stitcherLogoCreated with Sketch.
Get Premium Download App
Listen
Discover
Premium
Shows
Likes
Merch

Listen Now

Discover Premium Shows Likes

The Big Story

600 Episodes

23 minutes | Mar 31, 2023
The case for the four-day work week
The five-day work week has been the standard for decades. But not forever. Once upon a time, it was a six-day week. So why can't it go from five to four? This isn't an idle question. Pilot projects and studies in countries around the world, including some in Canada, have proven that a four-day week can make employees more productive, as well as cause them to miss less time leaving work for appointments. Companies that have experimented with a four-day work have mostly decided to keep it. If at one time, it seems a crazy idea that just might work, by now there's enough data to show us that it does. So ... why are you working today? Why am I? GUEST: Jared Lindzon, writing in The Globe and Mail
24 minutes | Mar 30, 2023
What really matters in 2023's federal budget?
With $432 billion in spending, it's safe to say not everything included in Tuesday's federal budget got its share of headlines. And for top-line items, that makes sense. Health care and the cost of living are things that impact every Canadian.  But it can sometimes take a day or two to sort out all the rest—smaller line items that might matter a lot to some people, or long-awaited promises that have finally made it into the document. Or, on the flip side, to get through the entire document and realize what's not in there at all... So what do you need to know about this budget that can't be summed up by a headline? And what will its real impact be down the road? GUEST: Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill reporter, CityNews
20 minutes | Mar 29, 2023
Baseball in 2023: A whole new ball game
It's a sport well over a century old. It has historically resisted change. It has also, however, been losing relevance by the year, as it gets slower and slower and the action becomes rarer and rarer. Baseball has been withering on the vine. Until (allegedly) this year! For the first time in decades, Major League Baseball has made substantial and fundamental changes to its rules, including a previously unthinkable addition — a clock for the timeless game. So why now? What will these changes do to the sport, and its audience? Is this enough to finally fix baseball? GUEST: Shi Davidi, senior baseball columnist, Sportsnet
16 minutes | Mar 28, 2023
REWIND: Stephen Brunt on how baseball is broken
Almost five years ago, one of the very first episodes of this podcast was about how baseball was a sport in decline. Games were too long, and too boring. The fan base was getting older and older, and younger generations didn't care. The game was less diverse and had less action, and attendance and ratings were declining. In the years to follow, this problem grew worse and worse—until finally even the traditionalists at the heart of the sport realized the game they loved, and profited from, was becoming increasingly irrelevant. So today, we visit the past, and the problem with baseball. Tomorrow, the solution ... if it works. GUEST: Stephen Brunt, sportswriter
19 minutes | Mar 28, 2023
Canadians were promised universal pharmacare, What happened?
First it was a campaign promise. Then a key plank of the Liberal-NDP supply and confidence agreement. Then it morphed into drug pricing reforms, which were delayed, and changed and delayed and ... well, we're still waiting. Meanwhile, the organization that helped devise the plan has seen resignations, amid accusations that the federal Liberal government has caved to huge pharmaceutical companies. The promise of pharmacare goes back decades in Canadian politics. For a while it seemed like it might be within reach, or at least we'd get price relief on expensive drugs for those without insurance. Instead, we're still in limbo. What happened? GUEST: Dr. Danyaal Raza, family physician; Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Department of Family & Community Medicine
22 minutes | Mar 27, 2023
Will the Bay du Nord project save Newfoundland's economy or harm the environment? Or both?
It's the most ambitious offshore mining project in Canadian history, and the fight for approvals has been long and arduous. That's because of both its scope, its dangers and the potential windfall to a province that badly needs it. So what is Bay du Nord? What does it promise and what, exactly, are the risks? And how do you balance the need to phase out fossil fuels with the future of an entire province's economy? GUEST: Lyndsie Bourgon, writing in Maclean's magazine
22 minutes | Mar 24, 2023
We don't just "hang out" anymore. And it's a problem.
Your friends and family live in your phone. Sure, you see them from time to time, but usually for scheduled events, planned well in advance, with an agenda and a timeframe. How often do you just find a friend ... and chill? A new book illustrates the kinds of casual hangouts that are dying out, at the same time as loneliness rates are rising around the world. There's a particular kind of energy we get from just killing time, or wandering, and we're losing it. What's that doing to us? GUEST: Sheila Liming, author of Hanging Out: The Radical Power Of Killing Time
19 minutes | Mar 23, 2023
Why has it become harder to get gender-affirming healthcare in Ontario?
Around the world, transgender people are under attack. Often legislatively, other times physically. And many of us would like to think of Canada as an oasis amidst this rise in prejudice. But we're not. Today, a look at a clinic that provides gender-affirming care virtually to trans and non-binary people across the entire province of Ontario. Except right now it doesn't, because new legislation makes it impossible, and the provincial government has so far refused to provide an exemption. What's standing in the way? What is gender-affirming care, and why is it so important? And why is virtual health care, the only option for many communities, being trimmed by the government? GUEST: Kai Jacobsen, steering committee, Trans PULSE Canada; co-author, The Conversation
25 minutes | Mar 22, 2023
The many investigations of Donald J. Trump
It was thought that the former president might be arrested on Tuesday, and charged in relation to alleged hush-money payments to an adult film star. That hasn't happened, but many who have been watching the case still expect charges to come. When they do, what will happen next? But this isn't the only investigation into Trump's potential crimes. There are more, and they involve more sinister allegations. So who exactly is investigating Donald Trump, and for what? Where do those investigations stand? What would a nomination race and potential presidential campaign look like, if one of the contenders is preparing to face a trial? Or perhaps more than one trial? GUEST: Aaron Rupar, independent political and policy journalist, author of Public Notice
19 minutes | Mar 21, 2023
Why do big American retailers fail in Canada?
Today it's Nordstrom, fleeing Canada after failing to turn a profit in almost a decade of trying. Before them, it was Target, thought to be a sure thing in this country. So far, Walmart is the exception that proves the rule: If you're an American retailer with your eyes on the Canadian market, you better do your research and have a plan. The loss of Nordstrom is sad for those who love its designer names, sure, but the stores themselves are a bigger loss as anchor tenants for premium locations in big cities that are slowly being taken over by empty storefronts. So what happened here? Was it them, or us? And what can we learn from the latest American brand to fail in Canada? GUEST: Gary Newbury, retail supply chain expert, Strategic Advisor and Delivery Executive with RetailAID
20 minutes | Mar 20, 2023
Will we ever know Covid-19's origin story?
Even three years after it emerged, there's still no consensus on the origin of the virus that shut down the world. Last week, the US Department of Energy said that its conclusion (albeit with "low confidence") was that the virus escaped from a lab. Three days later new genetic research pointed to the presence of the virus in racoon dogs found in Wuhan at the time the virus began to spread. So chalk up another data point for each side, and still we're searching for answers. What does the new evidence tell us about each theory? How has this debate become politicized? Will we ever know where the virus truly came from? And if we did, what would it change ... if anything? GUEST: Umair Irfan, correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, Covid-19, and energy policy. (Read Umair's latest piece on Covid's origins here.)  
19 minutes | Mar 18, 2023
Why did it take so long to phase out a toxic pesticide?
It's called chlorpyrifos, and it's actually still being used in Canada right now. Despite years of reports on the danger it might pose, it was only last year that the government banned it, and it's using a gradual phase out that won't end until the end of this year. So what is chlorpyrifos and what's the risk? What kind of foods is it used on? What can exposure do to us? And why was Canada behind both Europe and the United States in getting rid of it? GUEST: Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, reporter and writer covering food, climate, plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer
24 minutes | Mar 17, 2023
How Canada can help mine the moon
We're already in another space race. The question this time is who gets the prize at the end of it. Both China and NASA have committed to plans to put bases on the moon in the next decade or so, and one of the main attractions is its resources. There are lots of valuable commodities on the moon, and it also makes a great jumping point for further space travel in the future. So the competition to extract the moon's minerals first, in harsh, remote conditions, with the use of space robotics, will give someone a huge advantage. And there just happens to be a country to the north of the United States that is a world leader in all those things... GUESTS: Alex Ellery, Canada Research Professor in space robotics and space technology at Carleton University;Heather Exner-Pirot, senior fellow and director of natural resources, energy and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute
21 minutes | Mar 16, 2023
Was the SVB crash a one-off, or a warning sign?
Everyone who lived through 2008 as an adult flinched when Silicon Valley Bank failed last week. But was the bank's crash a unique situation, or something that should make us question our own financial institutions?  What makes Canadian banks different from banks like SVB? What can we learn about the future of the economy from this failure? Why is the US government helping already-rich tech investors? And what do we need to watch for in the coming weeks and months? GUEST: William O’Connell, PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His research includes global management of financial crises and the regulation of cryptocurrency markets
20 minutes | Mar 15, 2023
The Canada Revenue Agency takes on a notorious Toronto bakery
Over the past couple of decades, five workers have died on the job at Fiera Foods, sparking protests, investigations and allegations of a dangerous workplace. But where did those workers come from? Fiera says they are employed through temp agencies, and they have filed for the tax breaks to prove it. But the CRA says those agencies aren't real, and Fiera workers tell stories of showing up at the factory and being put right out onto the floor. This legal fight sheds light on just how companies can use temp agencies to reduce liability and save money, even when the jobs can be deadly. GUEST: Sara Mojtehedzadeh, investigations team, Toronto Star
24 minutes | Mar 14, 2023
Foreign interference and Canadian intelligence: An FAQ
For the past month, headlines have been dominated by leaked CSIS documents, intelligence sources, fears of foreign interference in Canadian elections and the political fallout of all that. But most Canadians don't know much about how our intelligence community operates. Which agencies do what? Who do they report to? Who can access their information? Why would they release it to the press? Because this is already shaping up to be the political story of the year in Canada, we wanted to lay out the basics. Here's what you need to know to understand what matters and why. GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, former national security analyst, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, author of Stand on Guard: Reassessing threats to Canada's National Security
22 minutes | Mar 13, 2023
Arctic security is critical. Is Canada ready to stand on guard?
Twice in the last month, Canadians were shown just how open our Northern border can be. First, the Prime Minister ordered a UFO shot down. Then, we learned that Canadian Forces had found Chinese monitoring buoys in our arctic waters.  As geopolitical tensions rise, the arctic is perhaps where Canada is most vulnerable. So how do we monitor it? What do we need to do to protect ourselves? How is a changing climate making it more vulnerable? And what keeps the security experts up at night? GUEST: Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Canada Research Chair in the Study of the Canadian North; Professor, School for the Study of Canada, Trent University
19 minutes | Mar 11, 2023
Why is Ontario suspending so many licenses?
There are indeed medical reasons that require your driver's licence to be suspended. But there are a host of other issues, everything from depression to cold sores, that have been cited as medical reasons in licence suspensions in Ontario. What's happening here. At the core of the issue are MCRs—medical condition reports that can often trigger an automatic suspension, even for a condition that doesn't impact driving, or a condition the driver may not even have. Why is Ontario handing out hundreds of thousands of these suspensions? Who benefits from all these filings? And what recourse do people have when their ability to drive—and with it, often, their livelihood—is taken away? GUEST: Declan Keogh, Investigative Journalism Bureau Read his most recent Toronto Star article about MCRs here
20 minutes | Mar 10, 2023
Will we ever know who killed Barry and Honey Sherman?
It's Canada's most famous ongoing whodunnit. More than five years after the murders of the billionaire couple, the case is still open, the police are still chasing leads, and reporters are still getting new tips. But that hasn't resulted in a concrete suspect ... yet. Why not? What makes this case so hard to crack? And so compelling to the public? What could have been done earlier to make a difference in the information available? What are we still learning now? What might we learn in the months to come? And why does the reporter who has spent years investigating this case believe that we will, eventually, crack it? GUEST: Kevin Donovan, chief investigative reporter, Toronto Star; host of The Billionaire Murders podcast
24 minutes | Mar 9, 2023
Before Morgentaler Part Two: Making It Legal
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the country in 1973. The decision shocked many around the world, and has had folks wondering: could this happen here, at home, in Canada? And what led up to this historic moment in the U.S.? What are the real and current issues facing the state of abortion in Canada, and how can we make a difference? This two-part mini series is hosted by Sarah Sahagian, a feminist podcaster, writer, and non-profit executive living in Toronto. Her byline has appeared in such outlets as The Washington Post, The National Post, The Toronto Star, Refinery29, Romper, and Scary Mommy. In her previous life, she was a gender studies academic who studied parenting and mother blame. Sarah is also the co-host of Frequency Podcast Network’s The Reheat. 
COMPANY
About us Careers Stitcher Blog Help
AFFILIATES
Partner Portal Advertisers Podswag Stitcher Studios
Privacy Policy Terms of Service Your Privacy Choices
© Stitcher 2023