Zoomer Week in Review

He’s been on the front lines of fighting misinformation for years - from debunking wacky wellness trends to countering anti-vaxx conspiracy theories. Edmonton professor and author Timothy Caulfield, whose Cheating Death series was featured on Vision TV, is a newly minted member of the Order of Canada.

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It’s the latest take on eating healthier in January: the Reducetarian diet. No one will win a marketing award for that name but it offers guidance on reducing the amount of animal products we consume without eliminating them entirely. Libby Znaimer reached founder Brian Kateman in New Jersey.

The start of a new year used to see many making resolutions, in hopes the year ahead would be better over the one just passed. Another annual ritual we’re seeing more is that of predicting trends. Will you be one of the boomerang retirees returning to work in 2023? Freelance writer/columnist Radhika Panjwani says that’s one of the expected workplace trends to come out of a Microsoft survey of some 20-thousand workers in 11 countries.

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After a year in which the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate seven times in an attempt to slow down inflation, many experts believe the central bank is set to take a breather in 2023.

Gordon Pape is the editor and publisher of the Internet Wealth Builder and Income Investor newsletters, and also a regular contributor to EverythingZoomer.com and this show.

Significantly fewer Canadians intend to give to charity this holiday season and those who do, plan to give less. Inflation, surging demand, and falling donations have combined to create a perfect storm for Canada’s charities and nonprofits. A new Holiday Giving survey by Imagine Canada finds fewer than half of Canadian adults intend to donate, down from last year. And a third say they’ll give less.

We reached Imagine Canada’s President and CEO Bruce MacDonald.

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Christmas usually evokes a time of peaceful family gatherings. But for separated parents, their children, and grandparents, it can be a stressful time of year as kids are caught in the middle of access over the holidays. This year, divorced parents are speed dialing their lawyers, demanding access to their children over the holidays as travel plans ramp up following years of stay-at-home Christmases due to the pandemic. We reached lawyer Diana Isaac, Partner at Shulman & Partners family law for some tips on how to create a conflict free Christmas and New Years.

This week US Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff convened a roundtable on anti-Semitism at the White House to address what he is calling an epidemic of hate. The alarming rise of anti-Semitism here in Canada and around the world has been fueled by conspiracy theories on the right and the cover of anti-Zionism on the left. I talk with Dara Horn author of "People Love Dead Jews - Reports from A Haunted Present".

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The man charged in two grisly murders, perpetrated nearly forty years ago, made his first court appearance on Friday. Police believe they were able to solve the case all these years later because of advances in investigative genetic genealogy. Det. Sgt. Stephen Smith explains how this technique led to the arrest of Joseph George Sutherland.

Zoomers will remember the time when you had to go to the library to get books and you had to search for them using a card catalogue. Today our libraries are used more as social centres, like seeking protection from harsh weather, and finding jobs online. Libby Znaimer spoke to Vickery Bowles, the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library

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Tim Christian was a prominent lawyer and Dean of the Law School at the University of Alberta throughout his career. It’s not that unusual for people to write books in retirement - but the level of success on his first foray into biography is remarkable. We talked about his transition and "Hemingway’s Widow", his groundbreaking book on Mary Welsh, Hemingway’s fourth wife.

How connected are you to family and friends? We keep talking about how important that is and how the pandemic has taken its toll. In its second ever in-depth look at social capital in the city, The Toronto Foundation found a shocking number of people who say they have no friends or family to turn to as well as a big drop in the number of people who volunteer. Libby Znaimer talked with the foundation’s CEO Sharon Avery.

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It’s Diabetes Awareness Month and every day, 640 Canadians are diagnosed with diabetes. That’s 1 person every 3 minutes. Many more are unaware they have diabetes or pre-diabetes—and that raises their risk for heart disease. Libby Znaimer reached cardiologist Dr. Shelley Zieroth at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg.

Last year Canadians donated $18 billion to charity and this is the time of year when many of us plan our year-end giving. How can you know if the causes you support are actually making a difference? Charity Intelligence is out with its annual ranking of the organizations that make the biggest impact for every dollar donated. Libby Znaimer spoke with Greg Thomson.

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It’s a given that failure can lead to dramatic life changes and sometimes those changes can be very positive. Radio host and prolific author Terry O’Reilly recounts how some of the biggest breakthroughs and best-loved products originated with a mistake. Libby Znaimer talked to him about his new book, My Best Mistakes, Epic Fails, and Silver Linings.

It was a defining moment in labour negotiations in Ontario this past week. Amid growing support for CUPE education workers, and poll numbers suggesting he was to blame, did Doug Ford blink and back down by rescinding Bill 28? We reached Dr. Simon Black, associate professor of labour studies at Brock University, about these unprecedented turn of events.

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Calgary-based writer Suzette Mayr has won this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel The Sleeping Car Porter. This is Mayr’s sixth novel that tells the story of a Black man in 1929 who works as a sleeping-car porter on a train that travels across the countrywhile living a secret life as a gay man. It brings to life an important part of Black history. Mayr is a past president of the Writers' Guild of Alberta, and has been teaching creative writing at the University of Calgary since 2003. We reached her hours after her big $100,000 win.

An Alberta mother of the last Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan has been chosen as this year's Silver Cross Mother. Candy Greff will lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, placing it on behalf of all mothers who have lost children to the service of Canada. Her son, Master Corporal Byron Greff, was killed in a suicide bombing in October of 2011 becoming the 158th Canadian soldier to die in the country and the last before Canada's mission there ended in 2014. We reached this year’s Silver Cross Mother, Candy Greff.

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How was your sleep last night? We changed the clocks back an hour overnight, ending daylight saving time in Ontario. According to experts, some people will experience a shock to their bodies' internal clock much like the jet lag after flying across time zones. It’s a tradition that first began in Ontario in 1918 and remains controversial. We reached Dr. Patricia Lakin Thomas, professor of biology at York University, whose research includes our circadian rhythms and internal clocks.

There is always a lower turnout for municipal elections than for the higher levels of government but Monday’s races set a record low. In Toronto, voter turnout was 28.58%. In Mississauga and Brampton, it was less than 25%. Across the province, just 34%. John Beebe of The Democratic Engagement Exchange tells Libby Znaimer that’s bad news for all of us!

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Salt is essential for preserving, fermenting and transforming food. We need it to maintain health and it has been used since ancient times. "The Miracle of Salt" charts some of its history and the different ways it’s used around the world. Libby talked with author Naomi Duguid.