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
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Episodes1335

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Apr 27, 2022 · 16 min
Elon Musk is set to own our ‘digital town square’
Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter, the social media platform for US$44-billion on Monday, just a week after the company’s board tried to block the takeover. The Globe’s technology reporter, Temur Durrani, tells us who is financing the deal, what Twitter’s users and advertisers think of it, and why it matters even if you’ve never written a single tweet.
Apr 26, 2022 · 19 min
The mixed emotions of going back to the office
It may be time to dust off your dress shoes and button-down shirts. Canadians are slowly returning to the office after two years working from dining tables and home offices. The Globe and Mail recently surveyed over 400 people about heading back to the office, and their responses were … emotional. The Globe’s future of work reporter, Vanmala Subramaniam, joins the podcast today to talk about the takeaways of the survey. How are Canadian white-collar workers feeling about this – and what can emp
Apr 25, 2022 · 19 min
Buying a $50-million trip to space
The age of private space travel is upon us. For a paltry few tens of millions, you could buy your own ticket to visit the International Space Station. A 10-day trip with Axiom Space cost Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy US$50-million to be exact. Ivan Semeniuk, The Globe’s science reporter, got the chance to interview Mark while he was floating around the ISS. Ivan joins the show to talk about what Mark is doing with his time in space, why he decided to pay the large price tag
Apr 22, 2022 · 16 min
Trouble is brewing in the craft beer world
There’s no shortage of craft breweries in Canada. Over the past decade, they grew at an explosive rate, from just a few hundred breweries in 2008 to almost 1,200 in 2020. While this is good news for beer lovers, brewers face an oversaturated market and are struggling to turn a profit. Globe reporter Jason Kirby explains how the industry got here, why the pandemic exacerbated the problem and how the craft brewery landscape will change in the coming years.
Apr 21, 2022 · 17 min
How Edmonton hopes to get mosquitos to buzz off
Warmer weather means summer, picnics, camping … and mosquitoes. Edmonton is particularly famous for their mosquito season. But with a focus on environmental sustainability, the city is ditching the pesticide spraying they’ve used for years to control mosquitoes, instead turning to a more natural solution – bats and dragonflies. Dr. Ken Fry is an Entomology Instructor in the School of Life Sciences & Business at Olds College in Alberta, and grew up in Edmonton. He studies pest control management
Apr 20, 2022 · 19 min
If you didn’t get a big raise, you probably got a pay cut
With inflation eating into people’s bank accounts, some people are starting to wonder: Hey, is my paycheque shrinking? And according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, it is. Economics reporter Matt Lundy explains how inflation is resulting in a pay cut for most Canadians and what – if anything – you can do about it.
Apr 19, 2022 · 20 min
Pierre Poilievre’s populist appeal
Pierre Poilievre has been known as the federal Conservative’s attack dog. He’s often hyper partisan in Parliament, not afraid to pander to the base and support controversial movements, like the truckers convoy that occupied Ottawa earlier this year. And yet the career politician has tapped into a populist vein and is gaining attention by talking about issues like housing, inflation and cryptocurrency. But is it enough to allow him to win the Conservative leadership race? And then, resonate with
Apr 18, 2022 · 12 min
Baking a birthday cake in a war zone
When your country is invaded, how do you keep your family’s spirits up? In besieged Kharkiv, Ukraine, Natalie Slyusar focused on trying to give her son a regular 16th birthday – complete with a homemade chocolate cake. But baking’s a lot easier said than done while a war rages around you. This beguilingly simple story reveals a lot about how we get ourselves and our loved ones through the hardest parts of life. Natalie recounts what it’s like for a family to cope with an invasion.
Apr 14, 2022 · 15 min
The pandemic surge in sexually transmitted infections
Sexual health testing took a nose dive during the pandemic, as health care workers and resources were diverted towards the fight against COVID-19. And as Globe reporter Zosia Bielski tells us in this episode, when it comes to sexually transmitted infections: “Less detection equates with more spread.” Now, we’re paying the price: the rate of STIs, from gonorrhea to HIV, has risen precipitously in many places across Canada. Zosia explains why the conditions of the pandemic – from the shame of bre
Apr 13, 2022 · 14 min
Separatism’s new shape in Quebec
On Monday, a by-election in a Montreal suburb ended in defeat for the Parti Quebecois, the province’s champion of separatism for the last fifty years. And yet 35 per cent of Quebeckers still believe in independence for Quebec. The Globe’s Quebec correspondent Eric Andrew-Gee explains why that isn’t translating into support for the PQ anymore.
