The Current

CBC

Three stories to expand your worldview, delivered daily. Matt Galloway cuts through a sea of choice to bring you stories that transcend the news cycle. Conversations with big thinkers, household names, and people living the news. An antidote to algorithms that cater to what you already know — and a meeting place for diverse perspectives. In its 20 years, the Current has become a go-to place for stories that shape and entertain us. Released daily, Monday to Friday.

The Current is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — and has recently recorded live shows about the Canadian election in Surrey and Burnaby BC. And shows to come in Oshawa and the 905, Red Deer, Alberta, Quebec City and Halifax.

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150 episodes
Avg 19 min
English

Episodes 150

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September 9 · 25 min
Are your kids learning math the RIGHT way?
There have been alarm bells ringing for some time about dropping math scores in this country In her documentary, “Are your kids learning math the right way?”, CBC’s Julia Pagel visits a school in Gimli, Manitoba, where new teaching strategies yield impressive test results—while sparking a deeper debate over the best way to teach math.
September 8 · 17 min
Margaret Atwood: Canadians either ‘sorry or you’ll be sorry’
Canadian authors Margaret Atwood and Stephen Marche reflect on what it means to be Canadian during a trade war, and what we need to consider when it comes to our culture, identity and politics in this moment.
September 8 · 19 min
Being Canadian in the middle of a trade war
Former UN Ambassador Bob Rae and former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt reflect on what it means to be Canadian in the midst of a trade war with the US, and what the stakes are for our country as retaliatory tariffs come into effect.
September 7 · 8 min
Saint John port is in the middle of a major comeback
The Saint John container port in New Brunswick is drawing attention from all over the world. The people there are positioning the place as one answer to our tariff troubles. A growing number of companies are shipping through the port, to and from places, other than the US. Saint John is one of the most tariff-affected Canadian cities. So ,we talk about one of the success stories we found there as people there are working hard to adapt to changing times.And why some see the Port of Sain
September 7 · 8 min
A new writing prize honouring Andrew Pyper
We speak with Heidi Pyper, the wife of the late bestselling author of The Demonologist and The Killing Circle, Andrew Pyper, about his latest book releasing posthumously this week and a new prize for thriller and horror writers is launching this week in his honour.
September 7 · 8 min
Jax Irwin’s viral calls to strangers in Atlantic Canada
It seems like chatting-it-up is part of Maritime culture. People love to talk, even with strangers. So, Jax Irwin has made a delightful gig of this friendly way of life. She’s a Toronto broadcaster who is originally from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. On her social media, she calls random East Coast phone numbers,  numbers in the 902 area code, and chitchats with whoever answers. We talk to her about what some of those conversations are, and why she calls herself a ‘phone call enthusiast.”<
September 7 · 19 min
Canada's retaliatory tariffs kick in tomorrow - then what?
Our national affairs panel, CBC's Rosemary Barton, the Toronto Star's Ryan Tumility and Stephanie Levitz from the Globe and Mail, join us to unpack the latest, and what they'll be watching for from the Prime Minister in the coming weeks.
September 4 · 24 min
Why your attention span is trash and what you can do about it
Can't concentrate? What about thinking deeply? Attention spans are shrinking rapidly. Cal Newport, a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of the bestselling book 'Deep Work,' says we're facing a crisis—an attack on our ability to think. He's calling for what he calls a revolution in defence of thinking. He outlines the steps for reclaiming your attention.
September 4 · 16 min
Why Germany's far-right AfD has surged in popularity
This Sunday Germans head to the polls.  And the far-right Alternative for Germany party—or the AfD—is surging in the eastern state of  Saxony-Anhalt.  If they win, it’ll mark the first time a far-right party has held state power in Germany since the Nazis. The CBC’s Jessica Singer has been on the ground in Saxony-Anhalt, following the campaign and speaking with voters in the state capital, Magdeburg.
September 3 · 19 min
ER waits reach new lengths this summer
With fewer colds and flus, ER doctors used to care for fewer patients in the summer. Not anymore. Patients are waiting longer than ever. We hear from Dr. Noam Katz in Winnipeg and Dr. Brittany Ellis in Saskatoon about what their patients have been dealing with all summer and what needs to change. Then, we speak with Dr. Mayoorendra Ravichandiran, the Deputy Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Scarborough Health Network, about why his ERs are doing things differently -- and how it's helpin
