Thunder Bay

About Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential. When Indigenous teens start turning up dead under suspicious circumstances, host Ryan McMahon sets out to uncover the truth. What he finds is a city steeped in racism, corruption and neglect — a city with the highest homicide and hate crime rates in the country. Why does it all happen here? Thunder Bay originally ran in the fall of 2018, followed by Return to Thunder Bay (2020) and Thunder Bay: Post-Mortem (2023). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Canadaland

Category

society & culture · true crime

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Oct 2018

Latest episode

29 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

2 of 15 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   29 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Introducing! The New Host of Canadaland...

   Canadaland's Samira Mohyeddin and Noor Javed interview the show's new host, revealing the Monday edition's fresh title and insights.

2. 

   8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Jesse Brown is Fired!

   Jesse Brown discusses his departure from Canadaland podcasts, exploring the future direction of the platform.

3. 

   22 Jan 2025

   Introducing: The Copernic Affair

   The Copernic Affair is available now, wherever you get your podcasts. (https://canadaland.lnk.to/copernic-affair) The life of an unassuming sociology professor in Canada gets turned upside down when he is accused of carrying out a 1980 bomb attack on a synagogue in Paris. Hassan Diab says heʼs innocent, but French investigators are determined to prove otherwise. Journalists Dana Ballout (https://danaballout.com/) and Alex Atack (https://alexatack.com/) take listeners through the twists and turns of this extraordinary story, all the while asking… Is Hassan Diab guilty, or is he a scapegoat? And what if one person’s justice means committing an injustice to another? You can become a Canadaland supporter (https://canadaland.com/join/) to listen to the whole series early and ad-free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

4. 

   20 Nov 2023

   Post-Mortem, Part 2

   Ryan McMahon and Jon Thompson team up with Cherise Seucharan for the conclusion to Post Mortem, a two-episode dive into the connection between the police, the coroners, and the canary in a coal mine for death investigations across the province. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: Jon Thompson (Reporter), Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Ryan McMahon (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Further reading: Reinvestigation into nine Indigenous deaths to focus on ‘finding the truth’ (https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/reinvestigation-into-nine-indigenous-deaths-to-focus-on-finding-the-truth-1752120) — TBNewswatch, October 16, 2019 Lawyer says families 'ignored' as Broken Trust final report on death reinvestigations expected within weeks (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/tbay-broken-trust-reinvestigations-final-report-1.6351408) — CBC News, Feb 15, 2022 Reports on racism and a reckoning for Thunder Bay (https://www.tvo.org/article/reports-on-racism-and-a-reckoning-for-thunder-bay) — TVO Today, Jan 17, 2019 2 police officers step on handcuffed man's back as doctor watches at First Nation nursing station (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/video-romeo-wesley-inquest-cat-lake-1.4197507) — CBC News, Jul 10, 2017 Thunder Bay Police Board chair apologizes to families after report urges more death reinvestigations (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/police-chair-apologizes-1.6387098) — CBC News, March 16, 2022 Thunder Bay TV series, Crave (https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/thunder-bay) Additional music by Audio Network Sponsors: Oxio (https://canadaland.oxio.ca/), Squarespace (https://squarespace.com/canadaland), Better Help (https://betterhelp.com/canadaland) If you value this podcast, support us (https://canadaland.com/join)! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store (https://canadalandstore.com/), tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

5. 

   13 Nov 2023

   Post-Mortem, Part 1

   For over five years, Canadaland has been investigating Thunder Bay, Ontario. Specifically, we have been trying to figure out why there were so many unanswered questions around the deaths of Indigenous people in this one Ontario town. We have looked at the cops. The schools. The courts. The government. The people in the town itself. But we never looked at the coroners and the forensic pathologists who are a central part of death investigations. And once we started to do so, freedom of information requests and leaked reports pointed to even greater problems with how deaths are investigated, that could span the entire province. And so we went back to Thunder Bay. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jon Thompson (Reporter), Ryan McMahon (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Further reading: Lawyer says families 'ignored' as Broken Trust final report on death reinvestigations expected within weeks (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/tbay-broken-trust-reinvestigations-final-report-1.6351408), CBC News, Feb 15, 2022 Reports on racism and a reckoning for Thunder Bay (https://www.tvo.org/article/reports-on-racism-and-a-reckoning-for-thunder-bay), TVO Today, Jan 17, 2019 Ontario coroners looking to unionize over working conditions, upcoming reforms (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-coroners-looking-to-unionize-1.6875791), CBC News, June 14, 2023 Horwath calls for review of Hamilton forensic pathology unit closure (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/andrea-horwath-calls-review-hamilton-forensic-pathology-unit-closure-1.5257850), CBC News, August 23, 2019 'Disappointing' response so far to 7 youth inquest recommendations, says Aboriginal Legal Services, (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/aboriginal-legal-services-grades-1.4258735) CBC News, August 23, 2017 Thunder Bay TV series, Crave (https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/thunder-bay) Additional music by Audio Network Sponsors: Douglas (https://douglas.ca/canadaland), Communauto (https://ontario.communauto.com/canadaland), Indochino (https://indochino.com/) If you value this podcast, support us (https://canadaland.com/join)! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store (https://canadalandstore.com/), tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

