Programming Reality: Perspectives on English-Canadian Television, the first anthology dedicated to analyses of Canadian television content, is a collection of original, interdisciplinary articles, combining textual analysis and political economy of communications. It explores the television that has thrived in the Canadian regulatory and cultural context: namely, programs that straddle the border between reality and fiction or even blur it. The conceptual basis of this collection is the hybrid nature of television fare: the widely theorized notion that all mediations of reality involve fiction in the form of narrative or symbolic shaping. Each of the contributions here is a reminder, too, of the significant relationship of television to nation building in Canada—to the imaginative work involved in thinking through the relations that constitute nations, citizens, and communities. The collection focuses on English-language Canadian television because the imperatives guiding its texts are markedly different from those pertaining to their French-lanugage counterparts. The collection, therefore, develops a nuance of perspective on the cultural and political economic specificities that inform the imaginative work of television production for English Canada.

Following on the heels of his bestselling collection of political reminiscences, former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien still has a few more stories to tell. With anecdotes and reflections both serious and light-hearted, My Stories, My Times, Volume 2 is a unique window on our country from one of its greatest statesmen and patriots. With a career that spanned decades and an active retirement after that, it should come as no surprise that Jean Chrétien’s illuminating, perceptive and often humorous stories could not be contained in just one book. This collection of essays features his trademark candour and ever-sharp political acumen, with plenty of wit to accompany the wisdom. With a delightful randomness, he remembers events and personalities that shaped our nation in a multitude of ways, and offers his views on international current events, including Canada-China relations, Brexit, and interprovincial dealings. Jean Chrétien’s stories serve to remind us that there is more to unite than divide us as a country, and that we have institutions we can take enormous pride in and values we must strive to maintain and keep building upon. Above all, these stories illustrate Jean Chrétien’s firm belief that we must never cease searching for common ground despite our differences.

The End of the CBC? is about three overlapping crises: the crisis that has enveloped the CBC, the crisis of news, and the crisis of democracy. They are all the result to some degree of the vast changes that have overtaken and consumed the media world in the last ten to fifteen years. The emergence of platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix, the hyper-targeting of individual users through data analytics, the development of narrow online identity communities, and the rise of an attention economy that makes it more and more difficult for any but the most powerful media organizations to be noticed, have changed the media landscape in dramatic ways. The effects on the CBC and on other Canadian media organizations have been shattering. Describing the failure of successive governments to address problems faced by the public broadcaster, this book explains how the CBC lost its place in sports, drama, and entertainment. Taras and Waddell propose a way forward for the CBC - one in which the corporation concentrates its resources on news and current affairs and re-establishes a reputation for depth and quality.

Widely sold abroad, Beachcombers and North of 60 are what many international audiences know about Canada. In Outside Looking In Mary Jane Miller traces the evolution of representations of First Nations people in fifty years of Canadian television broadcasts.

Canadian composer Louis Applebaum devoted his life to the cultural awakening of his native land, and this "magnificent obsession" drove him to become a founder of the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre. He was an instrumental figure in the early development of the National Film Board, the Stratford Festival, and the National Art Centre in Ottawa. For nearly half a century he composed music for the Stratford Festival, television, radio, and films. This illustrated biography explores the man who was beloved by his fellow artists and the icon to whom every Canadian, knowingly or not, is indebted.

Music Makers examines and celebrates the extraordinary lives of composer Harry Freedman and his partner, soloist Mary Morrison. Harry, with roots in jazz and popular music, was a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 25 years. Canada’s Composer of the Year in 1979, he has written an enormous repertoire that celebrates Canada and is sung and played around the world. After a stellar career in Canada as a popular singer and opera diva, Mary became an esteemed exponent of Canadian vocal works. She was a prestigious mentor and teacher of young Canadians now appearing on famous opera stages worldwide. She received the League of Composers’ Music Citation in 1968 and won Canada’s major award as Opera Educator in 2002.