The Big Story Frequency Podcast Network

We're coming up on the show's six year anniversary, and so we wanted to revisit the first episode we ever released to show just how far we've come in that time. We hope you enjoy!
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau managed to green light recreational marijuana in Canada, but there is still a lot to get done before legalized weed makes its way into the hands of Canadians. Maclean's Ottawa bureau chief, John Geddes, explains how the Liberals kept their landmark promise and what will happen next.

Tova wrote into the show expressing frustration with the price of clothes at brick and mortar stores. She wants to shop online but doesn't like the hassles associated with making returns. Tova's email got us thinking about our own evolving shopping habits and what it means for both the economy and the environment. Do we need to reframe how we think about buying clothes?

Jordan talks to Kelly Drennan, the founder of Fashion Takes Action, a non profit organization that's devoted to advancing sustainability in the fashion industry.

Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at hello@itepod.ca. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch.

Using glue to stick cheese on a pizza. Drinking urine to pass kidney stones. The past few weeks have been filled with weird, hilarious and definitively wrong answers supplied by Google's new AI Overview. The criticism became so intense that Google has fixed many of the answers manually, but it's still determined to push forward incorporating AI into its responses. Why?

How did AI mess these simple questions up? What has Google lost as it moves forward with its plans? And ... does the company understand what its chief product is actually for, or how people use it?

GUEST: Max Read, author of Read Max on Substack

Last week, a bombshell report revealed multiple Canadian parliamentarians have, intentionally and unintentionally, worked with foreign agents to interfere in our politics. The revelation sparked furious debate around who these MPs are, what they've done to undermine Canada's interest and whether or not the "traitors"—as many called them—should be named.

Today, we'll bring you on a deep dive into the world of foreign interference, security clearance, intelligence gathering and how to protect Canada's interests while still keeping the public informed. It's not as simple as naming names.

GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, former national security analyst, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, author of Stand on Guard: Reassessing threats to Canada's National Security

The CRTC decided last week to levy a tax on the Canadian revenue made by the giant streaming services. This money will ostensibly go towards supporting Canadian creators and improving Canadian content...which is what exactly?

This is where Bill C-11 gets interesting, because streamers already spend a ton of money making content in Canada, or purchasing stories and IP created by Canadians. Much of that won't count, so what will? And who will end up paying for the tax on those services—American corporations or, as some experts have warned, all of us, with rising Netflix prices?

GUEST: Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa

This weekend saw four Israeli hostages rescued at the cost of at least 200 Palestinian lives. While the world debates the calculus of that manoeuvre, it is either way more lives lost in a conflict overflowing with them. When this began, very few experts could have imagined Israel's bloody response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks lasting eight months. But here we are, with ceasefire deals and hostage exchanges having failed every time they've seemed close.

Is there still a way to end the bloodshed? Will there be anything left of Gaza by the time there is?

GUEST: Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow, Middle East Institute; Director of the Middle East Institute's Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs