The Rundown

For 15 years, the satirical news outlet has been skewering Canadian politics and culture, amassing a loyal following. How does the country's "most trusted, least accurate news source" manage to find the humour in grim times, and what serious lessons can we learn from comedy? We discuss with co-founder and editor-in-chief Luke Gordon Field and contributing writer Clare Blackwood.

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This week, Dave Thomas, of SCTV fame, will travel to Ukraine to talk to civilians, soldiers, and stand-up comedians. We discuss his upcoming trip and what he's hoping to achieve.

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Every winter, Ontarians rely on road salt to keep streets safe - but where does all that salt go when the snow melts? Jeyan Jeganathan explores how excess salt is silently polluting lakes and rivers across the province and talks to the people working to protect our fragile freshwater ecosystems.

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Novelist Claire Cameron investigates the shocking true story of a couple killed by a black bear in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park in her debut memoir "How to Survive a Bear Attack." Why did this tragedy resonate with her? And what answers did she hope to find in her quest? Claire Cameron joins Nam Kiwanuka to discuss her latest book.

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The escalating rates of Parkinson's Disease both globally, and here in Canada, have led some researchers to warn that it is becoming a pandemic. To help shed light on a disease that still has no cure, we welcome: Dr. Lorraine Kalia, neurologist and senior scientist at the University Health Network's Krembil Brain Institute. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine.

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The escalating rates of Parkinson's disease both globally, and here in Canada, have led some researchers to warn that it is becoming a pandemic. To help shed light on a disease that still has no cure, we welcome: Dr. Lorraine Kalia, neurologist and senior scientist at the University Health Network's Krembil Brain Institute. She is also an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine.

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Fans of Canadian rock band Arkells might be wondering to themselves how all those songs came together in the first place. Well, wonder no more. Frontman Max Kerman has written a book all about his band and how they bring those songs to life. It's called "Try Hard: Creative Work in Progress".

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Punishing tariffs. The 51st state. Canadians are making their feelings known about threats coming from the United States by pulling back on travel into the country.But is the U.S. government taking notice? And while it might seem like an advantage for Canadian tourism, businesses near the borders are taking a hit. What are the lasting effects of this situation? To discuss how all this is falling out, we welcome, in studio: Federic Dimanche, director of the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. In Traverse City Michigan, Mike Kent, communications director for Traverse City Tourism. In Ottawa, Ontario, Beth Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

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Imagine being in the backwoods of Georgia with a group of neo-Nazis slaughtering a goat and drinking its blood. For Scott Payne, he doesn't have to imagine it; he lived it. He's a former undercover FBI agent, and in his new book, written with veteran journalist Michelle Shephard, he chronicles his time exposing some of America's most dangerous extremist groups. The book is called "Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis." Scott Payne and Michelle Shephard join Jeyan Jeganathan to discuss the book and more.

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Russia, you will often hear, poses a threat to the West, the world order, and democracy. Yet it has a smaller economy than Italy and ... Canada. It also has a shrinking population. There are fewer people living in Russia today than in 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, is Russia really that powerful? Is it a waning power coasting on the nostalgia of the Cold War? Or a power that punches well above its economic weight?

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