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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1,334 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes1334

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Jan 28, 2022 · 15 min
The promises and limitations of the new COVID-19 pill
There’s a new treatment for COVID-19 in Canada. If taken at the right time during the infection, it can help keep people who have caught the virus out of the hospital. But there are some caveats. In fact, there are a lot. Carly Weeks is one of The Globe’s health reporters and she explains how the new pill from Pfizer works, who can take it and why it’s already in short supply.
Jan 27, 2022 · 14 min
The Bank of Canada’s plan to cool inflation
In a surprising twist, at least in Bank of Canada news, the central bank decided on Wednesday to keep its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent. It was widely expected that the bank would announce a rate hike in order to cool Canada’s soaring inflation. The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, did say interest rate hikes are coming in the near future – and that means borrowing costs are also going up. Mark Rendell covers the Bank of Canada, finance and economics for The G
Jan 26, 2022 · 15 min
Why protesting truck drivers are heading for Ottawa
Truckers are now subject to the same rules as other travellers at the border, which means they can be refused entry or required to quarantine if they are unvaccinated. Even though, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, there’s no reason to think truckers are less vaccinated than average, the new vaccination mandate has become the subject of vigorous political debate. It even spurred a protest in the form of a group of truckers and their supporters headed to Ottawa, calling themselves “the
Jan 25, 2022 · 20 min
Why some Nunavut elders spend their final years alone in Ottawa
Sending a loved one to an assisted-living home is never an easy choice. For the people of Nunavut, the majority of whom are Inuit, it’s even harder. The territory has 36 beds for elders in four different communities. That means 21 of its 25 fly-in communities are without any options for elder care that don’t involve sending a family member away. And some families – whose elders need more intensive care – must choose between providing all of the care themselves, or sending their loved ones to Ott
Jan 24, 2022 · 17 min
Move over 'Let It Go,' we're talking about Bruno
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who have “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” stuck in their head, and those who don’t … yet. The Disney song is a viral sensation and unexpected hit from the 2021 film, Encanto. Michael Birenbaum Quintero is an ethnomusicologist and Associate Professor at Boston University. Even he agrees it’s a catchy tune, and explores its musical influences along with the movie’s wider representation of Colombian and Latin American music and culture.
Jan 21, 2022 · 16 min
Hot desks are not cool with office workers
In the Before Times, millions of white collar workers would get up every weekday morning, get dressed, commute into the office and work at their desk for the day. Since the pandemic, working from home has become more common. That’s resulted in a lot of unused office space across the country. As companies start to think about what work will look like as pandemic restrictions ease, one trend seems to be emerging: Hot-desking. This is the idea that there are no assigned seats in an office. Instead
Jan 20, 2022 · 18 min
Russia and Ukraine at the brink of war
Senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon is back in Ukraine, as officials from Canada and the U.S. — as well as military equipment from Britain — fly in to show support for Ukraine and try to dissuade Russia from invading. There’s not much indication it’s working, and as Mark explains, while there are more talks scheduled for later in the week, hope of a peaceful solution seems to be fading fast.
Jan 19, 2022 · 20 min
Who betrayed Anne Frank?
The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most widely read first-person accounts of the Holocaust. The question of how Anne and her family were discovered has haunted readers for decades. In a new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, author Rosemary Sullivan details what an investigative team found when they set out to answer: who tipped off the authorities to Anne’s hiding spot? Turns out, it’s more complicated than you’d think. Marsha Lederman, the Globe’s Western Arts Cor
Jan 18, 2022 · 16 min
Why last year’s hottest stocks are cooling off
The pandemic promised a gold mine for companies like Zoom, Shopify, and Peloton. And at first, these companies did see a boost in their stock value. But the ground started to shift at the end of 2021 and now these stocks, which are often darlings of retail investors, are seeing substantial drops. Report on Business reporter and columnist Tim Kiladze explains what has led to this investor whiplash and how a lot of trading on the stock market has become detached from the actual value of some comp
Jan 17, 2022 · 19 min
Canada's 'Bitcoin Widow' finally speaks
When Gerald Cotten died suddenly in 2018, he was only 30 years old, but fabulously wealthy thanks to founding Quadriga, one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges. Or at least, that’s how it seemed. His death coincided with growing concerns about the legitimacy of Quadriga. After investigating, the Ontario Securities Commission said Quadriga was run like a Ponzi scheme. More than Quadriga clients collectively lost more than $200 million. Jennifer Kathleen Margaret Roberston was Cotten’s wife, a
Jan 14, 2022 · 21 min
Thinking through Quebec’s unvaxxed tax
Quebec is the first jurisdiction in Canada to propose a ‘health contribution’ tax for people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This has sparked a debate about whether some government pandemic measures are going too far into the realm of being punitive. Dr. Devon Greyson, an assistant professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, has been studying vaccine hesitancy since 2015. They break down the ethical considerations of this con
Jan 13, 2022 · 20 min
Facing the challenges of kids, school and Omicron
With kids heading back to classrooms and daycares after the holiday break, there’s plenty of anxiety in the air. Omicron has proven to be highly transmissible and that means these communal settings are at high risk for spread of the virus. We hear from parents and teachers about how they’re feeling. Plus Dr. Janine McCready, an infectious diseases physician at Michael Garron hospital in Toronto tells us what we know about Omicron and kids so far, and the tools that are needed to keep transmissi
Jan 12, 2022 · 15 min
Giving new life to a dying language in Canada
There are only nine students but the kids of Taigh Sgoile na Drochaide – or the Bridge Schoolhouse in English – represent the future of Gaelic fluency in Canada. This is the first Gaelic-immersion school in the country and the people who founded it hope one day it’ll be the first of many. Greg Mercer, who reports on Atlantic Canada for The Globe and Mail, shares the story of how this school sprouted up from a small community that is passionate about regaining its Gaelic roots.
