The Decibel
Episodes
How a math prodigy-turned-fugitive siphoned millions in crypto
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At 18 years old, Andean Medjedovic was a math prodigy, finishing his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Waterloo before most young ...
Why the absence of a U.S. trade deal might be a good thing
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Canada failed to secure a trade deal with the U.S. by the Aug. 1 deadline. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on certain Canadian...
Stressed-out parents are turning to ChatGPT for help
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parents seem to be turning to ChatGPT for advice more and more – but what do robots have to offer when it comes to such a core human relationship? W...
Restorative justice and the Hockey Canada trial
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Hockey Canada case captivated the country — raising complex questions about consent, hockey culture and even how sports organizations handle acc...
The case for prioritizing rest in the age of burnout
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Canadians are not particularly good at resting. According to Statistics Canada data collected between July 2022 and July 2023, people over the age of ...
Gazan journalist describes starvation, chaos on the ground
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May. And more than 150 deaths have been attributed to malnutrition, according to...
If you fall for a scam, who should pick up the bill?
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scams are becoming more common and more sophisticated. As quickly as safeguards are developed to protect people, scammers are finding workarounds. And...
Boomers, millennials, Gen Beta: Why do we name generations?
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What’s in a name? For the past century, people have clamoured to categorize people by their age and the life events they’ve gone through – but h...
The state of Canadian tourism in the ‘elbows up’ moment
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Travel to the U.S. has plummeted ever since U.S. President Donald Trump started talking about annexing Canada and imposing tariffs on us. Politicians ...
Why the players were acquitted in the Hockey Canada trial
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Thursday, five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team were found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room after a Hoc...
What it’s like to be an undocumented migrant in Canada
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The population of undocumented migrants living and working in Canada is substantial. And while most of them initially entered the country legally, on ...
Dairy’s outsized political influence and the trade war
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 35-per-cent tariffs on imports from Canada starting on Aug. 1. And when it comes ...
How Carney’s historic defence spending could change the economy
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ottawa’s pledge to spend $150-billion annually on defence-related priorities by 2035 is creating big opportunities for the private sector. Several C...
Ontario colleges see alarming job losses
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new report has found that 19 of Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded colleges have cut more than 8,000 jobs since January 2024, when the new limits on int...
What happens when your bank dumps you
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A connection to a bank is an important financial relationship – between chequing and savings accounts, mortgages and loans, they are crucial for pay...
A mixtape of you: the summer of the Great Canadian Playlist
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Canadians have been spending a lot of time thinking about identity and their relationship to Canada. As U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war drag...
A Canadian died in ICE custody. His family wants answers
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In May, a Canadian man, 49-year-old Johnny Noviello, was arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a probation office in Florida....
Canadian soldiers charged in anti-government militia plot
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On July 8, Quebec RCMP arrested four men connected to the Canadian Armed Forces. They are accused of trying to create an extremist militia and plannin...
What you should know about Canada’s growing tick problem
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The problem of ticks, and the diseases they carry are well known. But as the climate becomes warmer, ticks are no longer exclusively found in densely ...
Your new favourite influencer? She’s AI-generated
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Influencer profiles often have recognizable hallmarks: their feeds are highly stylized, filled with aspirational content and product placement. One of...
Why the Calgary Stampede is this summer’s biggest political event
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 113th Calgary Stampede is in full swing. But the 10-day festival wouldn’t be complete without the biggest names in Canadian politics and busines...
How to talk to kids about climate change
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The threat and realities of climate change are real and visceral – punishing heat waves, families displaced, towns destroyed by wildfires, dangerous...
The B.C. billionaire fighting to take over Hudson’s Bay stores
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On June 1, Hudson’s Bay – the iconic department store brand whose operation predates the founding of Canada – sold its last striped blanket. Str...
Canada’s emergency room crisis is worse than we thought
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since the pandemic, emergency-room closures have become more common in Canada, especially in rural communities. This can leave people in dangerou...
The women changing the face of Canadian rodeo
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cowgirls love the rodeo just as much as cowboys, but for the better part of the past century, there’s only been one event for women – until now. B...
