Shows / The Big Story
The Big Story
An in-depth look at the issues, culture and personalities shaping Canada today.
Episodes
- The Big Story
Are you paying more online without ever knowing it?
Probably! It's called dynamic pricing, and it's very different than paying extra for premium matchups at the ballpark or seats on an airplane. Dynamic pricing…
- The Big Story
Why don't all Canadian hospitals offer sex assault evidence kits?
Many victims have come to Canadian hospitals after they've survived a sexual assault, only to be informed that the hospital doesn't have either the equipment…
- The Big Story
Will any politician do what's necessary to tackle the housing crisis?
Last week, Conservative leadership favourite Pierre Poilievre released a video excoriating both municipal and federal governments for failing to keep housing…
- The Big Story
All the way back: The Raptors journey from title to trash, and back to Toronto
When the Toronto Raptors face the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night in the opening game of their NBA Playoffs series, thousands of fans will be gathered in…
- The Big Story
Six weeks in, what's happening on the ground in Ukraine?
At the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two things became immediately clear. First, this would not go according to Putin's plans. Russia has met…
- The Big Story
What's really driving inflation in Canada?
The supply chain is a problem. The cost of raw materials is rising. The cost of labour is up, too. But while we tend to assume inflation is caused by companies…
- The Big Story
Why has Canada deported thousands of frontline workers during a pandemic?
Very early in the pandemic, Canada put a pause on deportations. Conditions were unsafe, the world had stopped, and a lot of these workers were doing jobs…
- The Big Story
What does the federal budget mean for you? And for Canada's future?
The housing crisis is one of Canadians' biggest concerns, and in last week's federal budget it got some top-line attention. But inflation didn't receive nearly…
- The Big Story
Should your salary be public? Should mine?
Every year, most Canadian provinces release lists of the top wages among public servants. And every year, lots of people get mad about them. It's easy to say…
- The Big Story
Will Jason Kenney's career survive in Alberta?
He returned to the province as a conservative saviour, uniting the right under one banner and vanquishing the NDP. But just a few short years later, Jason…
- The Big Story
Everything you need to know about the (sigh) sixth wave of Covid
Hospitalizations are climbing again in parts of the country, and cases are rising in others. It's deja vu all over again. It's clear we're in for at least some…
- The Big Story
Can Canada transition both drivers and automakers to electric vehicles?
The federal government has ambitious targets set for the percentage of cars in Canada that will be electric by 2030. We're a long way from meeting them. But…
- The Big Story
Chasing a romance scammer across the country
When you trust someone with your heart, you have to accept that it might get broken. Things might not work out. You might grow apart. But at the least, you…
- The Big Story
Rewind: It's real. Canada's going to the World Cup
For decades, Canada's men's soccer team was irrelevant at best, a punchline at worst. While the women's side went on to Olympic medals and World Cup runs, the…
- The Big Story
As the world shuns Russia, what happens to the International Space Station?
The ISS has long been well above Earth's political squabbles. But since Russia invaded Ukraine, and most of the world began sanctioning Putin's regime, it…
- The Big Story
Meet the west coast's Indigenous guardians
There are places on the coast of British Columbia that can go weeks without a visit from the coast guard or government official. But the land is cared for all…
- The Big Story
What's going on in Antarctica? (And in the Arctic, too?)
A week ago, it was record-breaking temperatures. In the Arctic as well as the Antarctic. This weekend, an ice shelf the size of New York City broke off one of…
- The Big Story
How worried should we be about animal reservoirs of Covid-19?
Canadian white-tailed deer can get SARS-CoV-2. More importantly, they can maybe transmit it back to humans. This may sound scary, but it's unclear how often it…
- The Big Story
Who is Pierre Poilievre?
He's the heavy favourite to be the next leader of the federal Conservatives. He's a relentless attack dog that loves a good partisan brawl. He's angry…
- The Big Story
A friendly chat about the end of "normal"
Two years ago, things started changing ... quickly. They haven't stopped since. Yes, eventually the pandemic will end, but the normal we hoped would return is…
- The Big Story
How can Canadians help with the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine?
