The Rundown

Jelena Begovic is the first-ever Serbian Minister of Science to visit Ontario. She joins Steve Paikin to discuss her interest in our province.

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Author James Arnett joins us in studio to discuss his latest novel, "The Monmouth Manifesto." Heading back in time to the American Revolution, Arnett flips the script and paints a picture through the eyes of Loyalists.

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His colleagues described it as one of the "greatest single acts of bravery" they'd ever seen. In 2009, while deployed as part of an anti-explosives team in Kandahar, Bruno Guevremont became the only Canadian Armed Forces member to defuse a live suicide bomber. In episode two of Forgotten War, Guevremont describes the day that changed his life, the "cat-and-mouse game" between him and the Taliban during his second tour in Afghanistan, the difficulty of coming home, and how he healed from the psychological wounds that have been ignored throughout most of the history of war. This video was made in partnership with Canada Company.

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Things like public transit, building codes, and snow removal are not always planned keeping in mind people with disabilities. So, what does an accessible city for all look like? Writer and disability organizer Emily Macrae has some suggestions, and they can be found in a new book of essays and interviews she's edited, called "Living Disability: Building Accessible Futures for Everybody".

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After a 19-week-long hiatus that saw alcohol arrive in convenience stores and an announcement to build a tunnel under the 401, the Ontario legislature returns with no shortage of issues to deal with. We take a look at what the Ford government has been up to, and the reaction it's stirred up across the province.

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How do you make lasting change in the world? According to Bhante Saranapala, a Buddhist Monk at the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre in Mississsauga, Ontario, it starts with one person's kindful acts toward another. And they pass it on. On a sunny fall day in Serena Gundy Park in north Toronto, he talks to Steve Paikin about his early life training to be a monk in Bhangledesh and Sri Lanka, his time in Canada, leading meditation sessions for police and other professionals, and spreading his message of mindful kindness, the topic of his book, "Are You Kindful?: How your practice of kindfulness can build a happy and peaceful nation."

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Expulsions of Indian diplomats from Canada renewed concern about incursions from foreign governments into Canada. The Agenda gathers a panel to discuss this break in Indo-Canadian relations.

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Has there ever been a more intriguing personal journey by a Canadian journalist than Michael Coren's? He's gone from conservative provocateur to staunch Catholic to Anglican priest with a giant heart. Coren has written a lot of books, but his newest is called, "Heaping Coals: From Media Firebrand to Anglican Priest." And he joins Steve Paikin to discuss his journey and more.

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A group of Ontario mayors are advocating for a tougher response to homelessness and addiction in large municipalities. The Agenda invites four members of Ontario's Big City Mayors caucus to discuss a recent, unconventional proposal that calls for mandatory treatment and rehabilitation for those suffering from opioid addiction.

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American politics hardly needed something new to rattle it. But the advent of artificial intelligence promises – or threatens – to do just that, in an already tumultuous election year. Cory Alpert is a founding partner of South and West, an American political consulting firm, and is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Melbourne, researching the implications of artificial intelligence for democracy. He talks to Steve Paikin about AI in U.S. politics today, and into the future.

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