Making sense of Carney’s tactics in the U.S.-Canada trade talks
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Mark Carney set a deadline of July 21 to reach an economic and security deal with the United States after last month’s G7 summit. But...
Is AI making us dumb?
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
School is out for summer but this year some educators are wondering how much their students really learned. A KPMG survey found that over half of Cana...
The benchmark of housing affordability has changed in Canada
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has said it is no longer possible to return Canada to 2004 levels of housing affordability. We cannot buil...
Why cuts to a U.S. inspection agency matter for Canadian food
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For months, the “buy Canadian” movement has inspired Canadians to shift their shopping habits away from American goods. While this has mostly been...
Do you feel broke? How to overcome ‘money dysmorphia’
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the social media age, it’s challenging to know what’s ‘normal’ for your finances. How are others able to afford lavish trips and expensive ...
How Canada fits into the high-stakes NATO summit
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been in Europe for a series of meetings that are focused on strengthening ties. On Monday, he was in Brussel...
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak wants Carney to slow down
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Friday, the Liberals’ controversial Bill C-5 was passed by the House of Commons — it’s the only legislation to pass, ahead of Parliament risi...
Threat of wider war looms after U.S. bombs Iran nuclear sites
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend, the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear facilities, as it warned Iran about its nuclear capabilities and attacks against Israel. U.S. Pres...
How The Matriarch tackled trauma in the wrestling ring
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sage Morin’s life changed on May 19, 2013. A tragedy altered her family forever, and Sage was left to pick up the pieces, all while navigating her o...
How wildfires are changing the way we think of summer
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year is off to a bad start for wildfires. To date, more than 40,000 people have had to evacuate their homes, and both Manitoba and Saskatchewan d...
Trump, Iran-Israel attacks loom large over G7 summit talks
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, some of the world’s most powerful leaders meet to discuss political and economic issues in the G7 summit. This year’s meeting, held in...
Israel-Iran conflict escalates as death toll rises
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The long shadow war between Israel and Iran is now out in the open, as pressure mounts over a nuclear peace deal pushed by the U.S. and President Dona...
Why the job market is hitting new grads especially hard
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Right now, the Canadian job market is tough. Unemployment is the highest it’s been since 2016, excluding the pandemic lockdown years. Young people a...
The black market for getting hacked Meta accounts back
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Having social media accounts hacked is stressful. Usually, companies have formal channels for users to regain access. But for Meta platforms like Face...
City Space: Why Berliners think expropriation could solve the housing crisis
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is expropriation, or forcing corporations to sell apartments to the government, a way to ease the housing crisis? Berlin seems to think so. In a landm...
‘Strong borders’ bill grants new powers to tighten immigration
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bill C-2, also known as the Strong Borders Act, is one of the first pieces of legislation by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. The 140-page b...
The Canadian-funded project mapping Ukraine’s missing children
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More than three years on, the war between Russia and Ukraine shows no signs of slowing. Ceasefire talks have stalled. Last week, Ukraine landed one of...
The Hockey Canada trial and how we talk to young men
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday, closing arguments are set to begin in the trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Hockey Team. Michael McLeod, Dillon ...
To save this baby, doctors had to kill part of her brain
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Maryam Fatima was born with a condition called hemimegalencephaly, a rare birth defect where one side of the brain is abnormally large. She suffered f...
Trump doubles down on steel, aluminum tariffs
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order that raised tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. One Ca...
Unpacking the nationwide push to fast-track major projects
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Ottawa’s plans to fast-track infrastructure projects. The effort aims to bolster the Canadian econom...
The legal fight over gender-affirming health care in Alberta
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Canadian Medical Association says that the Alberta government has created a “moral crisis” for doctors in the province. The CMA, alongside thr...
Former Anonymous hacker worries he helped elect Trump
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More than 20 years ago, a group of internet users created the online forum 4chan – a mixture of memes, pranks, disinformation and hate speech. Soon,...
Fossil feud: Paleontologists have a bone to pick with new find
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, mine workers in Morocco made a huge discovery. They found a fossil that scientists believed to be a new species of mosasaur – a large swimm...
