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

Newest first

Dec 24, 2025 · 26 min
Bark! The Herald Angels Sing: how people met their pets
The winter holidays are a time to cozy up with family – even if those family members are furry and of a different species. For many, dogs and cats aren’t just animals, they’re cherished loved ones who come into our lives at the exact moment we need them. This holiday season, The Decibel’s editor David Crosbie, Globe and Mail staffers and Canadians share personal stories about how they met their pets and how caring for them has changed their lives.
Dec 23, 2025 · 28 min
Why time feels like it’s speeding up – and how to slow it down
Many factors of modern life can make time feel like it’s moving faster than it actually is: hustle culture at work, a productivity compulsion at home, over-programmed kids – they’re all attempts to get as much as possible out of our time and keep up with the frantic pace of life. But life also has moments where time feels like it’s slowing down, or even stops. We know that time can’t actually slow down or speed up – but why does it feel like that? The Globe’s time use reporter, Zosia Bielski, s
Dec 22, 2025 · 24 min
Why Heated Rivalry has everyone hot and bothered
The Canadian television show Heated Rivalry has found major success not just in Canada, but with American audiences, too. The show, a love story between two male hockey players, has broken television streaming records and taken over social media. The Globe’s television critic J. Kelly Nestruck joins The Decibel to talk about why Heated Rivalry has resonated with so many people, and how significant it is for a Canadian show to break through to global audiences so quickly.
Dec 19, 2025 · 20 min
Canadian military officer charged with leaking government secrets
Canadian counter-intelligence military officer Matthew Robar, is facing charges of espionage. The veteran military officer is accused of sharing information with Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to a source for The Globe and Mail. Robar was arrested last week, and charged with multiple offences related to passing highly sensitive government secrets to a foreign entity. Steven Chase, a senior parliamentary reporter for The Globe, speaks to The Decibel about what’s known about Robar,
Dec 18, 2025 · 19 min
The rise of medical tourism
This travel season, Canadians might be headed away for something other than a vacation. More Canadians are participating in medical tourism, travelling to another country to receive medical treatment, though some question its safety and the threats this poses to Canada’s public health care system. Sarah Bartnicka, a freelance writer for The Globe, explains the costs, the risks and what Canadians can keep in mind for best practices when travelling abroad for a medical procedure.
Dec 17, 2025 · 18 min
Bondi Beach shooting echoes past antisemitic attacks
The attack on Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach in Sydney has sent shockwaves around the world. To many in Jewish communities, it mirrors previous antisemitic attacks seen in countries around the world over the past several years. Globe columnist and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman joins The Decibel. He covered the Tree of Life shooting in 2018, where 11 Jewish people were killed in their synagogue in Pittsburgh. Shribman talks about how the recent shooting in Sydney i
Dec 16, 2025 · 22 min
Why your loyalty points don’t go as far as they used to
Loyalty reward programs are everywhere we shop. They’re at coffee shops, retailers, airports and grocery stores. Many of us are connected to our points, but the rewards no longer seem to go as far as they used to. Vass Bednar, the managing director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, explains the changes to Canadian loyalty rewards programs, what we are giving up when we hand companies our data in exchange for points – and if it’s even still worth it to collect rewards points anymore.
Dec 15, 2025 · 22 min
The multibillion-dollar fight over the McCain Foods fortune
The heirs to Canada’s multi-billion dollar frozen food empire are fighting. New Brunswick’s McCain Foods is the world’s largest French fry maker, and is privately owned by the McCain family. Recently, one of its heirs, Eleanor McCain, requested to be bought out of her stake in the company – but her relatives are refusing to. Globe business columnist, Andrew Willis, has been reporting on the showdown inside one of Canada’s wealthiest families. He’ll explain the fight over ownership, whether it c
Dec 12, 2025 · 24 min
New crime bill addresses violence against women and court delays
Mark Carney’s federal government has introduced its second tough-on-crime bill this fall. The new bill, Bill C-16, focuses on violence against women and children, changes to mandatory minimum sentences and the growing problem of court delays. The Globe’s justice reporter, David Ebner, explains the specific changes to the Criminal Code that this bill wants to make and what advocates and critics are saying about it.
