- Feedback: Landlords, podcast downloads and covering US politics
Monday, August 5th 2024
It's a long weekend, and that means it's time for us to reach into bag and pull out some the most thought-provoking pieces of listener feedback we've received over the past few months.
Even if your letter or voicemail didn't make it into this episode, please know that we've read them and appreciate them all the same! Please keep the feedback and story ideas coming!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Why are some tenants using the 'last resort' of rent strikes?
Sunday, August 4th 2024
We recently released an episode about a woman in Hamilton, Ontario who unwittingly became a landlord after the tenants in a house she intended to move into, refused to leave. Today we're revisiting an episode from 2023 that highlights the other side of that equation: the plight of renters in an increasingly unaffordable housing market. Enjoy!
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Rent in large Canadian cities is at ridiculous highs. It's hard to find a decent apartment. and sometimes even harder to keep it. Landlords can afford to neglect their buildings because units are so scarce, and what options do tenants have, exactly? Leave?! Stop paying rent?!
Well, yes, there are several rent strikes happening in Canada right now, mostly in Toronto. Some of them are closing in on six months or more. Evictions have been long-threatened, but slow to happen. Nor have the tenants received any concession or negotiation, even when the mayor stepped in. So what are rent strikes, how do they work, and what should you know about a renter's "last resort"?
GUEST: Ricardo Tranjan, Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; author of The Tenant Class
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Is the AI bubble about to pop?
Friday, August 2nd 2024
It's one thing for you or me to be skeptical of generative AI. Sure, we might not have much practical use for it, and it may keep giving us the wrong answers to questions or images of people with too many fingers ... but there are billions and billions of dollars to be made here, right?
A report last month from investment firm Goldman Sachs says "Maybe not." The report takes a clear-eyed look at the promise and potential of generative AI, compared to what has actually come to fruition and how much better AI may or may not get. The conclusions offer a picture of a Next Big Thing that might simply never get there.
GUEST: Ed Zitron, technology writer, author of Where's Your Ed At?
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- How 'weird' became a devastating political insult
Thursday, August 1st 2024
American Democrats had long prided themselves on taking the high road in the face of insults and mockery from the right. But over the past week, their tone—and the vibes of the presidential campaign—have shifted. Since Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee, she and other top democrats have begun calling their Republican opponents just plain "weird" and sometimes "creepy".
The response to it from the right has been fascinating. And Harris certainly appears to have wiped out the deficit she inherited from Joe Biden and brought the race even again. Why has "weird" worked so well? How has the race actually changed on the ground? What will define the final few months of the campaign?
GUEST: Aaron Rupar, American political journalist, founder of Public Notice
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- What exactly is the "Road Rage Terror Tour"?
Wednesday, July 31st 2024
It's not your favourite metal band's summer itinerary. It's a group of far-right extremists who are travelling the country hosting events in venues that range from auditoriums to city parks. The content is about what you'd expect, and has led to several venues closing their doors, but that only leads to claims of censorship.
Why are we telling you about this and possibly raising its profile? Because it can be easy to pretend groups like this don't exist in Canada, or that stuff like Diagolon only exists online. But it's increasingly turning up in our neighbourhoods and communities. So what, exactly, is the purpose of the "terror tour"? Who's hosting it, how did it come to be ... and what do you need to know about it if it comes to your town?
GUEST: Jen St. Denis, reporter, The Tyee
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
