The Big Story

There’s a chance that one day, we humans could have a conversation with whales. Seriously. Scientists are working on a way to make it happen.If technology does eventually allow us to talk to these majestic mammals, what should we say? And what message will they send back?Ross Andersen, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is exploring those questions by reaching out to experts who specialize in paleontology, philosophy, animal-rights law, and beyond for their take.Now, he’s sharing his intriguing findings.GUEST: Ross Andersen, staff writer at The Atlantic We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Haiti is in the grip of a deepening crisis. Armed gangs are expanding their control of the Caribbean nation through increasingly violent attacks.A state of emergency was declared on Sunday after gangs raided two prisons, freeing thousands of inmates. Hours later, they launched an assault on the country’s main airport.One gang leader is warning of a “civil war that will end in genocide” if Haiti’s Prime Minister remains in power.Will a planned Kenya-led security mission bring calm to Haiti? Or is the country on the verge of plunging into worsening chaos?GUEST: Robert Fatton Jr. is the Ambassador Taylor Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

In some parts of Canada, carbon pricing is a four-letter word.Now, one province is taking a dramatic stand against the federal government’s carbon levy. Saskatchewan’s government says it’s refusing to remit carbon tax funds to Ottawa.“This is a decision that we do not take lightly and we recognize that it may come with consequences,” SaskEnergy Minister Dustin Duncan said in video posted to social media announcing the move last week.What consequences could Saskatchewan face? Will other provinces follow suit? And what could this mean for the Trudeau government’s controversial policy?GUEST: Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill Reporter for CityNews We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Lynx Air is no more.The ultralow-cost airline abruptly announced its exit from Canadian skies just ahead of busy March Break travel. Customers were left scrambling to make new – and likely more expensive – bookings.The company now joins a growing list of failed discount airlines in the country. Why can’t they seem to stick around for the long haul? Are Canadians just doomed to always pay more for our air travel? GUEST: Jonah Prousky, Management consultant and freelance writer who focuses on business, technology and society We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Last week, it came out that Wendy’s was considering using dynamic pricing, which sparked concern that would mean increased prices during peak hours. Immediately, the company was met with a deluge of criticism and they reversed their decision.While dynamic pricing is off Wendy’s menu for now, the practice is still common in everything from ride hailing services to air fare and even concert tickets.What does the heated backlash reveal about what customers will accept? And where could dynamic pricing sneak in next?GUEST: Corey Mintz, freelance food reporter and author of The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Matt is struggling to keep up with the cost of heating his home. And he's not alone, Canadians are reporting higher energy consumption costs across the country.Jordan calls Violet Kopperson, a registered energy advisor from the Windfall Ecology Centre, to find out how Canadians can pay less to heat and cool their homes. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Just 20 years ago, Canadian cities were seeing a few dozen bed bug infestation reports a year. Now they get thousands—and in Toronto, tens of thousands. In Canada and around the world, the terrifying creatures are back, and they're getting stronger. (Seriously, they're becoming harder to kill, we told you this was stuff you "never wanted to know".)How did bed bugs come back to become such a huge problem? What works against them and what doesn't? How can you recognize them, prevent infestations and how should you handle one it it happens? Also: Why are these bugs, of all the things that crawl on this Earth, the ones that make us so nauseatingly uncomfortable and paranoid?GUEST: Lauren McKeon, journalist and author, deputy editor at Toronto Life (Read Lauren's bed bugs opus right here.) We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Usually when both sides are mad, it's a sign of a good political compromise. But when your new housing law manages to anger both tenants and landlords over completely different parts of the same bill, that's less of a compromise and more of a mess. But Quebec's housing minister maintains the new legislation will help ease the province's growing rental and housing crisis.What's in this bill? Why do tenant advocates think it will send rents skyrocketing? Why do landlords say it will cost them money? And is it better, in a crisis like this, to simply try something, even if nobody can agree on whether it'll work or not?GUEST: Erika Morris, CBC Montreal We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Whatever we've been taught, it seems like the lessons aren't sticking these days. And the most obvious result is the dramatic resurgence of a sexually transmitted infection that was once rare in this country: Syphilis. It's not the only STI with rates on the rise, but it is the most troubling—especially cases of congenital syphilis, in which a pregnant mother transfers the infection to her unborn baby.Why have syphilis and other STIs returned with a vengeance? Is it a matter of education and prevention? Or is it a symptom of a larger problem?GUEST: Dr. Vanessa Allen, Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Physician at Sinai Health; Associate Professor at the University of Toronto We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Elizabeth Payne is a longtime health reporter. She knows the ins and outs of Canada's healthcare system—its triumphs and tragedies. At least, intellectually. But when her father suffered a fall that brought him first to the emergency room, and then deeper and deeper into an overcrowded, short-staffed system that failed him even as it tried its best, she got a different kind of look at what's wrong, and what it means for every senior who might suffer an extremely common accident.GUEST: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen (You can read Elizabeth's detailed chronicle of her father's experience right here.) We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Recent reports have seen Russian forces make some of their biggest gains into Ukrainian territory in recent weeks, while aid for Ukraine from western allies has become harder and harder to come by. Does that mean a Russian victory is inevitable? Or does it merely signal a new phase of a conflict that will continue for some time?If Ukraine can't get help from its allies as it has since Russia's invasion, what happens to its forces? And what happens to NATO and other allies if Russia is able to scale up its aggression? Two years into this war, so much of the world's future still hangs in the balance...GUEST: Oleksa Drachewych, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Western University, lecturer in History at King’s University College We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

