Coping with the coming COVID summer surge

Canada's 'Bitcoin Widow' finally speaks: When Gerald Cotten died suddenly in 2018, he was only 30 years old, but fabulously wealthy thanks to founding Quadriga, one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges. Or at least, that’s how it seemed. His death coincided with growing concerns about the legitimacy of Quadriga. After investigating, the Ontario Securities Commission said Quadriga was run like a Ponzi scheme. More than Quadriga clients collectively lost more than $200 million. Jennifer Kathleen Margaret Roberston was Cotten’s wife, and was there when he died. And despite being at the centre of a huge scandal, she’s never spoken publicly about her husband’s fraud or death – or the suspicion it cast on her – until now. Telecom reporter Alexandra Posadzki and ROB reporter Joe Castaldo interviewed Robertson about her memoir, Bitcoin Widow: Love, Betrayal and the Missing Millions. They bring us that interview, and their expertise as journalists who’ve been covering this story from the be by The Decibel

19 min listen

The Bank of Canada’s plan to cool inflation: In a surprising twist, at least in Bank of Canada news, the central bank decided on Wednesday to keep its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent. It was widely expected that the bank would announce a rate hike in order to cool Canada’s soaring inflation. The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, did say interest rate hikes are coming in the near future – and that means borrowing costs are also going up. Mark Rendell covers the Bank of Canada, finance and economics for The Globe. He explains what the Bank of Canada’s recent decision means. Plus, he’ll get into just how our central bank works and its role in making our economy run smoothly. by The Decibel

15 min listen

Why last year’s hottest stocks are cooling off: The pandemic promised a gold mine for companies like Zoom, Shopify, and Peloton. And at first, these companies did see a boost in their stock value. But the ground started to shift at the end of 2021 and now these stocks, which are often darlings of retail investors, are seeing substantial drops. Report on Business reporter and columnist Tim Kiladze explains what has led to this investor whiplash and how a lot of trading on the stock market has become detached from the actual value of some companies. by The Decibel

17 min listen

Harry Potter and the controversial author: The world of Harry Potter – which now extends from books to movies, theme parks, spin-offs, merchandise, and a vast amount of fan-generated content called “fanfic”– has been beloved since the first book was published more than 20 years ago. But in recent years, this world’s creator, author J.K. Rowling, has been making statements against trans activists, and sometimes raising the possibility of violence from someone who identifies as trans. Culture critic and founder of Friday Things Stacy Lee Kong explains how “Potterheads” have reacted to Rowling’s controversial comments, how the books’ legacy endures, and how HBO Max dealt with it in their special, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. by The Decibel

18 min listen

How a Dry January might help your COVID anxiety: It’s easy to not be mindful about drinking alcohol. A glass of wine with dinner or a beer after work can quickly become a habit with little thought. And since the pandemic struck, for some people, alcohol is playing an even bigger role. Enter: Dry January, a month-long ‘challenge’ to avoid or cut back on alcohol consumption. André Picard, Globe and Mail columnist, talks about its virtues, the rise in sober-curious culture and why we may consume more alcohol than we think. by The Decibel

15 min listen

Hot desks are not cool with office workers by The Decibel

16 min listen

Who betrayed Anne Frank?: The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most widely read first-person accounts of the Holocaust. The question of how Anne and her family were discovered has haunted readers for decades. In a new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, author Rosemary Sullivan details what an investigative team found when they set out to answer: who tipped off the authorities to Anne’s hiding spot? Turns out, it’s more complicated than you’d think. Marsha Lederman, the Globe’s Western Arts Correspondent, interviewed Sullivan about her book, and explains what they found, and what we can learn from this story today. by The Decibel

21 min listen

As missiles fall around her, this Kharkiv citizen fights disinformation: Maria Avdeeva is the research director of the European Expert Association, which analyzes Russian disinformation. With the sound of Russia’s attack in the background, Maria explains what’s happening in her hometown of Kharkiv, and why the decision to stay is her way of fighting the “Information War,” where disinformation is weaponized to change how the world understands the horrors unfolding in Ukraine. by The Decibel

22 min listen

Omicron’s toll on workers by The Decibel

15 min listen

Novak Djokovic’s Australian saga: Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic is known for being among the best male tennis players in the world. Off the court, he’s known for his anti-vaccine sentiments. The Australian Open granted him a medical exemption that would allow him to compete, but when he attempted to enter the country on Thursday, January 6, he was detained at the border. He was released on January 10, but his future at the Open remains uncertain. Caitlin Thompson, co-founder of Racquet and publisher of Racquet Magazine, a print quarterly on the culture of tennis, explains why Djokovic was detained, and what makes him such a polarizing figure in the tennis world, and why this may not be the end of the story. by The Decibel

16 min listen

Giving new life to a dying language in Canada: There are only nine students but the kids of Taigh Sgoile na Drochaide – or the Bridge Schoolhouse in English – represent the future of Gaelic fluency in Canada. This is the first Gaelic-immersion school in the country and the people who founded it hope one day it’ll be the first of many. Greg Mercer, who reports on Atlantic Canada for The Globe and Mail, shares the story of how this school sprouted up from a small community that is passionate about regaining its Gaelic roots. by The Decibel

