The Globe and Mail

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Channel • 17 Shows

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Every two weeks
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Updated 01/10/2018
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Updated 21/09/2020
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07/10/2025

Geoffrey Hinton vs. The End of the World

The story of how Geoffrey Hinton became “the godfather of AI” has reached mythic status in the tech world. While he was at the University of Toronto, Hinton pioneered the neural network research that would become the backbone of modern AI. (One of his students, Ilya Sutskever, went on to be one of OpenAI’s most influential scientific minds.) In 2013, Hinton left the academy and went to work for Google, eventually winning both a Turing Award and a Nobel Prize. I think it’s fair to say that artificial intelligence as we know it, may not exist without Geoffrey Hinton. But Hinton may be even more famous for what he did next. In 2023, he left Google and began a campaign to convince governments, corporations and citizens that his life’s work – this thing he helped build – might lead to our collective extinction. And that moment may be closer than we think, because Hinton believes AI may already be conscious. But even though his warnings are getting more dire by the day, the AI industry is only getting bigger, and most governments, including Canada’s, seem reluctant to get in the way. So I wanted to ask Hinton: If we keep going down this path, what will become of us? Mentioned: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares Agentic Misalignment: How LLMs could be insider threats, by Anthropic Machines Like Us is produced by Mitchell Stuart. Our theme song is by Chris Kelly. Video editing by Emily Graves. Our executive producer is James Milward. Special thanks to Angela Pacienza and the team at The Globe and Mail. Support for Machines Like Us is provided by CIFAR and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

07/10/2025

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1h 9m
15/04/2025

Solving mini city mysteries

This week on City Space, our team attempts to unravel a few puzzling urban enigmas. Can anything be a street name? Does a patch of grass qualify as a park? What does this unique house reveal about the development of the area? Irene and our producers guide you through different neighborhoods as they try to solve the mini-mysteries that define a city - in this case, Toronto. The hows and whys (or why nots) of urban design and city planning.

15/04/2025

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35 min
20/06/2023

Who are city festivals for?

Festivals can transform cities by making space for overlooked people and cultures. Cities all over the world are facing major crises — from mounting inequalities to climate emergencies. And arts and culture have a surprisingly critical role in tackling these urban challenges. How do we make sure festivals remain authentic and true to their communities? In this episode, we hear from Mischka Creighton, the CEO of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, one of the city’s marquee events. Adrian also speaks to Trudie Walters, an adjunct associate professor at Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand. She co-authored a paper about how festivals can help or harm marginalized groups.

20/06/2023

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30 min
31/05/2024

What open banking could mean for you

Open banking could eventually be available to Canadians, which would change how we access our personal finances. This style of banking is consumer-driven and would bring transparency to a customer’s information. but despite the talk, Canada is lagging behind other Western countries when it comes to implementing open banking. The Globe’s personal finance reporter, Salmaan Farooqui, breaks down the inner workings of open banking – its benefits and concerns, why it doesn’t exist in Canada yet, and how this new development will affect the way Canadians manage their finances in the future. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

31/05/2024

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19 min
27/08/2024

Gaza is a Window into the Future of War

For nearly a year now, the world has been transfixed – and horrified – by what’s happening in the Gaza Strip. Yet for all the media coverage, there seems to be far less known about how this war is actually being fought. And the how of this conflict, and its enormous human toll, might end up being its most enduring legacy. In April, the Israeli magazine +972 published a story describing how Israel was using an AI system called Lavender to target potential enemies for air strikes, sometimes with a margin of error as high as 10 per cent. I remember reading that story back in the spring and being shocked, not that such tools existed, but that they were already being used at this scale on the battlefield. P.W. Singer was less surprised. Singer is one of the world’s foremost experts on the future of warfare. He’s a strategist at the think tank New America, a professor of practice at Arizona State University, and a consultant for everyone from the US military to the FBI. So if anyone can help us understand the black box of autonomous weaponry and AI warfare, it’s P.W. Singer. Mentioned: “‘The Gospel’: how Israel uses AI to select bombing targets in Gaza” by Harry Davies, Bethan McKernan, and Dan Sabbagh “‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza” by Yuval Abraham “Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War” by P. W. Singer and August Cole Further Reading: “Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution” by P. W. Singer and August Cole “The AI revolution is already here” by P. W. Singer “Humans must be held responsible for decisions AI weapons make” in The Asahi Shimbun “Useful Fiction” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

