Front Burner

As you’re probably well aware, traffic in cities across Canada is mind-numbingly bad. The geolocation firm TomTom recently ranked Toronto as having the worst traffic in North America with Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal also in the top ten. 

And as the debates about how to fix it rage on, it’s only seeming to get worse. 

That issue is being brought into sharp relief in Ontario right now, where a new bill would force municipalities across the province to get permission before installing any new bike lanes.

So here’s a conversation with Jennifer Keesmaat. She’s the former chief planner of Toronto and one of Canada’s most renowned voices on urban issues.

We’re going to talk about the solutions to traffic that don’t work and the ones that do.

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

In the last few months, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has appeared on shows with huge audiences of young men. He’s been doing interviews with people like influencer Logan Paul, comedian Theo Von, video game streamer Adin Ross…all people outside the usual political media, and all with millions of followers.

These appearances are just part of a deluge of efforts to court Gen Z men, in what some have called the bro or frat vote in the upcoming U.S election.

Polls show that an enormous gulf has opened up between young men and women this election season - with young men way more likely to support Donald Trump.

The Guardian U.S.’ senior features writer Sam Wolfson on why and how young men have shifted to Trump, and how this shift to the right is part of a global trend.

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

The allegations from the RCMP and the federal government last week are nothing short of explosive: That agents of the Indian government had been involved in “widespread violence” against Canadians on Canadian soil.

But these kinds of allegations aren’t just coming out of Canada. High-level agents within the Indian government have allegedly been linked to assassination attempts, surveillance and harassment in the US, Pakistan, Germany, the UK and Australia. Many of the targets are Sikh activists in the Indian diaspora, who had sought exile abroad.

We’re joined by Greg Miller an investigative foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, and Gerry Shih, the Washington Post’s India bureau chief, to talk about what their reporting into India’s campaign of “transnational repression” has revealed.

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

The terror attacks of September 11th have Americans turning the dial to talk radio, where a whole new generation of broadcasters are eager to capitalize on anxiety and fear.

This is episode 4 of The Flamethrowers, the story of how radio energized and then radicalized a conservative base. Hosted by Justin Ling. 

More episodes are available here.

Tomorrow, British Columbians head to the polls in a provincial election that’s seen plenty of twists and turns.

There was the collapse of the B.C. United party, formerly the B.C Liberal party, which really opened the door for the further rise of the B.C. Conservative Party, and its leader John Rustad.

Rustad, who’s running to be premier of B.C., is in a tight race with sitting B.C. NDP premier David Eby. Controversial and conspiracy-laden comments by Rustad himself, and a number of his candidates have taken up a lot of oxygen.

CBC’s B.C. provincial affairs reporter Katie Derosa joins host Jayme Poisson to sort through all the political drama.

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

Republicans have already filed over 100 lawsuits in US courts, in what critics say is an attempt to overturn the upcoming election. Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent with Mother Jones, brings us the latest on how the 2020 Stop the Steal movement shaped the 2024 election.

He also talks about the fifteen years he’s spent reporting on this topic.

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

The Thanksgiving long weekend ended with a bombshell from the RCMP and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Accusations that agents from the Indian government are linked to, and helped orchestrate criminal acts in Canada. These allegations include acts like murder and extortion against members of the country’s Sikh community.

It’s the latest development in an ongoing row between Canada and India that started last year. Now as diplomats are expelled from both countries, the fallout has just begun.

Meanwhile, there is a growing movement within the federal Liberal caucus to oust Trudeau as leader, involving a secret document being passed around. 

Catherine Cullen, CBC senior parliamentary reporter and host of CBC Radio’s The House, joins us to talk about how everything is playing out on Parliament Hill and beyond. 

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

Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud is currently based in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. He’s spent the last year reporting on Israel’s war against Hamas in the territory.

Hani has told the stories of families displaced by the war, struggling to access food and water, and grieving relatives who have been killed, while living those hardships himself.

One year into Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, more than 42,000 people have been killed, according to local health authorities. It’s estimated that another 10,000 may be buried under the rubble.

Today, father and reporter Hani Mahmoud shares his family’s story of surviving this past year.

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

A TV crew offers 12 ordinary people the chance to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. But there’s a catch. The audience knows everything but the contestants are kept in the dark. As the cameras roll, no questions are allowed. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers is a new 6 part series that exposes how a TV show left contestants struggling to trust what’s actually real.

Host Nick van der Kolk (Love + Radio) asks: does reality TV only succeed when it exploits those involved? He talks to the set designers, crew, and the contestants themselves to learn what it took to permanently distort their sense of reality.

Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted.

More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/ztducTr-

Welcome to the world of conspiracy and paranoia. A horrifying act of domestic terrorism brings right wing radio some unwanted attention, which pushes one fan of the supernatural away from politics, while a pair of anti-government broadcasters dig their heels in.

This is episode 3 of The Flamethrowers, the story of how radio energized and then radicalized a conservative base. This series was originally produced in 2021. Hosted by Justin Ling. 

More episodes are available here.