CBC Radio - The Best Game in Town Tonight

I like to listen to CBC Radio One on Thursday nights because there are several excellent shows on.

Dispatches is on at 7:30. This program showcases documentaries on events happening throughout the world. It is part foreign affairs, part human interest, and 100% impactful. Whether it is a story about Robert Mugabe and the economic meltdown of Zimbabwe or a profile of musicians who are opposing totalitarian regimes, there is always something interesting on Dispatches.

The next show, Global Village, fills the 8:00 to 8:30 slot. GV is about music and musicians from around the world. Listeners become correspondents and file reports from musical events throughout the four corners of the globe. While I prefer the one hour version of Global Village that airs Saturdays at 6:30, the Thursday night version is a nice alternative to mindless television.

The surprise show of this season is Afghanada, a half hour drama that airs at 8:30. Afghanada goes where no television has gone yet -- it follows a squad of Canadian soldiers as they serve a tour of duty in Afghanistan. The show is remarkably frank in its depiction of the violence and contradictions of the mission to Afghanistan. This evening's episode involved a fracas involving the Cape Breton story-teller-cum-soldier Private Manson, a local "terp", and Captain "Crunch" Williams. This episode, like so many of the previous nine, was sad, but perhaps the saddest thing about the show is that it will end in two weeks. Check it out while you can.

And lastly, CBC airs coverage from other public broadcasters from around the world in the hours between 1:00 am and 6:00 am. I don't usually stay up that late, but when I do I really enjoy the grab bag of programming.