Many cities are seeing sky high real estate prices. Sure, interest rates are low. But that's not everything. So why are Canadians so committed to home ownership, and what else is behind the Canadian love affair with housing that keeps pushing prices higher?

Also on the show — we revisit a story from December 2020. If you've stopped taking public transit during the pandemic, you're not alone. With ridership numbers tanking, municipalities across the country are turning to on-demand transit. Does it work for everyone?

Digital assets called non-fungible tokens (or "niftys" as some of the kids are calling them these days) are selling for thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars these days. They leverage the same type of blockchain technology that cryptocurrencies use. But how do you buy them? What do you get? And are they really a new class of assets - like real estate or stocks?

Also this week - the world of online shopping has been accelerated by the pandemic. For big players like Amazon or Walmart, it's been a gold rush in some ways. But for the little guys who had to go online too, it was a lot more complicated. And many adjusted by hitting up third-party logistics. We explain just what 3PL is and how local, smaller businesses are dealing with complicated operations far beyond taking your order to a local post office.

And with many parts of Canada's energy sector still reeling, the job market in the oil patch is tough. There are lots of questions about what the future may hold for energy workers who lost their jobs. Can they ever find work again in oil and gas, and if not — where?

This week the Cost of Living team gets an insider's look at what it takes to compete in Canada's telecom industry from the former CEO of Wind Mobile. Also have you ever wondered why you need to find out about someone's favourite blanket, why their kids love the colour mauve, and the story behind an interesting pair of socks before you find out how to make a simple chocolate chip cookie? We explain the ingredients in those never-ending online recipe posts. Finally, we say goodbye to a Canadian breakfast cereal — one that has some fans searching stores across the country for the few remaining boxes.

This week, we're talking about how to get invited into the club. Clubhouse, that is. If you haven't managed to snag access to the exclusive, iPhone-only, by-invitation-only, audio-only chat app, The Cost of Living goes behind the velvet rope and asks whether social media is fragmenting too much — and whether that matters.

Plus nobody enjoys paying taxes. But what happens when a 17-year-old Starbucks barista gets a phone call from the tax department telling her she owes $8 million? Sometimes those CRA scam calls aren't a scam — and with 2020 being a more complicated tax year it's worth paying closer attention.

And wasn't it better when you put on your jelly shoes, hoop earrings and a Benneton shirt to go to the mall? Do you pine for those totally radical days of yore? Be kind and rewind the VHS tape with us as we look at why products and pop culture are digging into the 1980s and 1990s so much right now. The nostalgia effect is real, and it's spectacular — especially during the pandemic.

Businesses from restaurants to fitness centres are banking — literally, in some cases — on Canadians rushing back to them after the pandemic feels more under control and vaccinations take root. Paul Haavardsrud asks how much is that demand actually building up, and what's it actually worth?

Plus there's yet another popular pandemic pastime... this one is more of a blanket trend. Quilting! Producer Tracy Fuller pulls all the threads together to patch together what's happening.

And ever have that nightmare where you forget something important in a job interview? What if the thing missing is "other human beings?" More companies are now using "asynchronous" job screening — a one-way interview where you are facing a computer. Producer Madeleine Cummings finds out who gets the advantage when an algorithm takes on hiring decisions.

This week, we look at economic indicators like copper and lumber to find out what they can tell us about our economic recovery. Also, we find out what's behind U.S. trade investigations into Canadian blueberries, strawberries and bell peppers. Finally, Black book sales are booming. We look at the numbers and the movement driving consumer interest in Black literary representation.

Working from home during the pandemic provides more flexibility, sure. But it also means working around the clock. It's time to talk about burnout. Also, we take you inside one of Canada's largest dry-cleaning chains to find out what our laundry tells us about the economy. Finally, how the warehouse boom might reshape our cities.

Unusual items are becoming popular with collectors — and the prices are hitting high points that are just as unusual. So what's going on with the amazing highs we're seeing in the world of collectibles?

Also, we look at the economic impact of hosting a sports bubble. Do they create the economic activity governments suggest they do?

Finally, saving circles are a popular way to save money and avoid traditional banks. Now FinTech firms are taking notice. So what is peer lending and why is big finance taking interest - both literally and figuratively?

Internationally, markets are hitting all-time highs, including the Toronto Stock Exchange. Financial markers — some conventional, others less so — are going up, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The saga of GameStop, Reddit and retail investors is just one example of markets gone weird. So is it time to worry, or just time to pay really close attention to what's happening right now?

General Motors says it's going all-electric by 2035. This could be the tipping point for the electric vehicle revolution. So will Canada's auto industry come along for the ride?

Finally, the first Black railway union in North America was formed in Canada back in 1919 — six years before that happened in the United States. It's a part of Black history in this country that still resonates today. So as Black History Month begins, we look at a part of the story told less often and how the legacy of Black porters still matters to Canadian workers today.

Young people are bearing the brunt of pandemic job losses over the last year. We take a closer look at who is working and who isn't as the economy continues to face challenges from COVID-19 and its fallout.

Plus we explain just what has been happening with so-called "meme stocks" over the past few days. Why has the hottest stock been a video game store that was flirting with major challenges just a few weeks ago?

Finally we follow the money when it comes to international remittances from the Filipino community. Despite the pandemic, the amount of money sent from Canada to the Philippines was relatively unchanged in 2020. We talk to members of Calgary's Filipino community to find out how remittance works, why it matters — and why the amount of money hasn't gone down.