The Star

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Channel • 13 Shows

Politics

Politics

Every two months
Documentary

Documentary

Weekly series
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News

Updated daily
News

News

Updated 17/11/2023
Sport

Sport

Updated 11/07/2024
Business

Business

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Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences

Updated weekly

SEASON 1, EPISODE 2

A Tale of Two Algorithms

Algorithms are the invisible engines that drive every scroll, swipe or click. And, in the last few years, it's become clear that they can devastate young lives. But Ava discovers they might also be capable of saving them. She speaks with two teens with radically different stories. When 12-year-old CeCe Neltner went online to find workout tips, her social media feeds devolved into a torrent of eating disorder content. Today, she says she's lucky to be alive. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Keira MacDuff was battling a mysterious chronic illness that doctors dismissed as teenage drama – until TikTok's algorithm led her to a life-changing diagnosis. Did TikTok save Keira's life?

S1, E2

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32 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 6

Yahoo Boys

The West African cybercriminals who call themselves the Yahoo Boys have perfected dozens of cons – including the infamous Nigerian Prince email scam. But recently, they've discovered something far more lucrative: the extortion of teenage boys. In just two years, sextortion cases targeting teens have exploded by 18,000 percent. The Yahoo Boys have made millions. And they've left a trail of devastation in their wake that has reached even the most remote communities. In a tiny Manitoba town, one family is still piecing their lives back together after their son became a victim of a deadly sextortion scam. Their story reveals how quickly a predator can weaponize shame – and how little stands between our kids and catastrophe. The platforms know about this crisis. Snapchat alone receives 10,000 reports of sextortion every month. Yet the scams continue, largely unchecked. So one man has decided to do something about it. Cyber analyst Paul Raffile has made it his mission to infiltrate the Yahoo Boys' networks, expose their methods, and bring them to justice – even when no one else will.

S1, E6

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36 min
19/12/2024

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.

19/12/2024

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57 min
11/04/2025

Our "recovering partisans" on rallies and the press on the campaign trail

Pierre Poilievre held massive rallies in Alberta this week and received an endorsement from former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But why is he spending precious campaign time in a province with solid Conservative support? We've also seen members of the media increasingly speaking out against the Conservative campaign for exerting too much control over the press. Our "recovering partisans" compare the parties' media strategies, weigh in on what the leaders' movements can tell us about the campaign, and look ahead to next week's debates. In this episode: David Christopherson, the former NDP MP for Hamilton Centre; Kristina Michaud, the outgoing Bloc Quebecois MP for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia; Karen Vecchio, the outgoing Conservative MP for Elgin—Middlesex—London; and Senator Rodger Cuzner, the former Liberal MP for Cape Breton—Canso. Hosted by Althia Raj. This episode of "It's Political" was produced by Althia Raj and Kevin Sexton. Matt Hearn is our sound engineer. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel. Some of the audio clips this week were sourced from CPAC and CBC.

11/04/2025

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47 min
03/09/2020

That's all folks, the singularity is near. Elon Musk's cyber pigs and brain computer tech

Brain computer technology is at a point where the potential medical implications are so exciting many players are pursuing different approaches to the field. The potential ethics of using this technology are sometimes best explained in science fiction like "Black Mirror" and "The Matrix." Neurotechnologist Graeme Moffat joins This Matters to discuss the latest in brain computer interface technology. He explains what's important about Elon Musk's recent Neuralink presentation where he revealed "Cyber Pigs."

03/09/2020

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21 min
16/05/2023

How soon is 'now' on affordable housing? A big election question

Guest: Mark Richardson, technical lead for HousingNowTO According to polls and the platforms, housing affordability is THE big issue in this mayoral election campaign, especially as the city's Housing Now program has failed to get shovels in the ground (or people in apartments). Mark Richardson's citizen-led HousingNowTO organization has monitored the problems and progress all along, and has been taking all the major mayoral candidates on walking tours of proposed sites to show what's holding things up and what potential is out there. He joins guest host Edward Keenan to outline what all the major candidates are proposing to build on city land (so far) and how. This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Edward Keenan.

16/05/2023

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42 min
26/07/2021

Two jobs, four roommates and $24,000 in student loans, Margaux wants to pay down debt and travel

23-year-old Margaux juggles two jobs, one at a non-profit and one part-time as a server, working 50 to 60 hours a week. Why the grind? She has $24,000 in student debt but also wants to travel. Evy speaks with financial adviser Jason Heath for recommendations. All of our participants have been granted anonymity, and so we'll be using voice actors for their quotes. If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters.

26/07/2021

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9 min
22/08/2025

Record enrolment, shrinking budgets. Why the math doesn't add up for Ontario universities

Guest: Kris Rushowy, Toronto Star reporter It's back-to-school season and Ontario universities are packed like never before. A record number of more than 84,000 first-year students are starting this fall. But even with record enrolment, schools are facing an $80 million shortfall. For years, international students have been the financial safety net, paying up to six times the tuition of Ontario students. Now, with Ottawa tightening immigration rules and visas harder to get, those numbers are dropping. Universities say the system is already in distress. Programs are being cut, staff laid off, and almost half are running deficits. And now, with higher demand from local students, there is even less money to teach them. Produced by Saba Eitizaz, Sean Pattenden and Paulo Marques

22/08/2025

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16 min
14/10/2025

It's bleak. But as bleak as it is, the Jays have overcome the odds before

Guest: Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes All appears to be pretty bleak in Blue Jays land as they head north and west to Seattle trailing the best-of-seven American League Championship Series two games to none. The complete offensive collapse against the Mariners was wholly unexpected, especially given that the Jays had scored 34 runs over their four-game ALDS win against the New York Yankees and Seattle seemed ripe for the picking, coming off an exhausting and emotional 15-inning winner-take-all Game 5 in their ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. That game finished less than 72 hours before the M's put the finishing touches on their 10-3 Thanksgiving blowout of the Blue Jays. But as bleak as it is, the Jays seem to have overcome the odds time and time again this year and Deep Left Field will continue to be with them every step of the way. In today's playoff bonus episode, we speak to Nathan Lukes, who had 50% of the Jays' hits in Monday's loss, including RBI singles in both the first and second innings. The Jays only had one hit after the second inning - a Lukes single, his third hit of the game. Lukes was playing with a badly bruised right knee after fouling a ball off himself in Game 1. And, of course, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to hear your thoughts on the loss, some clinging to optimism, some resigned to defeat, some utterly off the wall.

14/10/2025

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32 min
29/06/2022

What life is like on ODSP

Guests: Trevor Manson, co-chair ODSP Action Coalition, and Anne Jensen, mental health and disability advocate Ontario's Disability Support Program (ODSP), which provides income and employment support to people with disabilities, has been criticized by advocates for being out of touch with economic realities. The most a single person can receive through ODSP is $1,169 per month, or $14,028 annually. That's about 30 per cent below the province's poverty line of roughly $20,000. The Ford government has promised a modest ODSP boost of 5 percent, but is it anywhere near to the skyrocketing cost of living in this province? We ask two people on ODSP what it's like to get by on so little. This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Alexis Green and Matthew Hearn

29/06/2022

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19 min

The Star Podcasts are part of the Toronto Star, a multi-platform news organization that informs, connects, investigates, reports and effects change. The purpose of the Toronto Star is to keep our audience informed about what matters most to them, to help make their life, community, country and world better.

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