The Decibel

The Globe and Mail

Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.

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1,335 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes1335

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Jul 24, 2023 · 20 min
The people most impacted by wildfire smoke
Cities across Canada have been dealing with the impacts of wildfire smoke this year – the smoggy skies and health effects. And while we’ve been seeing more smoke in big cities, remote Indigenous communities often bear the brunt of the negative effects of wildfires. Since 1982, 98% of smoke-related evacuations have been in Indigenous communities. Dr. Nicole Redvers is an associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario and an expert on the
Jul 21, 2023 · 20 min
Inside Canada Soccer’s equal pay fight
Canada’s national women’s soccer team is protesting unequal treatment by the sport’s governing body. The players say Canada Soccer is not transparent with its finances, and that they won’t agree to be paid less than the men. The men’s team supports them. Rachel Brady is The Globe’s sports reporter, and she’ll tell us about the dispute, the growing business case for equally funding women’s sport, and how that’s fuelling professional women’s soccer in Canada.
Jul 20, 2023 · 19 min
Ozempic's effect on the body positivity movement
Ozempic and other medications for type-2 diabetes have shown to be effective treatments for obesity. But this discovery has led to many people, who do not medically need the drug, using it for vanity reasons. Not only has this led to supply shortages and concern around less discussed long-term effects, but it’s also changing the way we talk about body image and the body positivity movement. Dr. Sarah Nutter, Assistant Professor in Counseling Psychology at the University of Victoria, whose prim
Jul 19, 2023 · 20 min
Why is it so important to get inflation down to two per cent?
We’re all familiar with the cycle now: Inflation is too high, so central banks keep raising interest rates. The hope is to get inflation back down to 2 per cent. But why 2? If we accept that things are going to keep getting more expensive, what difference does it make if it’s 2 or 3 per cent? Or 2.8? Report on Business reporter Mark Rendell explains why we’re aiming for 2-per-cent inflation, whether that target will change and what he learned from a recent interview with Tiff Macklem, Governor
Jul 18, 2023 · 19 min
Behind the rise of car thefts in Canada
Car thefts have surged in Canada, with some provinces seeing increases of 50 per cent in a year. And Canada has become particularly popular for this type of crime. Today, The Globe’s wealth management and insurance reporter Clare O’Hara tells us what’s behind the rise of car thefts, and how you can best protect your own car from being stolen.
Jul 17, 2023 · 20 min
Why NATO is back to Cold War strength
At the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Turkey agreed to support Sweden’s bid to join the alliance. This paves the way for Sweden to become the 32nd member nation following closely behind Finland, which became a member earlier in the spring. The expansion of NATO is something Russia and President Vladimir Putin have used as a key rationale for the war against Ukraine – saying it jeopardizes Russia’s security. Timothy Sayle is an associate professor of history and director of the International
Jul 14, 2023 · 26 min
City Space: Why are ER wait times so bad in Canadian cities?
Burning hours in an ER waiting room has long been a fact of Canada’s public health care system, but that wait time is starting to spike. Now, in Ontario it hovers at around 20 hours on average. And our cities, home to more people and more various determinants of health than anywhere else in the country, bear the brunt of it. In this episode, we’re looking at some issues that impact the growing hospital emergency room wait times: What factors are contributing to the problem? And can anything actu
Jul 13, 2023 · 20 min
When AI decides your pay
App-based ride-share and food delivery companies rely on algorithms that dictate speed, behaviour and the wage of gig workers resulting in different payments for the same work. Labour experts are warning about ‘algorithm wage discrimination’ and concern around protecting workers when it comes to AI. Vanmala Subramaniam, The Globe’s future of work reporter, discusses what we do know about how this works, and the growing trend of AI being in charge of a worker’s pay.
Jul 12, 2023 · 20 min
The surge of young people dying from opioids
The opioid epidemic is taking young lives – the number of 15-24 year olds dying from opioid overdoses tripled between 2014 and 2021 in Ontario. And young people are shown to be less likely to seek treatment for their addictions. A deadly mix of those factors and a contaminated drug supply are creating lethal outcomes. The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network’s lead investigator, Dr. Tara Gomes is on the show to take us behind the numbers and how the politics around safer supply programs are impa
Jul 11, 2023 · 17 min
Canada’s multi-billion dollar bet on the electric vehicle market
After months of negotiations, automaker Stellantis and battery maker LG Energy Solution have reached a deal with the federal and Ontario provincial governments. It’s worth up to $15-billion in subsidies for a plant that’s being built in Windsor, Ont. The plant is part of Canada’s push into the clean energy sector, but with a cost in the billions, it raises questions about whether this specific deal is worth the money. Adam Radwanski, The Globe’s climate change columnist and feature writer, takes
