Front Burner

On Wednesday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces released a video of their top commander telling troops on the northern border to prepare for a ground invasion of Lebanon. The mid-week Lebanese death toll, following Israel’s air strikes that began Monday, is more than 600 people. Hezbollah on Wednesday also shot a ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv for the first time, although it was intercepted and caused no injuries.The Israel-Hezbollah conflict is escalating in a serious way.Today, we’re speaking to Tasnim Chaaban. She is a reporter for L’Orient Today, Lebanon’s long-running English-language newspaper, and she and her family made a harrowing journey to Beirut this week from an area of southern Lebanon under heavy bombardment.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

 A recent rise in hateful online posts directed towards South Asian immigrants in Canada and cases of South Asians being harassed and attacked in public has many in the community raising the alarm.Jaspreet Dhaliwal, a recent international student turned post-graduate work permit holder, talks about a concerning encounter at a local park. Press Progress reporter, Rumneek Johal, takes us through more examples of hateful online content about South Asians and recent cases of real-life harassment.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

B.C Premier David Eby says that, if re-elected, he would expand involuntary care for those with severe addiction and mental health issues. The announcement came just a few weeks after a couple of unprovoked, violent attacks in downtown Vancouver where one man died, and another was severely injured. Many Vancouverites were shaken by what happened, and Premier Eby cited the attacks when he spoke about the need for more involuntary care in the province.But many public health experts and civil liberties advocates question whether this is the best approach to dealing with public safety concerns and a drug poisoning crisis.Journalist and writer Anna Mehler Paperny has done a lot of reporting on Canada’s mental health care system. She helps us navigate the complex debate.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Last week, telecomms giant Rogers Communications became a majority owner of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, putting them at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors. The historic deal ensures a huge chunk of Canada’s sports star power is now all in Rogers’ hands.It’s the latest in a series of major acquisitions after a dramatic family struggle left Edward Rogers at the the helm of the company his father founded. Today, Christine Dobby with Bloomberg Canada talks to guest host Catherine Cullen about the Succession-like manouvering that’s led to Rogers becoming an ever powerful force in Canadian business. 

Wake up to what's going on in Canada and the world. Each morning, World Report will give you a 10-minute dose of the biggest news stories happening now. Our CBC News colleagues will tell you about the political actors trying to make change, the movements catching fire, and the cultural moments going viral. Start your day with the very latest.More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/nN5xp_ZK 

