AUDIO SAMPLES
Sarah has worked across all platforms during her career, but her first love is audio journalism. She’s worked in radio and podcasting; in breaking news settings as well as in documentary. She can gather crisp beautiful sound and interviews, and create complex audio scenes. She can write tight scripts to deadline, or long weaving narratives. (To boot, she’s an editing whiz.)
Her radio documentary about farm workers in Alberta was listed as a finalist for the Canadian Association of Journalists national award for labour rights reporting (2020) and the CANADALAND podcast, for which Sarah is the senior producer, was a finalist for the best current affairs podcast in Canada at the Digital Publishing Awards (2022).
Part of our souls - Feb. 24, 2023
The Russia-Ukraine war has changed the lives of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians, from teachers to chefs to lawyers. Roman was a data analyst before he started tending to the wounded on the front lines. Freelance reporter and producer Sarah Lawrynuik brings us his story in her documentary, Part of Our Souls.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC Radio’s flagship morning show The Current as the lead on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. You can also read the web feature here.
'It's our power': Street art brings hope to Ukrainians - March 6, 2023
Intelligence producer Sarah Lawrynuik meets a street artist who decorates the wreckage of war in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
This story originally aired internationally on the Economist’s daily news and current affairs podcast, The Intelligence.
Shadow of a Once Great City - Nov. 9, 2022
As the war in Ukraine rages on, freelance journalist Sarah Lawrynuik takes us to Kharkiv, with her documentary Shadow of a Once Great City. It’s the story of a city devastated by the war but doing everything in its power to rebuild, and keep alive the hope of one day returning to normal.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC Radio’s flagship morning show The Current. You can also read the web feature here.
Renewed Russian shelling rocks most major cities across Ukraine - Oct. 10, 2022
Ukrainians across the country woke up to the loud bangs of rocket fire as Russia pursued the largest attack on the country since the invasion began.
Sarah Lawrynuik reports from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC's The World This Hour.
Russia’s weapons of mass deception - March 7, 2022
Canadaland doesn’t have a foreign bureau, so we can’t bring you the latest from on the ground in the conflict in Ukraine. What we can do is show you another side of the conflict that has deeply influenced this ground invasion: the information war.
This week, we take a deep-dive into the inner workings of Russia’s information chaos machine and how its use in Ukraine laid the groundwork for what was to come in other countries, including – you guessed it: Canada.
We also get a first-hand look at how the information war has led to the rise of cyber sleuths, like our friend James. (Not his real name.)
This story originally aired on the CANADALAND podcast.
Ventimiglia, Italy: A city of trapped migrants - Aug. 4, 2018
This summer there has been a continuous stream of news from Europe of increasingly hardline policies on migrants.
Just this week, an Italian towboat was reported to have returned migrants to Libya, possibly contravening international law according to the United Nations.
Italy has blocked a number of ships carrying migrants and asylum seekers from entering its ports over the past months…
And as Sarah Lawrynuik reports, many of the people who have already landed in Italy don’t want to be there…. And they’re desperate to cross the border into France.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC's The World This Weekend.
In Nice, excitement over World Cup and Bastille Day celebrations is dulled by security risk - July 14, 2018
This weekend is one for the books in France…
Tomorrow their soccer team takes on Croatia in the World Cup final.
And to amplify the excitement, today is also the country’s national holiday, Bastille Day. But the elation of the weekend is dulled by security risks. Sarah Lawrynuik has more from Nice.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC's The World This Weekend.
The plan to turn my hometown into a nuclear waste dump - Jan. 24, 2022
Canada has a nuclear problem… a nuclear waste problem. Since the dawn of nuclear power technology, solutions to waste have all been remarkably temporary given the longevity of the danger the material presents.
For decades, the hunt for a solution has spanned across provinces — even across countries. But the hope is that by 2023 Canada will have found a home – and permanent solution – for all of the country’s nuclear waste.
This endeavor is pitting neighbour against neighbour — community against community. And the stakes are high for the future of the nuclear industry.
CANADALAND senior producer Sarah Lawrynuik ventures to Northwestern Ontario to bring you this story.
This story originally aired on the CANADALAND podcast.
'It's all worth it,' says couple who lost everything fighting for farm workers - Jan. 17, 2019
Eric Musekamp and Darlene Dunlop just wanted to help keep farmers and their workers safe; instead, they made many of them angry. The couple founded the Farmworkers' Union of Alberta 15 years ago, and say they've been paying the price ever since. Their journey is documented in this 30-minute network radio documentary which aired on CBC Radio’s The Doc Project.
This radio documentary was a finalist for the Canadian Association of Journalists’ labour rights award in the spring of 2020.
Hungary's new 'Stop Soros' laws have some fearing for the country's future - July 1, 2018
It has been the hardest time in recent memory to be a humanitarian worker in Europe, as thousands of migrants and refugees have flooded through each country.
But in Hungary, employees of non-governmental organizations are facing the possibility of prison terms just for doing their jobs. The national assembly in Hungary has passed a package of laws called the Stop Soros bill. Sarah Lawrynuik reports from Budapest.
This story aired nationally in Canada on CBC's The World This Weekend.
'We were all prisoners; now, we are free': Meet Iraqis fleeing ISIS in Mosul - Dec. 13, 2016
It takes less than an hour to drive the stretch of highway between the cities of Erbil and Mosul in Iraq — equivalent to the distance between Moose Jaw and Regina.
Those 70 kilometres can mean the difference between relative safety and life controlled by ISIS. Travel down that road to Mosul with CBC producer Sarah Lawrynuik.
This documentary originally aired on CBC's national flagship radio show, The Current. Find it online here.
Garth Brooks fever hits Calgary - Sept. 2, 2017
Garth Brooks fever is spreading across Calgary... and fast.
The country music superstar is playing his second and third shows today with his wife Trisha Yearwood.
And as Sarah Lawrynuik reports, Calgary was one of the priority cities to come back to on this tour.
This story aired in Calgary, Alberta on local CBC Radio newscasts.
One of the world's smallest nations expands into the sea - June 9, 2018
In a 10-year, $3-billion Cdn project, the city-state of Monaco is expanding by six hectares into the Mediterranean. The land is destined to become a pedestrian-only area surrounding a number of new condo buildings. In all, it will add 100 new units to Monaco's real estate market.
This story originally aired nationally in Canada on the CBC's The World This Weekend.
Waterton Fire: A ravaged national park - Sept. 12, 2017
In September 2017 Waterton Lakes National Park was ravaged by the Kenow Wildfire. Sarah Lawrynuik followed the fire's progress for days and was up all night with the people of southern Alberta as they were evacuated from their homes.