Front Burner

For many of us, coffee is an essential part of our day. So what impact is it having on us, beyond just waking us up in the morning? To try to answer that question, Dr. Brian Goldman from the CBC podcast The Dose speaks to Thomas Merritt, a geneticist and professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/AogMj1Af

MPs have just a couple weeks before Parliament is set to break for the summer, but there’s still a lot going on in Ottawa. David Johnston continues to fend off calls to step aside as special rapporteur on foreign interference, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is signalling Conservatives will continue to protest the Liberals’ budget in the Senate, despite its passage in the House of Commons, and the People’s Party of Canada leader is trying to make his return to the Parliament.

On this episode, guest host Saroja Coelho dives into the top political stories with Catherine Cullen, host of the CBC political podcast, The House.

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

The biggest crypto exchange in the world is being sued by an American regulator accusing Binance and its Canadian billionaire founder of breaking a string of laws and misusing investor funds. Changpeng Zhao and his company say they will fight back “vigorously.”

Today on Front Burner, Jacob Silverman, who you may know from our podcast The Naked Emperor, joins us to talk about what all this means for crypto’s future.

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

There are two rent strikes underway in Toronto, where some tenants have organized and are withholding rent to protest against above-guideline rent increases.

But the strategy carries serious risks – including potential eviction.

Today, we hear from one tenant in Thorncliffe Park on why he’s taking part in the strike, and Ricardo Tranjan of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives talks more about the radical tactic, and tenant organizing in Canada.

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

Forest fire season has come in with a bang. A record-setting blaze in Nova Scotia, plus sprawling fires in Alberta and now Quebec have claimed homes and forced tens of thousands to flee.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned this week federal modeling shows we’re entering an especially severe wildfire season. He also pledged the Canadian government would be there with “whatever it takes to keep people safe, and provide support.”

But do we have the capacity? What is the plan to fight the fires of the future?

Wildfire ecologist Robert Gray explains why Canada should get on a “war footing” to address these climate-change enhanced super-fires.

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

Warning: This story contains anti-trans comments and deals with suicide.

Today on Front Burner, CBC investigative reporter Jonathan Montpetit goes inside a fundamentalist Christian movement deeply conservative in its social values and radical in its ideas for reform – one that came together in the pandemic, and has since joined the backlash to LGBTQ rights.

You can read more on this story at cbc.ca/1.6793677

This documentary was produced by Jonathan Montpetit and Julia Pagel at CBC’s Audio Doc Unit.

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

Earlier this month, one of football’s brightest stars was targeted with an unprecedented amount of racist abuse during a game. Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior — the heir to the throne of Brazilian football — was called a monkey and abused with monkey noises by tens of thousands of fans during a game in Spain’s La Liga. But rather than punish those abusing the athlete, it was Vinicius who was shown a red card. In the aftermath of the incident, everyone from the Spanish press to the president of the Spanish football league seemed to blame the victim of the racist attack, rather than his attackers.

On this episode, guest host Jodie Martinson talks to sports journalist Shireen Ahmed about one of the brightest stars in world sports, but also about the broader tradition of racism in soccer, and why it remains an ugly issue in the beautiful game.

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

Ukraine has been dealt some blows in the last month. Kyiv has seen the most air strikes since the start of the war, and the city of Bakhmut is almost entirely occupied by the Russians.

However, a shift could be coming. After receiving billions of dollars worth of international military aid, Ukraine may be ready to launch its much anticipated spring counteroffensive. And after a drone strike hit an apartment block in a Moscow suburb, some are asking whether it’s already underway.

Plus, tensions between the powerful mercenary organisation, The Wagner Group, and the Kremlin are increasing, after more than 20,000 of their soldiers were killed in Bakhmut. Could Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin be a threat to Putin’s leadership?

Paul Adams, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, has been watching this all closely and helps us make sense of the latest developments — and where the war in Ukraine could be headed.

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

Orcas ramming boats and chewing on rudders pierced the hull of a yacht near Spain last week. They've also brought down three vessels in the surrounding waters in the last year.

Many experts are suggesting the killer whales could be playing. Others have wondered whether a matriarch named White Gladis could be teaching her pod the behaviour, following a traumatic incident with a ship. The internet, meanwhile, can't stop joking about the orcas taking revenge on humanity.

If this is a case of psychological projection, it might be because orcas have reason to be mad at us. Today, Raincoast Conservation Foundation senior scientist Peter Ross tells us about the health of the orca population including the one we understand best, the Southern Resident killer whales near our west coast, and discusses why humans see so much of themselves in these neighbours.

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

Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party have been returned to power in Alberta, as voters reject the NDP and Rachel Notley's vision for the province. Smith overcame a slew of stumbles and hiccups in her first seven months as premier, and won over enough people to secure another four years in control for her party.

On this episode, CBC Calgary's Jason Markusoff shares his analysis of how Smith won, what it means for Alberta, and for the rest of the country.

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