This week in Lebanon, a series of attacks targeted personal communications devices — like pagers and walkie talkies — belonging to members of the political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah. At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Among the dead are at least two children.Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, referred to the attack as an ‘act of war’ and a ‘major terrorist operation.’ Israeli officials have said the country has entered a ‘new phase of the war.’ For a better picture on the ground in Beirut, as well as a sense of how the Israeli intelligence service managed to sabotage thousands of devices in Lebanon we’re joined by two journalists. Edmund Bower is in Beirut and has reported for The Guardian, The Times of London and the Atlantic. And Yossi Melman is the co-author of Spies Against Armageddon as well as numerous other books on Israeli intelligence. He’s also an analyst for the newspaper Haaretz.In this episode, we refer to a previous episode of Front Burner, which you can find below:What is Hezbollah? For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In November of 2023, R&B singer Cassie sent shockwaves through the hip hop world when she filed a lawsuit against her former boyfriend, producer and mega-mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. She accused him of years of abuse and sexual violence, and since then a further nine lawsuits have been filed along similar lines.This week, Diddy was arrested in New York City on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, the latter charge carries a potential life sentence. In the indictment, prosecutors accuse him of decades of abuse — sexual, physical and emotional. And they say he used his status as a titan in the industry — and head of the influential Bad Boy Records empire — to commit these crimes, and to cover them up.Vanity Fair staff writer Dan Adler breaks down what Diddy has been accused of, and how he built the power and connections that allegedly facilitated it.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Not long ago it seemed like the carbon tax was a fait accompli in Canada. Two elections were fought where this was a major issue, and the Liberals came out on top in both of them.But now, things are suddenly looking very different. It’s not just Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives hammering the Liberals about “axing the tax,” a growing number of Canadians have negative views of it too. And last week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh — who has previously voted with the Liberals on their carbon pricing scheme — seemed to cast doubt on it too.So how did Canadians turn against the carbon tax, a scheme where most people actually get more money back than what they put in?Today we’re speaking to climate journalist Arno Kopecky about the life, and possible death, of Canada’s carbon tax.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Former U.S. president Donald Trump was golfing on his course in Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday afternoon when the Secret Service say they spotted the barrel of a gun in the bushes. It was what they believe to be the second potential attempt at assassinating Trump in just two months.The suspect, arrested after a brief pursuit, was Ryan Welsey Routh: a 58-year-old from North Carolina who's been interviewed in the past about trying to recruit Afghan fighters to join the war effort in Ukraine.Marin Cogan, a senior correspondent for Vox, walks us through what happened, what else we know about the suspect and the tinderbox of a highly polarized and heavily armed America.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The inclusion of ‘Russians at War’ in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has been met with a firestorm of controversy and backlash, including criticism from the Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.The first person documentary follows Russian Canadian filmmaker, Anastasia Trofimova, as she embeds herself with a group of Russian soldiers fighting on the front lines of the war in Ukraine as they grow increasingly disillusioned with the battle. But after Freeland and other Ukrainian-Canadians spoke out against the film, accusing it of ‘whitewashing’ Russia’s role in the conflict, TVO, one of the films financial backers, announced it would no longer be screening the film. Anastasia Trofimova joins us to talk about the making of the film, the criticism it received and why she thought it was important to give a different perspective on the war in Ukraine.

More than 80 women from around the world have accused the fast-fashion mogul Peter Nygard of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking in incidents across four decades and at least four countries. He has been charged for sex crimes in three Canadian provinces and the state of New York. He denies it all, and has claimed his accusers are lying as part of a vast conspiracy. In his words, the acts he is accused of are things he “would never do.” In November 2023, Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault in a Toronto court after being accused of attacking five women in his downtown Toronto office, and has now been sentenced to 11 years in prison.Nygard had built a sprawling international retail empire over the past 50 years — but his professional achievements are now overshadowed by a sinister personal life, one that has earned him the moniker, ‘Canada’s Jeffrey Epstein’. Listen to more episodes from the podcast Evil by Design at: https://link.chtbl.com/oKSjIkpB

During the presidential debate this week, Donald Trump once again talked about how he didn’t lose the 2020 election.It’s a false claim that many Americans believe. And some of those believers are getting ready to fight following what they think could be another stolen election in November.ProPublica’s Joshua Kaplan has been reporting on the American Patriots Three Percent, or AP3, and one of the largest active militia groups in the U.S. Despite a wider crackdown on paramilitary groups after January 6th, AP3 has so far managed to avoid much scrutiny.Joshua gives host Jayme Poisson an inside view of the militia group, perspective on how much of a threat they are, and what the stakes are ahead of the U.S election.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

This week, the Trudeau government announced they’ve brought in a new “special advisor” on economic growth: famed former central banker Mark Carney.The appointment has kicked the rumour mill into gear, because Carney’s name has often been floated as a potential successor to Justin Trudeau, if the beleaguered Liberal leader ever steps down.Whether or not there’s any grounding to that speculation, plenty of questions remain: will Carney’s appointment help or hurt the Liberals? And, as the party continues to flail, what’s in this for Carney?To dig into those questions we’re joined by Catherine Cullen, host of CBC Radio’s The House.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Before tonight, U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris had never met in real life. But they took the stage in Philadelphia, Penn., last night for their first — and possibly only — televised debate of the campaign.Keith Boag, a former longtime Washington correspondent for CBC News, breaks down the biggest moments of the debate and what it could mean for the candidates' campaigns going forward.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