Dec 11, 2025 · 25 min
Rise in late-stage prostate cancer raises concerns over testing
Late-stage prostate cancer diagnoses are on the rise in Canada. According to a recent study, between 2010 and 2021, rates of prostate cancer discovered at Stage 4 increased by about 50 per cent in men aged 50 to 74. In men over the age of 75, rates were up over 65 per cent. There is a simple blood test that can screen for early signs of prostate cancer, called a prostate specific antigen, or PSA test; however, in 2014, Canada recommended against using the PSA for widespread screening. Today, Gl
Dec 10, 2025 · 22 min
The traveller’s guide to Canadian airline disruptions
Hours before a strike deadline, Air Transat and the union representing airline pilots reached a tentative agreement. For customers, it comes as relief in the middle of a busy holiday travel season. And in a year already wracked by airline work stoppages, the threat of disruption and lengthy customer reimbursement periods continue to loom. Mariya Postelnyak, The Globe’s Consumer Affairs reporter, speaks about what you need to know as a traveller, what’s afforded in air passenger protections, an
Dec 9, 2025 · 20 min
How three Canadian businesses have coped with Trump’s tariffs
The Canadian manufacturing sector has been having a hard time, which has been made worse by U.S. tariffs. The impact of these tariffs varies company to company. So a team of Report on Business journalists from The Globe spoke to several manufacturers to see how they’ve fared this past year. Matt Lundy, The Globe’s Economics Editor, speaks about how badly these companies have been hurt, what they’re doing to try to cope and whether federal government supports have been any help.
Dec 8, 2025 · 21 min
The construction industry’s opioid problem
For families, the tragedy of opioids is beyond measure. The opioid epidemic has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Canada and has been recognized as a public health crisis, but it’s also an economic one – and it disproportionately affects workers in key sectors like construction and the trades. As Ottawa ramps up its push to build major projects fast, could the ongoing toxic drug crisis slow it down? Today, Globe reporter Jason Kirby joins the show. As part of our Poisoned series, he spoke w
Dec 5, 2025 · 18 min
The future of Canada’s military and joining Europe’s defence fund
Canada is in the midst of reframing its approach to military spending. The reasons for this are twofold; a commitment to fulfilling NATO spending as part of GDP, and the push to diversify spending away from the U.S. To that end, Prime Minister Mark Carney has recently signed a deal joining the EU’s military procurement fund, granting Canada access to both selling and purchasing defence materiel. Steven Chase, The Globe’s senior parliamentary reporter, is on the show to discuss what this means f
Dec 4, 2025 · 25 min
The businessman at the heart of Alberta’s health care controversy
It’s not unusual for business owners to forge ties with governments, but there are rules around conflicts of interest when it comes to procurement. In February, 2025, an Alberta senior public servant stepped forward with allegations of political interference in the awarding of large health contracts. These allegations prompted investigators, auditors and opposition politicians to look closely at the ties between Premier Danielle Smith’s government and an Alberta businessman, Sam Mraiche. Mraich
Dec 3, 2025 · 24 min
The case against cleaning before hosting
With the holidays right around the corner, households are getting ready for company and deep cleans are underway. Even the idea of letting family and friends see a clutter-strewn home can be anxiety-inducing, and images of perfectly-clean celebrity homes on social media don’t help. But what are we actually losing when we prioritize the act of cleaning over the people we do it for? Zosia Bielski, The Globe’s Time Use reporter, digs into the societal pressure we all face over deep cleaning, why t
Dec 2, 2025 · 22 min
Why do so many Canadian roads not have cell service?
Across Canada, highways and rural roads are studded with cellular ‘dead zones’. In some provinces, coverage gaps span over 30 per cent of major roads. In some cases, you can’t receive calls and texts for more than 100 kilometres. So when something goes wrong, what do people do? Today, the Globe’s telecoms reporter Irene Galea and national news reporter Jill Mahoney have been investigating how many of the country’s major roads and highways are disconnected. They explain why years-long public saf
Dec 1, 2025 · 20 min
Why a new Ontario law has renters worried about more evictions
Ontario just passed Bill 60, officially named the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act.” It’s a big omnibus bill, but it’s garnered the most attention for reforms to Ontario’s rental system. Doug Ford’s government walked back the most controversial part of the bill, but critics are concerned that what remains will still lead to more evictions and worsen the homelessness crisis. Today, Shane Dingman, the Globe’s real estate reporter, is on the show to talk about why these legislative changes ar
Nov 28, 2025 · 24 min
Carney, Smith agree to pipeline framework, as minister resigns
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed an agreement that sets the framework for building a new pipeline, carrying bitumen to the west coast. The deal commits to simultaneously making Canada a “global energy superpower” and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Indigenous co-ownership is a requirement for development, as is consultation with British Columbia. In response, Liberal minister Steven Guilbeault, a former environment minister and lon
Nov 27, 2025 · 33 min
Why Canada lost consensus on immigration — and how to get it back
The Canadian consensus on immigration cratered last year. In the fall of 2024, an Environics poll found that for the first time in a quarter century most Canadians felt there was too much immigration. Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the country experienced one of the biggest periods of immigration growth in its history, but after the shift in public opinion, the Liberal government reversed course. Despite big reductions to immigration levels, most Canadians still think rates are too