The Conflict and Culture Podcast S1E3 - The Sacred Band of Thebes

In the aftermath of 9/11, Canada went to war in Afghanistan. What began as a mission to dismantle al-Qaeda and topple the Taliban became a grinding, thirteen-year campaign of combat, counterinsurgency, and nation-building. More than 40,000 Canadians served. 158 soldiers and a diplomat died, and more than 1,500 Canadians were wounded. Yet, in August 2021, the Taliban returned to power, leaving difficult questions about the war’s costs, consequences, and legacy. For the next several weeks we here at Curious Canadian History are going to look at this war from some rather unique perspectives: this will include first-hand accounts, the controversy surrounding an official history of the war, a campaign to earn one Canadian soldier a Victoria Cross, and spotlights on key events that have come to shape the experience. To start with, we are doing an historical overview of the conflict itself. How did it start? What were objectives? How did these objectives change? And what is the lasting legacy of the war?

This week’s CCH spotlight episode looks at the Air India bombing in June 1985, when a bomb planted by Sikh extremists exploded aboard Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747 travelling from Montreal to London and onward to India. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including 280 Canadian citizens. The attack was linked to extremists associated with the movement for an independent Sikh homeland, Khalistan, and was motivated by anger over the Indian government’s 1984 military operation against the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history and one of the deadliest acts of aviation terrorism worldwide.

What happens when terrorism is no longer driven by an organized group, a formal hierarchy, or a clearly defined ideology—but by a single individual acting alone? In Canada, so-called “lone wolf” terrorism has become one of the most difficult and misunderstood forms of political violence to define and confront. Today we are going to explore the history of lone actor terrorism in Canada, tracing its roots through the twentieth century and examining how its motivations and characteristics have evolved in the twenty-first. What drives an individual to commit an act of terrorism? How important are religion, ideology, and gender? And what can some of Canada’s most significant lone-actor attacks tell us about the changing nature of terrorism? But perhaps the most troubling question is what happens when there is no organization to infiltrate, no leader to identify, and no conspiracy to uncover. How do you stop someone who may have no accomplices, no obvious network, and no warning that they are about to act? And as we look at the history of lone actor terrorism in Canada, we may discover that the greatest challenge isn't understanding what happened—but recognizing what might happen next.

Step into the turbulent birth of Vancouver through the story of Gassy Jack and Quahail-ya. This episode explores ambition, colonial power, and a deeply controversial marriage, while tracing how Quahail-ya outlived Deighton to become a respected matriarch, reshaping the legacy of a woman long overshadowed by the city's founder's myth.

In Prohibition-era Vancouver, getting drunk meant slipping through hidden doors into smoky backrooms, whispering passwords, and drinking bootleg whiskey poured from unmarked bottles. Police raids were always possible, yet jazz, laughter, and clinking glasses filled the night as speakeasies (blind pigs) thrived, proving that banning alcohol never stopped Vancouverites from raising a glass.