The Current

Firefighters in Hong Kong battled a deadly blaze for a second day today. At least 65 people are confirmed dead, but there may be hundreds still missing. The Wang Fuk Court public housing complex is home to nearly 5000 people. Three construction company employees have been arrested for manslaughter. We speak with James Griffiths, the Asia correspondent for the Globe and Mail in Hong Kong.

For many, the raccoon is a pest, a pesky critter getting into your garbage, your attic, anywhere it doesn't belong. But for some these little trash pandas are pets, not pests. Turns out there's new science to support the idea that raccoons are moving towards domestication. Hear from a raccoon owner about the joys of raising these wild creatures - and what the science tells us about how humans are helping move raccoons from outside nuisance to inside companions.

Thomas King was one of Canada's best-known Indigenous writers. But it turns out he is not Indigenous at all. His books, including The Inconvenient Indian and Green Grass, Running Water were critically acclaimed and taught in schools. We speak to Anishnaabe writer and humourist Drew Hayden Taylor who considers Thomas King a friend and mentor, and scholar Kim Tallbear of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate nation about why these kinds of revelations keep coming — and what needs to change.

As Washington continues to negotiate between Ukraine and Russia, a Ukrainian MP hopes diplomacy can end the war and secure his country's future. But a Russia watcher says getting Putin to lay down his arms won't be easy.

When Allan Brooks opened ChatGPT to help his son with a simple question, he didn’t expect the conversation to turn dark. But over three weeks, he says the chatbot fed into a growing delusion – telling him “You are not crazy. You are ahead.” and urging him not to “walk away” from what it framed as a world-changing discovery. The experience left Allan with severe psychological fallout, and he’s now suing OpenAI. We speak with Allan about how he spiralled into delusions and what his case reveals about the risks of emotionally persuasive AI systems.

He built a global company from Waterloo, Ont. and he says more Canadian businesses could do the same, if they didn't keep making the same strategic mistake. The former co-CEO or Research in Motion argues Canadian businesses and policy-makers aren't doing enough to create and protect its intellectual property — and that's holding us back more than tariffs. We talk to him about why he's an economic nationalist — and what it will take to bring Canada's economy into the 21st century.

For decades Bill McKibben has been warning the world about the risks of climate change. But his latest book is surprisingly hopeful, even if he does think it's too late to save the world from climate change. "Here Comes The Sun" documents the remarkable growth of solar power — and the dramatic drop in its cost. He joins us for a conversation about where the solar revolution is going — and what keeps him hopeful about the future of humanity.

A grizzly bear attacked a school group in a remote Indigenous community in central B.C. last week — and it brought to light an ongoing debate about what the best way to manage and co-exist with grizzly bears is. Some think hunting should be allowed back on the table — others say there's ways to co-exist with bears safely without resorting to killing them.

There’s fear and frustration in Surrey, BC..The city is facing a wave of violent extortion threats that have been gripping the province for the last two years. We speak with CBC’s Sohrab Sandhu about how the community is feeling. B.C. RCMP Assistant Commissioner John Brewer talks about whether law enforcement is doing enough and criminologist Wade Deisman takes a look at what the motive behind the violence might be.

Ryan Wedding is now at the centre of one of the biggest international crime investigations in the world. He's wanted in connection with multiple drug and conspiracy crimes, including ordering and orchestrating murder. He's one of the FBI's most wanted criminals and there's a reward of up to $10 million US for any information that could help catch him. We speak with journalist Jesse Hyde who's been covering Wedding for over a decade about how he went from Olympian to alleged drug kingpin.

Jad Abumrad’s new podcast, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, digs into Fela Kuti’s life, the good and the bad because he not only pioneered Afrobeat and pushed against the impacts of colonialism but he was also a deeply complicated and flawed man who left a wake of inspiration and trauma.

Murad al-Katib started his pulse crop business in his basement. Now it's worth $3B a year and in 120 countries. At a time when many Canadian businesses are trying to diversify their markets, and get into value-added manufacturing, al-Katib's company AGT has actually done it. He's built rail infrastructure, manufacturing businesses, and partnerships around the world. He talks about the secret of his success, and why Canadians one day may thank Donald Trump for shaking us out of our complacency.

Alberta says allowing doctors to work in the public system and bill patients privately will shorten wait times for everyone, while keeping costs down. But critics — including many Alberta doctors — say the plan will make care worse for everyone.

Louise Penny’s new novel explores a sinister plot to make Canada the 51st state, but she’s keen to point out that she wrote it before Donald Trump was re-elected as U.S. president. She spoke with Matt Galloway live on stage at the Haskell Free Library — right on the U.S.-Canada border — about life imitating art, and why she cancelled her U.S. book tour. They're joined on stage by Montreal singer-songwriter Patrick Watson, to discuss the intersection of art and politics.This special bonus podcast episode was recorded with a live audience at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a unique venue straddling the border between Quebec and Vermont.

A black line on the floor marks the U.S.-Canada border that runs through the Haskell Free Library, and through the lives of the people who live in Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont.Matt Galloway hosts a live show in this unique venue, after months of simmering political tensions that have tested the enduring friendship of the two countries. We hear from bestselling author Louise Penny, musical guest Patrick Watson and local residents who live the reality of the border line, every day.

In her new book How My Dog Saved My Life, former CBC producer Cate Cochran tells 30 Canadian stories of dogs who have changed everything for their humans, saving their lives literally and figuratively. We'll meet some of these remarkable canines, including a black lab and golden retriever mix named Foreman who's trained to provide medical assistance for his owner, Sinead Zalitach. Sinead was born with an extremely rare congenital condition called Parkes Weber syndrome and Foreman is so attuned to her that he knows she's in trouble before she does.

A surgical team at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has started doing brain angiograms using a remote-controlled robot. We speak with Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira, the neurosurgeon who has performed 10 of the procedures, and Nicole Cancelliere, a robotic medical radiation technologist at Unity Health Hospitals, about the potential of the technology, and how it can save lives and save the health system money by offering access to neurosurgical care to people living in remote communities.

New Brunswick is one of the provinces most vulnerable to US tariffs. And they’re hitting wood product makers and soft-wood harvesters the hardest. We'll hear from James McKenna, who owns a kitchen cabinet business, about how he's trying to keep his company afloat in the face of 50 per cent tariffs coming in January. Then Premier Susan Holt will tell us what the province is doing to help and what kind of support she's expecting from the federal government. 

To stretch or not to stretch and does it even matter. The debate over the importance of stretching is age old - now it seems like everyone is talking about mobility. What's the difference and is one better than the other? David Behm, professor at Memorial University, specializing in human kinetics and sport science breaks it down.

The women who survived sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein have been demanding accountability. Now Congress is acting, voting to release the government's files on the powerful and connected sex offender. Anti-trafficking advocate Lauren Hersh says that's in part thanks to the women's bravery.

Two weeks ago, anti-corruption investigators in Ukraine revealed allegations that men close to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received $100 million US in kickbacks through a state energy company. The list includes a friend from Zelenskyy's comedian days, who co-owned his production studio. Tim Mak, editor of The Counteroffensive, notes that people are outraged in the country because corruption is the animating force in Ukrainian politics. Simon Shuster, a Zelenskyy biographer, says the president has a history of giving people second chances, but in the middle of a scandal like this, that might come back to bite him.

Kyla Scanlon says the economy feels like a gamble right now — one that's built on risk and speculation. We speak with the popular American economic commentator and author of "In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work" about how her generation is feeling in this economy, the AI boom, the future of work, and the importance of financial literacy at a time when young people face an uncertain economic future.

