• How do you get the ultimate view of Earth?
    Nov 22 2024

    Torontonian Henry Wolfond is traveling into space today as a paying customer aboard Jeff Bezos' New Shepard rocket.

    He joins The Big Story with host Richard Southern to talk about why he’s doing it, what he’s paying for it, and about the Taylor Swift bracelets his granddaughter wore to the pop star's Toronto show that he's bringing with him into the great beyond.

    Guest: CEO of Bayshore Capital Henry Wolfond

    Host: Richard Southern, NewsRadio

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    14 mins
  • Are we at risk of a nuclear war?
    Nov 21 2024

    This week marked 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Vladimir Putin has updated Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine in response to Joe Biden authorizing long-range missiles for the Ukrainian military. Experts say the world’s nuclear temperature just went up. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is set to take back the Oval Office in January. He has threatened to pull U-S support for Ukraine entirely. He has said he will end the war on his first day in power.

    The fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance.

    Professor Elliot Tepper is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University.

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

    Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca

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    23 mins
  • Will the Canada Post strike ruin the holidays?
    Nov 20 2024

    Guest: Patrick Groom, labour lawyer with McMillan LLP

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes.

    You can find us:

    Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca

    Or by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemail

    Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

    Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca

    Or by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemail

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    14 mins
  • Will Donald Trump come for Canada's water?
    Nov 19 2024

    According to the former and future US President, Canada's water is like a 'very large faucet' that one could turn on, say, to help California in a drought, or any other Pacific Northwest state that might need it. According to scientists, it's ... not like that at all. But still, Canada has water. And increasingly, the United States needs it.

    Does Trump actually intend to ask for, buy or even take Canadian water? Would it even be possible if he wanted to? What do Canadians need to know about their abundant natural resource as the climate crisis makes it scarcer around the world? How worried should we be about Canadian water?

    GUEST: Dr. Jay Famiglietti, hydrologist and Global Futures Professor at Arizona State University; former Executive Director Emeritus of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

    Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca

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    21 mins
  • What are your parents worth? Meet the Jackpot Generation
    Nov 18 2024

    For decades, it's been the dream that children will grow up to have more opportunities and a better life than their parents did. Not many young people see that as possible anymore. Wealth and income inequality, combined with the affordability and housing crises, have created a world in which a majority of them don't believe they'll be able to own a home.

    There are some who are sure that they will, though: The Jackpot Generation, a subset of Millennials and Zoomers who will be on the receiving end of valuable property inheritances, worth far, far more than their parents ever paid for them. That equity gives them a gigantic head start as they move into adulthood or middle age—and it's creating a system that's the opposite of the equality we've been striving for.

    GUEST: Katrina Onstad, reporting in Maclean's

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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    20 mins
  • The hunt for millions of counterfeit toonies
    Nov 17 2024

    We've had an update to one of our most popular episodes -- the counterfeit toonie. Enjoy!

    ---------------------------------

    They call it the "camel-toe toonie", and you will understand why as soon as you look at the front right paw of the polar bear on it. Since they were first discovered in circulation in 2020, estimates range from at least tens of thousands to likely millions of them reaching circulation.

    But who is behind it? How do you counterfeit toonies at scale and get them into the banking system? And ... why toonies?

    GUEST: Brent Mackie, creator of cameltoetoonies.ca, numismatist, treasurer of Waterloo Coin Society

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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    23 mins
  • Winter tires are expensive. But are they worth the investment?
    Nov 16 2024

    This episode first aired on November 14, 2024 over at In This Economy?!, our sister show at the Frequency Podcast Network. The show helps Canadians understand the systems behind their money problems so they can make informed decisions about their personal finances. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a follow!

    The colder weather has finally arrived, and with it a big question: Is it time to put winter tires on the car? Climate change may have you questioning the necessity of winter tires, and the price tag is certainly not making that decision any easier. So we want to know, are winter tires worth the upfront cost? And what do they really do anyway?

    GUEST: Lorraine Sommerfeld, columnist with Driving.ca.

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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    13 mins
  • The reasons clothing sucks now
    Nov 15 2024

    Many of us have a favourite garment — a sweater we've been wearing for the last ten years, or a pair of sweatpants we throw on every night before cozying up in front of some Netflix. Then there's all those other clothes, the shirts you buy on sale that are lucky to survive ten wash cycles, or the sweaters that pill up almost instantly.

    Increasingly, it feels like more and more clothes belong to that second category. And it's not just so-called 'fast fashion' anymore, as the push to produce more for less drags down the quality of even the most reputable brands.

    So why has it become so difficult to find a decent pair of pants that'll last more than a few months? And how do we fight back against a culture that increasingly sees clothing as disposable?

    GUEST: Monika Warzecha, Digital Editor at The Walrus, where she wrote about fast fashion

    We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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    23 mins