Canada revamps standards around ‘forever chemicals’ in water
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What’s in your drinking water? On Prince Edward Island, the provincial testing program shows potable water in some communities have higher levels of...
King Charles III opens the 45th Parliament
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Tuesday, King Charles III opened the 45th Parliament by delivering Canada’s throne speech. The speech lays out the government’s priorities, and...
How Canadian businesses are getting caught up in U.S. tariffs on China
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a challenging few months for Canadian businesses. Even though Canada has been largely spared from the worst of U.S. President Donald Trump...
Carney’s plan to build Canada out of the housing crisis
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Canada is facing tariffs, a possible recession and an ongoing housing crisis. The country needs millions of new, affordable homes, and Prime Minister ...
What’s going on with Canada Post?
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Canada Post received a strike notice from its union representing 55,000 workers. The notice comes just less than a year after the last post...
Israel launches new military offensive, Canada voices opposition
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Over the weekend, the Israeli military launched a new operation in Gaza called Gideon’s Chariots. It comes after a two-month long blockade of humani...
Alberta’s AI push could come with a big energy price tag
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Generative AI has been taking the world by storm, and Alberta wants in on the action. The province currently has plans to break ground on at least six...
Why the judge in the Hockey Canada trial dismissed a second jury
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Justice Maria Carroccia dismissed the jury in the Hockey Canada case for the second time. The trial will continue and be heard by a judge a...
How Labrador Inuit are adapting to a warming world
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The experiences of Inuit people and scientific data show the impacts of climate change and how it disproportionately affects Canada’s Far North. Arc...
What Trump’s trade deals could mean for Canada
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past week, the U.S. has brokered trade deals with Britain, China, and the Middle East, signaling a shift in President Donald Trump’s trade ...
Carney’s cabinet: who’s in, who’s out
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet was sworn in. Canada now has 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state, with representation from...
The history behind the fragile India-Pakistan ceasefire
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After several tense weeks of escalating military action across the de facto border in Kashmir, India and Pakistan have agreed to a fragile ceasefire. ...
Measles is now spreading across Canada. What’s being done?
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Measles is spreading at an unprecedented rate in Canada. It was considered eliminated in Canada in 1998, but last week, Ontario reported 1,440 cases o...
How serious is Alberta’s push for a referendum on separation?
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While the Liberal Party celebrated winning its fourth mandate in a row in the latest federal election, thousands of Albertans spent the night calling ...
Testimony underway in Hockey Canada sexual-assault trial
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team are currently on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room seven years ...
What the Carney–Trump meeting signals about Canada–U.S. relations
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Mark Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump face-to-face in Washington, D.C. for the first time on Tuesday. Tensions between the t...
What’s going on with the detentions at the Canada-U.S. border?
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. government is ramping up its efforts to deport immigrants. On Monday, the Trump administration announced a new policy offering anyone illegal...
How kids are getting hooked on gambling through online games
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Problem gambling is a real issue in Canada – where reporting shows young people having even higher rates than adults. The increasing monetization of...
How a math prodigy-turned-fugitive siphoned millions in crypto
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At 18 years old, Andean Medjedovic was a math prodigy, finishing his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Waterloo before most young ...
Campaign Call: Obstacles ahead for Poilievre, Carney and the NDP
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Now that the election is over, we’re bringing you another edition of Campaign Call, The Decibel’s weekly election panel that makes sense of the ma...
Eyewitness accounts of the Vancouver festival attack
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu festival was supposed to be a celebration of Filipino culture and traditions. Instead, it became a scene of horror on Saturday...
Carney wins, Liberals preside over ‘splintered parliament’
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday April 28, Canadians voted in another Liberal government.They are heading to the House of Commons with what appeared to be a minority governm...
East to West: What matters to rural Canada this election
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s impossible to get a full picture of a country as big and diverse as Canada, but audio journalist Kasia Mychajlowycz set out on a road trip to f...
Campaign Call: Unpacking the final days of the election
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the federal election nearly upon us, we’re bringing you the last edition of Campaign Call before Canadians head to the polls. This week, featur...
What lies ahead for the NDP and Jagmeet Singh
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly 15 years ago, the NDP became Canada’s official opposition. Now, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are trailing far behind the frontrunners of the upc...
