Front Burner

CBC

Front Burner is a daily news podcast that takes you deep into the stories shaping Canada and the world. Each morning, from Monday to Friday, host Jayme Poisson talks with the smartest people covering the biggest stories to help you understand what’s going on.

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59 episodes
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Avg 29 min
English

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Today · 29 min
Is the world locked in an energy war?
Today we are going to spend some time trying to understand the expanding front lines of two ongoing wars, where the battlefield isn't just marked by trenches, snipers and fortifications, but also by energy infrastructure, supplies and distribution. Think of them as energy wars, currently being fought in Ukraine, and in countries around the Persian Gulf. We're joined by Ravi Agrawal, Editor in Chief at Foreign Policy and host of their podcast, FP Live. Togethe
Yesterday · 26 min
The other nine referendum questions in Alberta
Alberta's referendum is next week and advance voting is already underway. Much of the attention has centred around the separation question. But there are actually ten questions being put to a vote next week. Today on Front Burner, Jayme Poisson speaks with CBC Calgary's Jason Markusoff about the other nine questions: what they mean, why they're being asked, and how the polling shows they could go either way. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: <a h
Tuesday · 35 min
Is AI inevitable? Jill Lepore says no
In late September, amid mounting warnings about the risks of AI, the CEOs of six of the world’s most powerful technology companies signed an agreement on artificial intelligence. U.S. President Donald Trump called the accord “morally binding”. But it isn’t legally binding – it’s essentially a pledge from the world’s biggest tech companies to police themselves. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore has a name for this: the “artificial state”. A world run not by democrat
Monday · 39 min
How gambling became the game
How did sports betting go from being illegal to being EVERYWHERE? The answer lies in the convergence of daily fantasy sports apps, a bombshell New York Times op-ed, and the potential of a multi-billion dollar payout. This episode of Understood: The Big Bet tells the story of how a pivotal Supreme Court ruling set the stage for one of the biggest scandals in sports history — one involving a Toronto Raptors bench player named Jontay Porter.  Unders
Friday · 32 min
Brazil rides the 'Donroe Doctrine's' orange wave
Right now former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is on house arrest, after being sentenced to 27 years in prison. On Sunday his son Flavio won the first round of that country's presidential elections, his wife, and two more of his children were voted into office. A runoff election is three weeks away.  It's a stunning political turnaround. In part, because the man who could be toppled by the return of the Bolsonaros, is a towering figure of leftist La
October 8 · 26 min
Decoding the Russian plague scare
Since last week, there have been a series of alarming bits of news emerging from Siberia. It began with the mysterious death of a woman who worked at a plague research institute. Russia has said she contracted pneumonia but has been slim on details. But the World Health Organization wants more information, including details about whether or not there has been a second case, which has been rumoured, but not confirmed. All of this, including Russia’s moves to quarantine, has pe
October 7 · 28 min
Quebec separatism in the 'elbows up' era
With the election of the Parti Québécois in Quebec Monday night, it's the first time in twelve years that Canada will have a separatist government in power.  Over the course of the campaign, the party's leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, made clear some of the fights he could take up with Ottawa, over issues like immigration. He also vowed to hold a referendum on separation in his first term, a promise he doubled down on this week despite only securing a minority governme
October 6 · 42 min
Naomi Klein on Carney, trade war and 'end times'
Celebrated author Naomi Klein joins the show to talk about how Mark Carney's response to Trump's trade war echoes themes in her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. We also discuss her latest work "End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World.  For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts</a>
October 5 · 21 min
Brexit's lessons for Alberta
Ten years ago, Britain voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the European Union. The result reshaped British politics, triggered years of negotiations and remains deeply contested a decade later. Now, as Alberta prepares to vote on whether to begin a process that could eventually lead to separation from Canada, there are obvious differences between the two situations, but also some striking parallels. We hear from three people who experienced Brexit from very different pe
October 2 · 25 min
764: the violent extremist network targeting kids online
A recent terrorism arrest in Alberta has been linked to the group 764, an extremist network that coerces children into self-harming and sharing sexual material. But many of the perpetrators aren't adults, they're also minors. Ioanna Roumeliotis, co-host of CBC's The Fifth Estate, has reported extensively on the 764 network. She joins Jayme Poisson to talk about who this group is, how it operates, and why some victims have struggled to get law enforcement to take action.<p
