Personal connections have always mattered when it comes to political lobbying, but as the trade war ramps up, and global interests try to influence U.S. policy as set by U.S. President Donald Trump, industry sources told The Globe that those connections at the executive level matter now more than ever.

Today, Irene Galea is on the show. She’s a business reporter for The Globe, and she was in Washington, D.C. in the lead up to Canada’s countertariffs coming into effect. She’s here to talk about how the dynamics of lobbying have changed and what that tells us about power and influence in the trade war.

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Scary bond market headlines – warnings of an impending financial crisis – have been in the news for weeks now thanks to a rise in U.S. Treasury yields. This market is the bedrock for much of the global financial system and changes in it can ripple across governments and companies and right into people’s bank accounts.

Scott Barlow is a columnist for Globe Investor. He explains the worry about the current rising bond yields, what’s behind the increase and what kind of impact it may have on your life.

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With Canada’s countertariffs coming into effect on roughly $28-billion worth of U.S. goods on Tuesday, the trade war between Canada and the U.S. is heating up. With neither side indicating whether they plan to return to the negotiating table anytime soon, we wanted to look at how Carney’s goal to drum up foreign investment is going.

Tim Shufelt is the Globe’s investment reporter. He’s here to talk about whether Carney’s bet on foreign investment is working, which sectors are seeing an increase in investments, and what this says about the resilience of Canada’s economy.

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A growing and worrying trend is happening in Canadian schools – student violence against teachers is on the rise. Data from school boards across Canada supports this finding, with one study finding that the modern-day classroom is a hazardous workplace. But the reasons why violence is more common are complex, and educators, school boards and unions aren’t always in agreement on how to fix it.

Dave McGinn, The Globe’s education reporter, joins the show to recount the experiences of teachers who’ve faced assault, the reasons why violence is surging and what ideas are being considered to address a nationwide problem in the education system.

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A big issue hangs over university students and professors, and that’s artificial intelligence. There are some rules and guidelines, but professors are largely left on their own to determine how much they want to adopt AI or not – and that’s created a wide range of opinions.

Today, we hear from five Canadian university professors about how they’re thinking about education and students in the world of AI. We speak with Amanda Perry, professor of literature at Champlain College-Saint Lambert and Concordia University; Matt Dinan, associate professor and director of the Great Books program at St Thomas University in New Brunswick; Sarah Elaine Eaton, professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary; Adegboyega Ojo, professor and Canada Research Chair in AI Governance at Carleton University; and Mike Welland, professor of Engineering Physics at McMaster University.

This episode originally aired May 4, 2026.

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The popularity of e-scooters on Canadian roads has exploded in recent years. But new data from health officials and the Canadian Paediatric Society shows that the risks of e-scooters can lead to hospitalization and death. Has policy and regulation kept up with how readily available the transportation has become?

Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, pediatric emergency physician at SickKids Hospital in Toronto and chair of the Injury Prevention Committee for the Canadian Paediatric Society, joins The Decibel to talk about the trauma cases he’s seen first-hand, why e-scooters can be deadly and how to balance regulation with medical safety.

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It’s been a turbulent time for the official opposition of the British Columbia provincial legislature, the B.C. Conservative party. After seeing a surge in popularity leading up to the 2024 provincial election, they’ve now lost a third of their sitting members. Seven MLAs have left since mid-August alone.

Today, Globe national affairs columnist Gary Mason is on the show. He’ll explain the party’s surprising implosion, how they lost their surge in popularity and what lessons there are for politics in the province and beyond.

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The 50-per-cent tariffs from the U.S. that came into effect on Aug. 22 are hitting a long list of goods — everything from cosmetics and toiletries, to electronics, clothing, and chemicals. For Canadian small businesses selling to the U.S., the levies are having a big impact already; a 50-per-cent tariff means that, for example, a wedding dress that costs $1,000 will now cost $1,500 overnight.

A survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business this summer, found that 40 per cent of its members would be affected by the tariffs; some expect to lose at least half of their revenue. Today, we hear from small business owners across Canada to get a sense of how they’re getting caught up between the U.S. tariffs and Canadian countertariffs.

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The demands of modern life seem to grow every day, leaving little time for people to pursue hobbies. Many Canadians are leaving vacation time unused. In light of this, a growing number of people have started devoting their vacations to intensive workshops, where they can pick up new skills or hone a craft.

Toronto-based audio journalist and frequent Decibel producer Allie Graham recently looked into the phenomenon of “skillcations” to find out how people across the country are spending their vacations in the pursuit of hobbies.

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A growing number of Canadians are struggling with fertility, and the business helping people make babies is booming. The global fertility services market was valued at more than $21-billion in 2021 and is projected to more than quadruple by 2031. As more hopeful parents turn toward services like in-vitro fertilization – or IVF – and surrogacy to conceive, Globe investigative journalist Kathryn Blaze Baum worries they may not know exactly what they’re signing up for.

Today, Baum shares her first-hand story and reporting into the fertility industry in her new book, In Fertility: The Story of a Miracle and the Big Business Behind It. Kathryn will explain what it’s like to navigate assisted reproductive technology, its high costs financially and emotionally, and what she thinks needs to change about how Canada handles fertility.

This episode originally aired April 6, 2026.

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