- Has Canada's Truth and Reconciliation progress stalled?
Monday, September 30th 2024
Today marks the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is a good chance to assess where we stand on the 94 Calls to Action. After significant early progress, the past two years have seen ... not much. So why has Canada fallen behind?
Has the government changed its focus? Have we simply done all the "easy" work and not yet dug into the toughest, most systemic problems? Are we in danger of turning this national day of reflection into a symbol that sacrifices the urgency out of which it was created?
GUEST: Dr. Eva Jewell, research director at Yellowhead Institute, assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
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- The strange origin story of psychedelics in Saskatchewan
Sunday, September 29th 2024
For this Sunday's look-back episode, we're revisiting an interview from January 2022 about a psychedelic renaissance taking place in an unlikely locale.
Have a lovely long weekend!
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In the 1950s, before they fuelled the acid-trips of the '60s, psychedelics were being passed around the Weyburn Mental Hospital in Saskatchewan. And not just among the patients—as well as being given to those struggling with mental illness, doctors and their spouses were using them on themselves—for "research purposes".
How did Saskatchewan become the world's psychedelic hub? What did we learn there that would inform the rise in use and then strict enforcement of these drugs in the decades to come? And how can it help us understand why these drugs are now making a return to therapy?
GUEST: Erika Dyck, historian of health, medicine, and Canadian society at the University of Saskatchewan and Canada Research Chair in the History of Medicine; author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD on the Canadian Prairies
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
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- What the new mortgage rules mean for new (and existing) home buyers
Saturday, September 28th 2024
This episode first aired on September 26, 2024 over at In This Economy?!, our sister show at the Frequency Podcast Network. The show helps Canadians understand the systems behind their money problems so they can make informed decisions about their personal finances. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a follow!
The federal government has announced changes to mortgage amortizations and insurance rules, calling them “the most significant mortgage reforms in decades.” But what do these changes really mean for new home buyers? And existing ones? Will they help with the affordability crisis, or focus more on accessibility?
GUEST: Angela Calla, accredited mortgage professional and author of 'The Mortgage Code'
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
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- How The Roaring Lion was lost and found again...
Friday, September 27th 2024
It's one of the most iconic photographic portraits in world history—and it hangs in one of the most famous buildings in the Canadian capital. At least it did, until it was stolen...
The story of The Roaring Lion theft involves international intrigue, world history, careful detective work and one of this country's most renowned artists. But most of all, it's a riveting heist tale that spans from Canada to Europe, and who doesn't love one of those?
GUEST: Brett Popplewell, author, reporter, associate professor; writing in The Walrus
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- A story of pipelines, consultants and conflicts of interest
Thursday, September 26th 2024
The federal government—as well as the government-owned crown corporation Trans Mountain—has paid tens of millions of dollars in two separate contracts to McKinsey and Company, one of the world's premier consulting firms. One of the contracts was given to offer advice on clean technology, despite McKinsey also working with some of the world's largest fossil fuel companies.
The other, worth far more, was to find efficiencies in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project—a project already billions of dollars over budget and well behind schedule. What did the government get for its money? Did it know about the conflicts of interest before signing the deal? Why throw millions at a project already well behind? Just how much do we know about how the government spends money on these contracts, anyway?
GUEST: Mike De Souza, Director of Enterprise and Investigations, The Narwhal
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