15 min listen

Russia and Ukraine at the brink of war: Senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon is back in Ukraine, as officials from Canada and the U.S. — as well as military equipment from Britain — fly in to show support for Ukraine and try to dissuade Russia from invading. There’s not much indication it’s working, and as Mark explains, while there are more talks scheduled for later in the week, hope of a peaceful solution seems to be fading fast. by The Decibel

18 min listen

Thinking through Quebec’s unvaxxed tax: Quebec is the first jurisdiction in Canada to propose a ‘health contribution’ tax for people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This has sparked a debate about whether some government pandemic measures are going too far into the realm of being punitive. Dr. Devon Greyson, an assistant professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, has been studying vaccine hesitancy since 2015. They break down the ethical considerations of this controversial piece of proposed public health policy. Editor’s note: An earlier version of this text misidentified Dr. Greyson as an associate professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. by The Decibel

21 min listen

Why protesting truck drivers are heading for Ottawa: Truckers are now subject to the same rules as other travellers at the border, which means they can be refused entry or required to quarantine if they are unvaccinated. Even though, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, there’s no reason to think truckers are less vaccinated than average, the new vaccination mandate has become the subject of vigorous political debate. It even spurred a protest in the form of a group of truckers and their supporters headed to Ottawa, calling themselves “the Freedom Convoy.” But as parliamentary reporter Kristy Kirkup explains, what’s driving the delay and shortages of some products in stores across the country is more complex than any one policy. by The Decibel

15 min listen

Facing the challenges of kids, school and Omicron by The Decibel

21 min listen

Trudeau’s tough line, O’Toole’s ‘changing message’ on protesting truckers: Over the weekend, Ottawa’s Parliament Hill and downtown area saw thousands of protestors arrive as part of the “Freedom Convoy,” originally sparked by a new vaccine mandate that would impose the same restrictions on unvaccinated truckers as other travellers across the border. A smaller number remained in the capital city on Monday, blocking roads and blaring truck horns. Parliamentary reporter Marieke Walsh joins from just a few blocks away to tell us what’s happened on Monday and how federal party leaders are responding. by The Decibel

23 min listen

Why some Nunavut elders spend their final years alone in Ottawa: Sending a loved one to an assisted-living home is never an easy choice. For the people of Nunavut, the majority of whom are Inuit, it’s even harder. The territory has 36 beds for elders in four different communities. That means 21 of its 25 fly-in communities are without any options for elder care that don’t involve sending a family member away. And some families – whose elders need more intensive care – must choose between providing all of the care themselves, or sending their loved ones to Ottawa, where there is a long-term care home that houses Inuit elders. Kelly Grant, the Globe’s national health care reporter, went to Nunavut to provide an in-depth look at health care in Nunavut and the challenges its residents face accessing it. While there, she found that the lack of elder care in the territory was one of the most common complaints and one of the hardest issues to solve. by The Decibel

21 min listen

Where the Conservative Party of Canada goes from here: The vote was 73 to 45. And with that, Erin O’Toole’s leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada is over. This dismissal comes after months of internal strife as MPs questioned the direction of the party under Mr. O’Toole. Conservatives now have to launch a leadership race to decide the direction of their party, without tearing it apart. Political columnist and writer-at-large John Ibbitson argues that the in-fighting in the party that is Canada’s Official Opposition is not just bad for their supporters, but bad for the country as a whole. by The Decibel

19 min listen

The new expanded powers banks have under the Emergencies Act: A big part of the federal government’s plan to end the convoy protests and blockades includes targeting the flow of money to them. Banks were granted expanded powers and liability protection as part of the Emergencies Act announcement on February 14. But how comfortable are Canadian financial institutions with policing their own customers and freely sharing information with law enforcement? Banking reporter James Bradshaw has been speaking with officials at the big banks and explains exactly how they think they’ll be proceeding under these new powers. by The Decibel

22 min listen

The promises and limitations of the new COVID-19 pill: There’s a new treatment for COVID-19 in Canada. If taken at the right time during the infection, it can help keep people who have caught the virus out of the hospital. But there are some caveats. In fact, there are a lot. Carly Weeks is one of The Globe’s health reporters and she explains how the new pill from Pfizer works, who can take it and why it’s already in short supply. by The Decibel

16 min listen

On the ground in Ukraine as the war takes a turn: Russia is gaining ground in its invasion of Ukraine. On day 7 of the war, Russia occupied Kherson, a key city in the southern part of Ukraine. Russia started targeting densely populated areas like Kyiv and Kharkiv with heavy shelling, destroying buildings and killing civilians. On March 2, Ukraine’s emergency service said the Russian invasion has killed more than 2,000 civilians in the country. Senior international correspondent Mark Mackinnon is in Lviv, Ukraine. He is back on the show to tell us what Russia’s gains mean for the people of Ukraine and whether they have a chance at holding Russian troops back. Plus, he tells us about his journey out of Kyiv as the invasion on Ukraine began. by The Decibel

