Episode 1: Mark Kingwell on Glenn Gould directed by Adrian Wills

Genius, enigma, hypochondriac: a life shrouded in mystery. Mark Kingwell shows how Glenn Gould, rock star of classical music, was in fact a great philosopher and innovator, and in this intimate portrait, he looks beyond the eccentricities to the man behind the music.

Episode 2: Adrienne Clarkson on Norman Bethune directed by Karen Cho

From working to revolutionize health care in Canada to saving thousands of lives in the revolutions in Spain and China, Bethune’s life is devoted to a single purpose: socialized medicine. Adrienne Clarkson looks at the life of this great man, shedding light on his remarkable humanism and the battles he fights until his dying days.

Episode 3: Lewis DeSoto on Emily Carr directed by Joshua Dorsey

Join Lewis DeSoto as he travels through the life of Emily Carr and her beloved landscape of British Colombia. From childhood talent through struggles for acceptance in a male-dominated art world, Carr’s drive to paint and her unique vision shine through her paintings and her life story.

Episode 4: Rudy Wiebe on Big Bear directed by Adrian Wills and Kenneth Hirsch

A tragedy viewed rather as a triumph of will. Rudy Wiebe tells the story of one of the greatest leaders Canada has ever known. Non-violent, a believer in discussion and diplomacy, Big Bear is the earliest forerunner of the traits Canadians today pride themselves on.

Episode 5: Margaret MacMillan on Stephen Leacock directed by Tom Puchniak

Margaret MacMillan shows us the other side of Canada’s first funny man. World-famous satirist and professor of Political Economy, Stephen Leacock is a keen commentator on human nature.  The first true champion of Canada, he showed us how to be proud of being Canadian.

Episode 6: David Adams Richards on Lord Beaverbrook directed by Joshua Dorsey

A brilliant entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, the great merger manipulator Max Aitken has a life of great success and bitter disappointments. David Adams Richards tells the story of one of the most powerful men of the 20^th century, from humble beginnings in small-town Ontario, to lord and politician in the UK.

Episode 7: Charlotte Gray on Nellie McClung directed by Karen Cho

From humble prairie farm girl to winning women’s right to vote, McClung’s whirlwind career as women’s suffrage and temperance activist set her place as one of the most important women in Canadian history. Charlotte Gray tells the story of this funny, frank and charismatic woman, through victories and family struggles, to attain the rights of personhood for all Canadian women.

Episode 8: Andrew Cohen on Lester B. Pearson directed by Karen Cho

Andrew Cohen opens up the many lives of Lester Pearson to the viewer. Talented athlete, brilliant student, teacher, diplomat, politician: from the man who saved the world during the Suez Crisis, to Liberal leader and Prime Minister of Canada, this unstoppable man of action is a true Canadian.

Episode 9: Jane Urquhart on L.M. Montgomery directed by Helene Klodawsky

The creator of the most famous literary orphan in the world, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life was not as rosy as her stories. Jane Urquhart combs through Mongomery’s diaries and novels to reveal the deep depression that plagues her throughout her life, and the strength of spirit that leads her to create some of the most beloved characters of all time.

Episode 10: M.G. Vassanji on Mordecai Richler directed by Lewis Cohen

The literary biography of Canada’s most loved satirical writer, this episode takes you to the Montreal of Mordecai Richler’s childhood, and reveals the truth behind this man of fiction, who universalizes the Canadian Jewish experience for all.

Episode 11: Nino Ricci on Pierre Elliott Trudeau directed by Helene Klodawsky

Who is the real Pierre Elliott Trudeau? Join Nino Ricci as he weaves together the life of a man bred to lead a separatist Quebec but who ultimately becomes the greatest voice for a united and egalitarian Canada.

Episode 12: John Ralston Saul on Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin directed by Kenneth Hirsch

One a fatherless French Canadian habitant, the other a Toronto blue blood: John Ralston Saul leads us through the exciting story of how these two unlikely allies unite to bring us the democratic and non-violent Canada we know today.

COMING SOON:

Episode 13: Maurice Richard by Charles Foran
Episode 14: Tommy Douglas by Vincent Lam
Episode 15: René Lévesque by Daniel Poliquin
Episode 16: Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont by Joseph Boyden
Episode 17: Sir Wilfrid Laurier by André Pratte
Episode 18: Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland