The Decibel

There’s a conversation happening amongst parents that is drumming up a lot of controversy. It’s around the idea of gentle parenting , which is a catch-all term that generally refers to parents who try to stay calm, place a lot of importance on their child’s emotions and show a lot of physical affection. Dr. Alice Davidson is a professor of developmental psychology at Rollins College, and is one of...

Inflation has been rising, interest rates have accelerated at record pace, and the cost of living has been weighing on us all . Canada’s economy has been flirting with a recession since the start of the pandemic, but we may have avoided the worst of it. So what’s in store for 2024? Will there be any reprieve? The Globe’s economics columnist and reporter David Parkinson is on the show today to tell...

Tensions in the Middle East have heightened in the last week, not just because the war in Gaza continues, but because of four events that have happened in the last week in the region. The Globe’s Senior International Correspondent, Mark MacKinnon , explains what has happened and how it’s ratcheting up geopolitical pressures. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hoste...

Plant-based meat has been touted as a way of having our steak and eating it too. The industry had grand plans to remake the way we eat, cut down greenhouse gas emissions in meat and dairy production and address animal welfare concerns. Companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible had a meteoric rise in the late 2010s, with influencers, celebrities and investors backing the companies. But now, it appe...

There is a universal – but uncomfortable – truth about grief: We will all experience it at some point in our lives. And with the scale of death we witnessed during the pandemic, grief is a lot more present in our lives. And yet, Canada doesn’t have a cohesive network of support for grief. The Canadian Grief Alliance recently received federal funding to look into this. Paul Adams is one of the co-c...

2023 was a rocky year for Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government. The country was grappling with unaffordable housing and grocery prices , high interest rates , accusations of foreign interference . Trudeau and his government have been sliding in the polls , losing significant ground to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Today, in our first episode of 2024, The Globe’s political columnist an...

For the holidays, The Decibel is sharing their favourite stories of the year, with the producers taking you behind-the-scenes on how the episodes were made, what inspired them and all the tidbits that never made it into the original airing. *** Adrial and Adiah Nadarajah are the most premature twins ever born to survive to their first birthday – they were born at just 22 weeks, about half of a ful...

For the holidays, The Decibel is sharing their favourite stories of the year, with the producers taking you behind-the-scenes on how the episodes were made, what inspired them and all the tidbits that never made it into the original airing. *** When Ontario Place first opened in 1971, it was a jewel on Toronto’s waterfront showcasing modern architecture and Ontario culture. But in the 50 years tha...

For the holidays, The Decibel is sharing their favourite stories of the year, with the producers taking you behind-the-scenes on how the episodes were made, what inspired them and all the tidbits that never made it into the original airing. *** No one really knows what dark matter is. We just think it exists. And we believe it makes up 85 per cent of all mass in the universe. So how do you solve t...

Food and family are often front and centre during the holidays. These two ingredients also help make up our identities and cultures. So today, The Decibel is sharing stories of finding family through the act of baking . Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pe...

Earlier this year, The Globe’s sports editor Jamie Ross got a peculiar package in the mail – a wallet, with a request from a man nearing the end of his life, to help return it to its rightful owner. That piqued the interest of investigative reporter Grant Robertson. And that began the saga of trying to track these people down . Today, Grant Robertson tells us the story of a hockey player, his wall...

The Globe’s Carrie Tait recently went to visit a bowling alley in the small town of Kimberley , British Columbia. It’s tucked in the basement of the town’s Elk’s Lodge and has a feature that exists in just a few other locations in North America: the pins are set by humans, not machines. It’s a profession from a bygone era but in Kimberley, this bowling alley from the past, is making a comeback. Ca...

A giant squid discovered in Newfoundland in 1873 turned what until then was a mythological creature into the scientifically named Architeuthis dux, or giant squid. In the generations since, more sightings and myth-making have become the stuff of local legend on “The Rock”. Atlantic reporter Lindsay Jones explores how the giant squid has since entwined itself in the history and culture of Newfoundl...

Nearly every day, The Globe published an editorial cartoon. Around 8,000 of those cartoons were drawn by Brian Gable. After 35 years of drawing cartoons for The Globe, Brian Gable has retired . Today, we talk to Brian about the complicated art of political cartoons, how he does it, who his favourite people have been to draw, and why he thinks we need editorial cartoons in today’s world. Questions?...

Earlier this week, a man from Mississauga, Kenneth Law, was charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder. Police allege he helped people end their lives by selling them sodium nitrite online. Today, Globe reporters Mike Hager and Colin Freeze explain what we know about Kenneth Law, the charges against him , and how he defended himself in an interview earlier this year. If you are having thoughts...

One in five Canadians suffer from chronic pain. According to one estimate, in 2019 the direct and indirect costs of chronic pain totalled $40-billion. And yet, the affliction is poorly understood and accessing treatment through the health care system can be tedious and frustrating. Lara Pingue is an editor at The Globe. In 2018 her life changed when a sneeze sent her spiralling into the world of c...

There are over a half million public-sector workers on strike in Quebec this week. This comes after an offer from François Legault’s government , which the multiple unions involved in negotiations rejected. The strikes – some of which started weeks ago – seem to have strong public support despite schools being shut down and delays piling up at hospitals . Frédérik-Xavier Duhamel , a staff reporter...

Canada’s oil and gas industry has been facing immense pressure to reduce emissions . Last week, the federal government announced a cap and trade system to help do that, and one of the main ways the industry is planning to cut back on emissions is through carbon capture. Today, The Globe’s energy reporter Emma Graney explains the new cap and trade system, the science behind carbon capture, and the...

A recent report from the Canadian Cancer Society underlines a troubling trend: cervical cancer is on the rise and seeing its most significant increase in nearly 40 years. Despite having a vaccine against HPV – the predominant cause of the cancer – hundreds of Canadian women are dying every year. The Globe’s national health reporter Carly Weeks joins the podcast to explain what experts think should...

As storms become more frequent and more severe, insurance claims for damage to homes are piling up . Disaster claims in Canada have more than quadrupled over the past 15 years, accounting for more than $3-billion of insured losses in 2022 – up from just $400-million in 2008, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Clare O’Hara is a journalist with The Globe’s Report on Business and she covers...

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, there have been concerns about Ukrainian children, and the efforts by Russia to send them to summer camps or to foster homes within Russia. The Globe’s senior international correspondent, Mark MacKinnon , brings us the story of two siblings separated by this practice and how a sister travelled more than 1,000 km , crossing border...

Managing personal finances while navigating 2023′s economic landscape is stressful, especially for young people. Is now the time for a down payment for a home? How do you even begin saving with sky-high rents? Where is the safest place to begin investing? Listeners asked these questions (and more) to The Globe’s personal finance columnist Rob Carrick , who spoke to Decibel host Menaka Raman-Wilms...

After a very public and heated battle with the federal government, Google has come to an agreement to support Canadian news to the tune of $100 million a year . Countries around the world have been watching this play out in Canada, as they try to tackle the imbalance between tech giants and media outlets. Taylor Owen , founding director of The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and an asso...

Where is the most livable city in Canada ? The Globe and Mail ranked more than 400 cities across the country to find out. Using data to capture qualities that matter most – affordability, safety, education and access to amenities and health care – these rankings will help Canadians find the cities that are best for them, based on their own circumstances. The Globe’s data editor Mahima Singh and pe...

On Tuesday, a walkout and rally at York University’s campus in Toronto saw 200 faculty and staff protesting the administration’s decision to suspend three employees, including one professor . The employees were charged for their alleged involvement in defacing an Indigo bookstore . It’s the latest incident involving a Canadian university where the Israel-Hamas war has created conflict on campus. T...