Front Burner

Yesterday, Donald Trump was sworn in for the second time as President of the United States.

In his inaugural address and as he signed executive orders throughout the day, Trump made his priorities for his first days in office clear. He declared an emergency at the southern border, made it the official policy of the United States that "there are only two genders", said America was "taking back" the Panama Canal and much, much more.

Many of these moves are things that Trump has promised or threatened to do on "day one". Which is why on the eve of inauguration day we spoke to Tolu Olorunnipa, the Washington Bureau Chief with the Washington Post and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book 'His Name is George Floyd' about what to expect in the coming days of the second Trump Presidency.

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

For weeks, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has been talking about making Canada the 51st state. He’s even said that he’d look to use economic force to ‘get rid’ of the border between the two countries.

Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary has been pushing the potential benefits of an ‘economic union’ with the U.S. He explained his case in a feature interview with host Jayme Poisson on Sunday.

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

On Drugs looks through the lenses of history, pop culture and personal experience to understand how drugs have shaped our world. Because even if it’s just caffeine or ibuprofen, there’s a good chance you’re on drugs right now. More episodes of On Drugs are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/aRCxzV

It was another really busy week in Canadian politics.

It began with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s trip to Mar-a-Lago to talk tariffs and Canadian oil with Trump and his team, and it rolled into a meeting between Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where Smith did not get onside with her colleagues.

The Liberal leadership race narrowed further, and on Thursday, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney threw his hat into the ring.

Catherine Cullen is the host of CBC's The House. Jason Markusoff is a producer and writer with CBC Calgary. They join host Jayme Poisson to talk about it all.

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

Israel and Hamas signed a deal for a ceasefire set to begin Sunday January 19th that will see the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israel and the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The news was met with celebrations in Gaza where Palestinians have been suffering under a brutal Israel offensive since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Tens of thousands are dead, more than a million displaced and much of the strip is destroyed. 

Ceasefire negotiations have dragged on in Qatar between Israel, Hamas, the U.S. and other countries for months. So why has an agreement finally been reached now? Chaim Levinson, senior diplomatic correspondent at Ha’aretz, joins us to parse through the details of the deal, how it was reached and what could happen next.

Fires continue to burn in Los Angeles as millions of people remain under an extreme fire weather alert. The Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire have already flattened entire neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, leaving nothing but outlines and ash where homes once stood. It is expected that this will all amount to the worst natural disaster in American history in terms of cost and scale.

These fires raise major questions about the future of Los Angeles, who is to blame, insurance and just how prepared we are for worsening fires and other climate change fueled disasters.

To discuss the size and scope of these fires, and what can be learned from them, we’re joined by David Wallace-Wells, New York Times writer and columnist and author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming. 

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

Donald Trump is building the wealthiest cabinet in American history with 13 billionaires set to be part of his administration. That of course includes his vocal backer and X CEO, Elon Musk. But it’s not just the ones joining him in office. A parade of CEOs and business giants have met with him over the past month in Mar-A-Lago including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Canada’s Kevin O’Leary.

Even in a country where the super rich have always had an outsized role in American life, this moment stands out. But does it compare to the past and other administrations and why are they aligning themselves with Trump so publicly now?

To explore this shift we’re joined by Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University and the author of Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. 

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

A week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation, a much clearer picture of the Liberal leadership race has emerged.

Whoever the candidate ends up being will have the challenge of running both a leadership and a general election campaign at essentially the same time.

According to some recent polling by Abacus Data, that won’t be the only challenge.

David Coletto is the founder and CEO of the polling firm. He’ll talk about that, how Canadians are responding to Trudeau’s resignation, and what that means for the Liberal party.

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

Joe Biden will end his reign as President as not only the oldest holder of the executive office, but one of the longest tenured lawmakers in American history. As he enters his twilight in public life, we look at the President’s final few weeks in office and ask: how is Joe Biden likely to be remembered? 

President Biden’s final weeks in office include the controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter, and the passage of the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern American history. But many believe he should use his final days to pass meaningful legislation on issues ranging from racial justice to the environment, national parks, abortion and Gaza. 

Our guest is Alex Shephard is a Senior Editor at The New Republic and has been writing about Biden through his Presidency, and beyond.

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

With just under two weeks until he re-takes the Oval Office, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has outlined a mind-map of sorts to, as he says, “make Canada the 51st American state.”

He has referred to the border separating Canada and the U.S. as an “artificial line,” called Justin Trudeau Canada’s “Governor” and said Canada would “dissolve” without U.S. assistance.

At the same time, he’s not ruling out forcibly incorporating the territory of Greenland into the U.S. and seizing control of the Panama Canal, a crucial shipping route.

Threat, negotiation tactic, or meaningless bluster? CBC Washington correspondent Katie Simpson unpacks where it’s all coming from.

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