When the longtime CBC news anchor began his career as a reporter in the early 1970's, giving people the news was among the most trusted and important occupations in the country. When he retired in 2017, it was the era of "fake news", as trust in the media was at an all-time low. Seven years later, it's even lower than that.So what happened? Did the media lose people's trust? Did the internet do it for them? How does a legendary face of Canadian news grapple with the fact that, if he were in the chair today, less than half of Canadians would trust the news he delivered? Can anything be done to fix it? Or is it already too late?GUEST: Peter Mansbridge, former anchor of CBC's The National, host of The Bridge podcast We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Most people would support the concept of preventing children from accessing online pornography. But the devil is in the details. How exactly do you do that? And what level of privacy will you ask adults to give up to make it happen.A bill currently sitting in committee has this very goal, but no details yet to go with it. It may involve asking sites like industry leader PornHub to take access users' identification. It may even require facial recognition software. Nobody knows. PornHub, meanwhile, is saying it won't break the law, but it also might just decide to block all Canadians from the site, just to be safe.When politicians staret legislation pornography, it can get messy pretty quickly. And here we are...GUEST: Stephanie Taylor, Parliament Hill reporter, The Canadian Press We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

In early February, a man was stabbed at what was believed to be an illegal rooming house in Toronto. A few weeks earlier, a fire at another left one person dead. The city says it can't count the number of illegal rooming houses that exist right now. And the people who live in them often pay a lot of money for a small room and what can be unsafe living conditions.And they don't have a lot of options if something goes wrong -- which it often does. The city plans to tackle the problem by allowing legal rooming houses across the city, but advocates are unsure if this will help or hurt the problem. How do these houses exist? Who lives in them? And what can illegal homes do to their tenants, and the neighbourhoods where they sit?GUEST: Pat Taney, CityNews We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Every criminal case up for trial needs a judge. But in Canada, not every case gets one. Recent years have seen a severe and growing shortage of judges across many levels of the justice system—in some cases this means cases that have waited years for a trial must be thrown out. Not only does this mean people accused of serious crimes simply walk free, it means that potentially innocent people are spending years waiting for a trial that never comes. How did we end up in this mess? Why hasn't the government appointed more judges? How many more cases will be tossed in the meantime?GUEST: Jacques Gallant, courts and legal affairs reporter, The Toronto Star We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Welcome to the first feedback episode of The Big Story. Today lead producer Joe Fish and host Jordan Heath-Rawlings go through your comments, questions and concerns to shed a little light on TBS listeners, how we make the show and what you think of some of our topics and guests. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jennie has been searching for a one-bedroom condo in Vancouver for over two years. Despite having money for a downpayment, her search has been largely unsuccessful. Now, she's wondering if home ownership is really the best option.Jordan calls Dr. Tom Davidoff, housing economist and real estate development expert, to find out if buying a condo is a good investment in today's market. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It can -- but the better question might be: Is it something that could be used against you? The technology does exist to use a sample to create a sketch of a person's face, but there are doubts about its accuracy, and how much value it provides.But that hasn't stopped police from taking these sketches and running them through facial recognition software. Searching for ... someone who looks like the a drawing a computer made when it was given your DNA? Welcome to the next level of investigative technology. As you might imagine, the experts have concerns...GUEST: Dhruv Mehrotra, staff writer at WIRED We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

