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Sickboy

A Love Affair with the Unknown: How Gill Deacon Beat Long COVID

Sickboy

CBC

Society & Culture

4.8524 Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when a "Professional Knower" gets hit with a disease that has absolutely zero f*cking answers? Broadcasting legend and former CBC host Gill Deacon spent her life demanding answers for the public, but in 2022, her own body became the ultimate mystery. From her heart feeling like a "motorized toy" to wearing a wool toque 24/7 just to feel a semblance of warmth, Gill takes us through the 20-month wilderness of Long COVID. In this episode, we dig into the "stew of symptoms" that forced a high-functioning pro into bed rest and the radical neuroplasticity workshop that eventually helped her "climb out" and reclaim her life. 


Gill’s new book, A Love Affair with the Unknown, is available now.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's becoming pretty clear that U.S. President Donald Trump is ripping up the political

0:05.3

playbook.

0:05.8

And when it comes to what it all means for Canada, well, as they say, it's complicated.

0:09.8

But our podcast, two blocks from the White House, is a way to make sense of it all.

0:13.8

Join me, Willie Lowry, and senior Washington correspondents, Paul Hunter and Katie Simpson

0:18.6

every week as we break down the headlines from Capitol Hill with a Canadian spin.

0:24.2

Find and follow two blocks from the White House on your favorite podcast app, including YouTube.

0:30.3

This is a CBC podcast.

0:37.4

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. Another episode of Sick Boy.

0:41.8

Hope you're doing well. Very excited for today's episode. Today's guest is a legitimate

0:48.5

broadcasting legend. Jill Deacon. And for years, Jill had been a fixture on the CBC, host of Here and Now,

0:58.8

and someone who has made an entire career out of having the answers for the public. But today,

1:06.3

we are talking about what happens to a professional knower when they get hit with a disease that

1:13.4

has absolutely zero answers. Drum roll, please. Long COVID. Jill takes us through her 20-month

1:22.4

battle with a slew of symptoms that completely sapped her energy and forced her into a life of bed, rest,

1:31.7

and an extreme uncertainty. But then we dig into her recovery, her recovery through

1:39.5

neuroplasticity and how she managed to completely reclaim her life.

1:45.3

And, of course, she talks about a lot of this stuff in her incredible new book,

1:51.0

A Love Affair with the Unknown.

1:53.1

It's a conversation about resilience, the power of the mind, learning to thrive when you don't have all the answers.

2:01.3

And we really, really enjoyed this episode.

2:04.0

Now, if you've been tuning in regularly, you know that we just did an episode on Long COVID.

...

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