Tanya Talaga on Pope Francis’s apologies to Indigenous peoples
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, many are remembering his time as pope as one that marked a shift towards more progressive ideals, inclu...
The companies betting on Canada despite U.S. tariffs
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have created an uncertain environment for Canadian businesses, and many are cons...
The strategists inside the Liberal and Conservative war rooms
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On April 28, Canadians will vote in a new federal government. Voters have gotten to know the front-runners – Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre an...
The changing face of election interference
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Presenting Machines Like Us, a Globe and Mail podcast on technology and people.We’re a few weeks into a federal election that is currently too close...
The case for prioritizing rest in the age of burnout
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Canadians are not particularly good at resting. According to Statistics Canada data collected between July 2022 and July 2023, people over the age of ...
Campaign Call: Debate prep and an inside look at polling
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With less than two weeks until the federal election, The Decibel is bringing you another edition of Campaign Call, The Globe’s weekly election panel...
Canada’s fragmented medical records system
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The way medical records are handled in Canada is a patchwork of disconnected systems – creating massive headaches for patients and doctors. Patients...
An interview with Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The federal election is in two weeks, on April 28 – so the Decibel has invited the leaders from Canada’s major parties onto the show to share thei...
Campaign Call: Western separatism amid a moment of Canadian unity
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re halfway through the election period and it’s time for Campaign Call, The Decibel’s weekly election panel making sense of the major issues....
Global markets reel from tariff whiplash
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on most of the world, plunging markets into some of the worst days in recent ...
What happened to the ‘carbon tax election’?
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For years, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been framing the federal race as a “carbon tax election.” But then Mark Carney became the Libe...
The case for teaching your child it’s okay not to share
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the age of gentle parenting, a new trend has emerged: parents are changing the ways they talk to their young children about sharing. Rather than fo...
Despite what Trump says, barely any fentanyl comes from Canada
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, the U.S. Senate vote to pass Senator Tim Kaine’s resolution to end the state of emergency that allows U.S. President Donald Trump to issu...
Campaign Call: Trump chaos and Conservative infighting
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the end of the week, which means it’s time for Campaign Call…our election panel where we make sense of the major issues. This week we’re ...
Making sense of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wednesday to put reciprocal tariffs on goods from most of its international trading p...
What you need to know about U.S. travel as detentions rise
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, immigration lawyers have reported seeing a rise in non-U.S. citizens being denied entry. At ...
New foreign interference allegations emerge in election campaign
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the first week of the federal election campaign, several new foreign interference stories have bubbled up. The first involves allegations that CSIS...
Youngest premature twins to survive celebrate a hallmark birthday
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This March, Adrial and Adiah Nadaraja turned three years old. Born at 22 weeks, they were the youngest premature twins ever to survive to their first ...
East to West: voices in Atlantic Canada ahead of the election
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During the election campaign, the Globe and Mail is travelling across the country to hear about the issues facing people in Canada today.In small comm...
Campaign Call: What it means to be a ‘change’ candidate
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Decibel’s inaugural election panel!Each week, we’re going to focus on a major theme from the week’s campaign, and provide some an...
Why Canada’s water security is being threatened by Trump
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, scientific research at the Great Lakes has meant close partnership between Canada and the U.S., but President Trump’s latest job cuts m...
Canadians executed in China as tensions grow
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Global Affairs Canada confirmed that China has executed four Canadians since the beginning of the year. The move further escalates already ...
What it’s like to be an undocumented migrant in Canada
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The population of undocumented migrants living and working in Canada is substantial. And while most of them initially entered the country legally, on ...
The ‘trade war’ election campaign is under way
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At midday on Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney asked Governor-General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and begin an election campaign. Canadians are...
How Prime Minister Mark Carney is preparing for the federal election
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call a federal election by Sunday, after being sworn into office last week.And he’s had a busy week. Betwe...
Project 2025 had a tariff plan, but Trump has gone off-script
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Project 2025 was meant to be a U.S. Republican transition bible, outlining a vast set of proposed policies for the next leader. Within its 900 pages, ...