Front Burner

Celebrated author Naomi Klein joins the show to talk about how Mark Carney's response to Trump's trade war echoes themes in her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. We also discuss her latest work "End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Ten years ago, Britain voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the European Union. The result reshaped British politics, triggered years of negotiations and remains deeply contested a decade later. Now, as Alberta prepares to vote on whether to begin a process that could eventually lead to separation from Canada, there are obvious differences between the two situations, but also some striking parallels.

We hear from three people who experienced Brexit from very different perspectives: a former Conservative MP who supported leaving the EU, an Alberta separatist who says independence needs a concrete plan, and a Brexit scholar who warns that the political fallout from a referendum can last for years.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

A recent terrorism arrest in Alberta has been linked to the group 764, an extremist network that coerces children into self-harming and sharing sexual material. But many of the perpetrators aren't adults, they're also minors.

Ioanna Roumeliotis, co-host of CBC's The Fifth Estate, has reported extensively on the 764 network. She joins Jayme Poisson to talk about who this group is, how it operates, and why some victims have struggled to get law enforcement to take action.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Prime Minister Mark Carney has been working to bring more foreign investment into Canada. At his recent Investment Summit, he told investors from all over the world that Canada “has what the world wants." 

This got us wondering, who already owns Canada's businesses and infrastructure? And could that change now that the government is courting more outside investment? 

Earlier this year, Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, wrote a piece called “Masters in our own house”, where he looked at how much of our economy is owned by foreign entities. He talks about what a new wave of foreign investment means for our sovereignty.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Today is the sixth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, where the country remembers the 150,000 Indigenous kids who were taken from their communities and forced to enrol in Indian Residential Schools. While there, they were subjected to widespread abuse and mistreatment. Thousands died before they could return home.

There is a large historical record attesting to this fact. But tens of thousands of survivor testimonies are on track to be destroyed next year. These painful stories were heard and documented as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement agreement.

Connie Walker is the host of the Pulitzer and Peabody prize winning podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michaels which looked at her own father's experience at a residential school. She has been working to build a new archive of residential school survivor testimonies. She talks about the urgency of preserving these stories, at a time when there's an upswing in residential school denialism.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

In just over five weeks, Americans will head to the polls for the midterm elections and the contours of the vote are taking shape.

Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress. Trump’s approval ratings are underwater, with the economy and cost of living a central concern. In some Republican races candidates are beginning to put some distance between themselves and the president.

But what larger questions are Americans being asked to confront this November? Is this a referendum on Donald Trump? On the economy? On the war in Iran? Or will this be about the Democratic Party's attempt to carve out a coherent identity post-Biden? 

Alex Shephard is a Senior Editor at The New Republic. He's our guest today.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

A new investigation into the Tumbler Ridge shooter's use of ChatGPT has revealed some disturbing information. It has long been public knowledge that the 18-year-old had used the chatbot months before she killed her mother, half-brother, five students and an educator at school, before turning the gun on herself. That account was flagged and shut down.

But a story in the American outlet Mother Jones reveals the extent to which Jesse van Rootselaar is alleged to have used a second chatGPT account right up to the day of the massacre. CBC has not independently verified this reporting.

Mark Follman, the national affairs editor at Mother Jones, reported this story and has been looking closely at the role of ChatGPT in mass shootings and other violence. He joins Jayme to talk about what he found.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The United States is getting older, and so, increasingly, are the people charged with governing it.

The average age of a U.S. senator is 64-years-old and in the House it's 58, according to 2025 numbers. Dozens of elected officials are in their 70s and 80s. Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump both turned 80 in office. As a result, Americans have seen questions about the age and capacity of their leaders become a central feature of the national conversation. 

What happens when the people at the top don't leave? And at what point does an aging society become a gerontocracy? 

Samuel Moyn is a political theorist and professor at Yale university. He's the author of several books, including 'Gerontocracy in America'. He's our guest today.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

On Tuesday, B.C. Premier David Eby called a snap election, two years into his term. He said the province needs to show a strong response to American aggression. 

This was just two days after the leader of the Opposition, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, resigned, following a tumultuous four months that included a string of firings and defections, leaks from caucus meetings, and allegations of spying. 

Eby's critics are calling his timing "cynical" and "profoundly undemocratic." It could also end up backfiring, since the election call has been a rally cry for unity on the right.

Rob Shaw, who covers B.C. politics for CHEK news and Glacier Media, explains how divisions and dysfunction inside the B.C. Conservatives triggered a high-stakes political gamble in the province.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won a record number of seats in the country's parliamentary elections. Putin is expected to frame the result as an endorsement of his war with Ukraine. And, according to Ukrainian intelligence, he may mobilize hundreds of thousands more Russian troops before the end of the year. 

All of this has Europe on edge. Because Russia hasn't just been targeting Ukraine – but Ukraine’s allies too. In the last few weeks, a Russian ship fired flares at a Danish military helicopter, NATO jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, and Germany thwarted a suspected Russian drone attack at one of their airports. 

Many observers think Russia is intentionally trying to provoke NATO. But why? And what happens if NATO decides to fight back?

Victor Jack, POLITICO’s NATO reporter, joins us from NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts