Episode Details

The CJN’s flagship news podcast, North Star, first aired five years ago this week, on May 3, 2021. Originally called The CJN Daily, it filled a gap in the COVID-era news ecosystem, airing new episodes uniquely focused on the Canadian Jewish community every morning from Monday to Friday.

But from its very first episode, breaking news changed the plan. The Lag b’Omer stampede at Israel’s Mount Meron, and a subsequent eleven-day war with Hamas, had the team scrambling to bring expert analysis and eyewitness testimony to The CJN’s front page.

Five years later, having published 800 episodes and interviewed at least 1,000 newsmakers, North Star has been heard, watched and downloaded more than 1.7 million times across all our platforms. It’s been a journey of discovery into the Jewish community here, exploring how Canadian Jews are connected to global events that few could have imagined when the show launched.

On this special anniversary episode, host Ellin Bessner and senior podcast producer Zachary Kauffman reflect on the lessons they’ve learned from helming the show. They discuss their most impactful stories and the ramifications they’ve had—even when those ramifications were controversial—and walk through how the show has evolved through a pandemic, personal grief, spiking antisemitism and a changing outlook for Jewish Canada.

Related links:

• Hear the bite-sized episodes from the first week of The CJN’s North Star podcast, from May 2021.
• Read and listen to The CJN's stories on JNF Canada’s charitable status being revoked, from 2024.
• Learn more about The CJN's Benjamin’s consumer complaint stories, from 2022.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )
• Watch our podcasts on YouTube.
• Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)