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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Mar 30, 2023 · 17 min
The little-known document reshaping climate finance in Canada
As Canada races to compete in the clean tech sector as countries work toward their net zero climate goals, investors are trying to figure out where to park huge sums of money to back projects that are a part of this. Enter Canada’s green taxonomy, a guide to assess how green a project requiring investment actually is. Report on Business journalist Jeffrey Jones explains how it works and what it means for Canada’s oil and gas industries.
Mar 29, 2023 · 23 min
The 2023 federal budget, in 23 minutes
The Canadian federal government unveiled its 2023 budget on Tuesday, which sets the economic strategy and tone for the next fiscal year. There’s a lot packed into this document, ranging from measures to help with inflation to an expansion of the national dental plan to investment incentives to help us transition to a greener economy. But how will this budget really impact you? The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau – Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry, personal finance columnist Rob Carrick, sen
Mar 28, 2023 · 19 min
Swifties and Drake fans’ beef with Ticketmaster
The price of concert tickets has risen dramatically – with some tickets costing thousands of dollars. Ticketmaster, which controls a huge proportion of the market, has come under fire recently for some of its practices, like dynamic pricing and murky service fees. It’s now the subject of a proposed class action lawsuit in Quebec. The Globe’s Josh O’Kane has been covering concerns around Ticketmaster for years. He’s here to explain what’s going on with the company, how Ticketmaster got such a st
Mar 27, 2023 · 19 min
The dark side of collagen
Collagen supplements are marketed as a holy grail anti-aging product. Bovine collagen is made from cattle hides, and a new investigation from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism traced the supply chain of some collagen companies all the way to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Elisângela Mendonça is a London-based Brazilian journalist with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Her reporting pulls back the curtain on the dark side of the booming collagen industry.
Mar 26, 2023 · 26 min
Stress Test: Why millennials and Gen Z are Alberta-bound for a more affordable life
In 2022, the number of people moving to Alberta hit its highest level in almost a decade. At the same time, a record number of people left Toronto for other provinces. And it all comes down to affordability. In this episode, we’ll delve into the factors contributing to the rise in interprovincial migration and hear from Canadians who made the move - and how it’s worked out for them.
Mar 24, 2023 · 21 min
Former governor-general Michaëlle Jean on Canada’s role in Haiti
Haiti is in crisis, after months of cholera outbreaks, a fuel and energy crisis, and violence. The UN estimates that 500 people have died in gang violence incidents this year alone. And Canada is facing pressure – largely from the US – to intervene. Michaëlle Jean is the former governor-general of Canada, and the former UNESCO Special Envoy to Haiti, where she’s from. Today, she tells us what led Haiti to this crisis, and what role Canada should have in the country.
Mar 23, 2023 · 19 min
Canada races the U.S. on a ‘green economy’
Canada has committed to going net-zero by 2050 and a big part of making that goal a reality is by transitioning the economy from being fossil fuel dependent to a cleaner and low-carbon one. Canada’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland calls the change the most “significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution”. So what will a ‘green economy’ look like for Canada? And how can it establish itself as a major player as it competes with the United States,
Mar 22, 2023 · 19 min
What’s behind a surge of cheating in universities
Allegations of academic misconduct at Canadian universities have risen sharply in the 2020 to 2021 school year as more and more students turn to hiring people to complete assignments and tests for them. The consequences for the student are clear: a permanent blemish on their academic careers and possible impact on their job prospects if they are caught. But the wider trend is also a concern for Canadian universities as a whole, as their brand depends on maintaining academic integrity. Post-seco
Mar 21, 2023 · 17 min
The whistleblower on Chinese interference in Canada, in their words
The Globe and Mail has been reporting extensively on China’s interference in Canadian elections. This information came to light, in part, because of a whistleblower who wrote an Opinion piece in The Globe this weekend. The Globe rarely publishes Opinion pieces by confidential sources. Today, David Walmsley, The Globe’s Editor in Chief, explains why he decided to publish this piece, and how he feels it contributes to the broader conversation of China’s interference in Canada. And, you’ll hear th
Mar 20, 2023 · 20 min
Former ambassador on why Canada needs a foreign agent registry
As revelations about China’s interference continue, so do calls for a foreign agent registry. The U.S. and Australia have registries like this, where anyone acting on behalf of a foreign entity has to disclose it. But the idea has its detractors. David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, has been advocating for a foreign agent registry for years. He explains how it might work in Canada, why it’s controversial and how the registry could slow China’s interference campaign in Canada.
