- Is "It's your mess, you clean it up!" a viable recycling strategy?
Monday, October 23rd 2023
Technically, it's called "extended producer responsibility"—and in practice it means governments handing over the task of recycling packaging to the companies that produce the waste. It happens in some capacity in most of Canada, and now Ontario is turning all of its recycling over to this model.
But can we really trust for-profit companies to take recycling seriously? Are we seeing the lower costs and packaging innovations that are supposed to be the upsides of using this strategy? When we say, "It's your mess, you clean it up!"—what happens if they don't?
GUEST: Calvin Lakhan, co-investigator of the “Waste Wiki” project at York University's Faculty of Environment and Urban Change, a research project devoted to advancing understanding of waste management research and policy in Canada.
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Trailer: In This Economy?!
Saturday, October 21st 2023
The team behind The Big Story, has a new podcast! Hosted by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, In This Economy?! debuts with weekly episodes on Nov. 2. You can follow the show on your preferred podcast app right here!
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Inside the hilarious, secretive and petty world of book blurbs
Friday, October 20th 2023
We've all been told not to judge a book by its cover. So why do so many people—from readers, to retailers, to publishers and reviewers—judge them by one little name, next to a little generic quote, that appears on that cover?
If you've ever chosen your next read because the book came with a kind word from your favourite author, or if you've ever read some of those effusive blurbs, then read the book and wondered, "Did that person even read this thing?!" ... well, welcome to the publishing industry's weirdest little secret world.
It's "an amazing episode of The Big Story, one of the best for sure!" — Producer Joseph Fish
GUEST: Sophie Vershbow, writing in Esquire
(The team behind The Big Story, has a new podcast! Hosted by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, In This Economy?! debuts with weekly episodes on Nov. 2. You can listen to the trailer and follow the show on your preferred podcast app right here!)
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- The world waits for Israel's ground offensive, and whatever comes next
Thursday, October 19th 2023
The Israel-Hamas war is near a tipping point. At some point Israel will have to decide to push forward with a massive and unprecedented ground offensive into Gaza in an attempt to eradicate Hamas, or find a way to back down from its stated goal of its response. A large-scale ground invasion, however, may well draw other entities into a widening conflict.
If Israel sends in ground troops, what happens next? How reliable is information coming out of Gaza right now? Will US President Joe Biden's presence in the region Wednesday accomplish anything? And is there any hope of a ceasefire?
GUEST: Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for The Economist; Author, How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within.
(The team behind The Big Story, has a new podcast! Hosted by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, In This Economy?! debuts with weekly episodes on Nov. 2. You can listen to the trailer and follow the show on your preferred podcast app right here!)
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Why is BC banning drug use in public spaces?
Wednesday, October 18th 2023
Earlier this year, the province decriminalized certain amounts of some hard drugs, in an attempt to curb the overdose crisis. Nine months later, the same government has introduced legislation to ban those same drugs from public use. On the surface it looks like two conflicting approaches to the same problem—but is that true?
What do we know about how decriminalization has gone so far? What will the new act mean for users in the province, and for non-users who share public space with them? How will the ban be enforced, and who will it impact? And most importantly, with the crisis closing in on a decade, and deaths still mounting ... will it help?
GUEST: Dr. Lindsay Richardson, associate professor, University of British Columbia; Canada Research Chair in Social Inclusion and Health Equity
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
