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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181 episodes
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English

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Yesterday · 12 min
Why Americans can’t shake economic anxiety
As voters head to the polls in the U.S. midterms, politicians are sending mixed messages on the economy. Eric Morris, an economist and portfolio manager in Rochester, New York, digs into the mismatch between the hard data and the way voters are feeling — and why the problems may lie beyond the realm of economics.
Yesterday · 23 min
Neurodivergent hosts rethink the celebrity interview
As CBC TV launches its second season of The Assembly, we hear what it was like to bring celebrities like Hudson Williams, Marie-Philip Poulin and Zach Galifianakis together with a room full of autistic and neurodivergent interviewers. We speak with Executive Producer Sean De Vries, celebrity guest and singer-songwriter Lights, and interviewer Maurgaux Wosk, about the genuine connections and authentic moments that resulted.
Yesterday · 15 min
Inside the New Canada-EU alliance
Delegates from the EU are in Montreal for a summit to launch negotiations to deepen trade and other partnerships between Canada and the European Union. We hear from former leader of the federal Liberals and former Special Envoy to Europe, Stéphane Dion, and from Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President for the European Commission, on what this new alliance means for Canada and the EU.
Yesterday · 11 min
Press 0 to escape: NYC says no to AI customer service
Have you ever been caught in a customer service chatbot doom loop? Last week, NYC's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection proposed new rules to curb companies' use of AI customer service systems. We speak with Commissioner Sam Levine about why AI customer service chatbots are so frustrating — and why the ramifications are much bigger than just annoyingly-slow customer service.
Wednesday · 19 min
Are GLP-1s the answer to fighting childhood obesity?
New guidance from the WHO says physicians should consider GLP-1s for kids living with obesity. But what do families need to know before trying the medications, and will they work for every child?
Wednesday · 24 min
Ebola, Bombs and Migrants: MSF’s Dr. Joanne Liu
Dr. Joanne Liu was the International President of Medecins Sans Frontiers from 2013 to 2019, and came face to face with the world's biggest humanitarian crises of that time. Since leaving her role at MSF, Dr. Liu has been reflecting on her work, and thinking about how best to provide humanitarian aid in a new world order — as crises continue across the globe. She joins us to talk about her new book, “Ebola, Bombs, and Migrants: Humanitarian Crises in a Security-Obsessed World,” and what still
Wednesday · 11 min
Inside Anthropic’s $2 Trillion IPO
Anthropic is about to make its stock market debut in what could be the largest in history, but it comes with significant risks. CNN Reporter Clare Duffy on what this could mean for the future of AI and the economy.
Tuesday · 23 min
Why Flock coming to Canada has privacy experts worried
There is a growing resistance in Canada to automated license plate readers powered by AI. With ALPR brand Flock coming to Canada there are concerns around mass surveillance and misuse by the police but police insist ALPRs are a necessary tool for fighting crime. We'll hear from both sides of the argument.
Tuesday · 18 min
Public opinion is changing on immigration
A new survey from Environics Institute for Survey Research shows that the Canadian public is less concerned about the overall level of immigration compared to last year. Andrew Parkin, the Executive Director of Environics Institute for Survey Research, talks about what’s leading to this shift. Mikal Skuterud, Economics Professor at University of Waterloo, talks about why the government looking to immigration to fill labour shortages is the wrong approach, and Dan Kelly, president of the CFIB,
Tuesday · 15 min
The hidden toll of Lebanon’s war
Award-winning journalist and long-time conflict reporter Sally Armstrong talks about her latest trip to Lebanon, where she saw the ways in which the war there is taking a toll on the country’s children.
Tuesday · 9 min
How walking can make you more creative
Taking a stroll isn't just good for your body. It can help you brainstorm ideas. McMaster researcher Alex Thabane says that's more important than ever at a time when people are outsourcing mental work to AI.
Monday · 27 min
Could space be the next daily commute?
Ariel Ekblaw is a space architect looking to solve the problems of life on Earth and beyond. Hear how her designs for a new space habitat could replace the International Space Station, a reality check on data centres in space, and how low-orbit manufacturing could hold the key to curing blindness. This is not science fiction, but is the next step in the space race.
Monday · 24 min
When you find out you don’t have MS after all
When actress Christina Applegate found out she didn't have MS after 5 years, she wasn't relieved.  The symptoms persist, and now she doesn't have any diagnosis. Studies show that upwards of one in five MS diagnoses are wrong. That's dramatic in a country like Canada, which has some of the world's highest levels of MS. We’ll speak with Jackie Pilon, who describes what it was like to have had her MS diagnosis changed. Then, we’ll speak with Dr. Jiwon Oh who tells us what this means for Can
Monday · 19 min
B.C. elects a new Premier. What’s next?
British Columbians voted for change in a big way. The Conservatives won 63 seats. The NDP, 28. And the Greens, 2. It's a dramatic outcome for a party that seemed to have come undone at the seams when the NDP's David Eby called the snap election. Now, Eby has resigned as party leader. And Lorne Doerkson is BC's premier-designate. To break it all down, we’ll speak with Katie DeRosa, CBC’s legislative reporter in British Columbia, and Rob Shaw, a political correspondent for Chek News and host of
October 23 · 8 min
US midterm ads: expensive and offensive
We speak with Zeteo senior political reporter Asawin Suebsaeng about the costly, heated US midterm ad wars, including Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s new ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton.
October 23 · 19 min
Where is the Canadian economy headed?
Inflation is up, and the latest job numbers were worse than expected. Guest host Peter Armstrong speaks to three top economic watchers about the state of the Canadian economy and what it means for your household budget.
October 23 · 15 min
Who took these mysterious Summer of Love era photos?
An unknown photographer embedded themself in the San Francisco protests in the late '60s, getting up close to famous figures like Mohammed Ali, Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary and Carlos Santana. Their collection now belongs to American photographer Bill Delzell, who's trying to figure out who took them. The answer could lie in dozens of rolls of film that were never developed. Canadian archivist Gerald Freyer hopes to reveal their secrets.
October 23 · 26 min
Rick and Amanda Hansen reflect on the “Man in Motion” Tour
For more than two years, Canadian Rick Hansen pushed his wheelchair around the world to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities. Now — more than 40 years later — a new documentary at TIFF, "Man in Motion, The Rick Hansen Story," looks back at that tour. Matt Galloway speaks with Rick and his wife Amanda.
October 22 · 24 min
How golf helped Anishinaabe writer Jesse Wente heal
Writer, broadcaster and arts administrator Jesse Wente was producing a documentary based on the Thomas King book, The Inconvenient Indian — when a controversy erupted over the filmmaker Michelle Latimer's indigenous identity. That controversy, forced Wente to grapple with his own sense of self and feelings of belonging, and was followed by an intense period of crisis in his life. In his new book, Tough Lies: Indigenous Belonging and my Healing Through Golf, Wente discusses t
October 22 · 26 min
New Yorker's David Remnick on Israeli & US mid-term elections
Pulitzer prize winner and long-time editor of The New Yorker shares his insights on the upcoming Israeli election, the US midterms, and how both outcomes could shape the future of both countries and the relationship they hold with each other.

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