Shows / The Big Story
The Big Story
An in-depth look at the issues, culture and personalities shaping Canada today.
Episodes
- The Big Story
Why some kids live with their moms in prison
It's a rarely used program—little-known and tough to qualify for—that allows children under five to live inside Canadian women's prisons with their mothers…
- The Big Story
The Gravy Train, Episode 4: Headlines
If you're a newer listener to The Big Story, you may not know aboutThe Gravy Train, a podcast we released in 2019 chronicling the meteoric rise, and tragic…
- The Big Story
Safe supply and the overdose crisis: An FAQ
Harm reduction programs in general tend to be divisive, but safe supply might be the most controversial of them all. It involves providing drug users with…
- The Big Story
How do we fight the bigger, hotter wildfires of the future?
The climate is changing, so wildfires are changing too. The "unprecedented" fires of the past few weeks, won't be unprecedented when they happen again, and…
- The Big Story
No public inquiry on foreign interference. Why not? What happens now?
Despite the controversy dominating federal politics for months now, Canadians will not get a public inquiry about Chinese government interference into our…
- The Big Story
The ignoble end of "the world's worst McDonald's"
It's not easy to make yourself notorious among the more than 40,000 McDonald's franchises in the world—but Ottawa's Rideau Street location accomplished it…
- The Big Story
The past, present and future of Canadian farming
Right now, while controlling our own food security becomes more important than ever, Canada's farming industry is in transition. An older generation of farmers…
- The Big Story
The Gravy Train, Episode 3: Whispers
If you're a newer listener to The Big Story, you may not know aboutThe Gravy Train, a podcast we released in 2019 chronicling the meteoric rise, and tragic…
- The Big Story
How to vaccinate yourself (and others) against misinformation
Bad information, and the things that make us vulnerable to it, can spread like a virus. It's everywhere and at this point even the most savvy news consumers…
- The Big Story
How do you rebuild a broken political party?
Technically, the Ontario Liberals aren't officially a party anymore. They lost that status when they were shellacked in the 2018 election after being in power…
- The Big Story
Inside the wild, star-studded sale of the Ottawa Senators
Nobody who covers the business of sports can remember a bidding process quite like this one. For one thing, everybody's talking! Normally this is a…
- The Big Story
As tensions rise, what comes next for China-Canada relations?
Last week's exchange that saw each country expel a diplomat was called a "spat"—but really it was the latest volley in a low-heat diplomatic conflict that's…
- The Big Story
The Canadian massacre you've never heard of
On Halloween night in 2020, a mass shooting took place near the resort community of Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island. Three people are found dead in a…
- The Big Story
The Gravy Train, Episode 2: City Hall
If you're a newer listener to The Big Story, you may not know aboutThe Gravy Train, a podcast we released in 2019 chronicling the meteoric rise, and tragic…
- The Big Story
Is Ontario's new law the future of Canadian health care?
Whether or not you think it's "becoming more efficient" or "being dismantled piece by piece", it's pretty clear Universal Health Care in Canada is changing…
- The Big Story
How police linked sales of a lethal substance and suicides to a Canadian man
Last week, police in Peel, Ontario charged a man with aiding or counselling suicide, after they allege he preyed upon people in distress online and sold them…
- The Big Story
How do you hold an election in a province on fire?
That's not a metaphorical question. As Alberta deals with an ongoing wildfire situation the premier has called "unprecedented", the province goes to the polls…
- The Big Story
The Covid 'emergency' is over, but long covid isn't going anywhere
Last week, the World Health Organization announced that Covid-19 was no longer a "global health emergency"—a declaration that can be seen as either a hopeful…
- The Big Story
Are legal psychedelic drugs inevitable?
Welcome to the 'psychedelic renaissance', as anyone who follows research into and access to this class of drugs will call it. The past few years have brought a…
- The Big Story
Lisa LaFlamme from London on the coronation, the crown and the future
Whatever your opinion of the monarchy, it's always fascinating to walk into a history textbook. Saturday's coronation of King Charles III was the first such…
- The Big Story
The Gravy Train, Episode 1: The Suburbs
If you're a newer listener to The Big Story, you may not know aboutThe Gravy Train, a podcast we released in 2019 chronicling the meteoric rise, and tragic…
- The Big Story
How we can still save Canada's last spotted owls
There are exactly three spotted owls not in captivity left in the entire country, only one of which was originally born in the wild. That's a steep precipice…
- The Big Story
How the writers' strike will impact your favourite shows and Canadian jobs
The streaming era has changed Hollywood forever. Unfortunately it's made things worse for the people who write the shows and films we love (or hate). In an…
- The Big Story
This Canadian project hunts down child pornography online. It's "hiding in plain sight".
Most of us would assume that child sexual abuse material hides in the corners of the dark web, far from easy detection. But it doesn't. It's also found on…
- The Big Story
Bill C-11 is law now. But we still don't know what it does.