Jul 10, 2023 · 19 min
Why El Niño is a climate wild card
El Niño is back in a big way. This natural weather pattern is known to increase severe weather around the world. And scientists are trying to predict the impacts of this climate wild card – especially on top of global warming impacts. Ivan Semeniuk, The Globe’s science reporter, has been investigating the effects of El Niño. He’ll explain the impacts of El Niños in the past and what to expect this time around.
Jul 7, 2023 · 29 min
City Space: Will Canada be able to house all the immigrants it hopes to welcome by 2025?
Last year, the federal government set an ambitious new immigration target — to bring in half a million permanent residents a year by 2025. While the country is already dealing with a pretty profound housing crisis, it’s likely everyone will feel the housing crunch even more as a record number of immigrants move to Canadian cities in the near future. Where will all these newcomers live and whose job is it to make sure the country is prepared? In this episode, we hear from Mike Moffatt, the Senior
Jul 6, 2023 · 19 min
The Nova Scotia coal miners dying of black lung
Coal mining might seem like a job of the past, but global demand for it has actually surged in the past few years. Nearly 7,000 coal miners are still working in the industry. But the job is killing them. Inhalation of coal dust particles is leading to black lung, an incurable condition that workers describe as drowning in their own lung fluid. Worse yet, Canada doesn’t have a tracking system, which makes compensation difficult for many miners. Decades after coal fuelled Canada, miners are now b
Jul 5, 2023 · 20 min
Preparing for the decline of oil and gas in Canada
Canada, alongside much of the world, has plans to become net-zero by 2050. And one of their main action-items is to move away from fossil fuels. But does Canada have an economic plan for when the oil and gas sector declines? The Globe’s energy reporter Emma Graney tells us about why Canada is falling behind, and how this may impact our economy if we don’t start making these changes now.
Jul 4, 2023 · 21 min
Inside the sparkly, hard-core world of competitive cheer
It’s sparkly, athletic and enthusiastic. But it’s grittier than you might think. Competitive cheer is a fast-growing sport in Canada that requires the skills of a gymnast and the agility of a dancer. Recently, almost 8,000 athletes from around the country gathered in Niagara Falls for the national cheer championship. The Globe’s feature writer, Jana Pruden was at the three-day competition where she spent time with athletes, parents and coaches. She’s on the show to explain what she learned and
Jun 30, 2023 · 25 min
Ukrainian refugee children find a new start in Canada
The Grade 8 students of St. Demetrius Catholic School are in many ways like every other class – they’re nervous about going to high school, but excited for graduation. They’re also mostly refugees from the war in Ukraine, so they are also grappling with learning a new language and culture, and trying to set up a new life without knowing how long they’ll be here. The Globe’s education reporter Caroline Alphonso tells us the stories of some of these students, what they went through to get here an
Jun 29, 2023 · 17 min
Is multi-generational housing the next big trend?
Multi-generational living in your 20′s and even 30′s has become common as young adults deal with unaffordable housing rates across Canada. And more than half of parents surveyed by the Globe and Mail say their adult kids pay rent while they live at home. Rob Carrick, the Globe and Mail’s personal finance columnist, joins us to discuss his recent survey on parents charging their adult kids for rent and trends we are seeing when it comes to multi-generational homes.
Jun 28, 2023 · 21 min
How a mutiny weakened Putin’s strongman image
Over the weekend, a chaotic 36 hours unfolded in the Kremlin. The Wagner Group, a team of Russian military mercenaries created an uprising to challenge the Russian military, before Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin abruptly aborted the mission. But the damage was done – Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Prigozhin of trying to start a civil war. And for the first time in nearly two decades, Putin’s regime appears to be shaken publicly. Mark MacKinnon, The Globe’s senior international co
Jun 27, 2023 · 17 min
A $50-million fine in Canada’s bread price-fixing scandal
Over 20 years later, someone has finally paid the price for Canada’s bread-fixing scandal – other than shoppers that is. Last week, baked-goods producer Canada Bread was fined $50-million for its role in coordinating the price hikes on bread. Susan Krashinsky Robertson is The Globe and Mail’s retail reporter. She explains why it has taken so long for the Competition Bureau to hold a company accountable and whether Canadians will be compensated for years of inflated bread prices.
Jun 26, 2023 · 19 min
Is Canada’s waste program trash?
Many municipalities across Canada are choosing profit over the environment when it comes to waste management options. This has left many Canadians questioning the country’s alleged commitment to long-term environmental protection. Dr. Cassandra Kuyvenhoven has a PhD in Environmental Studies with expertise in waste management. She breaks down the systematic issues surrounding Canada’s waste management system and what we could be doing better overall.