The Big Story

By the end of this weekend, two of Canada's G7 allies could each have new governments, on opposite sides of the political spectrum. While the Labour party is expected to end 14 years of Conservative government in the UK on Thursday, France may well end up in the hands of the hardline National Rally party.

Is this a case of two countries headed in opposite directions? Or is it simply the same anti-incumbent sentiment that has impacted democracies across the world, with Canada no exception? Are people turning away from progressive politics, or making their displeasure heard? And will countries ever again vote for something, rather than against a party or politician they despise?

GUEST: Josh Keating, senior correspondent at Vox covering foreign policy and world affairs

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.

Right now, the federal government is in the middle of a consultation period in which they may decide to jack up tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. In announcing the consultation, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland called Chinese EVs "unfair competition" and said China was undermining Canada's EV sector's ability to compete.

How is China's EV approach "unfair"? Why are Canadian EVs having trouble competing? Why aren't more Chinese EVs making their way overseas? And why can't you buy a simple, functional $12,000 electric car instead of a $65,000 electric truck or SUV or Tesla?

GUEST: Lorraine Sommerfeld, automotive journalist, Driving.ca, host of The Driving Podcast

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.

Microplastics are everywhere—and for the first time they've been found in penises of men suffering from erectile dysfunction. Does this mean there's a link between the two? Why have rates of infertility and ED been rising around the world? And why does it take a study that finds them in a penis to drive so much media than previous studies that have found these things in other places in the body?

GUEST: Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, reproductive urologist, study lead

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.

They are majestic flying in a "v" overhead. A symbol of fall and spring. A true National treasure. And also, Canada geese can be...just total jerks.

They flock to cities and universities, nesting and aggressively defending those nests, and leaving metric tons of goose poop just about everywhere. And you don't want to get on their bad side. This is the story of the many and varied efforts Canadian institutions have made to figure out how to live in peace with these creatures. If it's possible.

GUEST: Tom Jokinen, writing in The Walrus

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.

This is our last episode until the fall, so we thought we'd use the time to reflect on what we've learned so far, answer some of your feedback and talk about what's coming up next. 

In the meantime, we'll be revisiting a few of our earlier episodes and providing occasional news updates on events that matter to your wallet. Another Interest rate cut?! In this economy?!

Thanks for listening and talk to you in September!

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.

Mess with the finely balanced ecosystem of the ocean? On purpose?! What could go wrong?! But the truth is, we've messed with it already. The oceans suck up a lot of our carbon, and you may have noticed they get hotter every year. But what if there was a way to store carbon in the ocean, possibly forever, where it wouldn't do any damage?

Welcome to the world of marine geoengineering—a field gaining a lot of attention, as well as a lot of investment, including in Canadian companies. We might not understand the depths of the ocean's ecosystem enough to ensure we won't do anything truly horrible...but eventually we might have no option but to try it anyway...

GUEST: Moira Donovan, writing in The Walrus

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.

British Columbia is introducing regulations that the province says will improve the lives of gig workers who deliver meals and offer rideshares—including a minimum wage while working and safe work protections among other things. Other regulations have slowly been introduced around the world.

But do these protections actually help workers? Will the companies that pay them pass the prices along to consumers, or leave these jurisdictions altogether? As more and more jobs shift to this kind of work, what needs to be done to ensure workers can actually make a living doing it?

GUEST: Valerio De Stefano, Canada Research Chair in Innovation in Law and Society at Osgoode Hall Law School at York 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.

Toronto-St. Paul's had been a Liberal seat for more than 30 years. Not anymore. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Conservative candidate pulled off the upset and sent shockwaves through both parties, and the public. How did they do it?

Everyone knew the Liberals, as well as Justin Trudeau, were unpopular—but if any riding was supposed to be safe for them it was this one. Now any sense of safety is out the window, and everyone wants to know what happens now...

GUEST: Stephanie Taylor, Parliament Hill reporter, The Canadian Press

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.

There's a record number of Toronto condominiums on the market right now, and despite record immigration, and an ever-worsening housing crisis, nobody seems to want to buy them.

So how hard is it to offload a condo in one of North America's hottest property markets? What happened to all of the motivated buyers? And what does the trend say more broadly about the state of Canadian real estate? 

GUEST: Diana Zlomislic, Housing reporter for 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.

All NATO members are required to spend the equivalent of 2% of GDP on their military, and Canada has always fallen short of that benchmark. But now, more frequent domestic crises, mounting geopolitical turmoil, and harsh rhetoric from south of the border, may mean that it's time to put up or shut up when it comes to military spending. 

So where do the biggest gaps in our capabilities exist? How difficult will it be to remedy them? And what sort of military do we as Canadians actually want? 

GUEST: Matt Gurney, Columnist, Co-founder of The Line

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.