It's the biggest piece of broadcast or media legislation in this country in decades. You would think we'd have a clear picture of its implications. But despite…
- The Big Story
From a synagogue bombing in Paris, to an Ottawa classroom 40 years later
We'll probably never know if Hassan Diab, a Lebanese Canadian sociology professor, had any role in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that killed four…
- The Big Story
A breakthrough stroke treatment is saving lives. If you can get it in time.
It's known as endovascular thrombectomy—or EVT—and in the decade-plus since it was developed it has evolved to be something of a miracle for people unlucky…
- The Big Story
Should you own a pet? Should anyone?
There are about 28 million pets in Canada. And on any given day, most of them are probably bored to tears. This doesn't mean their owners don't love them, or…
- The Big Story
How will the Sudan crisis end? And what role will Canada play?
It's hard to overstate just how dire things are in Sudan's capital right now, with violence on the streets and almost no access to food and water for millions…
- The Big Story
Why your grocery prices are getting tougher to predict
Everything still feels expensive, but if you look at the numbers, inflation is falling quickly. Grocery prices are falling too, but they're still well above…
- The Big Story
Why the federal worker strike will test Canada’s economy and labour market
It's been a long time since Canada saw a strike this big, and as the Public Service Alliance of Canada's action nears the one-week mark, there doesn't seem to…
- The Big Story
What's to blame for the senseless killing of a 16 year old at a subway station?
His name was Gabriel Magalhaes, and he was minding his own business at Keele subway station in Toronto. His alleged killer's name is Jordan O'Brien-Tobin, and…
- The Big Story
Here's how AI can steal your identity
A few years ago, a feature called Voice ID was probably perfectly secure. It's used by many companies—including some banks—as a way to verify your identity by…
- The Big Story
Can tiny home communities solve the homelessness crisis?
Every city in Canada has struggled to solve the problem. And what's mostly ended up happening is tent cities in public places, controversial and sometimes…
- The Big Story
In BC, the kids are not alright
It's a phenomenon that was born out of the pandemic, but can't be completely attributed to it. It's difficult to quantify and hard to get to the bottom of, but…
- The Big Story
Inside Toronto's confusing, chaotic, wide-open mayoral race
There are currently almost 50 candidates running to become Toronto's next mayor. And there's no incumbent, since John Tory resigned in a scandal in February…
- The Big Story
A Canadian astronaut on planning his trip to the moon
Col. Jeremy Hansen will soon become the first Canadian ever to travel to the moon. He's a member of the four-person Artemis II crew, which will leave low Earth…
- The Big Story
How Canadian rental prices spiralled out of control
This isn't just a big city issue. Even in smaller municipalities, the average cost of rent has skyrocketed. More and more Canadians, priced out of the housing…
- The Big Story
How do you give away 133,000 chocolate bars?
You can't do it one at a time, or even ten at a time. When an independent Alberta chocolatier found herself with an unexpected surplus of 133,000 Rum ad Butter…
- The Big Story
Inside Canada’s Ozempic craze
If you've watched TV or attended a sporting event recently, chances are you've seen an ad for Ozempic. Originally created to treat Type-2 Diabetes, the drug is…
- The Big Story
How 24 Sussex Drive became a rodent-infested unliveable dump
It's the official residence of the leader of the entire country. And it's a mess. Last week's report about dead rodents and their droppings in the walls was…
- The Big Story
Why do people fake Indigenous ancestry?
Ever since author Joseph Boyden was called out for his claims of being an Indigenous author, every few weeks seems to bring a new story of a prominent…
- The Big Story
Will your kids fight in the Water Wars?
It's only half a joke. A recent report found that by 2030 demand for water will outstrip the world's supply by 40 percent. In the United States, the Colorado…
- The Big Story
What's inside Canada's largest ever protected area?
It was protected just about a month ago, and it's located about 100 kilometres off the coast of Vancouver Island. And as for what's in there ... well, almost…
- The Big Story
Roxham Road, bodies near the border and the future of Canada-US migration
Just days after Canada's official unofficial border crossing at Roxham Road was shut down, eight bodies were recovered from the waters of the St. Lawrence…
- The Big Story
BC decriminalized drugs. How's it been going?
At the end of January, British Columbia began a pilot program that decriminalized small amounts of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and opioids. It's the first…
- The Big Story
Will Alberta's close election be decided by policy, or scandal?
Tight elections don't seem to be Alberta's thing. After decades of Conservative blowouts, the NDP's unlikely 2015 win was ... also a blowout, and then the…
- The Big Story
Canada's next election will be a battle of the disliked vs. the hated
When a leader sticks around a long time, it's natural that his popularity declines. That's how politics goes. But as Justin Trudeau heads towards a decade in…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…
- The Big Story
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…