In the lead up to the fall election, CBC Montreal host Sudha Krishnan is launching a series of conversations on Quebec identity — from two women with South Asian roots talking about how they’ve seen identity issues evolve since the 1970s, to young supporters of Quebec independence, to anglophone Montrealers defending their linguistic institutions.

The federal government’s proposed Alto high-speed train would link cities from Quebec City to Toronto with trains travelling 300 km/h or more, cutting travel times by up to half. But not everyone is on board. Farmers and rural land owners are worried about expropriations — some haunted by the legacy of the Mirabel airport. And with a Quebec election looming and sovereignty on the table, the Parti Québécois is not interested in jumping on the Canadian nation-building train.

Water restrictions this summer have brought the importance of clean running water into focus. But how did Montrealers get clean before they had indoor plumbing? For much of Montreal’s history, it was a dangerous proposition: People risked drowning in the Saint-Lawrence river or catching diseases from a backyard privy. The solution? Public baths. Reporter Gloria Henriquez dives into the history of Montreal’s public baths — and why not everyone was allowed to use them at first.