Front Burner

It's been a remarkable week in the world of Artificial Intelligence. Last Tuesday, a researcher resigned from Anthropic, saying AI companies are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives." A current Anthropic employee agreed, saying he gives AI more than a 10 per cent chance of causing human extinction within the next 10 years.

Then on Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling to slow the development of AI, so that safety measures can keep pace with the technology. His competitors, Sam Altman and Elon Musk, endorsed the idea.

Gary Marcus is a cognitive scientist, an AI expert, and author of books including Taming Silicon Valley. He is a frequent skeptic of the AI industry's claims, but he saw some things he liked in Dario Amodei's essay. He joins us to talk about why this discussion is happening now, just how dangerous AI really is, and what we should do about it.

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

This week, some of the biggest financiers in the world will be gathering in downtown Toronto along with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country's premiers for an investment summit. 

The summit is part of Carney's plan to spur $1-trillion worth of investment in the country over the next five years. Senior business writer Peter Armstrong talks to Jayme Poisson about what's on offer, to whom, and considers the question: with all the uncertainty caused by the ongoing trade war is Canada really a safe bet?

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

As the trade war between Canada and the U.S. continued to deepen this week, U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke ahead of a fourth round of negotiations between the two countries later this month. 

Today, we look at the view from Mexico, the other partner in the CUSMA trio. What are the big table stakes in Mexico’s negotiations with the US? What kind of tightrope is Sheinbaum walking? And how could whatever happens between Mexico and the U.S. affect Canada? 

Alex González Ormerod is a Mexico City-based analyst and the founder and director of The Mexico Political Economist where he covers Mexican business news and policy for a global audience.

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

Many economists say the bond market is the most important financial market in the world. It sets the baseline for almost everything Canadians borrow: mortgages, car loans, lines of credit. And right now, it’s looking pretty weird.

30-year U.S. Treasury yields are the highest they’ve been since 2007, in the runup to the great financial crisis. The U.S. now spends more on interest payments than they do on defence.

Canadian bond yields are rising too. But, on the whole, the market here seems more stable than it is in the U.S. At a press conference last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney assured reporters that “we have our house in order.”

John Authers is a senior markets editor at Bloomberg, and he’s on the show to explain why the bond market matters, and whether a shaky U.S. treasury market could be a boon for Canada.

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

The U.S. announced a new string of bans and tariffs against Canadian products, set to go into effect later this month. This came after Canada imposed counter-tariffs against billions of dollars of American imports. As the trade war ramps up, we look to both sides of the border to see where it's all heading and what it would take to get back to the negotiating table.

Politico's Ottawa Bureau Chief Nick Taylor-Vaisey joins us from Ottawa, alongside Politico's Washington-based international trade reporter Daniel Desrochers.

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

This week will mark 25 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Those attacks, by al-Qaeda, killed nearly 3000 people.

What followed that tragedy was the 'War on Terror', characterized by a series of foreign wars and domestic security measures. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, detention and torture at Guantanamo Bay and countless other prisons, and a mass surveillance system designed to go after any perceived threat on American soil.

Spencer Ackerman is a national security reporter who has spent pretty much his entire career covering the aftermath of 9/11 and five years ago he released his book, 'Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 era Destabilized America and Produced Trump'. He joins us to talk about how this continues to shape U.S. politics today. 

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

The Mile Zero Murders investigates the baffling wave of disappearances and murders in the small town of Dawson Creek, B.C., a community struggling with a deadly local drug trade. Host Timothy Sawa explores missing person cases like that of Cole Hosack and Renee Didier, pursuing leads from grieving families, reluctant authorities and the drug dealers themselves. The question that drives this series is the same one that haunts this community: where is the justice?

About UNCOVER: Crime. Investigation. Revelation. Uncover brings you explosive, high-caliber true crime year-round. From CIA mind control to serial abuse, mysterious disappearances to wrongful imprisonment. Each season features a new host who is deeply connected to the story, committed to tracking down the truth. With over 30 seasons to choose from, Uncover represents the best in true crime.

More episodes of The Mile Zero Murders are available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/MZMxFB

In her piece for the Atlantic, “The end of reading is here”, Rose Horowitch makes the case that across the board in the U.S. – people are reading less. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, fewer than half of all American adults reported having read a book of any kind in 2022. Horowitch speaks with host Jayme Poisson about how this decline in reading has a dramatic effect on not only our leisure time and the education system, but also the way that we think and structure our society.

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

In just over a month, Quebecers will head to the ballot box. And, until recently, this election seemed like a foregone conclusion: the Parti Quebecois, running on a promise to hold another independence referendum, had been ahead in the polls for the better part of three years.

Then, the Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed, and Quebec’s political future suddenly looks uncertain. The governing Coalition Avenir Quebec has surged from a distant fourth place, the PQ has shelved its referendum until after Donald Trump leaves office, and the U.S. commerce secretary has accused Mark Carney of “manufacturing” a fight over the French language to stop the sovereigntists from winning.

Paul Journet is a political columnist for La Presse, and he unpacks what this election means for the province – and for the rest of the country.

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

After a vote this weekend, the far right could take power in a part of Germany for the first time since WWII. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is far ahead in the polls in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt. They're promising massive changes to immigration, education, and what they call "patriotic cultural policy." Their rise is testing the country's firewall strategy, which was designed to stop parties seen as extremist from gaining power. CBC's Jessica Singer speaks with guest host Jason Markusoff about her reporting from the region in the run-up to the election.

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