Interest rates are being raised and though it is a minor increase, will it yield a minor impact on Canada or should we be preparing for a major hit?

Guest: Thie Convery, Financial Columnist, The Hamilton Spectator; Wealth Advisor, Convery Wealth, IPC Securities Corporation

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Many people agree that a good piece of music sounds pleasing regardless of what genre you play it in but does that mean it would be as big of a hit now, as it was when it was released?

Guest: Eric Alper, Publicist, Music Commentator & Shameless Idealist

The baseball world is still in a bit of a standstill as fans continue to wait on spring training or games of any kind to be played. Where do we stand in this battle and why does it seem like it's billionaires fighting with millionaires over not getting paid enough?

Guest: Mike Wilner, Baseball Columnist, Toronto Star & Podcaster

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Today's edition of Ben's Story of the Day features a child who was born with an extremely rare disease called Uncombable Hair Syndrome, two animals start getting it on with each other in plain view at one of Disney's parks & according to the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Ukrainians won't need to worry about claiming any captured Russian military equipment and/or vehicles on their taxes so that T-80 Main Battle Tank that you happened to come into possession of is not just your T-80 Main Battle Tank, it's your tax-free T-80 Main Battle Tank!

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, an investigation into potential war crimes committed by Russia has begun. What might get found and if Putin is found to be guilty, is there any way to actually arrest and imprison him?

Guest: Dr. George Fletcher, Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School

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As the Russian ruble collapses and banks get isolated from the world, how could we see the sanctions impact the Russian people and Vladimir Putin's plans as a whole?

Guest: Marvin Ryder, Associate Professor of Marketing, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University

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The acts of aggression from Russia has prompted many sports organizations to not only ban Russian athletes and cancel events in the country but also strip Vladimir Putin of his belts and statuses. Will this strike a meaningful blow or is it more of a symbolic move against Putin?

Guest: Mark Hebscher, Author; Podcaster; Former Host, CHCH-TV; Former Co-Host, Sportsline

A lot has been going on involving the federal government and that's certainly going to have an impact on how Canadians perceive the different parties. Nanos Research did some polling to find out how respondents feel about the parties and Scott welcomes Nik Nanos back onto the show to help analyze the results.

Guest: Nik Nanos, Chief Data Scientist & Founder, Nanos Research

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All throughout the Olympics, China has said that it doesn't want things to get political however it recently held a press conference in which they did exactly that, made things political!

Guest: Dr. Charles Burton, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad

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What's happening in Ukraine? We've heard warnings and seen support get sent off but what could go down and what's the likelihood of anything happening at all?

Guest: Dr. David Marples, Distinguished University Professor, Russian and East European History, University of Alberta

Charles Juravinski, a true legend of Hamilton, has passed away at the age of 92. Scott replays an interview he did with Juravinski not too long after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when Charles and his wife, Margaret, donated $3.3 million to help bolster COVID-19 related and brain health research here in Hamilton.

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Canada's Olympic Men's Hockey Team has been eliminated from the competition. Should this come as a surprise? Also, Steve shares some words and a story or two about Charles Juravinski.

Guest: Steve Foxcroft, Sports Broadcaster, NFL Chain Gang Member, NBA Court-side Administrator, Referee & Vice-President, Fluke Transport

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The amount of money that's being spent on Olympic coverage by streaming services is immense and yet these Olympics aren't seeing a massive amount of viewership. To talk more about this, Scott welcomes Bill Brioux back to the show.

Guest: Bill Brioux, TV blogger, brioux.tv

We found out today that there was a settlement in the case against Andrew York but is this sort of an admission of guilt? How will this settlement be perceived by the public?

Guest: Jeff Manishen. Former prosecutor; Criminal Defence Counsel, Ross & McBride LLP

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There's a pretty big gap between the pandemic's effect on public servants and its effect on private businesses. While one was struggling with lay offs and closures, the other seemed to be flourishing with pay raises and bonuses.

Guest: Jay Goldberg, Ontario Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation

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We should be seeing baseball starting its spring training down south but instead we're seeing delays and bickering. Who's holding things up and why?

Guest: Mike Wilner, Baseball Columnist, Toronto Star & Podcaster

Now that the federal government has invoked the Emergency Measures Act, what kind of weight does this bring with it?

Guest: Dr. Christian Leuprecht, Professor at both the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University, and a Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute

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Why is an Olympic athlete who's been found to be using an illegal substance still being allowed to compete? Should we be cheering on an athlete who used to compete for Canada but is now competing for the United States? And not only did the golf world see two hole in ones get shot this past weekend, they were done on what can only be described as the craziest hole in golf.

Guest: Don Robertson, Head Coach & Owner, Dundas Real McCoys & Broker of Record, ComChoice Realty

This week's edition of The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton features Mike Fortune who joins Scott to talk about the 2022 Winter Olympics, the potential for missing ballots, Whoopi Goldberg's Holocaust comments, house prices in Hamilton, what sports should be returned to the Winter Olympics and more.

Guest: Mike Fortune, Co-host, The Hamilton Network, Cable 14

Now that Erin O'Toole has been removed from his role as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and an interim leader has been put in place, who would the Liberals want to take the helm of the federal Conservatives?

Guest: Stephen LeDrew, Political Commentator; Host, The LeDrew Three Minute Interview; Former President, Liberal Party of Canada

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Brian Flores, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, has had a lawsuit filed against the NFL and teams for what will certainly be a landmark case. What has happened so far and where can we expect to see things go?

Guest: Will Russell, Lawyer, Sport Law

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Award-winning musician Alan Frew will be performing at a benefits concert here in Hamilton and Scott caught up with him to talk about this event, his experience as a rock star, writing the hit song "I Believe" which was played all the time during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and more.

Guest: Alan Frew, Award-Winning Musician & Songwriter

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The 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee list has been released and despite the fact that "rock & roll" is in its name, this year's list follows the trend of having some big snubs coupled with some people who play music that probably wouldn't be described as "rock & roll".

Guest: Eric Alper, Publicist, Music Commentator & Shameless Idealist

How do you "follow the science" when there's science that contradicts other scientific findings?

Guests: Dr. Victor Menaldo, Professor, Political Science, University of                     Washington
              Dr. Mark Smith, Professor, Political Science & Adjunct Professor,                 Comparative Religion and Communication

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Being locked down and isolated from others can be bad enough on its own however when you start factoring burn out's impact on a person, it starts to make sense why they might be a little more aggressive and unpleasant to be around. How common is this state becoming and how bad does it appear to be?

Guest: Dr. Richard Cytowic, Neurologist, Speaker & Author

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Erin O'Toole has been booted from his role as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. There's a lot to unpack here so Scott made sure to bring some help.

Guest: Kate Harrison, Vice Chair, Summa Strategies

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The Winter Olympics have a very peculiar history and as we near the opening ceremony for the 2022 Olympics, Scott gets a feel for what it's like in Beijing with help from someone who's there on the ground while also revisiting some of the Winter Games from years past.

Guest: Philip Barker, Writer, insidethegames.biz & Executive Committee Member, International Society of Olympic Historians