Rob Ford’s colleagues laughed off his campaign for mayor. They shouldn’t have. They assumed the numerous scandals he’d already suffered through, and the fresh ones that would dominate his campaign, would crush his chances. They shouldn’t have. They ran traditional campaigns and counted on Torontonians to make a relatively traditional choice, the kind they’d always […]

2: City Hall

The tragic life and enduring legacy of Toronto's crack-smoking mayor.

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True crime

It was one of the strangest scandals in recent Canadian history, located right at the spot where the housing crisis collides with the climate crisis. From allegations of political corruption and  RCMP investigations to endangered species and Las Vegas massages.

Every Monday for the next three weeks, The Big Story, in partnership with The Narwhal, will take you into the heart of the Greenbelt scandal that rocked Ontario, speaking to the people who broke the story and people who lived it. If you think you know what happened... you don't know it all.

Hosted by Emma McIntosh, investigative reporter with The Narwhal.

Introducing Paydirt: The Inside Story of Ontario's Greenbelt Scandal

Amir Omidvar left Iran during the revolutionary crisis in 1982. For twenty months after leaving his home, Amir did everything he could to cross the Atlantic ocean. While taking refuge in Spain, he made three failed attempts to enter the US; a fake passport in Heathrow, a Mexican jail, and a beating by customs officers […]

The Hopeful: Heirloom

In 1994, a small church next to Toronto Pearson International Airport suddenly became one of the city’s “Top Tourist Attractions”. Why did millions of Christians flock from around the world? Was something truly supernatural happening? 25 years later, join Tara Jean Stevens as she revisits the unusual spiritual movement she was a part of as […]

Heaven Bent: The Revival

A secret war, a secret deal, and a scandal that threatened to destroy Ronald Reagan’s presidency–until it didn’t. The Gravy Train team is happy to bring you the first episode of Fiasco: Iran-Contra. From the co-creators of Slow Burn comes a podcast documentary about politics, power, and uncertainty. Host Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the […]

Introducing Fiasco: Iran-Contra

Toronto never got the chance to reelect Mayor Rob Ford. Nor did it get the chance to kick him out of office. It wasn’t the ending anyone wanted, it’s just what happened. And over the next few years, it would become clear just how profoundly Rob had changed politics, at home and around the world.

2: City Hall

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