When Toronto's mayor presented her budget on Wednesday, the city's police services got everything they had asked for, with Olivia Chow retreating from her original plans to fund a smaller increase. Across Canada, police budgets continue to increase by millions of dollars per year, as the associations representing the police effectively lobby politicians and the public—often with vague warnings about rising crime and public safety.So let's look at the numbers. What is the correlation between police spending and crime rates? Why do police say it's taking them longer to respond to calls? Will more officers actually improve the force's efficiency? And ... is crime, including car thefts, really spiking in Canada right now?GUEST: Ted Rutland, associate professor at Concordia University, research focusing on policing in Canada. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

There's simply never been a Canadian sex survey that's comprehensive, scientific and intimate all at once. For decades we've relied on data from the United States, unscientific surveys thrown together by brands around Valentine's Day or specific looks at one narrow aspect of sexuality—such as contraception or monogamy.In her new book released today, Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North, McMaster University sociology professor Tina Fetner examines every aspect of how we do it, who we do it with, how often and ... if it's good. As well as everything else you always wondered about your neighbours in the bedroom...GUEST: Tina Fetner, professor, McMaster University We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Cory Doctorow is one of the world's leading technology journalists and activists. Some of his specialties include information security, fraud and technology. He's written books about these things. And a little while ago...he got scammed. Totally ripped off.The lesson is an old one: If it can happen to him, it can happen to you. But it's also bigger than that. How quickly are fraudsters evolving their approaches? What is "swiss-cheese security"? How did one of the internet's leading experts get duped, and how can you learn from his example?GUEST: Cory Doctorow, technology journalist and activist, author of many books, including The Bezzle, releasing Feb. 20, 2024 We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Last year, small business insolvencies hit a level not seen in more than a decade. And that was before this January's deadline to repay pandemic relief loans in order to have some portion of them forgiven. Most businesses haven't seen pre-pandemic levels of business return—and inflation coupled with high interest rates mean consumers have less and less money to spend.How precarious are the independent businesses in your neighbourhood right now? If they close up shop, will anything replace them? Why has the government declined to extend loan repayment further? And what happens to our neighbourhoods if these businesses keep vanishing?GUEST: Ryan Mallough, Ontario vice president with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Kacey and her partner just welcomed a new baby girl into their lives. And with this bundle of joy has also come a ton of new expenses.Jordan talks to money expert and mom of two, Melissa Leong, to find out how new parents are making it work. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It would have to be quite the drug, right? Actually, no. While these are real health problems, with many of the impacts of a chronic physical illness, the fix isn't a new pharmaceutical. It's a new approach to a cure as old as society itself—social interaction with one's community.The problem is, lots of people who struggle with isolation might not have the means or ability to simply get out and do it. That's where the prescriptions come in...GUEST: Sonia Hsiung, director, Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

There was once a memorable slogan, used by everyone from booksellers to presidents, that proclaimed "the world needs more Canada". Now, in an era defined by chaos and conflicts, climate change and a return of authoritarian politics, what role should Canada play?Traditionally, our country has had an outsized presence on the global stage—at least when compared to our population and our tiny military—but is that still true? As the world changes, and new players rise to power, does Canada still have an important part to play? Do we even have a coherent approach to the current combination of crises?GUEST: Louise Blais, foreign policy analyst; formerly senior diplomat and Canada's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Men are this way, and women are that way. Entire careers in industries ranging from self-help to advertising to standup comedy have been based on this premise. Superficially, it can sometimes be sort of true. But generally, when it comes to political ideology, it hasn't been. Until now.It's a very recent phenomenon, but it's pronounced. And it's accelerating—the percentage of young men and women who describe themselves as liberal and conservative is breaking wide apart in many countries, including here in Canada. We don't know why this is happening, but we do have some good ideas. And we don't know what the implications are, but most of them seem pretty bad...GUEST: John Burn-Murdoch, columnist and chief data journalist for the Financial Times We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

