The Big Story

To mark the end of 2023, we're taking a look back at some of our favourite episodes from this past year. 

We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane, and please stay tuned to the feed for new episodes coming in 2024.

Happy new year! 

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ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

For the past few years, orcas off the coast of Portugal and Spain have been attacking, and sinking, small boats. At least three boats have been completely sunk, and many more have needed urgent rescue. This behaviour doesn't occur in other orcas, and nobody can figure out exactly what's changed.

There are some theories regarding trauma, or differences in their habitat. There are very real things called "orca fads"—like that time they wore dead salmon on their heads. And there is, always, humanity's endless desire to use our own narratives to explain animal motives—which is why you see people asking if the orcas are fighting back. But what's really at the heart of this behaviour? And what happens if it spreads?

GUEST: Stephanie Pappas, science journalist, writing in Scientific American

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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Before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn't mean that's all the world is.

Coral is disappearing across the world. As much as 50 percent of it is gone. But technology we've been working on for decades is beginning to pay off, allowing us to thaw cryogenically preserved coral and mature it to adulthood. It won't fix everything overnight, but it's a major breakthrough for our hopes of regrowing the reefs we've lost, and preserving other sorts of vanishing biology.

GUEST: Brent Foster, independent science writer, in Hakai Magazine

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn't mean that's all the world is.

Lots of companies make a tidy profit from the notion that you'll throw out their products and buy new ones every so often. This applies to everything from clothes to appliances to electronics. They don't really want you wearing that shirt you like forever, or installing the latest software on your phone from six years ago. But...tough luck. A growing community of millions of DIYers is rediscovering the lost art of repair, teaching others how to do it and fighting for the access and tools needed to make our stuff last, at long last.

GUEST: Allie Volpe, senior reporter for Vox

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn't mean that's all the world is.

"Superbugs" are antibiotic resistant bacteria that have for years now been winning the war against medicine. Part of that is because we haven't been able to find any new drugs that work against them. But a new antibiotic, and a new way of funding the creation of these drugs, may have just swung the war drastically in humanity's favour.

GUEST: Dr. Gerry Wright, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn't mean that's all the world is.

Today: A story about birds that might as well be a Netflix reality show. No spoilers here. You have to trust us.

GUEST: Fatima Syed, Ontario Reporter, The Narwhal

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn't mean that's all the world is.

Today: You might have thought—based on everything you've seen and heard in the media and through your social channels—that the pandemic turned us all into angry lunatics, yelling at one another and throwing tantrums. We're delighted to inform you that's simply not remotely true, and we have the data to prove it.

GUEST: Dr. John Helliwell, professor emeritus at The Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia; a founding editor of The World Happiness report

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Big Story has been telling the stories that matter to Canadians for over five years, and through all of our coverage, one thing has become abundantly clear: A growing percent of the population can't afford to live basic, comfortable lives — and they want answers. In Frequency's newest show, In This Economy?! Jordan attempts to get to the bottom of how we got to this point, and share tips for how to achieve your goals despite living in a time of extreme economic uncertainty. Enjoy!

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Anna has $9000 in credit card debt and needs help getting her spending under control. 

Jordan talks to money expert, Tori Dunlap, about why our collective credit card debt is rising and how users can avoid accumulating more debt than they can handle. 

Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch. 

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2025, Canadian astronaut Josh Kutryk will take to the stars for a stint on the International Space Station, the latest in a long string of examples of Canada punching above its weight in space exploration. What will he be doing there? How does the ISS manage to stay above the global geopolitical fray? How on Earth (literally) do you prepare for months in space?

And just how far beyond the ISS will Canadian astronauts one day travel?

GUEST: Josh Kutryk, Canadian astronaut, engineer and pilot, and occupant of the International Space Station in 2025

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Even if you didn't know his name, you knew Daniel Langlois' work. Everyone who likes movies did. Langlois was the man who ushered Hollywood into an era of 3-D special effects, including on films like Jurassic Park and The Matrix.

On Dec. 1 he and his partner, Dominique Marchand, were found dead in Dominica, in a burnt out car. Police say they had been shot. Their neighbour and another man have been charged with the crime, and court documents reveal a previous dispute between Langlois and the neighbour. What do we know about Langlois' life, his death and the potential story behind it? What might we still learn as police investigate? 

GUEST: Kenyon Wallace, investigative reporter, The Toronto Star

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It started as a way to earn a few extra bucks on the side—or at least that's how Uber was pitched to potential drivers when it came to Canada in 2014. But now for many it's way to (try to) earn a living, one that's been getting tougher for years, and streets become crowded with empty Ubers hunting their next fares.

That's one of many reasons Toronto placed a cap on handing out new rideshare licenses this fall, a move that's prompted Uber to sue the city. The fight between Toronto an Uber offers a perfect window into ridesharing grew beyond what cities prepared for, and where it will go next, win or lose.

GUEST: Thorben Wieditz, urban geographer and the co-founder of MetStrat, a research and campaign firm that specializes in public interest campaigns, including RideFairTO (Read his piece in Ricochet.)

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

Through email at [email protected]

Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.