The Decibel

Maryam Fatima was born with a condition called hemimegalencephaly, a rare birth defect where one side of the brain is abnormally large. She suffered from severe seizures from the moment she was born. They became so bad that they stopped Maryam from feeding, sleeping and breathing. Her life was at risk.

That’s when a team at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto decided to attempt a first-in-Canada procedure to save Maryam’s life.

Health Science reporter Jennifer Yang interviewed some of the medical professionals who performed the procedure, as well as Maryam’s mother, Muzna Nafees. She tells the story of how Maryam’s life was saved.

This episode originally aired June 6, 2025.

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Canadians have been spending a lot of time thinking about identity and their relationship to Canada. As U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war drags on, taking an ‘Elbows Up’ approach isn’t just about economics – it’s also cultural. Many of the songs and albums that make up the soundtrack to your life are written and performed by Canadian artists – and they’ve helped shape what this country sounds like. 

Today, deputy arts editor Rebecca Tucker and reporter Josh O’Kane are here to talk about how they put together a list of 101 essential Canadian albums, and how the music we listen to reflects us as a country. We also called up Tamara Lindeman from The Weather Station, Joel Plaskett, and Torquil Campbell from Stars, all of whom were featured on that list, to tell us about the Canadian album that has inspired their work.

This episode originally aired July 17, 2025.

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The winter holidays are a time to cozy up with family – even if those family members are furry and of a different species. For many, dogs and cats aren’t just animals, they’re cherished loved ones who come into our lives at the exact moment we need them.

This holiday season, The Decibel’s editor David Crosbie, Globe and Mail staffers and Canadians share personal stories about how they met their pets and how caring for them has changed their lives.

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Many factors of modern life can make time feel like it’s moving faster than it actually is: hustle culture at work, a productivity compulsion at home, over-programmed kids – they’re all attempts to get as much as possible out of our time and keep up with the frantic pace of life. But life also has moments where time feels like it’s slowing down, or even stops. We know that time can’t actually slow down or speed up – but why does it feel like that?

The Globe’s time use reporter, Zosia Bielski, speaks to The Decibel about why our perception of time can change, what it is about this particular moment that’s making us feel so pressed for time and how we can take back control of the pace.

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The Canadian television show Heated Rivalry has found major success not just in Canada, but with American audiences, too. The show, a love story between two male hockey players, has broken television streaming records and taken over social media.

The Globe’s television critic J. Kelly Nestruck joins The Decibel to talk about why Heated Rivalry has resonated with so many people, and how significant it is for a Canadian show to break through to global audiences so quickly.

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Canadian counter-intelligence military officer Matthew Robar, is facing charges of espionage. The veteran military officer is accused of sharing information with Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to a source for The Globe and Mail. Robar was arrested last week, and charged with multiple offences related to passing highly sensitive government secrets to a foreign entity.

Steven Chase, a senior parliamentary reporter for The Globe, speaks to The Decibel about what’s known about Robar, what the espionage charges mean, and how this development might affect Canada’s relationship with Ukraine.

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This travel season, Canadians might be headed away for something other than a vacation.

More Canadians are participating in medical tourism, travelling to another country to receive medical treatment, though some question its safety and the threats this poses to Canada’s public health care system.

Sarah Bartnicka, a freelance writer for The Globe, explains the costs, the risks and what Canadians can keep in mind for best practices when travelling abroad for a medical procedure.

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The attack on Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach in Sydney has sent shockwaves around the world. To many in Jewish communities, it mirrors previous antisemitic attacks seen in countries around the world over the past several years. 

Globe columnist and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman joins The Decibel. He covered the Tree of Life shooting in 2018, where 11 Jewish people were killed in their synagogue in Pittsburgh. Shribman talks about how the recent shooting in Sydney impacts Jewish communities around the world and what living in Pittsburgh has taught him about life after tragedy. 

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Loyalty reward programs are everywhere we shop. They’re at coffee shops, retailers, airports and grocery stores. Many of us are connected to our points, but the rewards no longer seem to go as far as they used to.

Vass Bednar, the managing director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, explains the changes to Canadian loyalty rewards programs, what we are giving up when we hand companies our data in exchange for points – and if it’s even still worth it to collect rewards points anymore.

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The heirs to Canada’s multi-billion dollar frozen food empire are fighting. New Brunswick’s McCain Foods is the world’s largest French fry maker, and is privately owned by the McCain family. Recently, one of its heirs, Eleanor McCain, requested to be bought out of her stake in the company – but her relatives are refusing to.

Globe business columnist, Andrew Willis, has been reporting on the showdown inside one of Canada’s wealthiest families. He’ll explain the fight over ownership, whether it could impact the world’s biggest French fry producer, and how these tensions trace back to the 1990s dispute over succession between McCain Foods co-founders.

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