More than two million surgeries are performed every year in Canada, and behind every cut, stitch, or scar - there's a story. On this episode we're getting into the ripple effects of going under the knife, for better or for worse.

When Gilles Landreville noticed a small cut on his foot, he couldn’t have known that a week later, he’d be waking up in hospital, missing two-thirds of his left leg. But as Gilles adjusts to life in a new body, he’s also finding a new identity: Gilles 2.0, an update that refuses to let his circumstances bring him down—and is determined to help other people navigate tough changes too.

Ashley Hiebert wants to celebrate her 10 year anniversary of donating a kidney to a stranger, by doing it again: this time, she's donating part of her liver to someone she's never met. The only thing standing in her way isn't fear, it's finances.

How does performing surgery change you? Hear from second-year medical student Samuel Bonne, pediatric surgeon Dr. Tito Daodu, and thoracic surgeon Dr. Ikennah Browne about the experiences in the OR that changed them.

For some reason vasectomies are the butt of many jokes, but for 26-year-old Daniel McIntyre-Ridd, choosing to get one before ever having children was no laughing matter.

Jessica Fitchett has always been good with her hands. She planned to combine welding and art to create big things. But an accident at work changed everything.

When Marie and Erik Matchett travelled to India to adopt their daughter Norah, they knew she had a bilateral cleft lip and palate — but they didn’t yet know the extent of the surgeries she’d need or how they’d calm their nervous little girl during hospital visits. That’s when Big Brave Norah came into play, a nickname that’s inspired confidence in more kids than they imagined.

For nine seasons Ify Chiwetelu and Trevor Dineen have been with Canadians in their most personal now or never moments, when they’re on the brink of something new, striving for a goal or making a change.

But what happens after the interview?

Today we’re diving in with past guests to find out if they really did what they said they would, and how it all turned out.

Sophie Davie was five months pregnant when she told us how nervous (but empowered) she felt having a baby all on her own. Seventeen months later, we knock on her door to meet the daughter she always wanted and see if the dream of single motherhood matches up to the reality of going it alone.

In 1970 beauty queen Darlene Williams rode in a 1970 Pink Panther Dodge Challenger convertible as part of her reign. More than 50 years later Winnipegger Pat Kanuiga had that same car in pieces in his garage, but promised Darlene she would ride in it again. So did it happen?

When we last left De Vine Thomas she was months away from graduating high school and dreaming of leaving Peguis First Nation - the reserve where she grew up - to pursue her fashion dreams. Did she fulfill her dreams to move away from her community until she was “a real old lady”?

Toronto’s Aaron Brown has dreamed of competing on his favourite gameshow, Jeopardy, for as long as he can remember. He applied 16 times, he hosted trivia as his job, and carried around a clicker to practice his speed. But did all that matter when the show finally called?

Two weeks after Corine Mathurin moved to Montreal from Toronto, she explained to her good friend Ify it was because she wasn’t getting what she needed in her community. She wanted closer connections and more meet ups with friends in real life. Today Ify calls Corine up to find out if she got what she was looking for.

As political divisiveness becomes the new norm, it can get harder to see the other side, and understand why people vote the way they do.

But instead of demonizing those on the other end of the political spectrum, why not lean in and get curious as to why people believe what they do?

On this special election edition of Now or Never, hear from five different Canadians — an 18-year-old, a pastor, a Panamanian-Canadian immigrant, a gun enthusiast, and a senior citizen — about the personal experience shaping the way they’ll be voting in this federal election.

Gale Uhlmann has a job since she was 15-years-old, working as a trucker, waitress, and office worker. Now at 74, Gale's still working -- but not by choice. She doesn't have enough savings to retire, or to pay $10 000 for the new teeth she needs: "You're a statistic. And they don't - how can I put it nicely - they don't give a damn about what we're encountering."

Firearms were a big part of what brought Patrick Osborne and his wife Tara together. After she passed away from cancer in 2022, it’s also shaping how he’s planning to vote in this election.

Although he’s been a Canadian citizen for 20 years, Fernando Ameth Pinzon has never voted in a federal election. But Donald Trump’s comments about his home country have shifted something in him, bringing him back to a place he hasn’t been in a while: his childhood in Panama.

When Jason McAllister and his family moved into their new neighborhood in Prince George, B.C., bail reform wasn’t even a thought. After five years of living near a home where he frequently witnessed drug use and police raids, it’s become a key election issue.

18-year-old Harman Banga is casting her first vote in a federal election, something she’s been looking forward to since she was a child. But recently, voting has become even more personal for Harman — her parents both work in the auto industry and their jobs are threatened by tariffs.

As the world faces a now or never moment, Canadians are examining their values, picking their battles, and figuring out how they can stand up for their beliefs. Today on Now or Never we’re discovering how people are pushing back with big and small acts of resistance.

The Trump administration’s tariff war and comments about making Canada a “51st state” has spurred a wave of defensive patriotism across the country. Meet Mike Robitaille, who refuses to spend a cent on any American products or businesses - and that includes everything, from toothpaste to Netflix.

When Manitoba’s Janet Braun came out as a transgender woman, she knew she would have to find a new church because she didn’t feel safe at her old one. Then she saw the rainbows on full display in Brandon’s Knox United, and knew she’d found a home. But Reverend Craig Miller says the church’s reputation as a place where all are welcome, has made it the target of hate.

For 38 years Pickering’s Shenul Williams has fought to keep her late father’s family business alive. Just last month she was on the brink of closing her Indo-African condiment business, Aki Fine Foods, when that surge of Canadian patriotism changed everything.

First Nations Chief Lance Haymond knows more about radioactive nuclear waste than he ever wanted to, but he says that’s what it takes to protect his people’s land. Why he has to keep fighting “a David and Goliath battle” to stop Canadian Nuclear Laboratories from building a near surface disposal site on traditional Algonquin territory.

Fighting back doesn’t necessarily have to mean joining a rally or boycotting a business. Sometimes, taking a stand can mean breaking your mom’s curfew for the first time at 18 years old. We ask young people in St. John’s, N.L. what acts of resistance they are taking part in.

Plus a mashup of Canadian protest songs, Jim Cuddy’s latest, and a surprise cameo by Unreserved’s Rosanna Deerchild.

If your community was changing, what would you do about it? Today we're stepping into four different communities across Canada on the cusp of big change, and how they're grappling with this question: How do you adapt to what's coming, while still holding onto what matters to you?

The Canadian border town of St. Stephen, N.B. has had a beautiful relationship with its American neighbours in Calais, Maine for more than a hundred years. But tough tariffs talks have both sides feeling like they're stuck in a breakup that nobody wants. St. Stephen mayor Allan MacEachern and resident Tracey Matheson describe the strain of when the political and the personal collide.

Charles Reeves gives us a tour of A Better Tent City, a sanctioned tiny home community in Kitchener for people experiencing homelessness, that is fighting to keep going.

Old Order Mennonite, Joseph Weber, has one son who was forced to leave Canada’s largest and most diverse Mennonite community due to inflation and the rising cost of housing — a trend among this group. Now another son is forced to move, leaving Joseph planning his escape too.

And if you’ve ever thought of leaving it all behind to start your own utopian community from scratch, you might want to ask Ron Berezan for advice. After years of planning, he's months away from opening a new intentional community in Powell River, B.C., where everyone farms the same land, shares amenities, and makes decisions together. So how do you get consensus, and decide who gets to join? Ron reveals the lessons he's learned so far.

If you're feeling stuck in limbo — about your relationship status, your job, your health, or whatever is happening with tariffs these days — you're not the only one.

On this episode, stories of people stuck in between the place they don’t want to be, and the place they’re hoping to get to.

Ify starts by asking strangers on the street about a time they fell into romantic limbo, and how they got out.

After years of living and working in Afghanistan, former soldier Dave Lavery was suddenly detained by the Taliban, blindfolded and taken to a cell. For 77 days his family was in limbo, not sure if or when they’d see him again. We take you behind the scenes of their reunion and how Dave has been forever changed.

Being in your twenties can feel like being in a constant state of limbo, as you're figuring out school, friends, and who you want to be. For 24-year old Hannah Cha, she’s under a tight deadline to find a job, and move on to the next stage of her life.

For over a year, Changiz Varzi was stuck in Canada, waiting for a visa that would allow him to leave and re-enter the country so he could visit friends and family back in Iran. Stuck playing the waiting game, Changiz is questioning whether Canada is really where he wants to build a life.

And 24-year-old Kaitlin Callander has been on the waitlist for shared assisted living in Ontario for six years, with no clear date of when she’ll get a bed. And that's because there are currently 52,000 people on the waiting list. We hear from Kaitlin and her mom Nicole, who believes that living in this state of limbo is inhibiting her daughter’s independence.

Faith is something that motivates billions of people every single day, whether it's fasting during Ramadan, giving back to your community, or making you believe in something bigger than yourself. Today you'll hear from people whose faith has inspired them to take action in ways you might not expect.

We're half-way through Ramadan, and Ify decides to try a day of fasting in solidarity with her friend (and CBC Manitoba host) Nadia Kidwai. But first she gets some advice from Nadia, on how disconnecting from the physical world allows you to connect with something higher.

Former sports broadcaster Matthew Leibl tells us why getting ordained as a rabbi wasn't as big of a leap as you might think.

We visit the rollicking All Nations Full Gospel Church in Ottawa, to find out how the power of music moves even the shyest of wall flowers to get up on stage and sing.

Michelle Gazze grew up going to a Hindu temple in Winnipeg with her family, until she had a revelatory moment in university that compelled her to convert to Islam. She tells us how her Muslim faith is motivating her to give back to the community, and why she's roping in all her cousins (who she jokingly refers to as "Super Hindus") along for the ride.

Teacher Tasha Spillett invites us to a sweat lodge, along with her grade 9 students.

And former atheist Rick Loftson reveals how he ended up as a deacon in the Catholic Church.

NOTE: This episode originally aired in June 2018.

People from all walks of life, taking big risks for their art.

We start with Bee Bertrand, who says our show - and one innocent question from Ify - inspired him to quit his job six months ago to commit fully to stand-up comedy. He tells us what's happened since that fateful day.

Illustrator Narges Noori shares how her fight to create art in Afghanistan under the Taliban, led her to seek safety in Edmonton.

15-year-old Hyun Byun is so determined to become the next K-pop idol, he spent a year away from family and friends to train at a K-pop school in South Korea. Now he's back home in Toronto, trying to balance life as a high school student and keeping his ambitious singing and dancing dreams alive.

And 20 years into his career, Winnipeg musician Grant Davidson (of Slow Leaves) shares what it’s like to give everything to his music, and still feel like he’s fallen short.