The former CEO of Doctors Without Borders, Avril Benoit, reflects on her twenty years at the medical humanitarian organization, and what it was like to work in some of the most dangerous places in the world. She talks to Matt Galloway about the challenges of leading the organization during a time of great turmoil, and the future of foreign humanitarian aid amid cuts to funding.

A hydroelectric power plant underway in Nunavut is on Prime Minister Carney's nation-building project list. We speak to people living in Iqaluit about how this will transform the community and why there can be no Arctic security without Inuit sovereignty.

A conversation with Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation, about how the Clase/Ortiz pitch-fixing scandal exposes the explosive rise of prop betting — and why it threatens the integrity of sports from baseball to hockey, basketball, and football.

As COP30 plays out in Belém, Brazil is trying to present itself as a climate leader while also moving ahead with a new offshore oil project. CBC’s Susan Ormiston has been on the ground in the Amazon and inside the conference halls. She tells us why this decision has hit such a nerve, what she heard from Indigenous leaders who fear what’s coming, and why others in the region see the project as a long-overdue opportunity.

Because of Donald Trump, John Irving, the bestselling author is refusing to go to the United States to promote his latest novel, Queen Esther — but he thinks you should read it so you can understand and empathize with the plight of others

Our national affairs panel breaks down today's big vote in the House of Commons: With the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois and NDP all finding reasons to vote it down, is there a risk this government falls and the country is thrust into another election? Plus, the Prime Minister will hold a call with Canada's premiers who are pressing for more details about the halted Canada-U.S. trade negotiations. We sift through it all with CBC's Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton, Stephanie Levitz of the Globe and Mail and Ryan Tumilty of the Toronto Star.

Oyster farmers on Prince Edward Island are stressed. Many have been pulling up more and more dead oysters in their catches. Two parasites are threatening the species and farmers are calling on the federal government for help. We talk to Justin Palmer, the co-owner of JP Oysters near Tyne Valley, PEI.

We’re in the last week of the climate summit in Brazil, where misinformation and disinformation are a key focus of the conference. It comes against the backdrop of the grim forecast that emissions are not going down quickly enough to avoid climate disaster. We talk to Katharine Hayhoe, Canadian climate scientist and professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University, about the moment we're in right now in the fight against climate change and whether people are disengaging from the issue.

Children's author Robert Munsch is donating his personal archive to his hometown library because he doesn't want it stored in some dusty room. He wants the public to get their hands on it, says Guelph Public Library CEO Dan Atkins.

As the prime minister unveils Ottawa's second list of “nation-building” projects, he continues to signal the direction he wants Canada to take when it comes to boosting the economy and meeting climate commitments.

The host of Fareed Zakaria GPS has a theory about the MAGA movement — it was probably inevitable. In his book Age of Revolutions, he argues that the kind of rapid technological and social change we’ve been experiencing over the past 30 years almost always leads to backlash. He spoke to Matt Galloway in front of a live audience at the Rotman School of Management.

Lyse Doucet, Canadian journalist and the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, takes us inside the Intercontinental Hotel in her new book: The Finest Hotel in Kabul, A People's History of Afghanistan. The hotel is an Afghan landmark that has seen every chapter in the country's history, and so has its staff. She explains why their stories matter, what they teach us about the country -- and how she hopes these kinds of narratives can help the rest of the world care about Afghanistan. 

Hannah Alper spent much of her teenage and young adult life sharing her location with her friends. But as the years went on, she began to feel it crossed a line and felt more like surveillance than it felt like a kind of care.

House Democrats released emails from the convicted sex offender, shining a new light onto the relationship he had with President Donald Trump. The BBC’s North America Correspondent and co-host of the Americast podcast Anthony Zurcher joins Matt Galloway to talk about what’s in the emails and the pressure building on the White House to release the full Epstein files

After the loss of two MPs, we speak to conservative strategists about Pierre Poilievre's leadership style, and if he should change it. Regan Watts, Erika Barootes, and Ginny Roth, join Matt Galloway.