The Big Story

Exactly what happened on February 3 in East Palestine, Ohio? What do we know about the toxic gasses that were vented from a derailed train? What kind of effect could they have on nearby residents, and could their impact reach as far as Canada?It's been a decade since Canada's Lac-Mégantic train disaster, and somehow the push for tighter regulations for trains carrying hazardous cargo weren't enough to prevent this catastrophe. It may be years until we know everything about the environmental and health impacts, but what do we need to know, like, right now?GUEST: Rebecca Burns, reporter, 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

Almost three years ago, George Floyd's murder and the ensuing protests, brought the idea of defunding the police into the mainstream, and made the concept palatable to many Canadians. And yet, with police budgets increasing in pretty much every city across Canada, it seems that momentum has yet to translate into tangible social change. So what happened to the defund movement? What are some common misconceptions about its actual aims? And although police unions and politicians seem to have won the current PR battle, is the defund ideology too entrenched at this point to really be defeated? GUEST: Ted Rutland, Associate professor of geography, planning and environment at Concordia 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

The Meeting House was meant to be a new kind of church; one that would appeal to those who felt alienated by mainstream Christianity. The church’s charismatic leader, Bruxy Cavey, with his impassioned sermons, and sometimes controversial interpretations of scripture, drew parishioners to their Oakville, Ontario headquarters from across the Greater Toronto Area. At its peak, Meeting House membership numbered 5000, and the future looked bright for the so-called ‘megachurch’.Then, in 2021, allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Cavey, and in the aftermath of that scandal, other incidents involving Meeting House staff began to surface, pointing to a more systemic issue within the church. Membership has since dwindled, and criminal proceedings against Cavey are ongoing.So what exactly happened at the Meeting House? What can this scandal tell us about the phenomenon of Church sexual abuse more broadly? And what needs to change to make sure that places of worship are also a place of safety for all?GUEST: Rachel Browne, investigative journalist and documentary producer who wrote about The Meeting House 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

The situation in Haiti, especially in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, has deteriorated in recent months. In some areas gang violence and poverty is rampant, while food, water and fuel have become scarce. While many point to the assassination of former-president Jovenel Moïse as the catalyst for the current crisis, our guest today argues that the roots of the current tumult stretch back much further, and that past Canadian foreign policy decisions have contributed heavily.Now, there are calls for foreign military intervention to stabilize the situation, and suggestions that Canada should play a leading role in that effort, many are concerned that we’ve learned nothing from our past mistakes.So what exactly is happening in Haiti? What do the Haitian people need to improve their situation? And if military intervention is not the answer, then what should Canada do to support Haiti in its struggle for peace, prosperity and justice?Guest: Jean Saint-Vil (Jafrikayiti), radio host and Member of Solidarité Québec-Haiti. 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 started with a suspected Chinese spy balloon, shot down by the American military off the coast of South Carolina after being tracked floating over the continent for at least 4 days. Since then, three more as-yet-unidentified objects have been blown out of the sky, one near the coast of Alaska, one in the northern Yukon Territory, and one over Lake Huron. At this point we can say with some certainty that the origin of these objects is terrestrial, and that’s essentially it.It may take some time before the public gets definitive answers about what, exactly, is going on here, but the events have sparked renewed debate about NORAD, and Canada’s ability to protect its airspace.So what types of risk could these aerial incursions pose to people on either side of the 49th parallel? Are these floating objects something new, or are we just noticing them more often now that we’re on higher alert? GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University and a former national security analyst with the government of Canada. Read her Newsweek article about the floating objects 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