Mar 17, 2023 · 16 min
The sounds of blind hockey
Oversized pucks clanging as they’re shot across the ice, the constant tapping of hockey sticks as players weave through oversized pylons. These are some of the sights and sounds of blind hockey. Canadian Blind Hockey began in 2009 and now has 14 programs across the country. Canada’s winter game adapted for the visually impaired is an auditory experience and so The Decibel hit the ice to find out more about it. The Globe’s sports reporter, Rachel Brady and Decibel producer Sherrill Sutherland l
Mar 16, 2023 · 21 min
What Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for Canada
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank came swiftly after a panicked run on deposits. Despite the U.S. government enacting safeguards, there is anxiety in the markets wondering which bank might fall next. But how safe are Canadian banks? Report on Business columnist Tim Kiladze is on the show to explain the fallout and what Canadian regulations are in place to try and contain it.
Mar 15, 2023 · 16 min
When paying your mortgage doesn’t reduce your loan
Since the Bank of Canada started hiking its benchmark interest rate just over a year ago, there’s a growing number of mortgage-holders with monthly payments that no longer cover the principal or even the interest portion of their loan. Rachelle Younglai covers real estate for The Globe and she recently reported that at CIBC, 20 per cent of mortgage-holders are seeing their loan balances grow instead of shrink. This represents $52-billion worth of mortgages. CIBC isn’t the only bank in this situ
Mar 14, 2023 · 20 min
Why we need to think of health as an ‘us,’ not just a ‘me’
We often think of health as an individual action – drink more water, exercise, eat well. During the pandemic, we thought more about the health of people around us as well – with social distancing, masking and vaccinations. But there’s a lot more that goes into our health. Today, we’re talking to the Globe’s health reporter Wency Leung about why it’s so important to expand our understanding of health beyond our bodies. Then we talk to Indigenous psychologist Dr. Rod McCormick about how he helps
Mar 13, 2023 · 19 min
Are Canada’s big grocers to blame for your food bill?
Could the rising price of groceries be chalked up to corporate greed? That was the question at a House of Commons committee last week when the executives of Canada’s three biggest grocers testified. Loblaw Cos. Ltd. president Galen Weston, CEO of Empire Co. Michael Medline and CEO of Metro Inc. Eric La Flèche all refuted claims that they were gouging customers under the guise of inflation. Food economist Michael von Massow says blaming Canada’s big grocers doesn’t explain the complex web of fac
Mar 10, 2023 · 18 min
Netflix’s big gamble on its future
Netflix is facing a backlash after announcing it’s cracking down on password sharing in Canada, among other countries. The company says 100 million of its customers worldwide share passwords, which Netflix claims is cutting into its revenue. Kean Birch, director of the Institute for Technoscience and Society at York University, says that Netflix’s business model was bound to run into problems like this, as competition from other streaming services pulls content off the platform and draws users
Mar 9, 2023 · 17 min
B.C.’s groundbreaking plan to fund birth control
British Columbia revealed its 2023 budget on Feb. 28. It introduced a host of new spending measures including a first in Canada: A plan to make contraception universally available in the province free of charge. Globe health reporter, Carly Weeks explains why reproductive health experts are celebrating the move and what this could mean for funding contraception in the rest of the country.
Mar 8, 2023 · 17 min
Trudeau orders probes into Chinese interference of elections
After weeks of resisting pressure from all sides, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered two probes into Chinese election interference. This follows The Globe and Mail reporting on secret and top secret CSIS documents alleging a sophisticated strategy by China to disrupt the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. But criticism is still mounting on Trudeau around how transparent and public these probes will actually be. The Globe’s Ottawa bureau chief Bob Fife is back to tell us why Trudeau is chan
Mar 7, 2023 · 19 min
What we know about the Alberta oil sands leak
The ground and water near Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta has become a toxic mess. A nearby oil sands site, run by Imperial Oil, has leaked industrial waste into the hunting and fishing grounds of the Indigenous community. But the First Nation alleges Imperial Oil and the provincial regulators tasked with keeping the companies in line, hid the seriousness of the leak. Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is only now learning of how badly their food and water could be contaminat
Mar 6, 2023 · 18 min
The news Google is hiding from your searches
Right now, one in 25 Canadians who use Google can’t find some news sites through its search bar. That’s because the tech giant has purposely blocked these searches in response to legislation put forward by the federal government. The Globe’s Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry is on the show to explain the bill taking the fight to Google and other big tech companies and what the government is trying to accomplish with this legislation.