Discussion of Ukraine aid has focused mostly on military equipment—how NATO allies can aid the Ukrainians against Russia. Meanwhile, staggering numbers of…
- The Big Story
The Liberal-NDP deal: A complete FAQ
When the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties announced an agreement that would keep the Liberals in power until 2025 in exchange for advancing key…
- The Big Story
Why a no-fly zone won't happen, and what comes next in Ukraine?
It's been one request that absolutely nobody is willing to grant. While many NATO members are sending arms and aid to Ukrainians, President Volodymyr…
- The Big Story
Inside a funding controversy, and the fight for the meaning of Pride
When anomalies arose about nearly $2 million in grant money obtained by Toronto Pride, it prompted the new guard running the organization to commit to a review…
- The Big Story
Lots of things are bad. But not the Blue Jays.
We almost didn't have baseball back. In a winter filled with loss and discontent, maybe that wouldn't have mattered much. But the return of the game mattered a…
- The Big Story
Why does nothing ever change in Thunder Bay?
Thunder Bay, Ontario already had a reputation as a place with a racist police force, uninvestigated Indigenous deaths and missing persons who were barely even…
- The Big Story
Why the future of covid vaccines might not require a needle
By now many people assume we'll be getting annual covid boosters for the rest of our lives. That's possible, but there are other possibilities, too. In the…
- The Big Story
What's up with these crazy gas prices?
These last few weeks, the war in Ukraine has been at the front of everyone’s mind, and rightfully so. And while we in Canada have so far been insulated from…
- The Big Story
How a Canadian citizen allegedly built one of the largest drug empires in history...twice
Tse Chi Lop immigrated to Toronto from Guangzhou in 1988. As part of a collection of criminal associates known as The Big Circle Boys, he worked alongside the…
- The Big Story
How TikTok is changing the music industry
For the first time, this year's JUNO's Fan Choice award will be decided in partnership with the social media platform. TikTok has allowed a new era of Canadian…
- The Big Story
How ready is Canada for a nuclear attack?
This isn't intended to scare you. But with Vladimir Putin making clear threats towards potential nuclear warfare, it's certainly a question worth asking. And a…
- The Big Story
Instead of your carbon footprint, consider your climate shadow
One of the reasons the carbon footprint was created was to put personal responsibility for the climate crisis onto ordinary people, instead of large…
- The Big Story
How Canada's deputy PM led the financial pushback against Russia
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has deep Ukrainian roots. Depending on who you ask, those roots have been an asset or an anchor over the past few…
- The Big Story
Should we be ending mask mandates right now?
Will it all probably be fine, or are we asking for another wave? With Alberta already ending masking, and Ontario promising to follow suit, it's likely that…
- The Big Story
How anti-vax sentiment took over the wellness industry
They probably don't look like your typical picture of anti-vaxxers. They own yoga studios, or push organic juice on Instagram. But the wellness space has been…
- The Big Story
What will we learn from the Nova Scotia shooting inquiry?
It's the worst mass killing in Canadian history, and there are hundreds of questions still unanswered almost two years later. A public inquiry into the…
- The Big Story
The climate news is bad, but the fight's not over yet
For all the bad news (and there is a lot of it) contained in the newest IPCC report, there is also one very clear message: It's still possible to save our…
- The Big Story
How to tell truth from lies as footage emerges from Ukraine
The footage of that legendary fighter pilot is from a video game. The Ukrainians who told the Russian warship to "go f--- yourself" were not killed and are…
- The Big Story
How domestic labour from the West Indies reshaped Canada
When we share stories of immigration to Canada, we often tell them and hear them as individual, personal tales. And those stories are great—but they don't…
- The Big Story
Is Putin's Ukraine invasion the start of World War III?