John Tory for a long time seemed like your archetypal career politician; adept at avoiding scandal, and keeping his private life out of the public eye. And so the recent revelation that the thrice-elected mayor engaged in a romantic affair with a former employee — his subordinate at the time — was shocking to say the least.On top of tarnishing his public image, the scandal has thrown the Toronto political sphere into a state of disarray. Tory, with his newly acquired ‘Strong Mayor Powers’, had an ambitious agenda for his third term, including the passage of a contentious budget that’s due to be debated in council this week.Will Tory's opponents capitalize on the scandal to impose their own will onto the future of the city? And who might end up in the mayor’s seat, after what promises to be the most compelling Toronto municipal election in nearly a decade?GUEST: Ben Spurr, reporter with The Star’s City Hall Bureau 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 day brings new headlines of entrance exams Chat GPT has passed, or university essays the AI tech has scored solid grades on. And the technology will only get better from here. One of the first places that will have to reckon will the AI revolution are colleges and universities, where essays and exams are traditional forms of evaluation.So what are they doing? Are they attempting to seek out AI essays, as they do for plagiarism? To ban the programs entirely? And are those options just futile hopes? And if they can't beat 'em, will they join 'em, and incorporate AI technology into assignments and evaluations?GUEST: Jeff Schatten, associate professor of business administration at Washington and Lee 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

In October of 1988, 23 year old Tatiana “Tania” Anikejew was found in her Toronto apartment by a friend and her parents days after she had been stabbed to death. Her killer has never been found. Tania's parents died before any arrest was ever made in this case, but three of her friends have never given up on finding out the truth behind her violent death. They share her story in this episode.Listen to more episodes of Tracking a Killer. 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

Traditionally, we think of a tip as an acknowledgement of a job well done, usually by someone who performs a service for us. It's become impolite not to tip, of course, but until recently the standards were still mostly understood. Then society began to go cashless...Over the past few years, tipping has crept into far more transactions than it had previously. Now businesses don't need to rely on tradition, they can simply add a tip prompt to their transaction machines, and presto! Tip creep. This creates confusion, and often resentment, when being asked to tip for handing over some goods across a counter, or ringing up groceries. And it's not the workers' fault—but they're caught in the middle.So where did tip creep come from? How much and when should you tip now, and what are the forces at work behind this dynamic?GUEST: Corey Mintz, food reporter, author of The Next Supper 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

Keira Kagan should be an anonymous little girl—going to school, playing in the park, growing up. Instead, after three years of her mother fighting for answers and change and demanding better, she's a tragic example. Keira and her father—who should never have been able to pick her up for the weekend—went over a cliff together, three years ago. Every year, 30 children in Canada are killed by a parent. Many of those deaths are preventable, if the system works, and those charged with that do their jobs. In Keira's case, neither of those things happened. This is how the unthinkable happens, way too often.GUEST: Cynthia Mulligan, reporter, 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

In April of 2021, the federal government announced their intention to give all Canadians access to $10-a-day childcare, amounting to roughly $30-billion of federal funds over three years. It's a huge deal, as any parent who has ever paid for daycare can tell you.For the program to actually work though, daycares need to be barrier-free and high quality. Here’s the catch: there’s a staffing shortage, workers are underpaid, and working in poor conditions. How can governments make childcare accessible to parents in need? How will the childcare system ensure that needs of early childhood educators are met? And what comes next?GUEST: Emma Arkell, freelance reporter, writing in Chatelaine 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 Canadian tank arrived in Poland on Monday, and will head off to bolster Ukrainian efforts agains a Russian invasion. The single tank, obviously, isn't critical on its own, but what it represents definitely is: It's a German tank, which Canada could not have offered without German agreement, which shouldn't be taken for granted.Nearly a year after the war started, holding NATO's supportive alliance together is paramount, and these tanks are a symbol that it remains. They are also critical because as the territory warms up, Russia is likely planning new incursions—and the tanks will allow Ukrainian forces to bring the fight to them. After nearly a year of death and resistance, and a cold, slow winter, what happens when the thaw arrives?GUEST: Matt Gurney, reporter and columnist, writing in The Line 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

What counts as "work" and what doesn't? If you're sitting there, doing nothing, thinking of how to accomplish your goals ... are you working? Well, if you're using a company laptop, the software watching your every move might not agree. And now there's a chance the courts will agree with them.Welcome to the still-very-new era of "time theft", where employee tracking can result in a case being made against workers who were using their work time for something else, at least in the eyes of their employers. What kind of rules exist around employee monitoring in Canada? How far can this go? And who among us has never "stolen" some time? Like, really?GUEST: Valerio De Stefano, Canada Research Chair in Innovation, Law and Society at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto and co-author of the 2022 book “Your boss is an Algorithm” 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

Much of humanity's search for extraterrestrial life has focused on, well, our kind of life—the conditions that make possible the biology we see on Earth. But what if the conditions that make life possible are far from what we imagine? What if we don't actually know what "life" is, even? Woah, dude...Seriously, though, in recent years scientists have been working to reframe our parameters in hopes that we'll find unlikely life, in unlikely places. What might that look like? The possibilities are infinite.GUEST: Sarah Scoles, science writer, reporting in Scientific American 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

Even if you don't live in the city, you've probably heard about the recent spate of violence on Toronto's transit system. There have been some really ugly, seemingly random incidents. And while anecdotes may not be reliable, in this case the numbers back them up: Even with far fewer riders, there has been a sharp spike in the number of serious incidents on the system since the pandemic began.The question is what happens now. When fear spreads, that keeps riders away. With fewer riders comes worse service and safety, which keeps the cycle going. Add in the failings of Toronto's shelter system and other public health initiatives to help care for the city's vulnerable population, and you have a collapsing transit system also taking on the weight of other services.Are more cops the answer? What else could the city try? Will they tackle the root cause of the problems, rather than simply the problems themselves? And what happens if they don't?GUEST: Lex Harvey, transportation reporter, 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

Pain and fever meds for children—acetaminophen and ibuprofen, usually—have been in short (or no) supply across the country for several months. Purchases made by the government have begun to hit shelves, but for many parents it's still difficult to find. How did a handful of factors combine to cause this shortage? Why has it lasted so long?And although these medicines have been the ones grabbing headlines, why don't many Canadians know just how many drugs we're running out of?GUEST: Carly Weeks, health reporter, The Globe and Mail 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 new drinking guidelines for Canadians were released, it was the headline takeaway that got the most attention, and scorn. And viral interview responses. In fact, many of the other recommendations were ignored. There is a lot of science behind limiting alcohol consumption, and there are many ways to do it.But is setting a goal that is daunting for many Canadian drinkers the best way to do it? How important is the messaging to actually achieving results? Are there lessons we can learn, both from the pandemic and Canada's approach to tobacco, that could help us drink less, while also not sparking ridicule from those who enjoy a few beers?GUEST: David Sweanor, chairman of the advisory committee for the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. 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 fair to be skeptical of ANY deal announced by a government or resource company that will lead to natural resource extraction on Indigenous land. They don't have a good track record here, to put it mildly. But even with that said—last week was very good week for putting more power over the land back in the hands that once held it.Are these deals, the sign of a new era in recognizing Indigenous rights, or will they prove to be more of the same when push comes to shove? Are they a sign of things to come, or outliers that will be overlooked?GUEST: Leyland Cecco, reporter, The Guardian 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 seems Impossible. Plant-based meat products were supposed to take us Beyond our love for beef, save the environment and maybe even make us healthier. For a while, it seemed the hype was real, and the growth was sustainable. Billions of dollars were spent backing that up. Three years later, it's pretty clear something went wrong.Where did the hype come from? What was expected from these products and how did they fail to deliver? What happened to the plant-based meat revolution?GUEST: Deena Shanker, Bloomberg food industry reporter 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 one word: Cameras. If you live in a city, you should probably assume there's at least one camera watching you at all times, never mind the phones that are whipped out the second anything interesting happens. Reporters who cover the courts now report that basically every case features video compilations that track every moment of the suspect's day, as well as that of the victim. Through security cameras, store cameras, traffic cameras, even doorbell cameras—it's impossible not to be seen.On one hand, solving murders is a good thing. On the other hand is ... everything that goes along with living in an age where you're under surveillance the moment you step out your door, and where the police have many more video resources than the average defendant ever will.GUEST: Alyshah Hasham, former crime and courts reporter, current city hall reporter, 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

