The Decibel

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the latest scientific knowledge about climate change has been released, detailing how human behaviour and particularly greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of climate change.Globe science reporter Ivan Semeniuk is back on the show to explain the report’s main findings. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over the summer, more than 1,200 probable unmarked graves have been located on former residential school sites in Canada, which were mostly run by the Catholic Church of Canada. This has ignited calls for a formal apology from the Church.Globe reporters Tom Cardoso and Tavia Grant have been investigating the Church’s wealth, and Tom joins us to tell us what we know about the Church’s finances, its legal obligation to residential school survivors, and the broader calls for the church to give reparations, and how that money could be used to help heal survivors and their communities. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Beloved Toronto Raptors point guard, Kyle Lowry, announced he’s leaving the team to play for the Miami Heat. Lowry was a big part of the Raptors’ win of the NBA 2019 Championships and fans are sad to see him go.Vivek Jacob, a freelance sports writer, tells us what Lowry’s departure means for the future of the Raptors, his influence on the team’s rise in the NBA, and why fans want to see his statue in front of Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the connecting waterway between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, lies Enbridge Line 5: a pipeline built in 1953 bringing natural gas and crude from the oil sands in Alberta to refineries in Ontario and Quebec. Opponents of the pipeline worry that it could rupture, poisoning the fresh water supply, blocking shipping routes, and crushing tourism. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered it shut down, but Enbridge refused; they’re now in mediation.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau is lobbying the Biden administration to keep the pipeline open. Having already blocked Keystone XL, it remains unclear whether Biden will favour shutting down an already-operating pipeline. On today’s show, Globe U.S. correspondent Adrian Morrow joins us to talk about what makes this pipeline battle different, why anti-pipeline activists were able to gather such a broad coalition of supporters, and why shutting down Line 5 could mean higher gas prices for Ontario and Quebec. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Working four days a week instead of five has often come up as a way people can reclaim some of their time from their employers. But who exactly would benefit from that, especially in the gig economy? And could there be other ways for all employees to regain some control over their work-life balance?Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and an Atkinson Fellow on the future of workers, weighs in on the value of the idea of a four-day work week, and how a major shift in demographics on the horizon could present workers with more power when it comes to lobbying for legislative changes regarding how much time we spend at work. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from both the team and individual all-around competitions, a few athletes have passed out from the Tokyo July heat and dozens of people connected to the Olympics have COVID-19, while case counts reach all-time highs in the surrounding neighbourhoods.On the other hand, Canada’s athletes have made this one of the best Summer Games for our country so far, with some amazing performances from swimmers Maggie Mac Neil, Penny Oleksiak and others. Globe columnist Cathal Kelly joins us from Tokyo to tell us the highs and lows from these Games. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before there was Youtube and Vevo, there was MTV and MuchMusic. These TV music stations were the curators of cool. And when millennials were teenagers, they flocked to them to watch the hot new video or catch an interview with their favourite musicians. But now, Much (as the channel is now called) no longer airs music video content as artists drop their new singles directly onto their own social feeds and video platforms.So what’s an old mainstream media brand to do? Join TikTok, of course. And as cultural critic and writer Amil Niazi notes, MuchMusic is relaunching at exactly the right moment: There’s a wave of 90s and early aught nostalgia crashing down on us, at exactly the moment both millennials and Gen Z kids are longing for a simpler time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

African nations have a problem. They can’t get enough COVID-19 vaccine doses. Vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations and an underserved COVAX program – the one designed to make sure the developing world wasn’t left behind in the pandemic – have resulted in a slow vaccination rate for most of the continent. These global factors have also led to a menacing opportunity for the Delta variant to spread amongst an unprotected population.The Globe and Mail’s Africa Bureau Chief, Geoffrey York, discusses how Canada has and hasn’t contributed to vaccination efforts abroad, what the international community could do to help speed up the vaccine efforts in Africa and why Canadians should care. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The summer is half over, vaccination rates are rising, but we aren’t out of the pandemic woods yet. And since we last explored vaccine passports, the question of whether businesses can legitimately ask for proof of vaccination to enter – whether it’s a restaurant or a sports arena – has only become more fraught.Restaurateur Jacob Wharton-Shukster tells us what happened when he announced that an indoor seat at his Toronto restaurant Le Phénix would require proof of vaccination. Then, privacy researcher Blake Murdoch of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta explains why he thinks provincial governments can and should implement vaccine passport systems that are fair and secure. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To keep their edge after a fantastic showing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Swimming Canada got serious about their data-mining mission. They tracked all kinds of metrics to really understand their swimmers’ performance. Data analysis can show you how to shave a fraction of a second off a race time and, in some cases, that can mean the difference between a gold and silver medal.Grant Robertson, a senior writer for The Globe and Mail, talks about what he learned about Swimming Canada’s data project, how it crafted training strategies for some of our medal hopefuls, like Penny Oleksiak, and why data proves you can’t always trust your eyes when it comes to judging the fastest person in the pool. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent swell of Black Lives Matter protests, companies rushed to declare their alliance to the cause of fighting anti-Black racism in the workplace. In Canada, corporate leader Wes Hall designed the BlackNorth Initiative, wherein CEOs pledged to not only promote diversity, but actually hire, retain and promote Black talent. Initially, 209 companies signed on.The Globe’s Report on Business section did a survey of the original signatories to see how much progress has been made in the first year of their commitment (which has a final target of 2025). Reporter Vanmala Subramaniam discusses the results of the survey and the challenges many companies are having in their efforts to diversify. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A growing number of nurses are leaving hospitals. The relentless workload, the crushing experience of watching so many people get very sick from the novel coronavirus and die, and the increasingly short-staffed nature of many intensive care units has created an untenable situation for many nurses across the country. And this is having an impact on hospitals, with some emergency rooms having to close.National health reporter Kelly Grant discusses how many nurses are leaving, how this is impacting the communities they serve and what governments are trying to do about it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As the U.S. continues to pull its troops out of Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of fighting, the Taliban is taking back more and more territory. This has left Afghan nationals who worked for foreign governments feeling more and more unsafe and now they want to leave. A lot of countries have specific programs for current and former employees who want to relocate, but Canada hasn’t unveiled the details of a special program yet.Parliamentary reporter Janice Dickson has been speaking to drivers, senior officers and others who worked for the Canadian government in Kabul – sometimes for more than a decade – about the severity of their situations and what help they need. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ontario movie theatres will reopen on July 16th. For some – like in the Greater Toronto Area – it’ll be for the first time in about nine months. And while many theatres across the country reopened earlier, Ontario represents a big chunk of the Canadian box office, which has been hurt badly not only by lockdowns and public health restrictions, but also the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ offering movies and binge-worthy shows at home.Film editor Barry Hertz talks about what Ontario movie goers can expect when they return to theatres, why go back to the movies at all if you’ve gotten used to streaming on your couch, and what summer blockbusters he’ll be seeing on the silver screen. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Phone technology has evolved at an incredible pace, from the first cellphone in the 1980s, to the sophisticated computers we call smartphones in our pockets now. But some of the most important calls we make are to 9-1-1 in an emergency. And the system that 9-1-1 centres run hasn’t kept up.The Globe’s telecom reporter Alexandra Posadzki tells us that there’s a move to introduce “next-generation 9-1-1” Canada-wide through the hundreds of organizations that handle our calls for help. That would allow callers to send photos or text messages, and help authorities better pinpoint where calls on cellphones are coming from. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Events in Haiti have been unfolding quickly following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in his Port-au-Prince home on July 7. In the past week there has been news of arrests of mercenaries, a siege in the country’s Taiwanese embassy and the alleged involvement of a doctor in the murder.But if you look back at Haiti’s history, a lot of the political turmoil is tied into all the money the Caribbean country gets from donor countries, like Canada and the U.S. Jake Johnston, a senior research associate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research in Washington, D.C., discusses how all the strings attached to aid to Haiti can render it more harmful than helpful and how the country’s politics are often more focused on external powers than the people of Haiti. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can racism cause schizophrenia? It’s an area of mental health research that has been ongoing for decades and over time, researchers are increasingly finding that having a darker skin colour than your neighbours does seem to have an effect. But just how much and how that alters your brain chemistry is difficult to tease apart due to the complexities of schizophrenia as a disease.Erin Anderssen, who has been covering mental health for The Globe and Mail for years, discusses what she has found on this topic by looking at the research, examining the history of how Western culture has perceived psychosis and talking to doctors. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lebanon’s financial crisis was only made worse last year when an explosion ripped through the port of its capital city, Beirut, killing more than 200 people. Now, people are left scrambling for basic medicine, gas and other necessities.The Globe’s senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon is in Lebanon, and talks about what he has seen in Beirut’s largest hospital, how Lebanon has gotten to the brink of a “social explosion,” according to its prime minister, and why this threatens the very existence of the country. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Domestic vaccine passports offer one way of letting vaccinated people get back to normal life by giving them access to privileges non-vaccinated people wouldn’t have. But civil liberties advocates have been pushing back against the concept since the start of the pandemic, pointing to a number of equality and privacy concerns.Cara Zwibel is the director of the fundamental freedoms program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which has raised concerns about how vaccine passports might violate our constitutional rights. She’ll explain how, and why she believes that vaccine passports might do more harm than good as our vaccination rates rise and we ease public health restrictions across the country. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The village of Lytton, BC burned to the ground a day after hitting the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada, forcing residents to evacuate in as little as a few minutes. Investigators now believe the fire was caused by human activity.On today’s show, Globe environment reporter Kathryn Blaze Baum joins Tamara to share a conversation she’s had with one Lytton resident about the human toll of the heat dome that enveloped Western Canada and is believed to have caused hundreds of heat-related deaths, as well as the science that explains this extreme weather. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Soaring house prices have made it harder to afford a house in Canada than it’s been in three decades, with experts blaming everything from low interest rates to blind bidding to intergenerational wealth transfers.So how do you cool the housing market? Rachelle Younglai covers real estate for The Globe and Mail, and she’ll explain how we got here, why the measures taken by governments so far haven’t helped, and what else could be done to get prices under control. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Calls to reconsider the fireworks and celebrations of Canada Day have intensified as we approach the national holiday, in light of the announcements from B.C. and Saskatchewan First Nations that they’d located hundreds of unmarked graves where residential schools once stood.Crystal Fraser is assistant professor of history at the University of Alberta, and is Gwichyà Gwich’in, originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gę̀hnjik in the Northwest Territories. She’ll tell us how she sees Canada, as a historian and an Indigenous person, and how we can reflect on the history of Canada. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were published by the Public Health Agency of Canada last week, which now applies to over a quarter of people in Canada.So we asked Globe and Mail health columnist André Picard back on the show to lead us through what those guidelines mean, why they’re different from the provincial guidelines, and how to navigate them as the country re-opens. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A lot of Canadians have pandemic-savings money to burn – and not many places to spend it. With travel, entertainment and even dining still severely limited, many have turned to recreational toys and home improvement projects, and then found out that in-demand items like bicycles and kayaks are sold out.Economics reporter Matt Lundy breaks down the demand side of the equation, talks about just-in-time production and explains all the different issues that are affecting the entire supply chain, from the cost of raw materials to the issue of getting items off ships. Plus, he offers his best guess at when bike stores will have enough stock again. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

China is encouraging people to have up to three children in a bid to reverse the effects of its one-child policy, which has left the country with an aging population in need of workers to support them and the economy.But as Globe Asia correspondent Nathan Vanderklippe reports following his recent trip to the region, some Muslim Uyghurs of the western Xinjiang province are subject to different family-planning rules, and there have been reports of forced sterilization among other human rights abuses. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For Dr. Vett Lloyd, there really is nothing good about a tick. That’s why she studies them. After getting bit herself and developing Lyme disease, Dr. Lloyd made it her life’s work to understand these parasitic vectors to help others avoid these creatures and the potentially life-altering disease they can pass on.As we head off into nature this summer, the need for tick prevention is more urgent than ever as tick populations grow thanks to climate change. Dr. Lloyd shares her tips on how to avoid getting bitten, what to do if you do find a tick on you, a loved one or your pet and why there isn’t a vaccine against Lyme disease on the market. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The head of the Public Health Agency of Canada defied an order of the House of Commons on Monday, refusing to provide unredacted documents about the dismissal of two scientists from Canada’s high-security infectious disease laboratory.Opposition members are hoping the documents will explain why Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were fired from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in January.Bob Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, discusses what The Globe and Mail has learned so far about why the scientists were fired, why there’s a need for government transparency in this case and who gets to decide what information the public has access to. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nearly 20 per cent of people in Canada have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, making almost all of them immune to the virus. But how long will that immunity last? The answer to that question will dictate what the years ahead will look like for us as we fight to put the pandemic behind us.Globe and Mail science reporter Ivan Semeniuk on what scientists have learned about the way our bodies develop immunity to the novel coronavirus, how long it might last and why we might be getting regular COVID-19 vaccines in the years to come. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The genocide in Rwanda shocked the world in 1994, and since then the country has been praised for its recovery. But the trial of Paul Rusesabagina – the central character in the Hollywood movie Hotel Rwanda – is just the latest example of the Rwandan government cracking down on its dissidents, according to prominent human rights groups.The Globe’s Africa correspondent, Geoffrey York, has investigated allegations that the Rwandan government was behind the assassination of its dissidents, and explains why controlling the narrative about the genocide is so important to President Paul Kagame – and how many Western countries and people get it wrong. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Ethan Lou unexpectedly found himself quarantining with his uncle in Beijing, he learned that his uncle was trying to bridge the distance between him and his children living in the United States by sending them near-daily emails of advice.Lou adapted that writing into an essay, which he reads for us on the show.Correction: An earlier version of these show notes incorrectly said Ethan Lou and his uncle were quarantining in Wuhan. In fact, they were in Beijing. This version has been corrected. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A defection. Calls for a leader’s resignation. Internal fighting. The Green Party of Canada is in the news for all the wrong reasons lately.On Friday, former Green MP Jenica Atwin crossed the floor to join the Liberals after a clash with her party over her position on the Israel-Palestine fighting. By Monday, some factions of the Greens were calling on their new leader, Annamie Paul, to step down. On Wednesday, Ms. Paul stood firm and accused both members of her own party’s executive and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of trying to subvert her and the vision she campaigned on.Political reporter Marieke Walsh joins host Tamara Khandaker to explain why this is all happening, what led up to it and how underneath it all there is a bigger struggle within the party about what it is and what it wants to be. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Six months after former astronaut Julie Payette resigned from the role of Governor General of Canada, Trudeau has yet to find her permanent replacement. Globe political reporter Kristy Kirkup tells us what the job entails, why Julie Payette resigned, and who the government might choose next. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and the increasing pressures of climate change, transitioning Alberta from an oil-based economy is feeling more and more urgent. Hydrogen fuel may end up playing a transformative role for the energy-producing province.Emma Graney, The Globe’s energy reporter, gives listeners a primer on hydrogen: the different ways it’s made, how it plays into governments’ net-zero-emission goals and why Canada thinks it could become a world leader in this growing energy sector. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As a correspondent based in Beijing, Nathan VanderKlippe prepares to leave his post after eight years and return to Canada. He talks about the changes he has seen and felt while covering China – and Asia – for The Globe and Mail.He shares stories of being followed in Xinjiang by the Chinese state while covering the treatment of Uyghurs, and talks about the ethical responsibilities journalists face when talking to sources under intense state surveillance. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Globe and Mail’s European Bureau Chief Eric Reguly is in East Jerusalem, covering a very tense moment in Israel’s history. While last month’s ceasefire has held, the dispute over home ownership in the city’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhood continues. Some Palestinian families are already being evicted from their homes in favour of Jewish settlers. Protests around these developments have erupted. Conflicts between neighbours have been captured on social media. Police and Israeli officers are stationed in the streets.Meanwhile, tensions are also high in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Eight parties are attempting to form a coalition government that could oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and end his 12 years of rule. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Police charged a man on Monday for hitting an entire family with his truck on Sunday night in London, Ontario, alleging that he did it intentionally because of their Muslim faith. Four members of the Afzaal family died, leaving the only survivor and youngest child, a boy named Fayez, seriously hurt in hospital.An outpouring of grief from the community and across the country followed; a vigil held Tuesday saw leaders from the three major parties speak. But many Muslims say they don’t feel safe now, and not for the first time.On the show, we’ll hear from two London residents who share their stories about experiencing and witnessing racism in London, and what needs to happen to move the conversation forward on Islamophobia in Canada.Javeed Sukhera is a child psychiatrist, an associate professor at Western University’s medical school, and the outgoing chair of the London Police Services Board.Jeff Bennett was the Ontario PC Party candidate for London West in 2014 and wrote about the Islamophobia he witnessed on the campaign trail in a Facebook post that went viral. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for Indigenous families, addressing the announcement that remains of children were found in unmarked gravesites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. But despite calls from survivors, some Catholics, and even the Prime Minister to do so, the Pope did not apologize for the Church’s role in running many residential schools.Tavia Grant is a reporter for The Globe and Mail, and joins us to discuss why survivors have struggled to hold the church accountable. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Three First Nations have deferred the logging of old-growth forest in and around Fairy Creek, B.C. This follows months of blockading by environmental activists to stop logging roads being built by forestry company Teal Jones Group, which brought an injunction against the protesters that led to over 170 arrests by RCMP.Meanwhile, Premier John Horgan’s NDP government has signalled through an intention paper possible legislation to put more of the province’s logging industry under Indigenous nations’ control.Justine Hunter is the Globe’s B.C. legislative reporter based in Victoria, and has been covering the tensions around harvesting old-growth forests for decades. She’ll tell us about divisions within the NDP, the changing landscape around Indigenous sovereignty over traditional lands, battling climate change and high lumber prices all converging in the pristine valley of Fairy Creek. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Women have been graduating from university at higher rates than men for decades but are still under-represented in the best-paid jobs, like university deans and full professors.Reporter Robyn Doolittle shares insights from the new investigation she did with Chen Wang, analyzing salaries of Ontario professors over the last 20 years. She also talks about structural issues that explain why women are getting stuck in the lower ranks of professorships at many Canadian post-secondary institutions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tanya Talaga is an Anishinaabe journalist, speaker and columnist for The Globe. After being invited by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, Tanya travelled to Kamloops, B.C., to report on the Nation’s announcement that ground-penetrating radar had located 215 unmarked gravesites near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.The number for the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is 1-866-925-4419. British Columbia has a First Nations and Indigenous Crisis Line offered through the KUU-US Crisis Line Society, toll-free at 1-800-588-8717. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Konia Trouton is a physician in Victoria, B.C., who provides medical assistance in dying, also known as MAID. She describes the process, discusses recent changes to the laws around MAID and how that may change her practice, and why we need to become more comfortable with talking about dying.You can read her opinion essay on MAID here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How did a junior oil company from Calgary end up at the heart of a dispute over wildlife preservation in Namibia? Energy reporter Emma Graney talks about the effort by a company called Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. to drill for oil in Namibia’s Okavango Delta area, at a time when governments and investors are looking toward a future without fossil fuel consumption to stop climate change. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad tells us the significance of this discovery. Plus, Stephanie Scott and Raymond Frogner of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation explain the history of residential schools in Canada.The number for the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is 1-866-925-4419. British Columbia has a First Nations and Indigenous Crisis Line offered through the KUU-US Crisis Line Society, toll-free at 1-800-588-8717. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two women got COVID-19 while in their third trimester of pregnancy and landed in the ICU, isolated from their newborn babies.They tell their stories, plus national health reporter Kelly Grant on why COVID-19 hits pregnant people harder and why doctors recommend getting vaccinated if you’re expecting. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Remote learning has allowed for education to continue in the COVID-19 pandemic, but at what cost? Some students are lost and disengaged, parents are exhausted trying to help and many teachers feel frustrated.Caroline Alphonso, The Globe and Mail’s education reporter, talks about the barriers different kinds of kids face, what educators know about how far behind students are sliding in basic skills like reading, and what schools are doing to try to help. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After the death of George Floyd, American politicians faced huge pressure to institute changes to reform standards of policing and hold officers to account. Adrian Morrow, The Globe and Mail’s U.S. correspondent, discusses what progress has been made a year later and how movement on one specific issue – qualified immunity – has drawn both controversy and commendation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As warmer months and higher vaccination rates bring hope of a return to normal life for Canadians, the summer job market for young people is still dampened for now by public health restrictions in its most important sectors.Economics reporter Matt Lundy tells us why young people’s jobs got hit the hardest in the pandemic, and how people starting their working lives during the pandemic may feel the effects for years to come. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For months now, Brampton resident Dr. Amanpreet Brar has been going on different Punjabi-language shows to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and take audience questions. She is on The Decibel today to talk about her outreach efforts, her former life as a temporary factory worker and why Brampton is one of Canada’s worst coronavirus hot spots.This episode is part of The Globe and Mail’s L6P project. It is a multi-story examination of Brampton’s L6P neighbourhood, which not only has some of the highest COVID-19 positivity rates in Canada, but is also home to a huge population of essential workers. Read the series, in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Gujarati: tgam.ca/L6P Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a mutual ceasefire, ending nearly two weeks of fighting. This came after escalating pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden. American politics expert and Globe contributing columnist David Shribman explains the history and relationship between the two countries. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mars is a busy place right now. There are two rovers and a helicopter on the surface, along with many orbiters circling around it. Science reporter Ivan Semeniuk talks about the lure of the red planet and how new players in the space race are propelling us closer and closer to getting humans on Mars. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.