A group of former international students with soon-to-be expired work permits in Brampton, Ontario are protesting a series of measures by the Canadian government meant to curb the number of temporary residents entering and staying in the country.We hear their stories and also from Syed Hussan, executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, talks about how growing anti-immigrant sentiment could be fuelling the government's actions and why linking migrants and international students to housing and jobs might not give the whole picture.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Tenet Media of being financed and influenced by a state-backed Russian news network.Two Russian employees of RT – the state broadcaster – are alleged of spending $10-million to secretly pay the company to spread pro-Russia propaganda.According to the indictment, the company never made it clear to its crew of commentators, some of whom are Canadian, about its ties to RT and the Russian government. Freelance reporter Justin Ling is here to explain what was in the indictment and what it says about Russian influence in the upcoming U.S. election.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

 Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the street in Israel, demanding a return of all remaining hostages in the custody of Hamas. The demonstrations are the largest seen in the country since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. We take a closer look at the changing nature of public opinion currently driving these protests in Israel, and why calls for a ceasefire are complicated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu's war aims. Our guest Dahlia Scheindlin is a political analyst, pollster, author, and columnist for Haaretz and The Guardian based in Tel Aviv.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Since 2022, Jagmeet Singh's New Democrats have backed Justin Trudeau's minority Liberal government with a confidence and supply agreement where the NDP would support the Liberals on confidence votes in exchange for the Liberals passing some of the NDP's policy priorities, like dental care and paid sick leave.That deal came to an end on Wednesday with an announcement from Singh, leaving the Liberals in a much more vulnerable position and opening up the possibility of an election as soon as this fall.Brian Platt, who covers Canadian politics for Bloomberg, explains the NDP's reasons for breaking up with the Liberals, why they've chosen to do it now, and why it could — but doesn't necessarily — mean an election well before September 2025.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

As part of Premier Danielle Smith’s plan to dismantle the provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services, the first of four new replacement agencies began operating this week.Last month, Smith also talked about transferring some hospitals away from AHS to third-party health services. And with a government grant, a private company is developing a business case for a health services “campus” in Airdrie.So why does Smith want to divide up the health care system when other provinces are struggling to unify theirs? What role does she see for private companies in the system? And is her vision of “competition” in health a solution or threat for Canadian care?CBC Calgary producer and writer Jason Markusoff is back to explain.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The B.C. United Party has suspended its election campaign and encouraged supporters to join forces with the Conservative Party of B.C., with the aim of bringing together the right-of-centre vote ahead of next month's provincial election.This is a dramatic turn of events given that the two parties' leaders – Kevin Falcon of B.C. United, and John Rustad of the B.C. Conservative Party – were bitter rivals.Rob Shaw covers B.C. politics for CHEK news and Glacier Media. He explains the dramatic reversal, how it came to be, and what this shifting political landscape might mean for the upcoming election.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

If you’ve ever been to Newfoundland, you know it’s a place where fog can envelop you so deeply, you don’t know where you’re going or where you came from. When two men, born in the same rural Newfoundland hospital on the same day, discover an unbelievable 52-year-old secret, it changes the way they see themselves forever. But this isn’t the end of the story. Because it turns out these men are not alone. A series of other close calls and near misses have begun to emerge, and not only at Come by Chance hospital. Come By Chance is a story about what it means to belong in a family — and how a twist of fate can upend the life you thought you knew. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/hdwP5zJ3