It's a process that can take up to a decade. And individual aspects of it can take up to a year or more. Or... it can take, like, a month.The drug development process is time-consuming, intense and very, very expensive. So much so that only huge pharmaceutical companies can afford to keep swinging and missing. But a Canadian team using AI programs is aiming to change that—everything from the length of time to who can afford to do the work, and it just might revolutionize the entire process.GUEST: Alán Aspuru-Guzik, professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at the University of Toronto; director of the Acceleration Consortium 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, Statistics Canada reported 5.8 million Canadians suffered some level of food insecurity. As inflation has spiked, so have stories of hungry families needing food banks to fill their tables. But the root causes of food insecurity aren't captured by expensive groceries, nor are they solved with monthly boxes of food.If you want to know why millions of citizens of one of the world's richest countries are hungry, you have to look deeper than that. And if we're going to solve the problem, the solutions have to go beyond simply "give them food". GUEST: Valerie Tarasuk, professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto; leader of PROOF, an interdisciplinary research program studying effective policy approaches to reduce food insecurity 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

Canadians are passionate about their healthcare. Even when the system is in crisis, we're proud of having universal care, and we want it to work. So when Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced his government would move some surgeries into private clinics ... all hell broke loose.So what exactly is happening in Ontario? How is it different from what's already happening in British Columbia and Quebec? What are critics concerned about and just how can we tell if this is a necessary move, or a step onto a slippery slope? Or both?GUEST: Richard Southern, Queen's Park reporter, 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

It's probably the single brand most associated with Canada. It's also the single brand most associated with colonization, stolen land and genocide of Indigenous peoples.Yes, the Hudson's Bay company has a long legacy. But for how much longer? The company's retail footprint is shrinking and it hasn't become much of an online shopping destination. One thing it does have though, is billions of dollars in prime downtown real estate. It's given one building away already—and the motives behind that are up for debate. What will happen to the rest of them?GUEST: Don Gillmor, award-winning Canadian novelist, journalist and children's book author. 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

Many think of Canada as a promised land for immigrants from all over the world. That's because Canada literally needs newcomers to survive. As much as we love that image, it's not altruistic. Right now, we have the political and popular will to sustain big immigration targets and Canada ranks among the top destinations in the world for immigrants. That's a great place to start from.The question, though, is what are we doing to make sure immigrants will continue to want to come here? To attract the workers in sectors that we need the most? To make sure the infrastructure that already struggles, can accommodate another half million new Canadians, and do it well? And then again?GUEST: Rupa Banerjee, Canada Research Chair in Economic Inclusion, Employment and Entrepreneurship of Canada’s Immigrants, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan 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

It's known as Chronic Wasting Disease, and it's been around for more than a decade. In recent years, however, it has spread across Canadian prairies and animals at an alarming rate. In some places, up to 80 percent of deer populations tested may be infected. The illness makes animals like deer and elk waste away from the inside, looking like something from a horror movie (hence 'Zombie Deer').So far the disease has not moved to humans, or other unrelated animals. But it is certainly possible. Meanwhile, funding for testing, research and potential vaccines is tough to come by. So why aren't we taking this seriously? Should we? How urgent is this crisis?GUEST: Debbie McKenzie, University of Alberta professor and prion disease researcher 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 that headline stunned you, you're not alone. Even veteran police officials and crime reporters can't recall a case like this one, in which eight teen girls ranging in age from 13 to 16 allegedly swarmed and attacked a homeless man, leading to his death from stab wounds. Police say there is an indication the group connected online and were involved in other altercations on the same night the attack took place. The accused are all under 18, and cannot be identified. Hard information in this case has so far been difficult to come by, and the media is fighting for more of it in court. In the meantime, what can we say about a crime with so little precedent? GUEST: Jennifer Pagliaro, crime 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

Lobbying is a tricky part of politics. It can be tricky to define, tricky to identify and really, really tough to analyze at scale. That's because of how it's tracked—across several different databases, with no standards, no searchability and often completely different spellings of the businesses, organizations and politicians involved.But a new data journalism project has tried to overcome that, and put everything we know about lobbying the highest levels of government in one place, so the public can see (and search) for themselves. And once they do that, you can answer the real questions: Who gets the most facetime with the most powerful people in the country, and what are they talking about?GUEST: Roberto Rocha, data journalist, Investigative Journalism Foundation 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

