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Follow Craig Baird as he explores the good, the bad and the weird of Canada's history from the pre-colonial era to 25 years ago. Whatever you want to know about Canadian history, this is your one-stop shop.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · June 2026
Canadian History Ehx makes Canadian history clear through concrete stories of law, culture, disaster, migration, and public memory.
Canadian History Ehx treats Canadian history as a set of lived pressures, not a tidy national story. The sampled episodes range across LGBTQ rights, drag performance, the National Film Board, Pierre Berton, the White Hurricane of 1913, and the Doukhobors, usually through clear…
You get the courtroom, the storm warning, and the pride parade without losing the thread.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A survival story that stays centered on Thanadelthur, then opens into the peace work and trade conflict around her.
Thanadelthur's story starts in survival: hunger, loss, and time in the bush. From there, it moves into the peace efforts around the Hudson's Bay Company, with her kept at the center instead of being treated as a side note.
A stark prairie ship story that ties mechanical skill to Depression-era hardship and a return to Finland.
Tom Sukanen's story opens with a ship built on a Saskatchewan farm and meant for open water, and that image does most of the work here. It gives the episode a strange, memorable shape right away, while the account of Great Depression hardship in Saskatchewan, drought,…
A migration story where faith, land, and public suspicion keep tightening around the same community.
Finding A New Home: The Doukhobors traces a community trying to keep its faith intact while the ground shifts under it. It moves from Peter Varigan's years in Russian custody and his 1886 appeal to Tsar Nicholas's wife, then to the 1902 arrival in Saskatchewan with another 500…
A wartime doctor grows into a reformer, communist organizer, and advocate for socialized medicine.
Norman Bethune's life is set against war first, then brought back to Montreal, the Great Depression, and the politics that shaped his public work.
A Great Lakes storm tale where weather, cargo, and judgment all turn precarious.
Craig Baird keeps the focus on a Great Lakes storm that turns a wheat-laden ship's run for safety into a tense disaster story. As the storm slides east, other vessels are pulled into the same danger, and the pressure builds without needing much embellishment.
A plainspoken history of drag in Canada, from legal risk to wider recognition.
The episode follows Canada's drag history through danger, visibility, and performance. It starts with John Herbert, who in the 1940s wore women's clothing and performed in drag shows while facing legal risk, taunts, threats, and even assaults.
A clear, humane account of a fishery collapse that reshaped Newfoundland.
The episode treats Canada Day 1992 as the point where collapse, grief, and a disappearing way of life came into public view. It follows the cod moratorium from the anger on the ground back through the long buildup to the shutdown, and it makes plain why it felt both abrupt and…
A Toronto Harbour ship fire story that turns a routine pleasure cruise into a night of failure and panic.
The story of a docked passenger ship fire in Toronto Harbour unfolds with steady, unsentimental force: a locked linen closet, smoke in the corridor, and a night that turns fast.
Greek myth told with fatal momentum.
Ancient empire told in old public-domain voices.
The year is 1941.
This episode explores the history of drag in Canada, from Indigenous two-spirit traditions to modern performers.
This episode explores the history of LGBTQ2S rights in Canada, focusing on the 1971 We Demand Rally in Ottawa as a catalyst for change.
This episode tells the story of Thanadelthur, a Chipewyan woman who survived capture, escaped, and brokered peace between the Cree and Chipewyan in the early 1700s, aiding the Hudson's Bay Company's expansion.
Canada Day 1992 does not feel festive.
Jim enters the story in 1921.
This episode explores the life and legacy of Pierre Berton, a renowned Canadian historian, journalist, and television personality who revolutionized how Canadian history is told.
This episode recounts the White Hurricane of 1913, a devastating storm on the Great Lakes that sank 12 ships and killed 250 people.
The house is tiny.
This episode explores Canada's LGBTQ history from the 1950s to the 2000s, covering key figures and events like the 'fruit machine' persecution, Michelle Douglas's military lawsuit, Jim Egan and Jack Nesbitt's activism, Everett Clippert's imprisonment, and Jackie Shane's musical legacy.
This episode explores the Doukhobors, a pacifist Russian sect that migrated to Canada in the late 19th century seeking freedom, only to face broken government promises, land loss, and persecution.
This episode recounts the 1949 SS Noronic fire in Toronto Harbour, a maritime disaster that killed 118 people.
This episode tells the story of Tom Sukkanen, a Finnish immigrant who built a ship on his Saskatchewan farm during the Great Depression to sail back to Finland.
This episode explores the life of Dr.
This episode tells the story of a doctor who braves enemy fire to save lives during a battle, part of a series on the greatest Canadians.
Craig Baird introduces a story about a Canadian who appeared at pivotal historical moments, similar to Forrest Gump.
This episode recounts a dramatic historical event in March 1935 involving an intruder attacking a man in a villa in southern England.
This episode narrates a dramatic mining disaster in the Canadian Rockies, part of a broader exploration of Canadian history.
This episode profiles Canadian comedian Jesse Cruikshank, tracing her early life in Calgary and Vancouver, her mother's influence as a TV host, and her path to comedy.
This episode tells the story of the Big Maple Leaf, a giant gold coin that held a Guinness World Record, and the heist that followed.
Craig Baird explores the cult CBC show The Odyssey, including an interview with Ryan Reynolds.
Craig Baird interviews Kashmir Downey about the documentary series 'Sounds Black,' exploring the history and impact of Black musicians in Canada.
This episode explores the early life and career of Timothy Eaton, founder of the iconic Canadian department store chain Eaton's.
This episode explores the story of a Canadian man of indigenous and Scottish heritage who became a legendary figure of the Canadian West and helped the early Northwest Mounted Police survive.