September 3 · 20 min
Is Lake Ontario’s name the least of the Great Lakes’ problems?
Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario has caused a stir, but experts say the controversy is distracting from more serious threats facing the Great Lakes. We speak with McMaster University professor emeritus Gail Krantzberg about how the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental protections is putting the lakes’ water quality and security at risk. We also speak with Western Michigan University professor Daniel Macfarlane about how weakening Great Lakes governance could threaten
September 2 · 19 min
Margaret MacMillan says we're not ready for the New World Order
These are unnerving times, sitting here at the beginning of September in 2026. The US-Iran war continues… Ukraine is heading into its fifth winter of a full-scale war with Russia. Under Donald Trump, the United States has taken a hammer to norms and institutions at home and abroad.  Margaret MacMillan says a new world order is coming, why we aren’t ready for it and how we can adapt.
September 2 · 24 min
What we can learn from the resilience of trees
For the past four decades, world renowned biologist Nalini Nadkarni has risked her life studying trees. In 2015, she fell from a 50-foot bigleaf maple tree in the Olympic Peninsula. She tells The Current host Matt Galloway what her recovery from that catastrophic fall taught her about resilience and trees.
September 1 · 9 min
The American push to keep the name “Lake Ontario”
“Hands Off Our Great Lakes” is the name of a new bill from Democratic Congressman, Tim Kennedy who represents Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The bill aims to undo Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
September 1 · 14 min
Are you feeling the pinch of the singles 'tax'?
There’s no getting around it - life is more expensive as a single person than it is when you’re in a couple. With singles in Canada now making up almost 40% of the population, The Current producer Cece Armstrong looked into the so-called singles 'tax' and how it’s hitting people’s wallets and life choices.
September 1 · 18 min
Buy Canadian!
While the trade war continues to heat up, the Made-in-Canada movement is surging. We speak with former CBC broadcaster and social media influencer, Tod Maffin, about his online Canadian marketplace, Main Street Canada. We also speak with Jacquelyn Corbett, owner of the Toronto-based children' s clothing brand, Mini Mioche, and Ashley Chapman, the COO of Chapman's icecream, about the challenges ahead, and how they are shifting away from their American customers and suppliers.
August 31 · 19 min
Canada-US trade war continues
More than a week after the U.S.-Canada talks collapsed, our national affairs panel —the CBC's Rosemary Barton, the Toronto Star's Ryan Tumilty, and Joël-Denis Bellavance of La Presse—  unravels what we know about what happened, how the Carney government has responded, and how all this might affect the Conservatives' fortunes, the Quebec election, and the federal byelections happening Monday.
August 31 · 24 min
How a London teen died after pretending to be Russian oligarch
The new book “London Falling” tells the true story of Zac Brettler, a 19-year-old Londoner who falls to his death in the Thames after living a double life pretending to be the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch. We speak with bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe about mystery, money and police inaction as he searches for answers about Zac’s death.
August 28 · 24 min
Meta’s settlement that could transform social media for kids
Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, will pay up to $18 billion US in a landmark U.S. case. The tech giant will also make big changes to how youth use its platforms, including time limits. What does this settlement mean for the future of social media, and the effort to keep kids safe?  We're joined by Clare Duffy, a tech reporter for CNN Business who breaks down the settlement, Taylor Owen, the Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications at McGill Univers
August 28 · 19 min
Canadians missing after deadly flash floods in Nepal
Hundreds are dead and thousands are missing in Nepal, including 30 Canadians and permanent residents, after catastrophic flash floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday. Climate scientists say as global warming continues to melt glaciers in the Himalayas, disasters like this in the mountainous region are increasing in scale and frequency. We speak with a local aid worker on the ground to get the latest on what support is needed, and a climate scientist on how the flooding start

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