Maybe it's the top you bought on Instagram or the flashy new appliance with a touchscreen. Maybe it's an Apple product that you can't repair yourself or a replacement for a product you've been buying forever that simply ... doesn't last as long as it once did. You've probably experienced at least one of these and likely more.You're not imagining things or just getting old and grumpy. There are a number of reasons—some purposeful, others a result of circumstances—that are lowering the lifespans of products that used to last years, even decades. So why is this happening and what can we do about it?GUEST: Izzie Ramirez, deputy editor of Vox's Future Perfect 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

Stop us if you've heard this one before: It's more contagious, we're seeing it make up a higher percentage of cases, hospitalizations are beginning to climb, and we don't yet know if it's more severe or not. Playing the role of Omicron in this winter's version of a January spike is sub-variant XBB 1.5, otherwise known as The Kraken.So should you be worried? Will vaccines still protect us? How will we know if it's time to be concerned? What should we be doing now to make sure we can have a safe winter? And should we just prepare for this to be our seasonal situation for the next few years, as the virus moves towards real endemicity?GUEST: Dr. Raywat Deonandan, Global Health Epidemiologist, and Associate Professor with the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at The University of Ottawa 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 Doug Ford reneged on his promise to protect the Greenbelt in November, resistance to his proposal has been fierce. In the past week that has culminated in a court challenge as well as a potential investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. There are other investigations ongoing as well, and public protests at Queen's Park and elsewhere—but can any of it really stop development of the land for new homes?What basis do the investigations and challenges have? What does the Ford government say to answer them? What comes next in Ontario's fiercest environmental battle in years?GUEST: Emma McIntosh, Ontario reporter, The Narwhal 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 December, scientists announced a major breakthrough on the way to a fusion-powered world of unlimited clean energy. It received reams of media coverage and lots of hope for a miracle future that would solve the climate crisis. The problem is that it won't. It can't possibly scale up in time to solve our current problems, never mind the ones we'll develop while waiting for it. But for the people who pay attention to clean energy and the climate emergency, the coverage was frustrating. Why? Because we don't need a miracle cure, we just need to focus on the technology we can scale up, right now. GUEST: David Roberts, editor, reporter and host at Volts 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

Canadians were stranded in Mexico. They were on VIA trains for 20 hours, stopped on the tracks. They were stuck in airports waiting for flights that never took off or luggage that never arrived. The 2022 holiday season exposed just how fragile this country's transportation network has become. So who's to blame? What are they going to do about it? And will this ever get better?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

This year marks the beginning of a delayed phase-out of single-use plastics, mandated by Canada's federal government. As the rules change over the coming months, restaurants are trying to figure out what to do—with plastic cutlery, plastic bags and most importantly with the takeout containers themselves.Over decades, plastic takeout containers have been adapted to hundreds of different meals, from soups, to burgers, curry dishes and products that must stay really hot or really cold. So now, they're experimenting, and you might find your food looking different from one week to the next as they hunt down solutions. So what will the end result be? Can restaurants afford it? And ... will any of this really make a difference to the glut of plastic clogging the planet?GUEST: Rosa Saba, business 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

Unlike the most recent Conservative Party of Canada leaders to attempt to win a federal election, Pierre Poilievre has a new strategy. Since he won the job last fall, he has avoided the typical shift to the centre that his predecessor's have attempted. How does he plan to win by holding firm to the right? Can he win without centrist suburban support?What would it take to get an election this year, anyway? And what would the campaign look like if one were called?GUEST: Stephen Maher, writing in The Walrus with Frank Graves 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 is the time of year when many people try to organize their finances for the coming year—how much things will cost, how much to spend, how much to save, all of that. But after one of the most turbulent economic years in recent memory, 2023 is shaping up to be even more unpredictable.What should Canadians expect from their economy this year? How can you make financial plans in an age of inflation and interest rates, when everything from everyday groceries to the stocks in your portfolio are volatile? Should we still be worried about filling our RRSPs and savings accounts, or just stashing anything possible to try and get by? What does a 2023 budget look like?GUEST: Shannon Lee Simmons, certified financial planner, chartered investment manager, founder of the New School of Finance and author of No-Regret Decisions 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