October 1 · 27 min
Who owns Canada's economy?
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been working to bring more foreign investment into Canada. At his recent Investment Summit, he told investors from all over the world that Canada “has what the world wants."  This got us wondering, who already owns Canada's businesses and infrastructure? And could that change now that the government is courting more outside investment?  Earlier this year, Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy
September 30 · 29 min
Why are residential school testimonies being destroyed?
Today is the sixth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, where the country remembers the 150,000 Indigenous kids who were taken from their communities and forced to enrol in Indian Residential Schools. While there, they were subjected to widespread abuse and mistreatment. Thousands died before they could return home. There is a large historical record attesting to this fact. But tens of thousands of survivor testimonies are on track to be destroyed next year. These painf
September 29 · 32 min
Trump's uphill road to the midterms
In just over five weeks, Americans will head to the polls for the midterm elections and the contours of the vote are taking shape. Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress. Trump’s approval ratings are underwater, with the economy and cost of living a central concern. In some Republican races candidates are beginning to put some distance between themselves and the president. But what larger questions are Americans being asked to confront t
September 28 · 33 min
Disturbing new allegations about ChatGPT, Tumbler Ridge
A new investigation into the Tumbler Ridge shooter's use of ChatGPT has revealed some disturbing information. It has long been public knowledge that the 18-year-old had used the chatbot months before she killed her mother, half-brother, five students and an educator at school, before turning the gun on herself. That account was flagged and shut down. But a story in the American outlet Mother Jones reveals the extent to which Jesse van Rootselaar is alleged to have used a seco
September 25 · 27 min
Is the U.S. a gerontocracy?
The United States is getting older, and so, increasingly, are the people charged with governing it. The average age of a U.S. senator is 64-years-old and in the House it's 58, according to 2025 numbers. Dozens of elected officials are in their 70s and 80s. Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump both turned 80 in office. As a result, Americans have seen questions about the age and capacity of their leaders become a central feature of the national conversation.  <
September 24 · 25 min
B.C. Conservative implosion sparks snap election
On Tuesday, B.C. Premier David Eby called a snap election, two years into his term. He said the province needs to show a strong response to American aggression.  This was just two days after the leader of the Opposition, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, resigned, following a tumultuous four months that included a string of firings and defections, leaks from caucus meetings, and allegations of spying.  Eby's critics are calling his timing "cynical" and "profound
September 23 · 26 min
Why Russia has Europe on edge
Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won a record number of seats in the country's parliamentary elections. Putin is expected to frame the result as an endorsement of his war with Ukraine. And, according to Ukrainian intelligence, he may mobilize hundreds of thousands more Russian troops before the end of the year.  All of this has Europe on edge. Because Russia hasn't just been targeting Ukraine – but Ukraine’s allies too. In the last few weeks, a Rus
September 22 · 28 min
How did the Houthis become so powerful?
On Sunday it looked like the United States was about to wade back into its fight with Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, the Iran-backed group in Yemen that has grown into a surprisingly powerful military presence in the region. Saudi Arabia had been asking for support after a series of Houthi attacks and advancements, which brought a major global shipping and oil chokepoint - the Bab el-Mandeb strait - under Houthi control. Iona Craig has been reportin
September 21 · 30 min
Politics! Parliament’s 'consequential' agenda
Parliament returns today from summer recess, amid ongoing economic uncertainty and an unresolved trade war with the U.S. Prime Minister Mark Carney told MPs on Friday that this will be "a crucial session of the House of Commons" and vowed to introduce "some of the most consequential legislation not just of this government, but in decades."  CBC's Chief Political Correspondent Rosie Barton joins us to talk about what we can expect in this session of Parliament, and Carney
September 18 · 23 min
Should Canada have taken the U.S. deal?
It's been almost a month now since trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed and Mark Carney's government walked away from a deal. Canadian retaliatory tariffs went into effect earlier this month and yet more U.S. tariffs hit this week. A new deal between the two countries is nowhere in sight.  By and large — Canadians support this. But Sean Speer sees this a bit differently: he's wondering if Canada really should have walked away from the table,

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