Nicole O’Byrne speaks with Leila Inksetter about her book, Cultural Change among the Algonquin in the Nineteenth Century. The nineteenth century was a time of disruption for the Algonquin people as they encountered fur traders, missionaries, settlers, and other outside forces. Despite this, they retained some control over the changes they faced, adapting where possible to serve their own interests. Cultural Change among the Algonquin in the Nineteenth Century explores the history of settler-Indigenous interactions around the Ontario-Quebec border, focusing on the period after colonial incursio ..read more

Nicole O’Byrne speaks with Joshua MacFadyen about his book, Time Flies: A History of Prince Edward Island from the Air. Time Flies provides a unique perspective on Prince Edward Island’s transformation over 85 years (1935–2020) through aerial photography and historical analysis. The book showcases iconic landscapes, highlighting changes in land use and ecosystems. It is divided into four chapters focusing on resource economies, rural communities, urban development, and coastal change. The work offers valuable insights into the social and ecological evolution of the island, offering broader les ..read more

Greg Marchildon speaks with Christopher Patrick Aylward about his book, Beothuk: How Story Made a People (Almost) Disappear. The Beothuk were once thought to be an isolated people made extinct in 1829 due to conflicts with settlers and the Mi’kmaq. This narrative became widely accepted in history. In Beothuk, Christopher Aylward critiques how external accounts, from Viking sagas to European explorers and early anthropologists, shaped the misrepresentation of the Beothuk's history. He argues that the notion of their extinction was never proven and was only questioned when Indigenous perspective ..read more

Greg Marchildon speaks with Julian Sher about his book, The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln. The North Star explores the complex and often overlooked role of Canada during the American Civil War, focusing on its unexpected involvement in both supporting the Confederate South and plotting against President Abraham Lincoln. The book reveals the darker side of Canada's history, which contrasts with its widely recognized support for escaped slaves. It highlights key figures such as Anderson Abbott, Emma Edmonds, and Edward P. Doherty, as well as the Canadian elite’s ties ..read more

Nicole O’Byrne speaks with George Pavlich about his book, Thresholds of Accusation: Law and Colonial Order in Canada. This socio-legal history examines pretrial accusations in colonial criminal law in western Canada, focusing on Alberta, 1874–1884. The establishment of the Northwest Mounted Police aimed to enforce Dominion law, using accusatory procedures to investigate crimes, arrest suspects, and determine trial eligibility. George Pavlich highlights how police and justices of the peace translated local social knowledge into criminal law, reflecting power dynamics of sovereignty and control ..read more

Greg Marchildon speaks with Asa McKercher about his book, Building a Special Relationship: Canada-US Relations in the Eisenhower Era, 1953–61. Building a Special Relationship explores a lesser-known period in U.S.-Canada relations during the 1950s, when officials from both countries developed a strong culture of bilateral cooperation amid the escalating tensions of the Cold War. Asa McKercher is an associate professor at St. Francis Xavier University, a senior fellow at the Bill Graham Centre, and a fellow at Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy. He is editor-in-chief of Interna ..read more

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon interviews Molly P. Rozum, the author of Grasslands Grown: Creating Place on the U.S. Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies. This book was jointly published by the University of Nebraska Press and the University of Manitoba Press in 2021. Molly Rozum is currently the Ronald R. Nelson Chair of Great Plains and South Dakota History at the University of South Dakota. She received her PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked on the history of this transnational region throughout her career. Although she grew up and ..read more

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Asa McKercher and Michael D. Stevenson about their co-edited book North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, which will be published by UBC Press in October 2023. North of America: Canadians and the American Century, 1945-60, is an edited volume that looks at postwar Canada and Canadian-American relations of the 1940s and 1950s. From constitutional reform to transit policy, from national security to the arrival of television, Canadians were ever mindful of the American experience. The volume explores the opinions and perceptio ..read more

On this week's re-issue of Witness to Yesterday, Greg Marchildon talks to Andrew Lawton about his book, Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life. When Pierre Poilievre was elected leader of Canada’s Conservative party in 2022, he vowed to put Canadians back in control of their own lives. He took aim at the country’s elites and “gatekeepers” as well as governments that sneer at their own citizens. Railing against the housing crisis and spiralling inflation, Poilievre was telling ordinary Canadians he was on their side. As the adopted son of two Alberta teachers, Poilievre knows the middle class. But ..read more

How did Macdonald leverage the Northwest Rebellion to further his own interests? In this week’s re-run, we revisit Greg Marchildon’s conversation with Bill Waiser, Professor Emeritus at the University of Regina, as they explore this intriguing question. Waiser explores these documents in the Champlain Society’s Finding/Trouvaille: Prime Minister Macdonald Deliberately Portrayed Indians as Rebels ..read more