It sounds like hyperbole—unless you listen to the Russian president's thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons on any country that intervenes with his…
- The Big Story
Why strip clubs are essential to finish Canada's vaccine campaign
On the surface it seems silly. Why hold a vaccination clinic at a strip club in downtown Toronto? But once you look a little deeper, the answer becomes…
- The Big Story
What will be the long-term impacts of the convoy protests?
Both the occupation of Ottawa and the federal government's use of the emergencies act were unprecedented. And it's hard to see a future where neither one is…
- The Big Story
What do we still not understand about blackface?
You would think that after so much "listening and learning" by white people over the past few years, we'd stop seeing them wearing blackface in Canada. But it…
- The Big Story
Rewind: How can Canada stop the growth of hate groups?
Yes, it's worse in America. But it's not great here, either. The past few years have seen an alarming rise in hate groups in Canada—and there's nothing on the…
- The Big Story
Meet Ontario’s ‘lion king’ and the laws that let his ‘zoos’ exist
Do you remember the Ikea Monkey? That's just the tip of the iceberg. A lack of provincial laws around exotic animals in Ontario means that there's nothing…
- The Big Story
Why is Canadian architecture always so bland?
Quick, name a signature, unique, statement building opened in Canada in the past couple of decades! Your choices are few and far between. And aside from some…
- The Big Story
What does "learning to live with Covid" really look like?
It's a tricky phrase—but these days you are as likely to hear it from a government official or public health officer as you are from someone who is just sick…
- The Big Story
Trying to follow the money flowing into the convoy protests
You might assume that millions of crowdfunded dollars are behind the scenes on the streets of Ottawa and at border crossings across the country. But very…
- The Big Story
How the Winter Olympics will (and won't) survive in the climate era
This Olympics will make history for an uncomfortable reason: It will be the first winter games where basically all the snow used will be man-made. Past…
- The Big Story
A trip inside the world of online reputation rehab
Some people deserve to have awful Google results. But a lot more people don't, and end up with them thanks to a vendetta, a soured relationship, or a targeted…
- The Big Story
In Ottawa, a tale of two protests ... and a dangerous ending
It might not look like it, but when you walk among them it becomes clear there's more than one group in Ottawa. If you want to find evidence that the…
- The Big Story
Is Russia really about to invade Ukraine?
Or is Vladimir Putin bluffing to gain the world's attention? The history of Russia-Ukraine conflict dates back decades and can only be properly understood by…
- The Big Story
A strange correlation between alternative schools and vaccine hesitancy
If you want to know which kids are least likely to get vaccinated, there’s a decent way to tell — they're the ones attending an alternative school. Even before…
- The Big Story
Inside a peaceful protest that stopped a pipeline
Amid the current rhetoric around protests across Canada, it's worth examining what successful, peaceful protest looks like, and what we can learn from it. It…
- The Big Story
The fight for the soul of the Conservative party
Since Stephen Harper left, the federal Conservatives are on their fifth leader in six years. Later this year they'll likely choose a sixth—and the party's…
- The Big Story
Why are some grocery store shelves empty? How high will food prices go?
Depending on where you stand, you may have blamed anything from Covid-19 to vaccine mandates, protesters to climate change, or even the federal government for…
- The Big Story
The incredible, feel-good story of Canada's men's soccer team
For decades, Canada's men's soccer team was irrelevant at best, a punchline at worst. While the women's side went on to Olympic medals and World Cup runs, the…
- The Big Story
Who went to Ottawa, why are they still there and what happens now?
It was only ever barely about vaccine mandates. As thousands of Canadians took their grievances to Ottawa, some of the ugliest parts of the far-right joined…
- The Big Story
What happened to Michael Dunahee?
The four-year-old boy, who went missing in 1991, might be Canada's most famous missing person. Thirty years after he vanished from a Victoria, BC playground, a…
- The Big Story
Are pop culture critics living inside bubbles?
Some critics have declared Harry Potter "over", or Lin-Manuel Miranda "cringe". In the real world, both Potter and Miranda remain enormously popular with…