The Torontonian

A new generation’s search for spiritual meaning takes them in a very different direction than their parents. For Adam Adachi and Francis Lamonica, both in their early 20s, a low point in their lives led them to organized religion, via the Guardian Angels Parish in Brampton. What they’ve found is something more personal than the faith of their parents’ generation.

Nathanael Williams killed a man when he was barely 16. He spent most of his life growing and maturing in Canada’s tough and sometimes unfair prison system, where he’s always been held accountable. At 43, he hopes he will soon be released.  Mary Wiens joins former CBC colleague Kim Steffler as Nathanael tells his story. And they meet a Corrections officer who helps Black inmates like Nathanael prepare for parole hearings.

Bashir Harba is one of thousands of Syrians who came to Toronto to escape a brutal civil war. But one thing still haunts him: his brother’s death in a notorious Syrian prison. On the latest edition of The Torontonian, you’ll hear Bashir’s story. And we’ll tell you about another Canadian, Bill Wiley, whose efforts have already brought some Syrian war criminals to justice.

Growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, Mary Wu was trained to become a ‘barefoot doctor’. Here in Toronto, she led the campaign to have acupuncture regulated in Ontario. She also founded one of the most prestigious TCM schools in North America.  Looking back over the past 30 years, Dr. Wu says she was made for this – bringing the ancient wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine to Canadians

A lot of Torontonians love subway trains, streetcars and buses as kids. But not all of them grow up to be passionate advocates for moving Torontonians around. Mary Wiens and guest host Emmett Shane spoke to Steve Munro and Steve Wickens — two of Toronto’s toughest transit watchdogs.

Lots of Toronto office buildings in the downtown core are sitting vacant. A Toronto entrepreneur wants to convert them into co-living units for young adults stuck at home with their parents. But are building owners ready to give up on the dream that office workers are coming back?

The Imperial Pub – one of Toronto’s oldest pubs – closes this week. The pub opened in 1944 in the middle of WWII – but saying how old it is doesn’t capture why so many Torontonians feel that when this pub closes, it will take a bit of Toronto’s heart and soul with it. Mary Wiens asked owner Fred Newman what it means to him.

Almost twenty years ago, the city was gripped by the story of a baby’s body discovered in the floorboards of an attic on Kintyre Street, wrapped in a newspaper from 1925. A story so compelling, it became a radio documentary and then an opera. The opera is being performed at the Mazzoleni Concert Hall Friday November 7 at 7:30pm. For more information, click here.

Personal trainer Jenna Doak says the body positive movement helped her accept her own body shape. Now she’s transforming how her clients see themselves and what it means to be fit. Show Notes: The CBC article we mention in the episode: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/personal-trainer-real-1.3961023 Link to a group photo of Jenna (back row, 3rd from right) with some of her trainers: https://torontonianpodcast.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jenna-with-trainers.jpeg Link to a group photo of Jenna (middle row, right) with some of her clients: https://torontonianpodcast.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jenna-with-clients.jpeg

All of us are familiar with the headlines – another young man shot and killed in Toronto. But we don’t often hear what comes next – let alone the impact decades later. In this episode, Julia Farquharson tells Mary Wiens about her son, Segun, a promising young hockey player. Some people will still remember his death 24 years later because it was captured on a cellphone recording—a rarity in 2001. Julia told Mary she still feels his presence every day and her faith gives her an extraordinary peace of mind. Note: Please excuse some of the slight audio distortion in the final segment with Julia.

The other day, the people who put The Torontonian together met at their favourite bar – just as the bartender took down a blackboard listing about a dozen kinds of bourbon. It inspired this week’s episode about one of the most high-profile targets of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. For bourbon expert Lucas Twyman, the drama hits close to home. Growing up in Kentucky, bourbon was the drink of choice – and as a budding connoisseur, collecting rare bourbons became a kind of sport. Today, Lucas is a Canadian citizen. He tells us why bourbon, with its strict rules and new oak barrels, is the perfect metaphor for the cooling relationship between the two countries he considers home.

The big growth area in cosmetic surgery? Breast reduction. For many women, the surgery is life-changing. And they’re getting it done at a much younger age. In this episode Chanese Ila tells us why she was ready at 36. And two plastic surgeons – the McRae brothers – tell us about counselling younger women about one of the most sensitive aspects of their self-identity.  And for those looking, you can give Bette Midler’s Otto Titsling a listen here.

For many teenagers who struggle at school, the classroom has been a place of failure and trauma, since they were kids. But what if you put them into a different kind of classroom? Say a construction site? Mary Wiens attended an event where students told their construction bosses and teachers how it’s transformed the way they see themselves.

We return to the food we loved as children throughout our lives. For Mother’s Day, two women from Eritrea tell us about the recipes they learned from their mothers –  and how it’s fueling their lives in Toronto, after escaping from one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Just two of the women supported by Newcomer Kitchen, a made-in-Toronto non-profit that’s helped hundreds of women turn their favourite food into a business.

The lineup to bid farewell to Pope Francis, stretched to the thousands but every one of them had their personal reason for being there.  In this episode of The Torontonian, we’ll meet Mauricio, a former Jesuit seminarian, and his husband. They told us about the impact Pope Francis had on their place as gay men in the Catholic church.

The Maple Leaf Gardens – home to some of Toronto’s most joyful victories and agonizing defeats. There are new players now at the Gardens including the Toronto Gay Hockey Association. Shane Hobson and Ben Baby grew up gay in small-town Ontario. They tell Mary Wiens why it’s a victory every time they carry their hockey bags through the front doors of the former Maple Leaf Gardens.