Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

Village Media Inc.
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In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

  1. 3D AGO

    Imagine a car that can sense drunk driving — and automatically pull over

    Send a text Imagine a car that can sense whether the driver is impaired. The technology already exists, and it’s far more sophisticated than traditional interlock devices that force a driver to pass a breathalyzer test in order to start their vehicle. Known as “passive impairment detection," the technology includes sensor systems that can detect alcohol levels through touch or ambient air, monitor erratic lane departures, and even assess a driver’s head and eye movement. If something doesn’t seem right, the car is automatically brought to a safe stop and shut off. In the United States, regulators are pushing for all new vehicles to include this feature by 2030 — and according to a recent poll, Canadians are heavily in favour of our government following suit. “We need to do more of what we're doing: education, awareness, law enforcement,” said Steve Sullivan, the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, during a recent interview on our Closer Look podcast. “But ultimately the solution will be in technology. That will have a huge impact, because it may detect, it may intervene if someone is impaired, and ultimately I think it'll be technology that will be one of the biggest game changers in this area.” On tonight’s episode of the podcast, we revisit our in-depth interview with the head of MADD Canada. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    23 min

  2. 4D AGO

    What happened to Liam Toman? One year later, it remains a mystery

    Send a text Where is Liam Toman? More than a year later, his sudden disappearance remains a mystery. Last winter, the 22-year-old from Whitby, Ont., was on a ski trip with some friends in Mont-Tremblant, Que. After a day on the slopes and dinner out, he and a buddy made their way to a popular bar at the resort. Early the next morning, at around 3:15 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2025, a security camera recorded Toman near the outside of his hotel. Then he vanished. As provincial police in Quebec continue to investigate, Toman’s loved ones in Ontario have done everything they can to keep his case in the public eye. Our guest on tonight’s episode of Closer Look is Liam’s mother, Kathleen Toman. Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the Sûreté du Québec at 1-800-659-4264. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    27 min

  3. 5D AGO

    Seeking medical advice from AI? It will probably make you more sick

    Send a text Don’t have a doctor? Don’t do this. Nearly half of Canadians are turning to AI to diagnose or treat their health issues, according to a new survey — and the answers being spit out are putting a lot of people in danger. Released by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the survey found that people who follow health advice from AI are five times more likely to experience harms than those who do not. “For years, we’ve been talking about how too many Canadians struggle to access health care when they need it,” says Dr. Margot Burnell, president of the CMA. “This leaves people little choice but to turn to dubious sources of information, and now we know that it is hurting them. We fear what this will mean for patients in the future if action is not taken now.” Dr. Burnell is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    17 min

  4. 6D AGO

    These are Canada’s ‘most livable’ cities — did yours make the list?

    Send a text People can be pretty biased when it comes to their hometowns. Ask someone which city is the best, and chances are they’ll choose their own. But when it comes to livability, which Canadian city actually comes out on top? Is “good place to live” a concept that can be measured? The Globe and Mail set out to try — and the latest results are in. The newspaper’s third annual “Canada’s Most Livable Cities” ranking uses 58 variables across 10 key categories — from health care and the economy to housing and transportation — to produce a composite score for 454 different cities coast to coast. The detailed report also includes an interactive tool that allows readers to prioritize the attributes they value most. Click HERE to find out how your city measures up. Joining us on tonight’s Closer Look podcast to talk about the project is James Cowan, The Globe and Mail’s investing and personal finance editor. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    19 min

  5. FEB 10

    Sid Seixeiro is back on the mic, and he’s ‘gonna get angry at some stuff’

    Send a text Sid Seixeiro is back in the game. The longtime Toronto sports personality — who rose to prominence as one half of the iconic Tim and Sid show — launched his latest venture earlier today: a new live-stream solo podcast that runs every weekday at noon on YouTube, Facebook and X. As loyal fans will remember, Seixeiro walked away from his signature sports show in 2021 to co-host CityTV’s Breakfast Television — but was abruptly fired last February, along with co-host Meredith Shaw. After spending the past 12 months on the sidelines, Seixeiro says he is excited to be back in front of a mic and working with Sick Media, an independent production company. “We have 100 per cent control of editorial so we’ll decide where we go and when, and that includes Olympics, that includes World Cup,” Seixeiro told our Closer Look podcast. “I'm gonna get angry at some stuff. I'm gonna give some people some respect. I've been pigeonholed a little bit as ‘angry guy.’ I'm not always ‘angry guy.’ That's only 85 per cent of my day.” Asked about his high-profile break-up with Breakfast Television, Seixeiro told us he plans to address all the details on his Friday show. “I haven't really talked about it publicly, but something happened to me online after I left BT that I wasn't used to — people were nice to me," he said. "And so I'm going to go through my version of that later this week. It's not like some tell-all salacious thing. It's going to be rather boring, but there's more to it on my end than people know.” Click HERE to check out the official site of The Sid Seixeiro Show.  Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free

    27 min

  6. FEB 7

    Why lots of people are up in arms about the federal gun buyback program

    Send us a text Nearly six years ago, the Trudeau government banned more than 2,000 makes and models of assault-style firearms, including the notorious AR-15. The legislative change raised the obvious question: If a person purchased one of those guns back when they were legal, what are they supposed to do with it now? The answer took years to materialize, but the promised federal buyback program is now live. Gun owners have until March 31 to declare their interest in receiving compensation in exchange for their firearms — and by the end of the year, it will be a Criminal Code offence to own any of the listed models. It’s a controversial initiative, to say the least, with many critics adamant that the buyback won’t do a thing to actually lower gun crime in this country, which is fuelled largely by illegal weapons smuggled into Canada from the United States. Some provinces — and many Ontario police forces — are refusing to even participate in the program. Our guest on tonight’s episode of Closer Look is a man who spends more time than most researching gun laws: Noah Schwartz, a professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, and author of the book Targeted: Citizenship, Advocacy and Gun Control in Canada. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    24 min

  7. FEB 6

    What are the latest stats on hallway health care? That’s not public anymore

    Send us a text Back in 2018, now-Premier Doug Ford campaigned on a promise to end “hallway healthcare.” Eight years later, not much has changed. According to the latest available data, an average of nearly 1,400 Ontario hospital patients per day were treated in “unconventional spaces” — which includes not only hallways, but closets, cafeterias and even bathrooms. But there is one thing that has suddenly changed: the Ford government’s willingness to publicly disclose the latest data on hallway healthcare. For years, that metric was included in an annual report released by Ontario Health, the agency that oversees the province’s health-care system. Not anymore. One emergency room physician called the change “complete and utter malpractice in terms of public accountability and transparency,” while NDP health critic France Gélinas said it’s clear the Ford government has “decided hiding this data is easier than fixing the problems.” Joining us on tonight’s Closer Look to explain the change is the journalist who broke the story: Sneh Duggal, deputy editor of The Trillium, Village Media’s bureau at Queen’s Park. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    27 min

  8. FEB 5

    This hockey player-turned-designer crafted something very Canadian

    Send us a text Last month, Rogers asked Canadians everywhere to donate their old hockey jerseys for a unique display of national pride and unity. They wanted a wide variety of colours and logos from coast to coast — from Timbits to beer leagues and everything in between. Cameron Lizotte took over from there. A former OHL hockey player who traded his skates for fashion design, the Sudbury native was handpicked to slice up the donations and transform them into five one-of-a-kind jerseys. His final creations — The Great Canadian Jerseys — were unveiled just in time for the Winter Olympics. Lizotte is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers. Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

    28 min
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About

In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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