The Big Story

A 44-year-old listener named Brian is wondering if retirement is a reality for him. And if it is, what that retirement will look like. Is it the image of cocktails on the beach and days spent playing golf that many of us associate with this stage of life? Or is it something a little different?

Jordan speaks with Alyssa Brierley, Executive Director of the National Institute on Aging at Toronto Metropolitan University to help define what retirement looks like in this era. 

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.

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It remains to be seen if policing in Toronto will really change as a result of the past few weeks, but a tipping point certainly seems to be at hand. First, a total exoneration for a man charged with first-degree murder, in a trial that many said should have never happened at all. Then, just days later, four people, including grandparents and an infant were killed during a high-speed chase that, again, many experts said should have never happened at all.

In the aftermath of the first case, police rallied around their own, and ended up charging an innocent man. It was only after the verdict that they announced a review. Will the force once again toe the line and protect their officers, even if it means losing the public's trust?

GUEST: Patrick Watson, assistant professor, centre for criminology and sociolegal studies, University of Toronto

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On the 15th floor, a former US president, flanked by secret service members and the whole nine yards, faces criminal charges, an historical first. On the floors below, the business of a city courthouse tries to continue as usual, with court appearances for things like shoplifting and public urination.

It's been two weeks since the trial began, and the former president has been complaining about the temperature. When he isn't appearing to fall asleep. What's it like in the courthouse? What's the bigger picture of a former president running to get his job back while facing jail time? Would Donald J. Trump ever actually wind up in jail? Really?!

GUEST: Andrew Rice, features writer with New York Magazine, covering the Trump trial.

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It started at Columbia University. And the NYPD came in hard, right away. Which, naturally, sparked more protests on campuses everywhere from Texas to Quebec. News reports can sometimes make these encampments—which are mostly composed of students risking their academic careers to speak up for Palestinians—seem huge, chaotic and full of antisemitism.

But how much of what's actually happening on campus makes it into 30-second clips and 60-point headlines? How does the current wave of protests compare to to others in a long history of campus activism? What do the protesters want? And why are many universities trying to crack down so hard on them?

GUEST: Justin Ling, investigative journalist, reporting for The Line

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Norval Morrisseau is among the most iconic Indigenous artists in Canadian history. His instantly-recognizable paintings adorn the walls of institutions across the country, from art galleries to universities and provincial legislatures. Art dealers and auction houses have made millions selling his works. The only problem? A whole lot of them have turned out to be fake.

Even in the world of Indigenous art, where artists have been complaining about forgery for years, the scale of the Morrisseau fraud is unprecedented. So how did authorities uncover the deception? Who's behind the fakes? And what does this say about artists' ability to protect their work? 

GUEST: Luc Rinaldi, writing in The Walrus

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In the months after the Ford government cut into Ontario’s protected Greenbelt to allow housing development, the premier’s ties with developers were suddenly under a microscope. 

Rumours were flying. Journalists and independent watchdogs were digging. And the day Doug Ford swallowed a bee turned out to be very consequential for another reason.

Presented in partnership with The Narwhal, Paydirt is a three-part miniseries taking you to the heart of Ontario’s Greenbelt scandal. 

Hosted by Emma McIntosh, an investigative reporter with The Narwhal.

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After an announcement at a Honda plant in Alliston, Ontario that will bring billions in new electric vehicle investment, the Prime Minister sat down with The Big Story to chat in-depth about the climate crisis, the future of electric vehicles and his government’s efforts to find opportunity amid a world on fire.

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Recently the department of defence announced a plan to pour billions of dollars into Northern security. And there's no doubt that in a changing world the Arctic region has become more important, for Canada and our allies, as well as for our adversaries.

But what does 'security' or sovereignty even mean when we're discussing a huge swath of land, sparsely populated and lacking the infrastructure to change that? What does the DoD plan to use that money for, exactly? And how will it work with the Indigenous people who live in the region?

GUEST: Andrea Charron, professor and the Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.

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Most of us had a virtual health care appointment sometime during the pandemic. Those of us that didn't have almost certainly encountered virtual care of some form or another—whether that's a follow-up phone call from your doctor, or post-surgery instructions emailed to you.

As we enter the post-pandemic era, there is a push in some quarters for more virtual care—it can improve access, speed things up and give people more control over their own care and medical records. But will it also simply create more visits, encourage unnecessary appointments and further burden an overtaxed system? There's a line we need to walk here—can we do it?

GUEST: Dr. Tara Kiran, Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto; family doctor and scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. Researcher for OurCare report on primary care

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Today, evacuation alerts for several communities in BC and Alberta are in effect. You may not have noticed, because there are always evacuation alerts in effect now, and there are always fires burning, some of them out of control. When the whole country takes notice is when the skies over entire provinces go dark, the air turns bad or a blaze like the Fort McMurray fire in 2016 blitzes through a city.

All of that will probably happen this year. The conditions are ripe for it, and there's not much we can do to prevent a devastating fire when it comes. But we can evolve our strategies as the fires get bigger. We can adapt. But...will we?

GUEST: John Vaillant, author, Fire Weather: The making of a beast

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