21 min listen

What the Liberal-NDP deal means for Canadian democracy: The Liberals and NDP have set aside their differences and come to a partnership agreement – a pledge from the Liberals to act on major NDP policy issues in exchange for the NDP’s support of the Liberal government on votes that could trigger an election. This deal will keep the Liberal government in power until 2025. It also means we may soon see forward movement on dental care, Pharmacare, housing, and climate policies. Dr. Lori Turnbull is the director and an associate professor at the School of Public Administration at Dalhousie University. She joins us to talk about what this deal is really about, how it affects the Liberal, NDP and Conservative parties, and what it means for the future of Parliament. by The Decibel

20 min listen

What Trudeau, Ford are doing to end the convoy protests: Three weeks into the convoy protests, political leaders on all levels of government are looking at what levers they can pull. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act. Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is keeping the province in a state of emergency. And Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is attempting to negotiate with the truckers who remain in residential neighbourhoods in the capital. Jeff Gray, The Globe’s Queen’s Park reporter, gives us an update of what happened over the weekend and explains the various moves Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario’s Doug Ford have made in recent days as the public’s patience wears thin on the ongoing protests and blockades at various border crossings and in Ottawa. by The Decibel

16 min listen

Move over 'Let It Go,' we're talking about Bruno: There are two kinds of people in this world: those who have “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” stuck in their head, and those who don’t … yet. The Disney song is a viral sensation and unexpected hit from the 2021 film, Encanto. Michael Birenbaum Quintero is an ethnomusicologist and Associate Professor at Boston University. Even he agrees it’s a catchy tune, and explores its musical influences along with the movie’s wider representation of Colombian and Latin American music and culture. by The Decibel

17 min listen

Beijing Olympics: sports, politics and a cocktail-making robot: The 2022 Winter Olympics are on in Beijing. It’s the first city in the world to host both a winter and summer Games (the latter of which happened back in 2008). These Games are shaping up to be much different. COVID-19 restrictions and a diplomatic boycott by a number of countries put a bit of a damper on the hype. Asia correspondent James Griffiths is in Beijing. He tells us what it’s like inside the Olympic bubble and how politics are playing into these Games. by The Decibel

15 min listen

Ukrainian refugees find help in tiny neighbouring Moldova: As fighting rages on in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands are seeking refuge in a number of neighbouring countries. On Feb. 28, the head of a UN agency said that more than 500,000 people have fled since the start of the Russian invasion. Cars have lined up for more than 10 kilometres at certain checkpoints, while others have had no choice but to walk – sometimes, for 50 km – to escape. Moldova is one such country accepting refugees. According to the Moldovan Border Police, 70,000 people from Ukraine have entered the country since the start of the conflict. International correspondent Nathan Vanderklippe reports from that tiny, landlocked country about the people fleeing Ukraine and how bordering countries are responding to the crisis. by The Decibel

17 min listen

Behind the food fight over rising grocery prices: Last week, Frito-Lay, which makes Lays potato chips, but also others like Miss Vickies and Doritos, stopped sending their chips to any of the stores owned by Loblaw. And since Loblaw is the biggest grocer in Canada, that’s a lot of stores: there’s Loblaws, of course, and No Frills, Valu-Mart, Provigo if you’re in Quebec – even Shoppers Drug Mart. Today, the Globe’s retailing reporter, Susan Krashinsky Roberston, will break down what the two companies are fighting over and why a lot more of these tough negotiations might be going on behind closed doors. by The Decibel

15 min listen

This doctor wants to write prescriptions for housing: According to Statistics Canada, more than 235,000 people experience homelessness in any given year, with 25,000-35,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. During the pandemic, health issues were exacerbated for people experiencing homelessness. Shelters were often crowded and faced outbreaks. One study found that homeless people were over 20 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and over 5 times more likely to die within 21 days of a positive test result. Dr. Andrew Boozary is the executive director of social medicine and population health at the University Health Network in Toronto. He tells us why homelessness is a failure of policy – not individual choice – and how he’s working to fix it. by The Decibel

18 min listen

One Black man’s quest for parole after 30 years in prison: When Renford Farrier was given a life sentence for killing a man, he believed he’d be out on parole after 10 years. Thirty years later, he’s still in prison and believes racism is partly to blame. A Globe analysis found that Indigenous, Black and other racialized men are less likely than their white counterparts to be paroled within the first year they’re eligible. Investigative reporter Tom Cardoso explains what that analysis found, and interviews Farrier about his time in prison, why he thinks racism played a role in being denied parole, and what he plans to do when he is finally released. by The Decibel

25 min listen

An inquiry into Canada’s worst mass shooting: It’s been almost two years since the mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia, that killed 22 people. An inquiry into the tragedy that will make recommendations on how to prevent it from happening again began its public phase on Tuesday. “Nova Scotia has not been able to fully come to terms with this massacre,” Atlantic Canada reporter Greg Mercer says. He’ll explain the criticism families and politicians have of the inquiry and what we’ve learned about the shooting and its perpetrator since it happened. by The Decibel

17 min listen

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Coping with the coming COVID summer surge

Coping with the coming COVID summer surge

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