Apr 12, 2022 · 17 min
Why Canadians aren’t getting their COVID booster
On Monday, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Kieran Moore gave a COVID-19 update after being silent for almost a month. The province will expand PCR testing and antiviral drugs for certain people, Dr. Moore said, while the current surge in cases will likely continue into mid-to-late May. Ontario is not alone. Much of the country is facing a sixth wave of the pandemic. While vaccines remain an important tool for preventing serious disease, less than half of Canadians eligible for a third shot have
Apr 11, 2022 · 22 min
What scares Sarah Polley?
Most people want to shy away from life’s hard moments. But not Canadian actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley. In her first book, Run Towards the Danger, she shares six personal essays that explore some of the most difficult moments of her life. Sarah discusses the slippery nature of memories, how her relationship with her body has changed and what it’s been like to have the world read about vulnerable moments from her private life.
Apr 8, 2022 · 23 min
Inside the federal budget lockup
The federal government has laid out a budget with $56-billion in new spending over six years. On the day the budget is released, journalists get to see the document in advance of the Finance Minister’s announcement – if they join what’s called a “lockup.” The Decibel was in the lockup at a hotel in downtown Ottawa, where Globe journalists explained the main takeaways from the budget, covering spending in the areas of housing, defence, reconciliation, finance, immigration, inflation and more. Yo
Apr 7, 2022 · 20 min
In Bucha and Chernihiv after Russia withdraws
This week, Ukraine took back some key areas in the northern part of the country from Russian troops – including the cities of Bucha and Chernihiv. While we’ve heard reports of atrocities from inside these war zones, it’s only now that journalists and other officials are getting to see the damage and death with their own eyes. The Globe’s U.S. correspondent, Nathan Vanderklippe, is one journalist getting the full picture from the ground in Bucha and Chernihiv. He tells us what it’s like in these
Apr 6, 2022 · 17 min
The myth of universal health care in Canada
As we enter the sixth wave of COVID-19, hospitals are bracing for yet another surge. After two years of weathering wave after wave, doctors, nurses, and hospital staff are “burnt to a crisp,” as one Hamilton, Ont. doctor put it. The problems with Canada’s hospitals – from surgery backlogs, to “hallway medicine,” to staffing shortages – stretch back long before the pandemic. Globe and Mail investigative reporter Robyn Doolittle set out with reporter Tom Cardoso to find why Canadian hospitals wer
Apr 5, 2022 · 16 min
Wastewater is filling the COVID-19 data gap
COVID-19′s sixth wave is here. Quebec’s institute of public health says the sixth wave began in mid-March. On Monday, Ontario premier Doug Ford said the province is in the midst of a “little spike” but that it’s manageable. Hospitalizations are up by about 30 per cent since the week before. And in Alberta, the province’s Health Minister Jason Copping acknowledged an uptick in case positivity rate. With PCR tests not as widely available as they once were, scientists and public health officials h
Apr 4, 2022 · 12 min
This Métis elder spoke directly to the Pope. Here’s her story
Pope Francis has apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system – an apology long awaited by Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This comes after a week of meetings between a delegation of Métis, Inuit and First Nations and the Pope and other members of the Catholic Church. Angie Crerar is an 85-year-old elder of the Métis Nation of Alberta. She spoke to Globe reporter Willow Fiddler in Rome after hearing the Pope speak on Friday. She talked about what the Pope’s apology m
Apr 1, 2022 · 18 min
What the latest climate plan means for Canada’s oil and gas sector
The federal government has released yet another climate change plan oriented toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What’s different this time? This latest Emissions Reduction Plan is a sector-by-sector blueprint that specifically puts pressure on the oil and gas sector to cut its emissions by 42 per cent by 2030. Adam Radwanski is The Globe and Mail’s climate change columnist. He talks about what is required from companies and from the government to meet these goals, and whether the plan is
Mar 31, 2022 · 18 min
Canada’s tech sector has a brain drain problem
Employment is growing across Canada’s economy, but nowhere near the rate of the tech sector. Jobs in STEM jumped nearly 200,000 since the pandemic. Specifically, jobs in computer systems design are up 22 per cent. It’s good news for skilled tech workers, but not for small to mid-sized Canadian tech companies. That’s because big American tech companies are scooping up Canada’s top tech talent. And with the rise of remote work, competition is even stiffer. Matt Lundy is an economics reporter and
Mar 30, 2022 · 18 min
What’s next for making $10-a-day child care a reality in Canada?
On March 28, it was announced that Ontario had finally signed onto the federal child-care deal. With all provinces and territories now signed on, families across the country will eventually be paying only $10 a day for child care. To make this possible, the federal government is investing $30 billion to open 146,000 new child-care spots by 2026, but that investment may be useless if we don’t have the early childhood educators to fill them. The Globe’s Dave McGinn has been reporting on the feder