It's hard to overstate just how big a global phenomenon Oasis were at their peak in the mid '90s, but it wasn't just the music that made them compelling — it was the rock star antics and dramatic love-hate relationship between Liam and Noel Gallagher, the brothers who fronted the band and wrote the songs, respectively.After years of mini-breakups and potshots at each other in the press (and fistfights in real life), they disbanded seemingly for good in 2009. But now, after 15 years, they've announced they're getting back together for a run of shows in the U.K. and Ireland.Steven Hyden — culture writer at Uproxx and Oasis superfan — and Paolo Hewitt — music journalist and author of two books on the band, "Getting High: The Adventures of Oasis," and "Forever the People: Six Months on the Road With Oasis" — join guest host Jonathan Montpetit to explain why, when nostalgia reunion tours are a dime a dozen, this particular one is such a big deal.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

On Wednesday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was charged in France with a wide range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app. His detainment is part of an ongoing investigation by French authorities into the social media app. Telegram, with its more than 900 million users, often offers a window into what’s happening on the ground in countries where state censorship is rampant. At the same time, it can be a haven for hate speech and criminality because of the app’s encryption and lack of content moderation.Durov’s arrest has already lit up a firestorm of debate on whether tech leaders are accountable for what happens on their platforms. Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker looks at what Telegram has come to represent, the scrutiny of its founder, and what this case might tell us about the limits of free speech online.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Robert Land Academy is a “military-style” school in Wellandport, Ontario. Since it opened in the 1970s, it’s used military-like structure and uniforms in a bid to mould struggling boys into confident, capable citizens.But last week, The Walrus contributing writer Rachel Browne published a piece with former students' allegations that they experienced violence, sexual abuse and racism at the school. The school maintains it has a zero-tolerance policy regarding corporal punishment.Today, Browne details the promise of Robert Land Academy, the allegations of overlooking abuse she heard from students, and takes a big picture look at how parents struggling for help with their kids has led to a booming ‘troubled teen industry’ in North America.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Liberal ministers are hunkered down in Halifax right now for their annual end-of-summer cabinet retreat. It’s a chance for the party to get together and set the agenda ahead of the fall session of parliament. But this year, a shadow hangs over the retreat, as the party contends with dismal polling numbers, calls for leader Justin Trudeau to step down, and the looming reality of a general election that’s at best a year away.Today, JP Tasker, a senior reporter with the CBC’s parliamentary bureau, speaks to us about how the Liberals are trying to reverse their fortunes, the changes people are calling for from inside the party, and whether or not they’ve got enough time to turn things around.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Earlier this month, Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe warned the provincial and federal governments that his city was facing a public transit funding crisis. He says that at this rate, the city won’t have enough money to run the light rail lines currently under construction.From Metro Vancouver to Toronto, we’re seeing similar issues in major cities across Canada.These cities are dealing with what planning experts call a “transit death spiral”. When ridership drops, they can’t keep up with the costs of the current system that commuters rely on, let alone the big projects that could attract new riders.David Cooper is the founder and principal of the Canadian transportation planning firm, Leading Mobility. He co-wrote a recent report on the state of transit funding in Canada’s biggest cities.David talks to guest host Jonathan Montpetit about just how dire the situation is and what solutions are on the table.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Just one month ago, the Democrats were a deeply divided party, caught in a tailspin after President Joe Biden's disastrous performance in the first presidential debate. But in the wake of him dropping out and endorsing his vice president Kamala Harris, the party has found new optimism about its chances in the next election.All that excitement came to a head in Chicago this week at the Democratic National Convention. But excitement aside – is this still an uphill battle for the Democrats? And what can the convention tell us about the future Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have in store if they win? CBC Washington correspondent Alex Panetta shares his thoughts from the convention floor.

