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In the last couple of weeks, journalists of colour are speaking out more than ever about their experiences with racism in the workplace. And they’re also publicly pushing back against content published by their own employers that they see as problematic. The New York Times described what’s happening as a revolt erupting in America’s biggest newsrooms, and it’s happening in Canada too. Today, we’re joined by Global News producer Alley Wilson and VICE Canada senior writer Manisha Krishnan. 

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A 15-year-old girl named Jyoti Kumari became an overnight celebrity in India last month after she cycled more than 700 miles carrying her injured father on the back of her bike back home. Their harrowing journey from the city back to their rural village is shared by millions of others as the Indian government’s COVID-19 lockdowns have left mass numbers of migrant workers unemployed, and with no choice but to go home. Today, we’re joined by Maria Abi-Habib, a South Asia correspondent at the New York Times, to talk about how this happened and why experts are predicting that this mass influx of migrants back to their villages could create a new wave of extreme poverty.

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This weekend was the second time in recent months that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted comments that have been criticized for being transphobic. Though her stance might seem surprising coming from a beloved children’s author who writes about inclusivity, it starts to make more sense when you look at the state of mainstream feminism in the U.K., where Rowling is from. Today, we’re joined by Vox politics reporter Katelyn Burns to talk about the accusations of transphobia that have been swirling around Rowling for awhile, and what it means when people accuse her of being a TERF.

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A lot of people have been speaking out against anti-Black racism over the last couple weeks—many for the first time. While there have been a lot of well-intentioned posts on social media and other efforts, some have been criticized for being hypocritical or unproductive. Today, we’re talking with Anthony James Williams, a writer and sociologist, about meaningful anti-racism work, and how to be an ally.

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Activists fighting against anti-black racism in Canada and the U.S. have been pushing governments to defund the police for years. And until now, that idea has mostly been dismissed as a leftist fantasy. But in the wake of the anti-police brutality protests, that seems to be changing. Today, we’re joined by Sandy Hudson, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, and Alex Vitale, a professor and author of ‘The End of Policing,’ to talk about this idea and whether it’s a possibility.

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Last week, Twitter took the significant step of adding fact-checking labels to two of Trump’s tweets related to mail-in ballots. Then, it added a warning label to another for breaking its rules around “glorifying violence.” Today, we’re talking with writer Noam Cohen about why Twitter is cracking down on Trump and what it means for Facebook at this critical moment in history.

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Last weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in Toronto to protest police brutality in solidarity with the protests happening across the US, in response to the killing of George Floyd. But the protesters in Toronto were also chanting a name you won’t hear at the American protests: Regis Korchinski-Paquet.

 Today, we’re talking about the death of the 29-year-old and racism in Canadian policing with Global News reporter Kamil Karamali and activist and author Robyn Maynard. 

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A lot of us were glued to our screens all weekend, watching as thousands of people took to the streets across the U.S. to protest anti-black racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. And while most of the protests were peaceful, in some cities they devolved into chaos. Today, we’re joined by Eugene Scott, an identity politics reporter for The Washington Post to talk about the protests, the response from police, and what it could all mean for the 2020 election.

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The COVID_19 pandemic has a lot of people predicting the end of cities. As places like New York City have become hot spots for the coronavirus, density is being blamed for the spread of the disease. But there are many other dense cities around the world that have been able to get their outbreaks under control quickly. Today, we’re joined by Jennifer Keesmaat, former chief planner of the City of Toronto and the CEO of The Keesmaat Group, to talk about the future of cities post-pandemic, and why “good density” is the best way forward.

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This week, new reports by the Canadian military have revealed disturbing details about what’s going on inside long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec that are grappling with COVID-19 outbreaks. For years, many people have tried to sound the alarm about the ongoing neglect and abuse inside these homes. Will these new reports finally lead to changes to the system? We’re joined by Global News’ Ottawa Bureau Chief Mercedes Stephenson to talk about the reports and what the response has been.

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