Latest podcasts
- Can Canada afford big corporate stock buybacks?
Monday, February 27th 2023
Loblaw Companies, the country’s biggest grocery chain, reported its finances for 2022 on Thursday. In a year when Canadians felt the squeeze from skyrocketing grocery bills increased by inflation, the retailer posted net earnings of $2.3 billion dollars. Also in 2022, Loblaw spent $1.3-billion on something called stock buybacks, which pulls shares off the market and tends to pump up the prices of those still held by investors and executives. Loblaw isn’t alone in carrying out billion-dollar share buybacks. Today, CBC business journalist Pete Evans returns to explain why so many buybacks are happening, and why critics say they’re happening at the expense of Canadian workers, customers and productivity. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
- Can Canada afford big corporate stock buybacks?
Monday, February 27th 2023
Loblaw Companies, the country’s biggest grocery chain, reported its finances for 2022 on Thursday. In a year when Canadians felt the squeeze from skyrocketing grocery bills increased by inflation, the retailer posted net earnings of $2.3 billion dollars. Also in 2022, Loblaw spent $1.3-billion on something called stock buybacks, which pulls shares off the market and tends to pump up the prices of those still held by investors and executives. Loblaw isn’t alone in carrying out billion-dollar share buybacks. Today, CBC business journalist Pete Evans returns to explain why so many buybacks are happening, and why critics say they’re happening at the expense of Canadian workers, customers and productivity. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
- The AI chatbot: friend or foe?
Friday, February 24th 2023
Microsoft soft-launched its new AI-powered search engine in early February. After years of playing second fiddle to Google, the new Bing seemed to finally have something exciting to offer. More than a million people signed up on a wait list to try out the new feature. But it wasn’t long before some early testers reported that their interactions with the chatbot had taken an unsettling turn. For some, the bizarre interactions were disconcertingly similar to depictions of AI gone sentient straight out of science fiction. Today, Chris Stokel-Walker, a technology journalist and contributor to the Guardian’s TechScape newsletter, explains this latest chatbot, what the technology is doing and whether it’s as terrifying as it sounds.
- The AI chatbot: friend or foe?
Friday, February 24th 2023
Microsoft soft-launched its new AI-powered search engine in early February. After years of playing second fiddle to Google, the new Bing seemed to finally have something exciting to offer. More than a million people signed up on a wait list to try out the new feature. But it wasn’t long before some early testers reported that their interactions with the chatbot had taken an unsettling turn. For some, the bizarre interactions were disconcertingly similar to depictions of AI gone sentient straight out of science fiction. Today, Chris Stokel-Walker, a technology journalist and contributor to the Guardian’s TechScape newsletter, explains this latest chatbot, what the technology is doing and whether it’s as terrifying as it sounds.
- China's alleged attempts at election interference, explained
Thursday, February 23rd 2023
Late last week, the Globe and Mail broke an explosive story with allegations that China tried to influence the 2021 election here in Canada. Then, on Tuesday, a parliamentary committee that was already studying allegations of foreign meddling in the 2019 federal election decided to widen its scope. Elections Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and Liberal cabinet ministers were all summoned to testify to answer questions about these new allegations to determine what the government and national security agencies are doing to protect democracy in Canada. Today on Front Burner guest host Jodie Martinson is joined by Catherine Cullen, the host of CBC's political podcast, The House, and a senior reporter in our parliamentary bureau.