In much of the world, fertility rates are falling—but very few countries have seen theirs fall as far and as fast as Canada. With just 1.33 children per woman, we're not close to a stable level, meaning that without immigration Canada's population will decline.Why aren't Canadians having more kids? Do we need to? How did fertility rate become such a polarizing statistic? And if we did want Canadians to have more children, what could we do?GUEST: Don Kerr, Demographer, Kings University College at Western University; formerly Statistics Canada We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Since October 7, there has been no shortage of reporting about Israel's invasion of Gaza. And the death toll keeps climbing. But what has been rare are firsthand accounts of daily life in the region. Today, our guests describes being in Gaza on October 7, the days that followed, as well as what's missing from the mainstream reporting and why.GUEST: Louis Baudoin-Laarman, Doctors Without Borders Communications Manager for Palestine We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Lynda has a dental emergency and is struggling to cover the cost of treatment. Jordan speaks with Dr. Carlos Quiñonez to figure out how Canadians can get the dental care they need right now. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

A study published in December offered science's most complete look at what domestic cats around the globe hunt and consume. The short answer? Absolutely everything, with no regard for any prey's place on endangered species lists. Some of the species found in cats' diets over the past few decades are now extinct, as outdoor domestic cats have spread to every place on earth save for Antartica.We've long been told to keep cats indoors to save the lives of thousands of birds. But what if they need to be kept indoors to save the lives of ecosystems themselves? What if cats—yes, like the small, purring cutie on your couch right now—were the worst invasive species the world has known? And what if we were their willing accomplices?GUEST: Christopher Lepczyk, ecologist and professor at Auburn University in Alabama; lead author of "A global synthesis and assessment of free-ranging domestic cat diet" We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Recently, in an effort to keep children from hurting themselves, the City of Toronto banned tobogganing at 45 parks it deemed too risky for kids. This is the latest example, but it's not a one-off. For decades now, parents, schools and governments have taken action on all sorts of things, to make things safer for kids. But is it really helping them?New research shows that "risky play" is part of the building blocks of childhood, and teaches children how to process and redirect feelings like fear and anxiety into healthier places. As we've worked to make things "as safe as possible" for kids, have we been denying them the tools they need to handle adult life when they grow up?GUEST: Dr. Marianna Brussoni, Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership; professor at the University of British Columbia; leader of the Play Outside UBC Lab We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It hasn't been an easy few years for global shipping—to say the least. From the pandemic to multiple conflicts, to accidents and disasters, getting products from point A to point B has never been less reliable or more expensive. And now a prolonged drought has the Panama Canal operating at a fraction of its usual capacity.What kind of price hikes or product shortages are at stake here? Is this temporary, or a new normal in the climate era? And if it is a new normal, what other shipping lanes might open as southern ones dry up? Should Canada be looking North?GUEST: Mie Højris Dahl, reporting in Foreign Policy We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

The names aren't official yet, but a look at a roster and a little research will tell you that the four remaining players who have yet to surrender to police to face charges in a 2018 sex assault case play in hockey's biggest league. There has long been talk of a 'reckoning' for hockey culture—which has usually referenced perception, culture and lessons that are imparted behind locker room doors. This case, which will result in household names in major professional markets facing courts and consequences, has the potential to blow all that wide open.What do we know about what happened that day? Who will be charged, and with what? Has anything changed in the six years since the attack allegedly occurred?GUEST: Laura Robinson, investigative reporter and author of the 1998 book Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sport We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

