery she made while rehousing documents LAC received from the Department of National Defence. |
| 2021-10-28 | 5 | Treasures revealed | Gabor Szilazi | LAC photo archivist Jill Delaney joins us for this fifth episode of Treasures Revealed. She will tell us about LAC's recent acquisition of the Gabor Szilasi fonds, which covers his life and career as a photographer from 1954 to 2016. |
| 2021-10-07 | 4 | Treasures revealed | The Halifax Gazette | In the fourth episode of Treasures Revealed, we talk to Meaghan Scanlon, Senior Special Collections Librarian, about the Halifax Gazette, the first newspaper published in the territory that would become Canada. It is the only copy known to exist of the first issue. |
| 2021-09-23 | 3 | Treasures revealed | Keeping the faith | For our next Treasures Revealed episode, we speak with LAC Government Records Archivist, and past Discover Library and Archives Canada host, Geneviève Morin. She will tell us about the marriage of art and science in early 20th century Canadian botany. |
| 2021-09-02 | 2 | Treasures revealed | Pannotype puzzle | In this episode of Treasures Revealed, LAC Head Photo Conservator Tania Passafiume will tell us about her discovery in the collection of a very rare type of early photograph called a pannotype. She will explain what it is, how it was made and what makes it so special and rare. |
| 2021-08-11 | 1 | Treasures revealed | Cat letter | In this new podcast series, Treasures Revealed, we'll speak to a Library and Archives Canada (LAC) employee and highlight an item that they consider a real “treasure” in the collection. For this first episode, we hear about a letter that Dominion Archivist Arthur Doughty wrote seeking reimbursement for an odd expense in 1908. |
| 2025-03-13 | 5 (trailer) | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 5 trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we meet some of the strong and devoted women who stood with porters. Without their commitment and persistence, union gains would not have been possible in light of the men’s absence while working on the rails. |
| 2025-02-06 | 4 | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 4 | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada and its contents serve as the basis for this series. Join us as we delve into the inhumanity of portering, and the long fight for porters’ rights. |
| 2025-01-30 | 4 (trailer) | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 4 trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we delve into the inhumanity of portering, and the long fight for porters’ rights. |
| 2024-12-12 | 3 | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 3 | Join us as we explore the extraordinary demands placed on sleeping car porters by rail companies and passengers while working aboard the hotel on wheels. We will also hear about the various ways these men resisted and rose above anti-Black racism. |
| 2024-12-05 | 3 (trailer) | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 3 trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2024-10-10 | 2 | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 2 | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we explore who the porters were, where they came from, and how they found themselves on the rails. |
| 2024-08-22 | 2 (trailer) | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 1 trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we explore who the porters were, where they came from, and how they found themselves on the rails. |
| 2024-08-29 | 1 | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 1 | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we delve into the life of the man who recorded the stories of the porters working on the rails. |
| 2024-08-22 | 1 (trailer) | Porter talk | Porter talk: Episode 1 trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. Join us as we delve into the man who turned the microphone over to the porters to record their experiences working on the rails. |
| 2024-08-15 | Series trailer | Voices revealed | Porter talk trailer | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. His collection is now held at Library and Archives Canada. |
| 2023-07-13 | 1 | reCollections (Parks Canada) | Dawson City - A ruby in the rough | In celebration of National Parks Day we have partnered with our friends at Parks Canada and have featured an episode from their wonderful new history and archaeology podcast ReCollections, in our feed. Through the remarkable lives of Madam Ruby Scott and her employees, we'll hear about Dawson's Gold Rush heyday and the boom/bust cycle of both the mining and sex work industries. At the heart of the story is Ruby's Place, an elegant false-front building conserved as part of the Klondike National Historic Sites… despite the threats from climate change. |
| 2025-06-12 | 5 | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 5 | Stanley G. Grizzle, a Canadian Pacific Railway porter for twenty years as well as a celebrated activist, civil servant, and citizenship judge, was also an avid historian who went to great lengths to document and preserve Black History in Canada and beyond. |
| 2025-07-03 | 6 (trailer) | Voices revealed | Porter talk: Episode 6 trailer | In the final episode of Porter Talk, we dive into how union gains paved the way for a brighter future for Black communities in Canada. This fight for basic human rights significantly contributed to a stronger and more progressive Canada for all. |