27/08/2024

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41 min
28/12/2022

Should the Pope reverse a 500-year-old Church law?

As part of our picks of the top stories of 2022, we are re-airing this episode on the Pope’s visit to Canada and the Doctrine of Discovery, which originally aired on July 25. Many Indigenous people would like the Pope to publicly renounce the Doctrine of Discovery. Bruce McIvor is one of them. He is a lawyer, a historian and the author of Standoff: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It. He explains what this doctrine is, how it went from a papal edict to a legal principle in Canada and why renouncing it would be a meaningful action for the Pope to take on his July visit to Canada. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

28/12/2022

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18 min
24/11/2025

The controversial push to expand private health care in Alberta

No Canadian province allows doctors to offer care under both private and public systems – but leaked draft legislation obtained by The Globe and Mail shows Alberta is trying to change that. The province says it’s proposing the change in an effort to reduce surgery wait times and retain health care workers. But experts say it could result in a two-tiered medical system. Today, Carrie Tait, a reporter in The Globe’s Calgary bureau, joins The Decibel. She broke the story last week, and she’ll tell us what she’s learned about the province’s plan, the impact a public-private model could have on access to health care and why some critics say this could violate the Canada Health Act. Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

24/11/2025

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22 min
29/09/2021

Robyn Doolittle interviews lawyer Marie Henein

Marie Henein is one of Canada’s most famous criminal defence lawyers. Her successful career is highlighted by her representation of well-known clients most notably, former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi. This has also made her a polarizing figure. Defending Ghomeshi against sexual assault charges – which he was acquitted thanks to her work – garnered public backlash. She was even accused of being a traitor to her gender. In a new book, Nothing But The Truth: A Memoir, Henein details her journey from her childhood in Egypt to her high-profile legal career. She sat down with Robyn Doolittle to discuss what she thinks needs to change in our justice system, how growing up surrounded by strong women has shaped her and her thoughts on the future of the #MeToo movement.

29/09/2021

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19 min
29/10/2025

She left school to buy a laundromat: The appeal of ‘boring businesses’

Adulthood is a never-ending parade of chores. Clothes to clean, cars to wash, appliances to fix. Businesses that serve these needs, like laundromats, car washes, and vending machines, are honestly a bit, well, boring. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t making good money. And financially savvy Canadians are taking note. This week, we’ll hear from two 20-somethings who bought so-called “boring” businesses from boomers looking to retire. Then, The Globe’s new personal finance reporter, Meera Raman, speaks with Blake Corey, a certified financial planner and the president of Venn Wealth Partners, about why some are drawn to these boring businesses and what people should consider before they buy in. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

29/10/2025

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27 min
26/04/2023

'Punched in the face by my investments’: How to endure stock market swings

It’s tough to save money to invest in the first place, so it stings to watch your investments drop. If you’ve started in the last few years, you’ve just seen your first large ups and downs in the stock market. So how do you know if you’re on the right track? And how do you keep emotions in check? A 38-year-old from Mississauga who started investing during the pandemic shares how he handled the rollercoaster ride and what he’s learned. And Rob speaks to Darryl Brown, an independent investment consultant, about why investors are nervous and how they can better endure big swings in the stock market. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

26/04/2023

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29 min

In-depth audio journalism from Canada's national media organization, from daily analysis of the most important stories of the day, to in-depth commentary and investigative series.