The Star

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Channel • 13 Shows

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Investing

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Updated 11/07/2024
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Weekly series
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Daily News

Updated weekly
Investing

Investing

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News

News

Updated 17/11/2023

07/04/2025

Happy birthday Jays, and nice $500-million gift: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a forever Blue Jay

Overnight, the news broke that the Jays and their superstar slugger have agreed to the second-largest contract in baseball history. Guerrero will be a Blue Jay through his age-40 season with a 14-year, $500 million (U.S.) deal that kicks in beginning next season. We threw down a special bonus episode of Deep Left Field for you, sharing our thoughts about what this means, why it happened now and who could have been behind the final push to get a deal done nearly two months after Guerrero's deadline passed. We also took your questions and comments on Bluesky!

07/04/2025

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27 min
25/06/2025

Lime Ridge Mall has been sold. Now what?

What does the sale of Lime Ridge Mall mean for the future of the place? Maybe nothing. Maybe things stay as they were or get even better there. Maybe the plans for a massive development on the property that included condos and other housing press ahead. It matters because this story isn't just about shopping. There's a lot more to it than that.

25/06/2025

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36 min
09/04/2025

Unpacking the parties' climate change promises

Halfway through this five-week federal election campaign, no major party has yet released its platform and there have been no big climate change announcements either. With U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and affordability concerns top of voters' minds, addressing our heating planet seems to be taking a back seat to other considerations, namely how to build up Canada's economy through energy exploration and diversifying our international markets. But what will that mean for Canada's climate commitments? In this episode of "It's Political," Rick Smith, the president of the Canadian Climate Institute, catches us up on the state of Canada's current fight against climate change and Chris Severson-Baker, the executive director of the Pembina Institute, joins host Althia Raj to discuss what the parties' policy proposals mean, and what questions are still left unanswered by their plans. This episode of "It's Political" was produced by Althia Raj and Kevin Sexton. Kevin also mixed the program. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel. Some of the audio clips this week were sourced from CPAC and the CBC.

09/04/2025

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29 min
19/08/2022

Quebec's Bill 21 and its latest controversy

Guest: Allan Woods, a Montreal-based reporter for The Star Quebec's controversial Bill 21 has been law for three years now, and what's known as the secularism law continues to cause controversies. The most recent one centres on a well known writer and his offence of a picture of an international student on a school's website. As Quebec prepares to enter another provincial election, Bill 21 is sure to come up again as court challenges to the law loom in the future. This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar Audio Sources: CSPAN, CBC and Global News

19/08/2022

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18 min
19/02/2025

Debating over the long weekend

Guests: Toronto Star Queen's Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie and Queen's Park reporter Rob Ferguson On Valentine's Day, and then again on Family Day, the provincial leaders engaged in this Ontario campaign's two debates. Rob and Rob from our Queen's Park bureau recap why they may be the most substantial events of the campaign so far, allowing viewers to dig into many of the issues that define life in the province. They also discuss whether they heard any "kill shots" or "knock-out punches" from the podiums — and what the best lines and most noteworthy exchanges were. And then they discuss what's happened since: the polls, the fight between the Liberals and the NDP to poach each other's voters, and Doug Ford's preparations for a second trip out of the country during the campaign. PLUS: The crudely confrontational challenge that Bonnie Crombie issued to Doug Ford on Wednesday This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

19/02/2025

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36 min
09/06/2023

Paul Bernardo and how federal corrections handles dangerous offenders

Guest: Tony Doob, professor emeritus, University of Toronto Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies News that Paul Bernardo, one of Canada's most notorious killers, has been moved from a maximum security penitentiary to a medium-security institution touched a raw nerve that hasn't healed three decades after his crimes. How could one believed to be so evil have his experience in incarceration softened? Why was the reason shrouded in secrecy? Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is undergoing a review of their decision but, as a criminologist tells us, Canadian law does not say we should hold our worst offenders indefinitely in maximum security because they are notorious to us. This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Brian Bradley. Audio Sources: CHCH News, CPAC

09/06/2023

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22 min
04/07/2023

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on getting to the moon (Rebroadcast)

This episode was originally broadcast April 18, 2023. Guest: Jeremy Hansen, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Col. Jeremy Hansen, a CAF fighter pilot and Canadian Space Agency astronaut, has been named to NASA's Artemis II mission, the first scheduled crewed mission of the Space Launch System with the Orion spacecraft. It will leave Earth's orbit and perform a lunar flyby, the first time people have travelled by the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first time a Canadian has reached deep space. It's an ambitious flight, an assignment he says he is still getting his head around as he pulls from all of his experiences to prepare. Why should this mission get Canada's attention and why is it important? What is Canada doing in space? The rookie space flyer explains. This episode was produced by Raju Mudhar, Brian Bradley and Paulo Marques. Audio sources: NASA

04/07/2023

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22 min
09/09/2025

Are Ontario's new stricter background checks hurting kids in care?

Guests: Star reporters Amy Dempsey Raven and Megan Ogilvie A new Ontario law was meant to protect vulnerable children in care, but it may be deepening the very crisis it set out to solve. The province has expanded police background checks for people working or volunteering in the child welfare system. But under the new rules, it is not just criminal records that show up. Any documented interaction with police, including traffic stops, noise complaints or mental health calls, could be flagged.Experts warn this opens the door to discrimination and bias, especially for racialized and marginalized communities who face disproportionate police contact. Meanwhile, child welfare agencies say the rollout has been chaotic, delaying adoptions and disrupting foster placements at a time when the system is already under strain. This episode was produced by Sean Pattendon and Paulo Marques.

09/09/2025

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23 min
14/11/2025

Dispatches from Texas: Trump's America up close

Guest: Richard Warnica, Senior Opinion Writer In this episode, we explore Richard's recent visit to Texas as a vivid microcosm of Trump's current America. He reports on cratering trust in vaccines, increasingly aggressive ICE arrests that are cleaving families apart, and the dismantling of public media meant to help citizens understand their world. His conversations with advocates, lawyers, and local leaders highlight a landscape shaped by disease, cruelty, and deliberate ignorance — all unfolding alongside climate-driven disasters like the recent deadly flood at Camp Mystic girls summer camp, where grief still lingers in the air. PLUS: Hear Texas House Representative Nicole Collier speak about how Republican action inspired her to sleep two nights on the Capitol floor, in protest. Produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Paulo Marques and Sean Pattendon

14/11/2025

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33 min
26/07/2021

Two jobs, four roommates and $24,000 in student loans, Margaux wants to pay down debt and travel

23-year-old Margaux juggles two jobs, one at a non-profit and one part-time as a server, working 50 to 60 hours a week. Why the grind? She has $24,000 in student debt but also wants to travel. Evy speaks with financial adviser Jason Heath for recommendations. All of our participants have been granted anonymity, and so we'll be using voice actors for their quotes. If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters.

26/07/2021

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9 min

The Star Podcasts are part of the Toronto Star, a multi-platform news organization that informs, connects, investigates, reports and effects change. The purpose of the Toronto Star is to keep our audience informed about what matters most to them, to help make their life, community, country and world better.