The Star

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Channel • 13 Shows

Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness

Updated weekly
News

News

Updated daily
Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences

Updated weekly
Politics

Politics

Every two months
Daily News

Daily News

Updated weekly
Investing

Investing

Updated weekly
Documentary

Documentary

Weekly series

16/08/2021

25-year old's priority is time with his son, so saving for a car will buy more of that time

This week, we speak with Marlon. A 25-year-old single father of one making $36,000 a year as a recruiter. He has two goals: First to buy his own car, second to move out of his mom's home, where he pays low rent. How does he start? 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.

16/08/2021

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11 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 1

Internet Addicts Anonymous

When she was 12 years old, Ava Smithing spiralled down a social media rabbit hole that nearly cost her life. A decade later, she discovered she wasn't alone: Big Tech had hijacked childhood and adolescence for an entire generation. In this ten-part investigative podcast, Ava crosses the continent to uncover a hidden digital world. She'll meet teens with millions of followers, young girls wrestling with compulsive porn use, and boys blackmailed by international cybercriminals lurking in their DMs. In the first episode of Left to Their Own Devices, Ava dives into the debate over technology addiction. The condition is absent from the official list of mental health disorders used by psychiatrists, but undeniable to those who live it. Inside an Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous meeting, she hears firsthand from people who say their lives have been consumed by screens. And, she sits down with psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke – author of Dopamine Nation – who's watched her patient' struggles shift from substance abuse to compulsive relationships with social media, gaming, and online content. This podcast isn't a self-help guide to digital wellness. It's a survival story from the front lines of 21st century childhood.

S1, E1

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34 min
17/06/2025

Is growing criticism of city hall fair or is it over the top?

Talk to people around town and there's a sense that Hamiltonians are getting increasingly frustrated with city hall. Their taxes continue to rise, but many of the problems facing Hamilton aren't being solved — or progress is very slow. Is the resulting criticism of council and city staff fair? Or has it become too much?

17/06/2025

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41 min
10/12/2021

Why you should invest in your 20s

Guests: Shannon Lee Simmons, founder of New School of Finance, and Bridget Casey, founder of Money After Graduation It's not how much you invest. It is when you start investing. For many, understanding the difference and making the choice to invest even a small amount when you are young comes down financial literacy. Shannon Lee Simmons, founder of New School of Finance, and Bridget Casey, founder of Money After Graduation, have made careers out of communicating why young people need to start investing early. Host Tim Nash talks to both of them on episode six of "Responsible Investing for a Sustainable Economy."

10/12/2021

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31 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
26/11/2025

Can TD Coliseum really be a catalyst for the downtown?

The reviews were almost unanimously positive when Paul McCartney re-opened the renovated TD Coliseum the other day. People loved the concert and people seemed to really like the re-imagined building. But that's just the start. It's long been argued that this facility is supposed to be a catalyst that will bring the entire downtown back to life. It'll be the thing that leads to cleanup and spawns development. Can that really happen? Lou Frapporti of the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG), which is part of the private-sector consortium behind the renovation that has pitched this vision for years now, answers that question on this episode of Placeline Hamilton. Unsurprisingly (spoiler alert), he says, yes. How? The answer - part of it, at least - is laid out in the conversation.

26/11/2025

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41 min
21/03/2025

In conversation with Amira Elghawaby on the rise of Islamophobia in Canada and fighting hate

Guest: Amira Elghawaby,Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia Islamophobia and hate is on the rise in Canada. Political rhetoric is growing more divisive. Statistics show a surge in reported hate crimes against visible minorities. And in the middle of it all is Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Since taking on the role, she has faced relentless pushback and personal attacks. In early March, her office has released a new guide on tackling Islamophobia at a time when tensions appear to escalating in the country. With growing concerns that rising hate and anti-Muslim sentiment from a U.S. under Trump, could spill over here, Elghawaby's job is cut out for her. In a candid conversation with This Matters, she unpacks all of this, the need for her newly released guide and the future of her role and work in an increasingly polarized political climate. This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Paulo Marques and Sean Pattendon.

21/03/2025

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26 min
22/11/2024

Stalemate: Why the House of Commons has ground to a halt

The House of Commons is in gridlock. Government bills and private members' legislation have stalled. The Senate is running out of government matters to study. Parliament is paralyzed by a Conservative filibuster that started in late September. The Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Green Party accuse the Tories of hijacking the Commons for their own parliamentary games. The Conservatives say they are filibustering their own motion — tabling one sub-amendment after another — to pressure the Liberals to turn over documents to the RCMP. The documents were requested by parliamentarians months ago — but the Liberals have ignored the demand, refusing to hand all the records over in unredacted form. The Conservatives accuse the government of trying to hide evidence of Liberal corruption involving millions of dollars of taxpayers' money. Who's telling the truth? This week on "It's Political," we turn our attention to the Conservative filibuster and the allegations at the heart of the standoff in Parliament. First, we'll dig into the substance of the request for documents with Toronto Star Ottawa bureau reporter Mark Ramzy. Then our panel of experts – former PMO senior director Marci Surkes, former senior Conservative communication adviser Yaroslav Baran and former NDP MP Matthew Dubé – will join Althia to discuss the political strategies at play, and what it will take to finally end the standoff. 6:08 — Mark Ramzy outlines the substance behind the filibuster 18:18 — Political panel discusses the parties' political strategies around the filibuster. In this episode: Toronto Star reporter Mark Ramzy, Compass Rose Group chief strategy officer and former senior advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Marci Surkes; Pendulum Group Co-founder and former senior Conservative advisor Yaroslav Baran; and Proof Strategies vice-president and former NDP MP Matthew Dubé. Hosted by Althia Raj. Some of the clips this week were sourced from the House of Commons, CPAC, the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, and the National Post. 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.

22/11/2024

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44 min
31/10/2025

What's the best neighbourhood for Halloween in Toronto? We reveal which parts of the city are spooktacular and which areas you should ghost

GUEST: Katie Daubs, Toronto Star reporter With Halloween landing on the same night as Game 6 of the World Series — and the Jays in it — Toronto is bracing for one of the busiest Fridays of the year. Whether you're heading out with the kids or planning to squeeze in some trick-or-treating before first pitch, you might be wondering: where are the best neighbourhoods to score big on candy? This year, the Toronto Star crunched the numbers. Reporter Katie Daubs and the digital team ranked all 158 city neighbourhoods using actual data—from child density and pedestrian safety to candy sales and local lore—and created a Halloween vibe index. On this episode, we reveal which parts of the city truly deliver Halloween magic and which ones might just be phoning it in with a decorative spider or two. This episode was mixed by Paulo Marques

31/10/2025

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23 min
BONUS

Bonus panel discussion: A conversation on building healthy digital habits for youth

Today's technology has redefined childhood and adolescence. In a virtual conversation on Thursday, January 22 editor Ceri Marsh was joined by Ava Smithing, host of this podcast Left to Their Own Devices, and Dr. Michele Locke, psychologist and co-founder of the Toronto chapter of Unplugged Canada, to discuss youth and technology. They discussed how devices influence children's relationships, development and mental health – with actionable, family-friendly strategies to navigate screen time – and ways to encourage healthy digital habits and foster meaningful offline connections. We gave children the most powerful tools in human history. Then, we left them to their own devices.

Bonus

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1h 1m

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.