Front Burner

One year ago, the Taliban effectively re-took control of Afghanistan. Chaos followed in the capital, as thousands of people desperate to get out of the country converged on the Kabul airport. As this was taking place, U.S. forces continued their withdrawal, which marked the end of a 20-year war.

Today on Front Burner, we’re talking to Kabul-based journalist Ali M. Latifi about this iteration of the Taliban’s rule one year on, the ongoing impact of economic sanctions and what daily life is like for many in the country now.

With its immense catalog of sounds — from old tracks to new and every remix in between — TikTok has evolved beyond its early days as a space for lip-syncing videos and dance trends into a cultural "tastemaker," and a driving force for the music industry.

The app is now partnering with Ticketmaster to help users find and buy concert tickets right on the app. With its recent filing to trademark "TikTok Music" in countries including the U.S., New Zealand, and the U.K., there's evidence that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, could try to compete with streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music.

Today on Front Burner, Insider media reporter Dan Whateley joins guest host Jason D'Souza to break down how TikTok has caused a paradigm shift in music — down to how it's written — and what its plans might be to leverage the app's power over the industry.

Despite its name, the Inflation Reduction Act is in large part a climate bill, with $369 billion US earmarked primarily for investments in green innovation in the U.S. and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. Senate narrowly granted its approval last weekend, paving the way to a House of Representatives vote where political observers anticipate it will pass and be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Today on Front Burner, guest host Jason D'Souza speaks with Time magazine senior climate reporter Justin Worland to learn more about how the historic — albeit watered down — climate investment, before hearing from Eddy Pérez with the Climate Action Network Canada to better understand how Canada's efforts now stack up against the U.S.

Monkeypox cases in North America continue to climb. Last week, the U.S. declared monkeypox a public health emergency. Here in Canada, the number of cases is approaching 1,000. The disease can be painful and the self-isolation period can be lengthy. Right now, men who have sex with men remain the most at risk of infection.

Today on Front Burner, Dr. Darrell Tan, a clinician scientist in the division of infectious diseases at Saint Michael's Hospital and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, discusses symptoms, transmission, treatment and the vaccine.

After her death by suicide in 2012, Amanda Todd’s name became closely linked with cyberbullying in Canada. From the ages of 12 to 15, the teen was relentlessly harassed and exploited online by more than 20 social media accounts that extorted her for sexual images.

On Saturday, nearly 10 years after her death, a 44-year-old Dutch national, Aydin Coban, was convicted of extortion, possession of child pornography, child luring and criminal harassment against Todd.

Today, Eva Uguen-Csenge — who helped cover the trial for CBC Vancouver — explains Amanda Todd’s story, and the significance of this guilty verdict now.

A warning that this episode contains descriptions of child sexual exploitation.

Quebec's Conservative party — unaffiliated with the federal Conservatives — had long been essentially a fringe party in the province, with no seats in the legislature, no invitations to major debates and little funding.

But since former talk radio host Éric Duhaime took over last year, the party has become a contender in Quebec politics, at some points polling as high as nearly 20 per cent.

A recent CBC News investigation found that of the first 54 candidates the party has announced, nearly 30 per cent have used their social media accounts during the pandemic to amplify medical misinformation, conspiracy theorists or to engage with far-right extremists.

Today on Front Burner, CBC's Jonathan Montpetit joins guest host Jason D'Souza to talk about the Quebec Conservative party under Duhaime's leadership, the supporters the party is attracting and the impact the party could have on Quebec politics.

For many years, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has touted that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a fake. The parents of its victims have been targeted because of Jones's claims that they were "crisis actors" in a plot to force gun control. Now, two of those parents are suing the InfoWars host for compensation and punitive damages.

Today Dan Solomon, senior editor at Texas Daily, tells us more about the surprising turns that went down in the trial and what's at stake for Jones's conspiracy media empire.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan may have been brief, but it wasn’t short on controversy.

She's the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in decades — but many worry her visit will fan the flames of an already tense relationship between the self-governed island and China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments.

Ahead of Pelosi's visit, China ramped up military drills near Taiwan, and Beijing has vowed to hold even more military exercises over the next several days. Some experts are calling it the most hazardous escalation between the two regions since the 1990s.

Today Christian Shepherd, a Washington Post correspondent based in Taipei, explains how tensions between China and Taiwan got to this point, and why Pelosi’s visit was so controversial.

As the global economy slows down, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing employees to speed up.

The Facebook and Instagram parent company set a record in February, losing the most stock value in a single day in U.S. history. But Zuckerberg has continued sinking billions of dollars into his vision of a “metaverse,” pressed for faster updates to compete with TikTok, and is upping the pressure on employees.

According to reports of an internal Q&A in June, Zuckerberg told employees: “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.”

Today, The Verge deputy editor Alex Heath explains the many threats to Meta that make this “the most pressure” it's ever faced, and how struggles across the tech sector are causing an unprecedented shift in its lavish culture.

Last week, Canada asked France to extradite a Catholic priest accused of crimes against Inuit children in Nunavut decades ago.

RCMP have said Rev. Johannes Rivoire is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant related to a sexual assault charge laid in February. Rivoire had previously been charged with sexually abusing children in Nunavut, but those charges were stayed in 2017.

In Iqaluit on Friday, as part of the Pope's final stop in his "penitential pilgrimage" in Canada, a delegation once again called on the pontiff to personally intervene.

Today, we're talking to investigative journalist Kathleen Martens about the long fight to put Rivoire on trial. This episode will also feature clips from Martens's exclusive interview with Rivoire for APTN.