One of the biggest problems facing humans attempting to travel anywhere in space that's farther than the moon is the years it will take to get there. A small ship simply can't support normal human life for that long. We need too much food, water, exercise and stimulation. But ... what if we didn't? What if we could shut ourselves down, the way animals do in the middle of winter, needing limited supplies and passing months as though they were days?This used to be the realm of science fiction. It's not anymore.GUEST: Brendan I. Koerner, contributing editor at WIRED, author of The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these old favourites, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. In the sixth and final instalment of our Staff Picks series, TBS host Jordan Heath-Rawlings explains why he selected an episode from July about our ever-decreasing attention spans, and what he's been doing to help regain his focus. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES—Have you by any chance been struggling to focus recently? Maybe you used to read long books, or dive into old hobbies and learning new things, and now that feels a lot harder than it should. You are not alone. Research shows that we are suffering through a profound loss of attention, and it's getting worse every day.So what happened to us? Did we lose ourselves in our new devices, or has our attention been deliberately stolen? And what can we do to get it back?GUEST: Johann Hari, journalist and author of Stolen Focus 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these old favourites, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. In the fifth instalment of our Staff Picks series, TBS producer Joe Fish explains why he selected an episode from September about counterfeit toonies. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES—They call it the "camel-toe toonie", and you will understand why as soon as you look at the front right paw of the polar bear on it. Since they were first discovered in circulation in 2020, estimates range from at least tens of thousands to likely millions of them reaching circulation.But who is behind it? How do you counterfeit toonies at scale and get them into the banking system? And ... why toonies?GUEST: Brent Mackie, creator of cameltoetoonies.ca, numismatist, treasurer of Waterloo Coin 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these old favourites, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. In the fourth instalment of our Staff Picks series, TBS producer Ebyan Abdigir explains why she selected an episode that originally aired in the wake of the Pope's apology tour back in August. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES—Now that the Pope has left Canada, it's worth looking at what he's leaving behind. It's complicated. Was the Papal Apology a sincere expression of regret and compassion and a promise to do better? Or was it checking off call to action #58 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's list?Will his visit help to heal the pain of survivors and the grief of their families? Or will it be seen as an unsatisfying end to a story that once hoped for so much more real change? Or ... both? What needs to come from this historic apology to make it meaningful?GUEST: Patty Krawec, Anishnaabe writer from Lac Seul First Nation, co-host of the podcast Medicine for the Resistance, and author of the upcoming book, Becoming Kin. 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

What mattered most? What changed us? What didn't we pay enough attention to? And what will we remember about 2022 in 2025 or 2030?As the year wraps up we called some of our favourite guests from a variety of fields to ask them what stood out, and what really mattered. And we made you a blooper reel. Have a safe and happy new year from all of us at TBS, and we'll return with brand new episodes on January 3, 2023.GUESTS:Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill reporter, CityNewsVass Bednar, author of Regs 2 RichesBalkan Devlen, Superforecaster at Good Judgement Inc.Donnovan Bennett, Sportsnet Writer, host of Going DeepFatima Syed, guest host of TBS, Ontario reporter at The NarwhalSabina Vohra-Miller, clinical pharmacologist 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

Grab a hot chocolate and settle in by the fire for two tales of supernatural wonder from Canada’s frozen north: one from the Yukon Territory, one from the coast of Labrador. The first is a long-forgotten, supposedly “true” tale about how a mining engineer from Alaska was saved by a stranger who appeared to him in a dream. The second is well-known story of a phantom trapper said to roam the wilds of Labrador. Both are deeply set in the snowy wilds of the north, and deal with themes of the supernatural and salvation—perfect for sharing on a cold winter’s night.Listen to more Fireside Canada. And read the complete show notes and more at FiresideCanada.ca 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these old favourites, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. In the third instalment of our Staff Picks series, Frequency's Digital Editor, Mary Jubran, explains why she selected an episode from April about a lack of available sex assault evidence collection kits in Canadian hospitals. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES—Many victims have come to Canadian hospitals after they've survived a sexual assault, only to be informed that the hospital doesn't have either the equipment or the personnel to properly collect evidence for a future investigation. In some cases, victims have been sent to hospitals many miles away. Why are these kits scattered around the country, instead of being immediately available at any hospital? And who has the power to fix it?GUEST: Jacqueline Villeneuve-Ahmed is the founder and director of She Matters, a community of women-identifying survivors and allies 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these old favourites, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. In the second instalment of our Staff Picks series, Frequency's manager of business development, Diana Keay, explains what she found so fascinating — and heartbreaking — about journalist Omar Mouallem's deep dive into the Canadian cannabis industry. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES—It was supposed to make billions upon billions as an industry, and the investors were chasing millions of their own. Instead, thousands of Canadians were left holding empty bags, having lost jobs, savings and opportunities to the promise of fast money and an industry that could never have possibly matched the hype.How did (almost) everyone get the weed industry so wrong? And what happened to those Canadians who bought into the hype?GUEST: Omar Mouallem, reporting in Canadian 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