6. 

   15 Dec 2020

   Return to Thunder Bay - Criminally Responsible

   The verdict arrives in the trial that everyone’s talking about. Can there be justice? As Thunder Bay grapples with the truth about itself, people are still dying. Kids are still dying. So where do we go from here? Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh (http://hellofresh.ca/thunder80). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

7. 

   30 Nov 2020

   Return to Thunder Bay - It Happens Because You're Indigenous

   When a system is broken, you can work outside of it to create something new, or you can try to change it from within. But what happens when you need the system? Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). This episode is brought to you by Missing From the Village (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/) and HelloFresh (http://hellofresh.ca/thunder80). Additional music by AudioNetwork. CORRECTION: An earlier edit of this episode presented an incomplete criticism of the editorial focus of CBC Thunder Bay. Apologies to Michael Dick and his team for this oversight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

8. 

   16 Nov 2020

   Return to Thunder Bay - A Post-Truth Town

   It’s infamous as the homicide and hate crime capital of Canada. And now, Thunder Bay has been officially diagnosed as racist. But so what? Does knowing this mean that anything will change? Welcome to Canada's first post-truth town. Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

9. 

   18 Oct 2020

   Introducing: Return to Thunder Bay

   New stories from Thunder Bay. Coming November, 2020. Original artwork by Blake Angeconeb and Michah Dowbak. Support us at canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

10. 

    25 Nov 2018

    Chapter 5 - Burners

    What if Thunder Bay isn't broken? What if it's working just as it's supposed to? Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

11. 

    12 Nov 2018

    Chapter 4 - The Ruthless Game

    Agnew Johnston was a lawyer who represented the state against criminals. But he was a criminal himself, paying underage girls for sex. His defence? Everybody in Thunder Bay is doing it, so why are you picking on me? The story of a case that implicated Thunder Bay's elite. Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

12. 

    28 Oct 2018

    Chapter 3 - Deathly Low Priority

    Nine teenagers died. There is evidence of foul play. There are suspects. There are motives. There have even been confessions. But nobody has ever been charged. In a town with no consequences, it will happen again. Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

13. 

    22 Oct 2018

    Chapter 2 - Clowns

    A dark, grainy, cellphone video leads to criminal charges against the mayor, his wife, the chief of police, and a multimillionaire lawyer turned convicted sex offender, whose wife disappeared years ago. Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

14. 

    22 Oct 2018

    Chapter 1 - There Is A Town In North Ontario

    Locals call it Murder Bay. It might be the most dangerous city for Indigenous youth in the world. But to others, it's their white nirvana. Host Ryan McMahon wants to know - not who killed all those kids, but what killed them. This is Thunder Bay. Support us here: canadaland.com/join (http://canadaland.com/join). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

15. 

    12 Oct 2018

    Introducing: Thunder Bay

    The highest homicide and hate crime rates in the country. A mayor charged with extortion. A police chief who faced trial for obstruction of justice. Nine tragic deaths of Indigenous high schoolers. Why does it all happen here? Thunder Bay debuts on October 22, 2018. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Inside a recent episode

Introducing! The New Host of Canadaland...

Published 29 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It's more like ideology versus curiosity. And I want to stay curious. I want to have conversations with people that I don't agree with. I want to be able to think out loud. I want to be able to change my mind. That seems like a wild notion. Yeah, being reasonable has become radical because to even sit down with certain people, there are a lot of people who say, well, you shouldn't even be talking to that person. And that's a problem when we get to a point as a society where you can't even ask questions. I feel like there's a lot of fear. People make assumptions on the motivations behind even asking the question. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.3 / 5

43 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

25 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

33

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Thunder Bay

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Thunder Bay