The Decibel

The Globe and Mail
  • 4.2 (769)
  • DAILY NEWS
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The Decibel

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.

  1. 6 HRS AGO

    The fandom of Taylor Swift

    Taylor Swift starts the second week of her Eras tour in Toronto today. And since the record-breaking tour landed in the city, it’s been the site of Swiftie pandemonium. Tens of thousands have travelled for the concerts, and even a number of out-of-town Swifties without tickets took the trip. The kind of dedication Taylor Swift attracts is rare, even as pop-star fandoms become more fervent. So what’s so special about Taylor Swift? And what sets her fandom apart from others? Niko Stratis is a freelance culture writer based in Toronto who writes the newsletter Anxiety Shark. Her debut book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, will be out May, 2025. Niko joins us to explain the sensation of Taylor Swift, why being a fan has become more intense, and how it changed the relationships between artists and their fans.

    25 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Canada’s role in working towards a two-state solution

    In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, the idea of lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians seems farther away than it has been in a long time. But there are still people working to create the conditions for a two-state solution; among those are Canadian troops, working in the West Bank in a mission called Operation Proteus. Claire Porter Robbins is a freelance journalist and former aid worker. She’s on the show to talk about what Canadian soldiers are doing in the West Bank, how the operation has changed since October 7, and what it means for the prospects of a two-state solution.

    20 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    The Newfoundland town that seized its own church

    In the small Newfoundland community of Portugal Cove south, the town church is considered its lifeblood, a community hub and historical touchstone, all rolled into one. But at the end of August, parishioners were told their church would be sold off to help the Roman Catholic Church pay a $104 million settlement. And when locals learned they couldn’t stop the sale, they took matters into their own hands. Today, the Globe’s Atlantic reporter, Lindsay Jones joins the podcast to tell the story of a small Newfoundland town seizing their own church, the historic court case it’s connected to, and how this standoff between one tiny town and the Roman Catholic Church, could end.

    17 min

  4. 3 DAYS AGO

    How remote work changed our grooming habits

    When the pandemic hit, nearly 40 per cent of Canada’s workforce went remote. More than four years later, that number has dropped by more than half. In a moment when bosses push for a return to the office – and workers cling to hybrid schedules – we’re learning just how much remote work has changed our habits, routines … and personal hygiene. Globe reporter Zosia Bielski recently turned her focus to examining our relationship with time: time use at work, unpaid labour and our hours off the clock. She joins the podcast to explain what researchers have learned about productivity in Canada and abroad, and how the fight over remote work is about how we use our time and what power our employers have over it.

    22 min

  5. 6 DAYS AGO

    The Decibel presents: Lately

    The Decibel presents ‘Lately’, a Globe and Mail podcast taking on shifts in business, tech and economy with newsmakers and thinkers. In this episode, award-winning journalist Luc Rinaldi takes us behind the curtain of Big Tobacco’s machinations to report on how an industry built on addiction is looking to reinvent itself for the wellness age. His cover story on the topic appears in this month’s edition of the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine. New episodes of ‘Lately’ hosted by Vass Bednar are available every Friday.

    32 min

  6. NOV 14

    Toronto’s Taylor Swift Era

    After nearly two years of touring across five continents, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to Canada. Thursday is the first of six dates in Toronto, and the tour will wrap up with three dates in Vancouver in December. When the Eras Tour rolls through town, money tends to follow; fans and concert-goers spend on merch, hotels, restaurants… and of course, tickets. Tickets make for attractive auction items, and people fundraising for charitable causes have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. For some people, thousands of Swifties descending upon downtown Toronto can be more like a ‘nightmare dressed like a daydream.’ Public transit systems, like Metrolinx and the TTC, say they’re ‘ready for it,’ but that amount of people will no doubt make getting around the city a challenge. Even couples planning their weddings were warned against booking dates while Swift is in town. Josh O’Kane is here to break down how businesses are getting in on the fun, and how to make the most of the Eras Tour weekends, whether or not you’re a Swiftie. The Globe has created Taylor Swift playlists for every type of listener: for people who want to rock out to her greatest hits, to the elder millennials who loved her since high school, to the songs to put your kids to sleep, to the ones who are soundtracking their walk to the stadium with swagger, to the sneaky covers to convert the non-Swifties and ending with the classic, lyrical ballads to make you shed a tear. https://open.spotify.com/user/kswfenu8tkbjszl0ebou72cgq/playlists Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

    24 min

  7. NOV 13

    Alberta vs. Texas: how two oil giants are taking on clean energy

    Alberta and Texas have a lot in common. Both have independent western cultures, great country music, and each lead their countries in oil production. And over the past decade, they’ve both been the unlikely hosts to the multibillion-dollar renewable energy boom – with swaths of the Texas and Alberta energy grids going green. But while Texas becomes a leader, Alberta is changing course. Jeffrey Jones, a Calgary-based reporter with The Globe’s Report on Business, took road trips through both vistas to learn how and why these oil-producing regions became hubs for clean energy, and what’s behind Texas’s green surge and Alberta’s slowdown.

    24 min

  8. NOV 12

    The complexities of gender in the U.S. election

    Before Nov. 5, many pollsters predicted that there would be a huge gender gap in the U.S. election vote, with women overwhelmingly supporting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and men voting for the Republican choice, Donald Trump. That didn’t quite happen. Fifty three per cent of female voters supported Harris, and 46 per cent voted for Trump. In 2020, 55 per cent of women supported Joe Biden, and Trump only got 43 per cent of the female vote. So what does this mean? Dr. S. Laurel Weldon is a distinguished professor of political science at Simon Fraser University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She is on the show to share her thoughts on what to make of gender data from exit polls and where feminist movements go from here.

    22 min
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Hosts & Guests

4.2
out of 5
769 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Channel
    The Globe and Mail
  • Creator
    The Globe and Mail
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2024
  • Episodes
    600
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2021 The Globe and Mail
  • Show Website
    The Decibel

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