This Matters

4.2 (337)
NEWS
UPDATED DAILY

The world is changing every day. Now, more than ever, these questions matter. What’s happening? And why should you care? This Matters, a daily news podcast from the Toronto Star, aims to answer those questions, on important stories and ideas, every day, Monday to Friday. Hosts Saba Eitizaz and Ed Keenan talk to their fellow journalists, experts and newsmakers about the social, cultural, political and economic stories that shape your life.

3 DAYS AGO

Olivia Chow on 2024 and the year ahead

Guest: Toronto Mayor Oliva Chow Host: Edward Keenan In this episode of This Matters Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow talks about the housing and school nutrition progress she says are her biggest achievements of 2024, reflects on passing the biggest tax increase in post-amalgamation history and fields a question on what Torontonians should expect from the tax increase coming in the 2025 budget. Also, she shares her own response to the shelter crisis report that led the city manager to call the city’s commitment to housing as a human right “aspirational,” and discusses her plans to open libraries on weekends. Host Edward Keenan also asks her about a raft of issues where her critics and supporters seems to agree she’s ducking fights they expect her to take on—and she explains whether they all have her all wrong. PLUS: Seasonally appropriate conversation about why some of the best things about Toronto, in 2024 and beyond, involve ice.

57 min
4 DAYS AGO

The humble heat pump: the easiest way to dramatically cut your emissions

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. Of all the climate solutions out there, the heat pump is a no brainer. Not only will it reduce your emissions by 60 per cent or more, it’s cheaper to operate, improves air quality and makes your home more comfortable. Despite these many qualities, many people are getting talked out of getting a heat pump by their HVAC contractor. Guests: John Gultig, heat pump owner, Michelle Hjort, Energy Advisor at Energy Neighbour and carbontech innovator Phil de Luna.

34 min
5 DAYS AGO

Beef is the worst food for the climate. Can it be done better?

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. Sometimes it feels like you need a PhD to figure out how to shop for lower carbon groceries. Why isn’t there a simple rule of thumb to follow? Host Marco Chown Oved starts this episode with a simple question: What’s more important for the climate, what you eat or where it comes from? And the answer is: It isn’t even close. Guests: Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of Project Drawdown, Cory Van Groningen, beef farmer at Hillview Farm, partnered with VG Meats and Rowe Farms, Brent Preston, farmer at The New Farm, President of Farmers for Climate Solutions.

34 min
6 DAYS AGO

E-bikes are popular because they're basically small cars

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. We live in a world built for cars. But as we sit in endless traffic, it’s hard not to think they’ve become a victim of their own success. Enter e-bikes. They’re big enough to replace delivery trucks, but small enough to zip past the bumper-to-bumper gridlock. They’re increasingly popular among food delivery people, families with young kids and seniors and soon may be replacing pick up trucks as a rural mode of transportation. Guests: Jennifer McLaughlin, manager of rider experience at Zygg E-Bikes, Kevin McLaughlin, founder of Zygg, AutoShare and Evergreen and Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada.

34 min
DEC 14

Plastic is everywhere, it’s made of oil and it lasts 1,000 years

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. Plastic is a miracle substance that’s revolutionized healthcare, keeping things sterile, and has replaced glass and metal packaging, reducing carbon emissions from shipping goods. It even keeps produce fresh for longer, reducing waste and the carbon emissions that come from rotting food. But those positives have for too long overshadowed the negatives. Some plastic is toxic. It’s building up in the ecosystem and in our bodies. Today, plastic can be found in virtually every aspect of our lives. Not only in shopping bags, pop bottles and straws, but in places you’d never expect, like furniture and construction materials, and clothes. Yes clothes. Join us for a shopping trip to learn how your pants are contributing to climate change. Guests: Kelly Drennan, founder of Fashion Takes Action and Max Liboiron, a professor of geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland and director of the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR).

34 min
DEC 11

Fire is both the cause and effect of climate change

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. The way we talk about climate change needs to, well, change. Everything is either invisible, like emissions, or incomprehensible, like megatonnes, or inconceivable, like reductions of national emissions 25 years in the future. The cause of climate change is simple: it’s fire. To end global warming, we need to stop burning things. Guests: Tim Stezik of Toronto Fire Services, Lytton fire survivor and author Meghan Fandrich and Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Fire Weather, John Valliant.

32 min
DEC 9

Fighting climate change collectively and individually

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. The Star is often inundated with emails from readers asking what they can do to fight climate change. While there are lots of things people can do to lower their personal carbon emissions – and it’s important to feel like you’re part of the solution – individual action cannot end global warming on its own. So in this episode we take a look at community groups working on scaling up individual action to the neighbourhood level, and ask a former environmental activist turned Member of Provincial Parliament whether writing politicians actually makes a difference. Host: Marco Chown Oved, Climate Change Reporter, Toronto Star Guests: David Langille and Julia Morgan, co-chairs of the Pocket Change Project. Peter Tabuns, former head of Greenpeace Canada and the Ontario NDP’s environment critic. To hear more episodes, go to Small Things Big Climate or find it in your podcast feed.

32 min
NOV 15

It's Taylor Swift's Toronto. We just live here

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Mark Colley and contributor Aisling Murphy In this episode, This Matters looks at the Tay-Tay-takeover of Toronto, in which the pop star’s six concerts over 10 days have been estimated to bring in as many as a half a million tourists and pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy. Reporter Mark Colley provides some perspective on the phenomenon and all it has entailed, from massive security, transit and traffic planning, to the scene around the city. Aisling Murphy, the Star’s resident Swiftie, was at the show on Thursday night, and provides a look at the vibes inside, and a perspective on what the performance was like. PLUS: How Taylor’s Toronto “secret songs” in her first performance tied into the season.

37 min

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TRAILER

Introducing This Matters

Coming soon from the Toronto Star, This Matters is a daily news podcast that will help make sense of an increasingly frantic news cycle, one big issue at a time, Monday to Friday. Hosts Adrian Cheung, Saba Eitizaz and Raju Mudhar will cover issues that impact and affect Canadians.

S1

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1 min

4.2

out of 5

337 Ratings

is Ed even aware he’s doing this?

Aug 5

mntclr

I listen regularly but find that Ed interrupts and talks over Emma too much. It’s frustrating to listen as it’s so apparent, it’s hard to believe he hasn’t been made aware of it.
Interruptions getting irritating

Apr 23

julieriemersma

I find the episodes with Edward Keenan harder to listen to. He’s constantly talking over his cohost Emma, and even the mayor! Jeeze let others speak!
Conversation, not a monologue

Apr 9

BJ in Toronto

Love the podcast but, oh my goodness Ed, let Emma get a word in. Save the monologues for your column.
We need more maple trees!

Apr 1

tyfhgu

This is crazy. We need more maple trees. That’s why we’re running out of maple syrup!!

The world is changing every day. Now, more than ever, these questions matter. What’s happening? And why should you care? This Matters, a daily news podcast from the Toronto Star, aims to answer those questions, on important stories and ideas, every day, Monday to Friday. Hosts Saba Eitizaz and Ed Keenan talk to their fellow journalists, experts and newsmakers about the social, cultural, political and economic stories that shape your life.