- How Canada is preparing for day one of the second Trump era
Monday, January 20th 2025
For months, Donald Trump has threatened economic pain on Canada, with tariffs of up to 25 per cent on imports. This could begin as early as today, when he’s inaugurated as U.S. president. Canada has said that nothing is off the table when it comes to its response — whether that’s dollar-for-dollar tariffs or blocking oil exports. But with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing he will resign and a Liberal leadership campaign underway, premiers have been stepping forward to take a more prominent role in the ‘Team Canada’ approach.
By day, Jeff Gray covers Ontario politics for the Globe, but in his free time, he coaches House League hockey – so he understands how delicate team dynamics can be. He’s on the show today to talk about how premiers have been filling the leadership vacuum, and how they are dealing with conflicting interests in an attempt to show a united front against Trump.
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- The difficult path ahead for peace in Gaza
Friday, January 17th 2025
The mood in Israel and Gaza turned from celebratory to uncertain in the hours after a ceasefire deal was announced. The day after the deal was made public, Israel continued air strikes in Gaza and then delayed a vote on the deal. But by the end of Thursday, it looked like the process may be back on track.
Thomas Juneau is a professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa. He explains what we know about the deal so far, and how the most difficult part of this ceasefire has yet to happen.
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- Machines Like Us: This mother says a chatbot led to her son’s death
Thursday, January 16th 2025
In February, 2024, Megan Garcia’s 14-year-old son Sewell took his own life.
As she tried to make sense of what happened, Megan discovered that Sewell had fallen in love with a chatbot on Character.AI – an app where you can talk to chatbots designed to sound like historical figures or fictional characters. Now Megan is suing Character.AI, alleging that Sewell developed a “harmful dependency” on the chatbot that, coupled with a lack of safeguards, ultimately led to her son’s death.
They’ve also named Google in the suit, alleging that the technology that underlies Character.AI was developed while the founders were working at Google. ‘Machines Like Us’ reached out to Character.AI and Google about this story. Google did not respond to request for comment and a spokesperson for Character .AI said “we do not comment on pending litigation.”
Host Taylor Owen spoke to Megan Garcia and her lawyer, Meetali Jain, to talk about her son and how chatbots are becoming a part of our lives – and the lives of children.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24-7 by calling or texting 988, Canada’s national suicide prevention helpline.
- What 2025 holds for your personal finances
Wednesday, January 15th 2025
If you kicked off 2025 making personal finance resolutions, it can be hard to know where to start. That question is made more difficult when factoring in all the uncertainty around how the tariffs that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to enact will affect our economy.
Rob Carrick is the Globe’s personal finance columnist and co-host of Stress Test, the Globe’s personal finance podcast for Gen Z and millennials. He’s on the show to talk about what to expect from the year ahead in personal finance, whether you’re looking to get on top of your investments, establish an emergency fund, or dip your toe into the housing market.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]
- The women changing the face of Canadian rodeo
Tuesday, January 14th 2025
Cowgirls love the rodeo just as much as cowboys, but for the better part of the past century, there’s only been one event for women — until now. Breakaway roping, dubbed the fastest event in rodeo, has swept competitions across North America, and is corralling more space for cowgirls in the process.
The Globe’s Jana Pruden was at the 50th Canadian Finals Rodeo this fall, where the second-ever women’s event was showcased at the country’s biggest rodeo for the first time. She speaks with Canadian breakaway ropers and gives us a sense of the history of women in rodeo, and just how hard they’ve worked to rope and ride alongside the cowboys.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]