In politics, a “third rail” is an issue that’s so volatile, so dangerous, that politicians are afraid to touch it. The firm Abacus Data has just come out with a new poll that looks at the “third rails” of Canadian politics — the issues that would make people vote for or against a political party who promised that idea. And some of their findings — and the way they cut across the political spectrum — are actually pretty surprising.David Coletto, the founder, chair and CEO of Abacus Data, breaks down those findings and what they may mean about the state of the country.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

 A new federal political party, the Canadian Future Party, is pitching itself as a centrist alternative for voters disillusioned with the Conservatives and Liberals.It’s already announced candidates for two upcoming byelections.Front Burner host Jayme Poisson spoke with the party’s interim leader, Dominic Cardy, about why he believes voters are so dissatisfied with the major parties, how he says there’s a “drive towards more and more extremism” among the Liberals and Conservatives, and why he thinks centrism can satisfy Canadians looking for change.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

After the events of Sept. 11, sweeping changes were made to U.S intelligence and counterrorism practices as part of the American-led 'war on terror'. Agencies like the CIA started focusing less on traditional forms of espionage, and became more of an organization centred on assassination and hunting non-state actors.As part of that broader effort, a plan was born: what if the CIA were able to conscript a white American man to infiltrate the inner workings of Al-Qaeda? Journalist Zach Dorfman spent years investigating one such deep cover operation — and tells us how the program reached the desk of then President George W Bush, and would chart the secretive intelligence agency on a course that would go on to define its future. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Two and half years after Russia first invaded, Ukraine has launched what might be its boldest counterattack yet: a push into the Kursk region. It's the first military incursion across Russian borders since the Second World War, drawing Russian troops away from key battle zones in eastern Ukraine.Tim Mak, a Kyiv-based journalist who publishes the newsletter The Counteroffensive, explains why Ukraine is betting big on such a risky strategy, and whether it could change the course of this protracted war.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Over the last two weeks, Liberal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has said he's considering tightening Canada's temporary foreign worker program.This is amid criticism of its growing use and the conditions facing those who are in it.Since the Liberals first loosened the rules in response to the pandemic in 2021, the program has played a bigger part in our labour market, including with staff at large food and retail chains.Some Canadians believe that that’s suppressing wages and taking away jobs from young people. So how valid are those fears? And is the program also exploiting the migrant workers themselves, who so often see their rights violated or ignored? Armine Yalnizyan is an economist, a columnist for the Toronto Star, and the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Israeli prisons have been making headlines in recent weeks, after far-right protesters stormed the gates of the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility to protest the arrest of nine soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner. The incident reportedly left the man in life-threatening condition, and it has led to a furious debate within Israeli society, with some defending the use of torture against Palestinian detainees.But the case is far from isolated, according to investigations by several media outlets, who in recent months have documented numerous incidents of abuse, medical neglect and deaths in Israeli prisons.Now, a new report by the Jerusalem-based human rights group B’Tselem goes further, accusing the Israeli government of turning its prisons into a “network of torture camps” in the wake of October 7th. B’Tselem interviewed 55 former detainees, the vast majority of whom had not been charged with a crime.Today, B’Tselem’s executive director, Yuli Novak, speaks to us about their findings.You can read the report, Welcome to Hell, here.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The arrest of a father and son north of Toronto accused of being in the late stages of planning an attack for the benefit of the Islamic State. A canceled stop in Vienna on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour after the threat of an attack with the main suspect allegedly inspired by ISIS. A deadly attack in March on a Moscow theatre leaving over 100 dead, allegedly committed by members of an ISIS affiliate. While the Sunni Muslim militant organization hasn’t been in the headlines regularly since 2018, and was actually declared defeated by former U.S President Donald Trump in 2019, it appears to be having a resurgence. Clara Broekaert, research fellow at The Soufan Center, takes us through what ISIS has been up to in recent years and why they are a growing threat again.

