The Big Story Frequency Podcast Network

This month, schools across the country will be closing for the summer. And the kids? Well, their parents will have to figure out what to do with them. Nowadays, there's a lot of pressure to register kids for expensive camps and classes, but is all that really necessary? Can the kids just do nothing all summer?

Jordan speaks with Alyson Schafer, one of Canada's leading parenting experts, to find some affordable ways to make sure the kids are safe and occupied this holiday.

Here's a link to the episode about having kids!

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.

For decades, the sight of a bald eagle anywhere near Southern Ontario was basically an impossibility. The species has nearly been extinguished twice in the past century, and while many of the majestic birds had bounced back on the west cost, there simply weren't enough of them around the Great Lakes to sustain a population boom.

Over the past few years, slowly and carefully, and with plenty of help from dedicated conservationists, that's changed. There are even bald eagles nesting in Toronto. How did it happen? And what can it teach us about preserving iconic species in the years to come?

GUEST: Emma McIntosh, Ontario Reporter, The Narwhal

The Liberals say their changes to the capital gains tax mean that Canada's ultra rich will pay a little more, money they can easily afford. The Conservatives say the Liberals are taxing small business owners and Canadians already struggling to get by. Who's right? What if they both are?

The changes to the tax were bound to become a political football: A complicated tweak to an existing tax that can be easily spun by either side of the aisle. So who will it really hurt? Will it help? What do you need to understand before you panic sell the family cottage?

GUEST: Laura Dhillon Kane, Ottawa bureau chief, Bloomberg News

A few weeks ago, temperatures in India blasted past 50 degrees Celsius. Currently much of the United States and parts of Canada are in the grip of a heat dome that could shatter records. Summer's hot, and heat waves happen. We know this. But if a heat wave is a period of time with temperatures above normal, and the "normal" temperature keeps rising...

What do the heat waves of the future mean for us? What exactly is a "wet bulb" measurement? Which parts of the world can withstand the heat to come, and how can we prepare the ones that can't?

GUEST: Dr. Kent Moore, professor of atmospheric physics, University of Toronto

Typically, a broken water main does not plunge a city into weeks of critical water shortages and a state of emergency. But the pipe that broke on June 5 wasn't a typical water main. Now, almost two weeks later, the city is estimating another three to five weeks for full repairs, and until then Calgarians are under water restrictions.

How did the break happen, and could it have been prevented? Why will repairs take so long? What might happen if the city gets close to running out of water? And will the Calgary Stampede, due to start on July 5th, still go on as scheduled?

GUEST: Kerry Black, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary

Richmound, Saskatchewan thought they'd have seen the last of the so-called "Queen of Canada" by now. It's been almost a year since Romana Didulo and her followers moved into an empty school in the tiny prairie town. And they're still here.

Nearly a year of living next door to a dozen or more conspiracy theorists who promise public executions does some strange things to a small community. When everyone knows everyone, and everybody has to pick a side, what happens? Nothing good.

GUEST: Rachel Browne, investigative journalist (Read Rachel's story in The Walrus.)