Christmas trees won't vanish in this country, but the people who farm them are facing some tough decisions in the coming years. As the climate changes, trees grown apart, in neat little rows, simply can't take it as well as trees that make up a natural forest. As this worsens, the cost of farmed trees will continue to rise, and farmers may have to look at non-native species.How does the tree farm industry work? Where does your perfect little triangle tree come from and why is it so difficult to grow? And ten years from now will more Canadians be heading out to the woods with axes, as our grandparents might have done?GUEST: Richard Hamelin, head of Forest Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia 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

We asked different Frequency staff members which TBS episodes resonated most with them in 2022. As we take a break from releasing new episodes over the holidays, we felt this was the perfect time to revisit these staff picks, and give you a bit of a glimpse into all the work that goes into making your favourite shows. Up first we have Stefanie Phillips, the show runner at Frequency Pods, telling us why she chose an episode from back in May, about rising food prices. —ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES— New numbers show Canada's rate of food inflation has hit a 40-year high, even passing the rate of the United States. Millions of Canadians are trying to balance their grocery bill with their budget and having to make difficult choices. So, where can you look for relief? What's less expensive even as other products are skyrocketing? How can you make sure you get the most for your money when there's little relief in sight?And finally, much of the world is facing a compounding food crisis, how can we make sure Canadians continue to have store shelves full of goods, even if they do cost more than in the past?GUEST: Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, co-host of The Food Professor 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

It's a cliche to say the holidays can be a tough time for some people, but the truth is that almost everyone will spend some time this month exhausted, worried, lonely or just generally trying to make it through.If you're not one of those people, congratulations! For everyone else, or even for those with friends or family who may need some extra care, this is the prep session for you.GUEST: Erica Djossa, registered psychotherapist, host of Happy As A Mother 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 Ontario rifle hunters get less than two weeks a year to bag their deer. On Griffith Island they got 11 weeks—until the provincial government recently raised it to 13. Why such a long season? Nobody wants to talk about it. Not the government, and definitely not the exclusive hunting club on the island with its secretive membership list.On the surface, Griffith Island is an interesting curiosity that can spark discussion of privilege. More than that, however, it raises questions about who sets hunting laws, who those laws are designed to benefit, and whether those decisions are driven by the best interests of conservation, or the best interests of the wealthy few.GUEST: Emma McIntosh, Ontario reporter, The Narwhal 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

At the time of year when we should be trying to help others, those struggling with homelessness might not be feeling the love. In some Canadian cities, encampment communities have been taken down, sometimes violently. Temporary hotel shelters created during the pandemic are being shut down. And all just in time for winter.Why has homelessness spiked in Canada? What's the root cause, and why aren't governments addressing it? We know we're not creating enough affordable housing, but what good does affordable housing do if you still can't afford it? What do those living outside, in the shelter system or in community encampments actually need—from governments, and from us?GUEST: Jen St. Denis, housing and civic issues reporter, The Tyee 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've heard parts of this story in every report of a teacher preying on a vulnerable student. What makes this case different is the sheer scale of the abuse. Nearly twenty years, dozens of students ... how did it go on for so long?Michael Gregory could have been stopped before most of this happened. But he wasn't. What can this horrific case teach us about protecting children from systematic abuse in the school system?GUEST: Omar Mouallem, writer, editor, and filmmaker. (You can read Omar's piece in Maclean's 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