The Rundown

Before Covid-19, what are called "zoonotic diseases" were hardly the stuff of ordinary conversation. That changed, of course, as we all brushed up on how diseases in bats could or could not jump to humans. Similar questions have cropped up lately about the Avian flu, and whether we learned the lessons of the pandemic well enough to react quickly for the next time. To get some insight on that, The Agenda welcomes Shayan Sharif, Professor and Acting Dean at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College; And Jason Nickerson, Humanitarian Advisor to Canada for Doctors Without Borders.

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Elon Musk paid about 44 billion U.S. dollars to buy Twitter. Whatever else people think about that, many questioned whether it was a good investment. Erin Kelly of Advanced Symbolics Inc. explains why she thinks it was likely worth every penny, and more.

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In the depths of pandemic lockdowns and social distancing, many people, desperate for something good, sought out and adopted pets of all kinds. Now, those puppies and kittens are all grown up, and sadly, some are reportedly winding up far from being treasured family members. With more on this: Kathy Powelson, Executive Director of Paws for Hope Animal Foundation; Phil Nichols, Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Humane Society; And Camille Labchuk, Executive Director of Animal Justice

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Ignoring problems, as we all know, does not make them go away. That's painfully true when it comes to money matters, where making bad choices can be very costly. Shannon Lee Simmons is a certified financial planner. She founded the New School of Finance and writes books that tackle the everyday challenges people face managing their money. Her new book is: "No-Regret Decisions: Making Good Choices During Difficult Times."

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Every few years the calls go out: candidates wanted, of all types and stripes, to run for elected office federally, provincially, and municipally. It's actually pretty remarkable when you think about it. Anyone who wants to put their name forward can, just like that, even though probably 90% of the people that do are going to lose. To take the plunge, and try to get the job requires a ton of effort, sacrifice, and more. With us now on what's actually involved in running for office: Todd McCarthy, the PC MPP for Durham; Amber Morley, Toronto city councillor for Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore; Chloe Brown, who ran for mayor of Toronto in the last municipal election; And on the line, Shawn Micallef, contributing columnist at the Toronto Star and co-founder of Spacing magazine.

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For generations - beginning probably in the post-WW II era - turning 16 meant one thing above everything else: getting your driver's license. And while that's still true for many teens, it's apparently not the rite of passage it once was. And there may be consequences for us all because of it. To help explain why this is happening: Kylee Bowman, who leads the Youth Advisor program at the Traffic Injury and Research Foundation; Constable Sean Shapiro, from the Toronto Police Service, who focuses on traffic safety education; And Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of Government and Community Relations at CAA, the Canadian Automobile Association, for South Central Ontario.

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A recent study out of the United Kingdom tracked women's spending habits and accurately identified the symptoms of ovarian cancer, based on the customer's purchases. It's a level of tracking that people often balk at, feeling all too surveilled in this technological era. But, could this tracking save lives? Joining the discussion: one of the leads on that study, James Flanagan. He is an associate professor or, as they say in the UK, a reader, in epigenetics and data science at Imperial College London; Bio-infor-matician Emma Bell, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; And Sunil Johal, the David and Ann Wilson professor in public policy and society at Victoria University at the University of Toronto.

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Recent media reports have alleged ongoing foreign interference in Canada's elections. Who is interfering and what is the Trudeau government going to do to address this? For insights, we welcome Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau Chief Tonda MacCharles.

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With more than one billion people casting a vote, elections in India are often lauded as a "festival of democracy." Yet, both Freedom House and the V-Dem Institute have downgraded India's status as a democracy - from "free" to "partly free" and from "electoral democracy" to "electoral autocracy," respectively. Some issues in question are legal discriminatory practices against Indian Muslims and other minorities, and the recent censoring of a new BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi. How has this affected India's standing as the world's largest democracy? We ask: Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief, ThePrint; Neeti Nair, historian, University of Virginia; Vivek Dehejia, economist, Carlton University; and Sanjay Ruparelia political scientist, Toronto Metropolitan University.

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Julia Washington Berry - a tollkeeper on James St. in the 1800s - is one of the Black Hamiltonians honoured this year for Black History Month. Hamilton-Niagara Hub journalist Justin Chandler looked into her life and in process found out some surprising things about the contributions of Black people in the area.

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