The Current

Can't concentrate? What about thinking deeply? Attention spans are shrinking rapidly. Cal Newport, a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of the bestselling book 'Deep Work,' says we're facing a crisis—an attack on our ability to think. He's calling for what he calls a revolution in defence of thinking. He outlines the steps for reclaiming your attention.

This Sunday Germans head to the polls. And the far-right Alternative for Germany party—or the AfD—is surging in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. If they win, it’ll mark the first time a far-right party has held state power in Germany since the Nazis. The CBC’s Jessica Singer has been on the ground in Saxony-Anhalt, following the campaign and speaking with voters in the state capital, Magdeburg.

Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario has caused a stir, but experts say the controversy is distracting from more serious threats facing the Great Lakes. We speak with McMaster University professor emeritus Gail Krantzberg about how the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental protections is putting the lakes’ water quality and security at risk. We also speak with Western Michigan University professor Daniel Macfarlane about how weakening Great Lakes governance could threaten Canada’s water sovereignty.

With fewer colds and flus, ER doctors used to care for fewer patients in the summer. Not anymore. Patients are waiting longer than ever. We hear from Dr. Noam Katz in Winnipeg and Dr. Brittany Ellis in Saskatoon about what their patients have been dealing with all summer and what needs to change.

For the past four decades, world renowned biologist Nalini Nadkarni has risked her life studying trees. In 2015, she fell from a 50-foot bigleaf maple tree in the Olympic Peninsula. She tells The Current host Matt Galloway what her recovery from that catastrophic fall taught her about resilience and trees.