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Prince Edward Island is often imagined as a quiet, pastoral place—rolling fields, red sand beaches, and small communities shaped by the rhythms of the sea. But beneath that picturesque surface lies a history that is far more complex, contested, and revealing than its postcard image suggests. Today we trace parts of that story. From its earliest days as Mi’kmaq territory, through European contact and colonization, to its reluctant entry into Canadian Confederation. We’ll explore how land ownership disputes—particularly the controversial absentee landlord system—shaped generations of Islanders, fueling resistance and political change. We’ll also look at how the island’s strategic position in the Gulf of St. Lawrence made it a site of imperial rivalry, and how its identity evolved over time through migration, agriculture, and cultural mythmaking. This is not just a regional story—it’s a lens into broader themes of colonialism, resistance, and nation-building in Canada. Prince Edward Island is so much more than little a pastoral escape, it’s a place where identity is foundational and history has left a deep and lasting mark. Edward MacDonald is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Prince Edward Island, where for a quarter of a century he taught Prince Edward Island, Atlantic, and Canadian history. In recognition of his work as an author, teacher, historian, and public intellectual, he was named to the Order of Canada in 2023 and the Order of Prince Edward Island in 2024. While he has published extensively on the social, religious, and environmental history of his native province, his most recent book, The Geography of Home: Poems for a Lost Time, published by Island Studies Press in 2025, combines poetry with history and memoir. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this CCH special episode, we bring together two expert historians for a gripping confrontation of perspectives, examining—and challenging—the significance of two defining Canadian battles of the Second World War: D-Day Phase One and the Battle of the Scheldt. These were not just moments on a battlefield, but crucibles of chaos, courage, and consequence, where the fate of thousands—and the trajectory of the war itself—hung in the balance. Each historian steps forward to argue why their battle stands as a pivotal moment in Canada’s military history, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking exchange. ALEXANDER FITZGERALD-BLACK is the Executive Director at the Juno Beach Centre Association, the charity that owns Canada’s Second World War Museum on the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy, France. He holds a Master of Arts in Military History (University of New Brunswick) and a Master of Arts in Public History (Western University). His first book, Eagles over Husky: The Allied Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943, was published in 2018. He has co-written multiple exhibitions at the Juno Beach Centre, including From Dieppe to Juno: The 80th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid and Rising to the Challenge: The RCAF in the Second World War. Most recently, his book chapter “The Air Support Rollercoaster: Canadian Soldiers’ Morale in Normandy” was published by the Naval Institute Press in Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by Mike Bechthold. Megan Hamilton is a Canadian historian currently studying in the UK. She's in the final year of her PhD at King’s College London, which is being completed in partnership with the Imperial War Museum. Her research studies Second World War army training across the British Empire, examining how the Imperial armies trained and learned together. She was part of the team that put together the IWM’s current temporary exhibit, 'Emergency Exits: The Fight for Independence in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus,’ which is open in London until the end of March 2026. She is a regional director for the Second World War Research Group and a graduate teaching assistant at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.   You can donate to the Juno Beach Centre's fundraising drive for a Juno Beach Memorial at the below link! https://campaign.junobeach.org/donate/monument Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the heart of the Red River Settlement, a vibrant Métis community forged a distinct identity shaped by kinship, trade, and resistance. The latter half of the 19th century was a time of profound upheaval, when the Red River Resistance challenged Canadian expansion into the region. Yet history is not always what it seems. Alongside real leaders and lived struggles, one figure—long woven into the story—was never real at all. How did a ghost of the past become accepted as truth? And what does that reveal about the way history is remembered, recorded, and retold? In this episode we separate myth from memory on the Red River. Derrick M. Nault is an assistant professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Winnipeg and a citizen of the Red River Métis Nation. His research examines Métis history, with particular attention to how kinship networks, political resistance, and collective memory have shaped Métis identity over time. This focus is grounded in his family’s long-standing involvement in Métis political and cultural life. His direct ancestors include André Nault, Louis Riel’s cousin and a captain during the Red River Resistance; Jean-Baptiste Parenteau and Damase Carrière, councillors in Riel’s 1885 provisional government; Marie Pélagie (Dumont) Parenteau, sister of Gabriel Dumont; and Antoine Vermette, a noted Métis buffalo hunter and founding member of l’Union Nationale Métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba.     Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born free in a slaveholding nation and unafraid to confront it, Mary Ann Shadd Cary carved out a life defined by intellect, defiance, and relentless public action. A teacher, lawyer, and the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, she challenged both American slavery and Canadian complacency. Through the pages of The Provincial Freeman, she argued for self-reliance, integration, and equal rights at a time when such demands invited hostility. Her story moves across borders—from the United States to Canada and back again—tracing a 19th-century struggle for freedom that still echoes today.   Dr. Nneka D. Dennie is a Black feminist scholar with specializations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American history. Her research examines Black intellectual thought with an emphasis on nineteenth-century African American history. Dr. Dennie is an Assistant Professor of History, core faculty in the Africana Studies Program, and affiliate faculty in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Washington and Lee University.   Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 17th century, across an ocean and a continent, the will of Louis XIV stretched deep into New France. This episode examines how an absolutist monarchy governed a fragile colonial frontier. How did royal officials impose order on distant settlements along the St. Lawrence? What roles did intendants, governors, and bishops play in enforcing law, regulating trade, and structuring society? From seigneurial land grants to military defense and missionary ambition, we explore the administrative machinery that bound colony to crown—and the tensions that emerged when metropolitan authority met colonial reality in a vast, unforgiving world.   Colin Coates is professor of Canadian Studies and chair of the Department of Global and Social Studies at Glendon College, York University. He is currently president of the Canadian Historical Association. His book, Political Culture in Louis XIV’s Canada: Majesty, Ritual, and Rhetoric was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2024. It won the Prix de l’Assemblée nationale for the best political history book from the Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique française.   Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca             Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) produced widespread famine, particularly in Biafra, prompting an unprecedented humanitarian response from abroad. Canadian churches helped found CANAIRELIEF, an ecumenical coalition that raised funds, mobilized volunteers, and supported clandestine airlifts of food and medical supplies. Motivated by moral urgency and graphic media coverage, these churches sought to bypass political paralysis. Yet the effort was deeply complicated: relief flights risked prolonging the conflict, aid was entangled with Biafran propaganda, and questions arose over neutrality, sovereignty, and whether humanitarian action inadvertently sustained the war’s machinery. Dr. Taiwo Bello is an Assistant Professor of African History and an affiliate faculty member of the Africana Studies Centre at Oklahoma State University. He serves on the Editorial Review Boards of the African Studies Association journal, History in Africa, published by Cambridge University Press; and the Canadian Association of African Studies journal, the Canadian Journal of African Studies, published by Taylor & Francis. He is the current President of the African Military Studies Association (AMSA), a coordinate organization of the African Studies Association.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Names like Auschwitz, Dachau, and Bergen Belsen immediately bring to mind the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp system. At the liberation of Bergen Belsen in particular, Canadian forces contributed medical staff, engineers, and relief supplies to Allied efforts after that camp was liberated and in the dramatic weeks that followed. They helped treat survivors, bury the dead, and restore sanitation. Governing the camp meant managing disease, displaced persons, trauma, and justice while transforming a site of atrocity into emergency refuge amid shortages, chaos and reckoning.   Dr. Mark Celinscak is the Louis and Frances Blumkin Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies in the Department of History and the Executive Directo of the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is the author of Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Nazi Concentration Camp, winner of a Vine Award for Non-Fiction, and Kingdom of Night: Witnesses to the Holocaust, winner of a Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Holocaust literature. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming Two Roses: A Story of Deception and Determination in Nazi Germany (University of Toronto Press). He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of History. Please note that this episode will be dealing with some very graphic realities, so trigger warning!     Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we step back in time with the Canadian Time Machine podcast to explore the 50th anniversary of the beaver becoming an official national symbol. For more than 50 years, this small but mighty animal has shaped rivers, driven trade, and quietly transformed the land. Wildlife ecologist Dr. Glynnis Hood and Jan Kingshott, director of animal welfare at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, take us inside the beaver’s world—from its role in the fur trade to its work as an ecosystem engineer today—and reveal why it remains one of Canada’s most remarkable and resilient symbols. More episodes are available at https://lnkfi.re/canadian-time-machine. To read the episode transcripts in French and English, and to learn more about historic Canadian milestones, please visit thewalrus.ca/canadianheritage. There is also a French counterpart of this show called Voyages Dans L’Histoire Canadienne so if you’re bilingual and want to listen to more, visit https://lnkfi.re/Voyages-dans-lhistoire-canadienne.   Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cigarette smoking in Canada is a fascinating look at how consumer products, social rituals, and corporate misinformation interact. While widespread cigarette use began in the 1930s it was in the 1950s where a causal link between smoking and lung cancer surfaced in medical journals and mainstream media. Yet the best years for the Canadian cigarette industry were still to come, as per capita cigarette consumption rose steadily in the 1960s and 1970s. The persistence of smoking owes to such factors as product development, marketing and retailing innovation, public relations, sponsored science, and government inaction. Domestic and international tobacco firms worked to furnish Canadian smokers with hope and doubt: hope in the form of reassuring marketing, as seen with light and mild cigarette brands, and doubt by means of disinformation campaigns attacking medical research and press accounts that aligned cigarettes with serious disease. Helping us dive into this historical smoke pit is Daniel J. Robinson. Daniel is a Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches courses on media history, advertising and marketing. He is the author of Cigarette Nation: Business, Health, and Canadian Smokers, 1930-1975, (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2021), and has served as an expert witness for two provinces suing tobacco companies involving health-care costs recovery lawsuits.   Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Jesuit Relations, a series of annual reports produced between 1632 and 1673 detailing the experiences of Society of Jesus missionaries in what is now Eastern Canada, have long been an influential source on the history of New France and encounters between European settlers and Indigenous Peoples. The question of what exactly the Relations are, and who had a hand in composing the versions that circulated, has been given far less attention. Recent research has shown that they were in fact shaped by a diverse array of contributors, including Indigenous people, lay settlers, nuns, editors in Paris, and readers in France. To shine a new light on the Jesuit Relations we have invited on historian Micah True. Micah reveals a richer and more complex picture of a primary source that has played a major role in public understanding of the colonial history of North America. Micah True is Professor of French and Folklore at the University of Alberta, where he also serves as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. He is the author of Masters and Students: Jesuit Mission Ethnography in Seventeenth-Century New France, published by McGill-Queen's University press in 2015, and the translator of the Jesuit Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix's 1744 account of his voyage through North America, published in Brill's Jesuit Studies series in 2019. His new book, published this year by McGill-Queen's University Press, is The Jesuit Relations: A Biography.   Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently our very own David Borys had the pleasure of having a long chat with Angus Wallace of The WW2 Podcast to explore Canada's military legacy from confederation to the Second World War. Angus and David start at the very beginning with Canada’s military (or lack there-of) in 1867 and trace its development through the next near-century all the way to the start of the Second World War. They then cover the incredible expansion of the Canadian military from 1939-1943 and detail the unbelievable contribution the Canadian military made to that global conflict into 1945.   Check out Angus’ podcast here!   Check out David’s newest podcast, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here! Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our very own David Borys was flattered when recently he was made a fellow at the CDA (Conference of Defence Associations) Institute, Canada's leading think tank on defence and security issues. The Institute immediately put David to work interviewing Canadian veterans as part of a Remembrance Day special series titled "Remembrance in their Own Words." CCH felt like sharing one of those episodes. In this one, David interviews Vice Admiral Duncan "Dusty" Miller, CMM, MSC, CD (Ret’d). VAdm Miller served 38 years in the Royal Canadian Navy, with a distinguished career that included commanding two ships, leading the Canadian Naval Task Group during the Persian Gulf War, and serving as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He was also the NATO HQ commander overseeing AWACS surveillance of North America after 9/11. Follow the CDA Institute here and their podcast on Apple and Spotify Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the course of the Second World War nearly 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were uprooted and forcible interned by the government of Canada. More than half of those had been born in Canada, thousands more were naturalized British subjects. Despite no shred of evidence that the population posed any threat to the Canadian nation at war the internment continued until after the war in the Pacific had ended. In September 1945, Canada proposed exiling Japanese Canadians to Japan, a country devastated by war. Thousands who had experienced internment and dispossession were now at risk of banishment and the government sought to do all in its power to ensure as many Japanese-Canadians as possible accepted their potential new fate. To dive into this subject today we’ve brought on two historians Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross. Eric is a Professor of Law at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law. He publishes widely on Canadian constitutional law, theory, and history. Jordan is Professor of History at the University of Victoria and Director of Past Wrongs, Future Choices, a research partnership that is working to understand, from a global perspective, the uprooting of people in Japanese descent in the 1940s. The two have recently co-authored the book Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution which was published in 2025 by UBC Press.  Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On October 26th news broke of the passing of Canadian historian Tim Cook. Tim was a leading voice in the field of Canadian military history and the chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War museum. He is someone I personally have known for most of my academic career and he has been a mentor at times for me during a variety of ups and downs throughout my career. In August I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim about his most recent book The Good Allies, and with the news of his passing I thought it fitting to release this episode right away. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught negotiations between and among the Allies. On questions of diplomacy, economic policy, industrial might, military capabilities, and even national sovereignty, thousands of lives and the fate of the free world depended on back-room deals and desperate trade-offs between soldiers, diplomats, and leaders. In North America, Canada and the US strained to forge a new military alliance to guard their coasts and fend off German U-boats and the menace of a Japanese invasion. Wartime economies were entwined to produce a staggering contribution of weapons to keep Britain and other allies in the war. The defence of North America against enemy threats was essential before the US and Canada could send armies, navies, and air forces overseas   For ad-free content sign up to Patreon today! The Conflict and Culture Podcast at Patreon   https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheConflictandCulturePodcast   You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:   Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In British Columbia, land acknowledgements often refer to “unceded territory.” Yet many people remain uncertain about the history behind these words or their implications for the future of the province. B.C. has a long history of injustice toward First Nations where government officials refused to negotiate treaties and instead coerced First Nations onto small and scattered reserves while granting settlers access to vast tracts of land. Despite sustained Indigenous resistance, the situation only worsened as non-Indigenous demands for land and natural resources increased in the decades that followed confederation. Understanding this process provides much of the context behind the province’s current reconciliation efforts, including modern treaty negotiations.   George Abbott, PhD, enjoyed thirty-five years in elected public office, including seventeen years as MLA for Shuswap and twelve years as a cabinet minister. Among his portfolios were Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. George has published several scholarly articles on BC’s political history including the award winning article “Persistence of Colonial Prejudice and Policy in British Columbia’s Indigenous Relations: Did the Spirit of Joseph Trutch Haunt Twentieth-Century Resource Development?” George’s most recent book was published in September 2025 through Purich Books/UBC Press titled Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Today.  Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links: Amazon Indigo Dundurn Goodreads Indiebookstores.ca               Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.