It’s been a year since Meta banned Canadian news on platforms including Facebook and Instagram, punching a significant hole in how audiences engage with outlets online.  At the same time, the continued descent of the outlets’ revenues has meant mass layoffs and closures, and the rise of news deserts around the country. Today, two journalists weigh in on whether Ottawa should further intervene and increase its financial support of news media, or whether it should heed worries about conflicts of interest and let hemorrhaging outlets fail. Justin Ling is a contributing columnist for the Toronto Star and the author of Bug-eyed and Shameless on Substack. Paul Wells is also on Substack, and spent decades writing for publications including Macleans and the National Post.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

ChatGPT took the world by storm when it launched in November of 2022, prompting massive investment in generative AI technology as tech companies rushed to capitalize on the hype. But nearly two years and billions of dollars later, the technology seems to be plateauing — and it's still not profitable. After tech stocks took a hit in early August, concerns are growing in both the tech press and on Wall Street that generative AI may be a bubble, and that it may soon burst.Paris Marx — author of the newsletter Disconnect and host of the podcast Tech Won't Save Us — has been warning about this for a long time. He explains why, and what these recurring hype cycles tell us about a tech industry increasingly focused on value for shareholders over good products for users.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Shortly before Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fifth term as Russia’s president he eliminated his last possible rival for power, Alexei Navalny, who from all available evidence was murdered in an Arctic labour camp. The deaths of dozens of Putin's opponents, often in mysterious circumstances, have been a hallmark of his time in office. Tortoise’s Giles Whittell sets out to find out why so many of Putin’s enemies have met an early end.This is episode 1 of Putin's Murders from Tortoise. You can listen to episodes 2 and 3 wherever you get your podcasts by searching for The Slow Newscast.

Online rumours and disinformation surrounding the identity of the suspect in a mass stabbing incident that left three little girls dead in a British seaside town led to an explosion of anti-immigrant and anti-migrant riots throughout the U.K. The unrest was led by mostly white far-right groups.As sudden as the riots came, the festering of resentment towards immigrants and anti-migrant rhetoric has been circulating online and throughout British politics for years. Freelance journalist and regular commentator on the politics podcast ‘Oh God, What Now?’, Zoë Grünewald, joins us to talk about the political context of this past week’s violence and what figures like Nigel Farage and Elon Musk have had to do with it. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The condo market in Greater Toronto, whether it’s resale or new, is struggling.According to a recent CIBC Economics study, sales have “have dived off a cliff” to their lowest level since the late 1990s. Some condos in Toronto are now sitting empty for six to seven months, despite an ongoing housing crisis in the country.John Pasalis has been looking into why this is happening. He’s the president of Realosophy, a realty brokerage in Toronto. He’ll talk to us about the road that led to this point…and what can be done about it.

By ideas, dollars and in personal connections, Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance is intimately tied to an amorphous ideological movement known as the “New Right.”Some of its major players, which include billionaires and tech elites, want to gut the US’ institutions and upend democracy in what they see as necessary, radical action to reverse the tyranny of liberalism. So what is the New Right? How far would JD Vance be willing to go to advance its ideas in the White House? Or do Vance’s allegiances lie elsewhere? Matthew Sitman is a writer based in New York City and co-host of the podcast Know Your Enemy.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Last week’s boxing match between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algeria’s Imane Khelif lasted just 46 seconds. But it has ignited a firestorm online, and led to a slew of misinformation about Khelif’s sex and gender — leading commentators from Elon Musk to Donald Trump to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to allege that the International Olympic Committee is allowing a man to compete in women’s boxing.Those claims are not true. Imane Khelif is a cisgender woman, something both she and the IOC have been extremely clear about. But these debates around sex and who qualifies for women’s sports are nothing new. In fact, they’ve been going on for nearly a century. Today, we speak to Rose Eveleth, host of the new podcast Tested, from CBC and NPR, about the controversial 100-year history of sex testing in women’s sports, and the many complex questions this story raises.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Tested is a new podcast series from CBC and NPR that asks the question, who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women’s sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women’s category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. To understand how we got here, we trace the surprising, 100-year history of sex testing. More episodes of Tested are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/xY7QrHco

Olympic FOMO is your daily Olympics recap, in 20 minutes or less hosted by longtime radio duo and media best friends Mark Strong and Jemeni. Together they provide a fresh perspective to the Olympic conversation as they chat with athletes, entertainers and celebrities to get their take on the Games. In this episode, Mark and Jem chat about how Simone Biles battles haters left and right and still manages to score gold, and how a Turkish sharp shooter went viral for his hitman vibes. Mark and Jem also talk with Soca queen and legend Alison Hinds about her favourite Olympic sport. And it continues to be ‘Summer time’ — with McIntosh taking home another gold on August 1st, her third medal of the Games. More episodes of Olympic FOMO are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/j5kfQhRc

Since US President Joe Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take over as the next Democratic nominee, the US election campaign has been awash in memes.Memes about coconut trees, weirdos, Brat and even intimate relationships with couches.  But as both U.S. and Canadian political parties are learning, the power of the internet is a double edged sword that can energize campaigns or severely backfire. So when do memes work? Why do they fall flat? And what is the risk of trying to manifest the internet in real life? Rebecca Jennings is a senior correspondent at Vox covering internet culture, and Elamin Abdelmahmoud is an author and the host of CBC’s Commotion.

On Tuesday, the leader of Hamas’s political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Iran. The killing is widely believed to have been an Israeli strike, although Israel has not claimed responsibility. News of Haniyeh’s death came just hours after Israel announced it had killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon, which it said was in retaliation for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights a few days before.Now, the two attacks — coupled with Hamas and Hezbollah’s ties to the Iranian government — are stoking fears that a broader regional war could be closer than ever.Today we’re speaking about all of this with Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, and the author of the book Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

After the Bank of Canada hiked interest rates at an unprecedented pace the last couple of years, there’s been a lot of talk about whether we’ll be tipped into a recession. Now, as rates have finally started to come down, a lot of people are struggling. Unemployment’s gone up, people are accumulating debt, and despite inflation cooling, everything still seems really expensive. So, it can start to feel like we’re in a recession. But most experts aren’t calling it one. So what is it? BMO Financial Group’s chief economist Doug Porter joins us to talk about the state of the Canadian economy and how to make sense of it.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Canada's women's soccer team went into the 2024 Olympics with their title as defending gold medalists on the line — but they now find themselves mired in allegations of cheating after a team analyst was caught flying a drone over a New Zealand training session.Canada is certainly not the first soccer team to be caught spying on rivals' practices.But why would they try it at such a highly scrutinized tournament?And what could it mean for the future of the sport in Canada as allegations continue to emerge that this may be something Canada's national teams have been doing for years?James Sharman, host of the podcast Footy Prime, breaks it all down.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

This is the second episode in our two-part series on the past, present and future of the US-Israel ‘special relationship.’ In Part 2, we’re going to look at how that relationship affects Americans living in the US — sometimes in surprising ways. In this episode, we refer to a few previous episodes of Front Burner, which you can find here:The US and Israel’s ‘special relationship’ — Part 1 Apple / SpotifyAt the McGill encampment: Calls to divest from Israel Apple / SpotifyThe growing wave of campus protests Apple / SpotifyTwo Jewish parents on recent school attacks Apple / SpotifyFor transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

It’s more important than ever to sort out what’s real, what’s relevant and what’s truly new — and Your World Tonight does exactly that every night, seven days a week, with correspondents around the world. Our colleagues at YWT set the bar on the daily news catch up. Every night, they offer context, analysis, surprise — all in about 25 minutes. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/FJTUitZQ

Jasper is a historic resort town in western Alberta's Rocky Mountains, surrounded by towering peaks and vibrant turquoise lakes. But this week, heartbreaking images are emerging from the town and the surrounding national park: buildings turned into charred rubble; trees scorched to the point that they look like matchsticks.Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis described a "wall of fire" that bore down on the town on Wednesday night, estimated to be up to 100 metres high, with firefighters powerless to stop it.CBC Edmonton reporter Travis McEwan spoke to host Jayme Poisson about how the fire got so destructive, the challenges of fighting it, and what's next for residents there.