Front Burner

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, most men have been banned from leaving Ukraine. That hasn’t stopped thousands from making illegal border crossings to escape.

Why are so many Ukrainian men risking these journeys?

How is Ukraine trying to stop them?

What could the crossings signal about Ukrainians’ attitudes toward a new phase of this war?

CBC’s Briar Stewart went to neighbouring Moldova to find answers.

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.

From the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts comes Hollywood Exiles. Host Oona Chaplin tells the story of the decades-long campaign to root out communism in Hollywood. It’s a campaign that eventually drove her grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, and many others out of tinseltown. Hollywood Exiles is a tale of glamour, duplicity and political intrigue that reverberates to this day. It’s the story of how Tinseltown became an ideological battleground. The toll of the fight was enormous – reputations, careers and families were torn apart by the campaign to drive communists from the movie business. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/zeWK1tTg

Four NHL players, and one pro European player, are charged with sexual assault, in a troubling story that began years ago. The charges relate to the alleged group assault of a woman in 2018, that took place when the accused were members of Canada’s world junior hockey team.

Katie Strang is a senior investigative writer with The Athletic and walks us through these new charges — and whether anything has actually changed in hockey since this scandal first came to light.

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.

The Trudeau government’s announcement in 2021 that they would bring daycare fees down to $10 a day within five years was a massive relief to many parents across the country. But two years after all the provinces signed on, this extremely popular program is clearly facing some bumps in the road: staffing shortages, massive wait lists, and daycares that can’t cover their costs.

Today, Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, speaks to us about the growing pains confronting affordable daycare.

According to a new study published in Science, operations in Alberta’s oilsands are pumping out as much as 64 times more air pollutants than officially reported.

How could industry estimates be missing these huge amounts of chemicals?

What could the health and environmental consequences be?

How does this study add to other concerns that don't we truly understand the impact of the oil sands?

Drew Anderson is the Prairies reporter for The Narwhal, whose team of investigative journalists report on the natural world.

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.

Pokémon is the single biggest grossing media franchise on the planet. So when a game best described as "Pokémon with guns" was released earlier this month, it's perhaps no surprise that it quickly became one of the most played — and talked about — video games in the world.

Washington Post video game critic and reporter Gene Park explains why the game has blown up, and whether the developers might find themselves in Nintendo's legal crosshairs for copying their homework.

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.

The public inquiry into foreign electoral interference begins today. The independent commission was sparked by allegations that China had interfered in Canadian elections — a bombshell accusation that ignited a major political battle in Ottawa.

The inquiry is already facing hard questions about who gets to take part and how, and how much of the findings can actually be shared with the public.

CBC parliamentary reporter Catharine Tunney on what’s ahead, and what’s at stake with the inquiry.

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.

A new investigation by the CBC’s Fifth Estate sheds light on who might have been responsible for a devastating and fatal human smuggling case two years ago.

On January 19, 2022, police found four people frozen to death, just metres away from the US border in Manitoba. RCMP confirmed all four were Indian citizens, and all from the same family.

Today, Fifth Estate co-host Steven D’Souza on his search for answers about the smugglers that sent that family, the Patels, into a blinding snowstorm.

A scheme called HyperVerse attracted more than a billion dollars in investments and endorsements from celebrities including Chuck Norris and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. But a Guardian Australia investigation found that the CEO of HyperVerse didn’t even exist.

Sarah Martin, a senior correspondent with Guardian Australia, explains how the scheme worked, who was behind it, and how regular people lost a lot of money.

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.

Invasive Group A strep is a rare form of infection that happens when the usually harmless bacteria invades parts of the body where it's not normally found. This can lead to complications like flesh-eating disease, meningitis and even death — and case numbers are on the rise in Canada, with 10 children dead of the disease since October.

CBC health reporter Lauren Pelley breaks down what you need to know about invasive strep A and the multiple factors that could be behind the recent surge in cases.

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.