The state recently asked the US FDA for approval to purchase Canadian pharmaceuticals wholesale, and the US regulator said, "sure." And why not? As many Americans who live near the border know, it can be significantly cheaper to fill prescriptions in Canada. But while we may not mind doing it for a few folks making the trip, supplying a state of 21 million people, when we already have our own drug shortages, is pretty much impossible.Canada has passed regulations against foreigners buying in bulk, but there are grey areas and loopholes to contend with—not to mention the US-Canada relationship in general to keep in mind. But Florida isn't the only state that wants to try this gambit, so it will be up to Health Canada to say no, and then enforce that no. What happens next?GUEST: Joelle Walker, Vice President, Public Affairs, Canadian Pharmacists Association We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Rachael feels trapped in her Toronto rental because she can't afford to move. She has no plans of ever owning a home and wants to know what, if any, rental protections exist to curb rising rates. Jordan talks to political economist and author Ricardo Tranjan about how policy can help protect renters in Canada. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Most of the large record chains of the heyday of physical music are gone now. If the chains haven't vanished entirely, most of their stores have, and the last few are disappearing one by one. But somehow...not Sunrise Records. In recent years the chain has been expanding across Canada, buying up Canadian HMV outlets and now boasts more than 80 stores and hundreds of employees. But ... why? And how?What made Sunrise the last Canadian music chain standing, even as music industry revenues crashed, streaming services swallowed the market and much of physical retail in general began struggling? The result is a fascinating look at what distressed businesses are worth, and what consumers really want from their retailers...GUEST: Richard Trapunski, digital editor at Billboard Canada, writing in The Walrus We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Experts predict the Bank of Canada will begin to lower interest rates later this year—just not Wednesday when it held the rate flat. But as inflation has slowed in many areas, it's created an interesting problem for the bank and a troubling one for many Canadians.One of the main factors driving inflation right now is the cost of shelter—otherwise known as rising rents and mortgage costs. Those increases are driven by ... the high interest rates the bank is waiting to lower. The BoC wants to follow through on its "soft landing" by taking a cautious approach to lowering rates. But by waiting too long, are they courting disaster for millions of Canadians trying to make their monthly home payments?GUEST: David Macdonald, senior economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ National Office We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

You would expect that advances in forensics and genetic technology would lead to fewer and fewer wrongful convictions. The truth is that we have no idea how many people are in prison for crimes they didn't commit—we only know that we keep finding them. How do wrongful convictions happen in the age of DNA evidence? How hard are they to overturn? And what about all the wrongful convictions that aren't murders? Do we ever try to grapple with those?GUEST: Kelly Lauzon, PhD student in the department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University; cohost of Real Life Wrongs We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Over the past several years, the number of international students Canada admits has exploded—to more than one million in 2023. While these students have struggled to find housing and work, they've also often been deceived by marketers in their home country, promising a top-tier education that they don't actually get.Will the federal government's cap, announced Monday, help ease the burden, both on students themselves and the Canadian rental market? What does it mean for schools that rely on these students for revenue? And how did they problem become so massive the government thought this action needed to be taken?GUEST: Laura Dhillon Kane, Ottawa bureau chief, Bloomberg News We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

The New York Times is suing the creator of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence bot the Times alleges was trained on millions of its copyrighted articles. It's not the only such lawsuit, but it is the biggest. What this all boils down to are questions that will determine the future of a technology that has the potential to change the world, for good or ill.How different are a human and a computer, when each is learning from example? As machines become able to mimic the creative endeavours humans have mastered, what compensation is owed to the creators they learned from? And can bots like ChatGPT even survive without free access to a world of copyrighted material?GUEST: James Grimmelmann, Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law, Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This year, Erica is getting married! Together, with her fiancé, they set a budget of $50,000, however, she's a few months away from the big day and the actual cost is closer to $75,000. Erica blames the inflated budget on hidden fees from vendors and wants to know if she's being charged fairly. Jordan talks to wedding planner, Shalini Misri, to figure out what's behind these hidden fees and how how to avoid them. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

There have been previous attempts to launch a professional league for the best women skaters in the world—the stars we've all watched at the Olympics, who have had to work second and third jobs to keep their careers going. Those attempts have all failed. In the hopes of finally, at long last, securing a stable league, with real funding and actual, professional treatment (long lacking in other women's leagues) some of the game's best players formed an association first, and only then went looking for a league to play in. This year, they got it. And the early returns have been incredible. This is the story of the long road to a real women's league, and why this time, really, is different.GUEST: Maitreyi Anantharaman, reporter, Defector We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

