Front Burner

This is a big year for national elections around the world. More than 80 countries have gone to the polls, or will before 2024 is over. The volley of elections comes as incumbents struggle to remain popular amid economic challenges, high migration rates and surging challengers.

We speak with political scientist, author and commentator Ian Bremmer about what’s at stake with so many elections and what social and economic forces are driving change.

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

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

At this point, it's still unclear what motivated Thomas Matthew Crooks to climb a nearby roof with an AR-15-style rifle and attempt to shoot former U.S. president Donald Trump. But he is far from the first person to make an attempt on the life of an American president. From the high-profile assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy to attempted assassinations of Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt, acts of politically motivated murder — whether successful or otherwise — are often major turning points in the nation's history.

Centre College associate professor Jonathon L. Earle walks us through the legacy of political violence in the United States, and what that history could teach us about what could happen next.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

In the wake of the apparent assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, we look at the potential for an event like this to ratchet up further political violence, and how pivotal this moment could be for a democracy already in crisis.

Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp is our guest. His forthcoming book, The Reactionary Spirit, looks at global challenges to democracy.

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

As the NATO summit wraps up in Washington, D.C., this week, Canada has finally committed to spending two per cent of its GDP on defense, as required by the treaty. But NATO is an alliance forged in a post-WWII world at the dawn of the Cold War. Is it still relevant in a modern, post-Soviet world? Or has Russia's increased aggression in recent years given the alliance a renewed purpose?

Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, explains how NATO got to this point, what could be next, and Canada's role in it.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

In 2022, a convoy of truckers angry with COVID-19 measures staged an 18-day blockade, shutting down a busy border crossing with the U.S. in Coutts, Alberta. It ended with the RCMP arresting 13 protesters and finding a stockpile of guns, ammunition and pipe bombs.

Now, two men are standing trial for possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with their involvement with the blockade. The prosecution says the two men believed they were preparing for “war”.

Bill Graveland with the Canadian Press has been covering it from the beginning and takes us through the details of the trial so far, and the lasting impact that the blockade has had on a tiny southern Albertan community.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The late Canadian author Alice Munro remains one of the best-known fiction writers in the English language. She won a Nobel prize for her work, and was celebrated for her intimate portrayals of the lives of women and girls. 

But for decades, Munro hid a dark secret: her husband had sexually abused her youngest daughter when she was a child, and Munro stuck by him — even after her daughter stopped speaking to her, and even after her husband was convicted of sexual assault.

Now, Munro’s daughter, Andrea Robin Skinner, has published an explosive essay in the Toronto Star, detailing the abuse and the ways that her mother — and the rest of the family — kept silent about it. 

Today we’re going to unpack what all of this means with Zoe Whittall, a TV and fiction writer whose books include Wild Failure, The Best Kind of People, The Spectacular, and others.

If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, and you’re looking for support, you can find a list of local sexual assault centres, crisis lines and other resources across Canada at https://endingviolencecanada.org/sexual-assault-centres-crisis-lines-and-support-services/. 

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The Canadian men's soccer team is set to take on Lionel Messi and Argentina, the current holders of the World Cup and No.1 ranked team in the world, in the semi finals of the Copa America soccer tournament. 

The game is arguably the biggest match in Canadian soccer history.

James Sharman is a longtime soccer journalist and host of The Footy Prime Podcast. He'll share how this marks the culmination of a years-long project which has taken the Canadian program from relative obscurity to legitimacy.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

On Friday, in an exclusive interview with ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos, U.S. president Joe Biden insisted that only the “Lord Almighty” could get him to quit. But as calls for him to step down grow following a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, how long can he hold on — and what might it do to the Democratic party?

CBC Washington correspondent Paul Hunter joins us to talk about what’s next for Biden, and if there is any way for his party to stanch the bleeding.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest ruling grants presidents the ability to break the law without fear of criminal prosecution as long as it counts as an “official” act. It’s the latest in a string of wide-ranging decisions, from abortion to corporate deregulation, that critics say are reshaping America.

We take a look at some of those cases with University of Michigan law professor and co-host of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny, Leah Litman, and break down what motivates this majority conservative court, and how these decisions will impact the lives of Americans now and for years to come.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

After his centrist coalition suffered a humiliating loss to the far right in European elections early last month, French President Emanuelle Macron called snap elections for France’s own Parliament in hopes of pushing back.

Instead, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally continued their momentum and won the first round of voting last Sunday.

So will Macron’s election gamble backfire? Why are the far right surging? And what would it mean for Europe and the world if they took power in the final round of voting this weekend?

Don Murray is a freelance journalist currently in Southern France. For years, he covered Europe for CBC as a reporter and documentary maker.

For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts