The Current for Aug 12, 2021
Today on The Current:
Michael Spavor has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in China, on charges of espionage that Canadian officials have called baseless, and retaliation for the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in 2018. Kevin Garratt knows that situation all too well, after he was detained in China for more than two years, much of it in the very same facility as Spavor. He tells guest host Laura Lynch what Spavor might be going through, and we discuss the politics at play with Lynette Ong, an expert on Chinese politics and associate professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
Plus, the Paralympics are two weeks away. Canada's athletes have faced unprecedented challenges in training — and now have to contend with COVID-19 surging in Tokyo. We talk to Jessica Frotten, who will compete in wheelchair racing; para rower Jeremy Hall; and Canada's Chef de Mission Stephanie Dixon.
And Charles Darwin described caracaras as "false eagles," but Jonathan Meiburg thinks the bird of prey has been unfairly maligned for centuries. In a conversation with Matt Galloway in June, he discusses what he's learned from studying the birds in Central and South America, and his new book, A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of The World's Smartest Birds of Prey.