Jan 11, 2022 · 15 min
Novak Djokovic’s Australian saga
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic is known for being among the best male tennis players in the world. Off the court, he’s known for his anti-vaccine sentiments. The Australian Open granted him a medical exemption that would allow him to compete, but when he attempted to enter the country on Thursday, January 6, he was detained at the border. He was released on January 10, but his future at the Open remains uncertain. Caitlin Thompson, co-founder of Racquet and publisher of Racquet Magazine, a p
Jan 10, 2022 · 14 min
Omicron’s toll on workers
Between infection, isolation and layoffs because of restrictions, staff shortages are hitting workers and business hard right now thanks to this Omicron wave of the pandemic. Independent business reporter Chris Hannay explores which industries are feeling hardest hit, how the government’s guidelines and support for workers and workplaces has changed, and why for some, the timing of these new lockdowns really couldn’t have been worse.
Jan 7, 2022 · 18 min
Harry Potter and the controversial author
The world of Harry Potter – which now extends from books to movies, theme parks, spin-offs, merchandise, and a vast amount of fan-generated content called “fanfic”– has been beloved since the first book was published more than 20 years ago. But in recent years, this world’s creator, author J.K. Rowling, has been making statements against trans activists, and sometimes raising the possibility of violence from someone who identifies as trans. Culture critic and founder of Friday Things Stacy Lee
Jan 6, 2022 · 15 min
How a Dry January might help your COVID anxiety
It’s easy to not be mindful about drinking alcohol. A glass of wine with dinner or a beer after work can quickly become a habit with little thought. And since the pandemic struck, for some people, alcohol is playing an even bigger role. Enter: Dry January, a month-long ‘challenge’ to avoid or cut back on alcohol consumption. André Picard, Globe and Mail columnist, talks about its virtues, the rise in sober-curious culture and why we may consume more alcohol than we think.
Jan 5, 2022 · 17 min
Cracking the coronavirus code
Omicron is a variant of the novel coronavirus that was discovered back in 2019. The data we’ve collected suggests it’s less virulent, but more contagious, thanks to many mutations. To track these mutations and try to understand what might be coming next in this pandemic, scientists use genomic sequencing. Globe science reporter Ivan Semeniuk is back to talk about how scientists map variants’ genomes.
Jan 4, 2022 · 21 min
Eating disorders jeopardizing Olympic athletes' lives and careers
Elite athletes’ every move are subjected to scrutiny, rewound and played in slow-motion. And while we often discuss the physical stress this kind of exertion places on them, we’re less used to talking about the psychological strain this focus on bodies creates. Eating disorders are surprisingly commonplace amongst Olympic athletes, made worse by toxic training environments and suspect science, according to a recent Globe and Mail investigation. Grant Robertson and Rachel Brady discuss their fin
Dec 31, 2021 · 34 min
Stress Test: From investing to housing, personal finance experts share their predictions for 2022
For the end of 2021, we're bringing you an episode of Stress Test, a podcast about personal finance from The Globe and Mail, hosted by Rob Carrick and Roma Luciw. 2021 was a year of surprises in personal finance. Who would have thought inflation would take off, housing could get even hotter and that job-hopping would be commonplace amid a global pandemic? So, what’s next? In this episode, Rob and Roma ask four personal finance experts - Robb Engen, Preet Banerjee, Erica Alini and Barry Choi - w