In 2021, then-Infrastructure minister Catherine McKenna announced a process to assess all of Canada's existing infrastructure in order to better use $180 billion to fix, modernize and improve it over the next dozen years. After that announcement the government began a consultation process on how to do the assessment. At some point in the process there were roundtable discussions, written submissions, a report summarizing those submissions and discussions and ... everything but an infrastructure assessment.What do we know and what don't we know about the state of Canada's roads and bridges, pipes and public places? Why hasn't the assessment even begun, years later? Why does the saga of the infrastructure assessment seem to explain so much of how our governments can operate, and why is it so darkly funny?GUEST: David Reevely, Ottawa reporter, The Logic We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's shaping up to be a very strange year for electric vehicles. The market leader by a mile has just launched a much-ridiculed truck. Despite growing market penetration, analysts worry the share of EVs is no longer rising fast enough. And in Canada, governments face a tough choice between offering incentives to get drivers in the cars, or to the factories to make them.We have incredibly ambitious goals for electric vehicles in this country. We're off to a good start. Can we keep the momentum going when the people who really want them, and can afford them, all have them?GUEST: David Booth, senior writer, Driving We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Starting this month, Saskatchewan has stopped collecting a carbon levy on home heating. This is, of course, against the carbon tax legislation passed by the federal Liberal government. Premier Scott Moe acknowledges the Liberals will "say it's illegal". The Liberals say they expect the province to follow the law.Once the bill comes due in February, Saskatchewan will have a choice to make: Back down and pay, or risk fines and even charges against its energy minister for ignoring federal policy. Is this a stunt? Will Moe Flinch? And if he doesn't, is the federal government prepared to follow through?GUEST: Larissa Kurz, reporter, Regina Leader-Post We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Winter on the prairies is not usually a time to worry about drought, and fire. At least, it wasn't. But large swaths of the country, from BC through Ontario, are currently seeing a lack of snow and water accumulation that is "unprecedented in modern times," according to an expert. In one BC town, the drought is so severe residents are using bottled water. The Alberta government is already making water restriction plans for the spring and summer to come. The conditions will be perfect for a wildfire season that could eclipse last year's records. And farmers will be making choices on which crops to keep, and which to let die. Welcome to the new world, where a large chunk of Canada ... simply doesn't have enough water.GUEST: John Pomeroy, hydrologist, Professor in the department of Geography and Planning at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Kara is being asked to pay back all the money she received from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit back in 2020. But she’s making less now than she was before the pandemic and all of her expenses have gone up. She doesn't have the means to pay the Canada Revenue Agency and might have to file bankruptcy as a result. Jordan talks to Elizabeth Mulholland to find out why the CRA is going after this money now. Then speaks with licensed insolvency trustee, Doug Hoyes, to learn more about what it means to go bankrupt in Canada. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

If you compare us to peer countries, it's an embarrassment. Other nations have high-speed rail corridors shuttling thousands of people across distances between cities at speeds of up to 300 km/h. They are fast, sleek and almost always on time. Even the United States, which hasn't bothered to do much of anything with its vast resources, has better, faster trains than we do.If you ride Via Rail on its busiest corridors, you're planning for a delay—or at least, you should be. The trains and tracks we're using now haven't changed much in decades. If anything, thanks to more traffic, they've gotten slower. Canada has had many opportunities to fix our nearly-broken passenger rail system. We've even made real plans to do it. So why hasn't it happened?GUEST: Gabrielle Drolet, writing in Mainsonnneauve magazine We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

None of the 177 passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight was seriously hurt, despite a panel blowing out of the middle of the aircraft at 16,000 feet shortly after takeoff. The emergency landing is a credit to the people involved. What we've since learned about this series of aircraft, though, is deeply troubling.Outsourcing is a growing trend in the aircraft industry. The company the built the key part of this aircraft—as well as others that have since been grounded—was already mired in an ongoing court case for allegedly cutting corners. This is not the first time a large chunk of Boeing planes have been grounded over safety concerns. What's happening in the airplane industry? And what do you need to know if you're flying?GUEST: Katya Schwenk, reporter at The Lever We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

They're in every city and town in Canada—the visible evidence of overlapping crises and a lack of resources to help people in need. In the past, most governments and police have dealt with encampments by tearing them down and moving their residents on. But recently courts have become more inclined to grant injunctions against that, in some cases even requiring governments to provide working bathrooms or water.As this trend continues, one expert on the legal fight over these tent cities believes we'll see more courts refusing to let cities destroy the encampments. Which will leave most communities and governments with two options: Find the resources to safely house their most vulnerable residents, or accept that tent cities will become a fixture in many public parks and spaces—and everything that entails.GUEST: Stepan Wood, Professor at the Peter Allard school of law at the University of British Columbia; Canada Research Chair in Law, Society and Sustainability We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky