Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge

Rob welcomes to the show the President of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties Al Kemmere to chat about concerns raised by the move to reduce the amount of legislative seats in rural areas to match the population.  Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills also phones in with his thoughts  More here: http://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/rural-communities-fe...

Last year research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine concluded that the biological limit to a human lifespan in 115 years old. But this year, Canadian researchersd at Mcgill argue that initial research was flawed and that there is no limit to the human lifespan. Bryan Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow at Mcgill University Co-authored this age study in the Hekimi Lab at Mcgill University.  More...

Samra Zafar is a former teen bride who has escaped an abusive marriage and gone forward to become a speaker, activist, and scholar.  Her website here: http://www.samrazafar.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Adrian Owen Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Imaging and Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario and author of the new book Into The Gray Zone has been involved in some groundbreaking research showing that some patients who haver been written off as in a vegetative state- are very much aware of what is happening.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illegal dumping is up in and around Calgary- is this related to the restricted dump hours since January? City councillor Shane Keating says yes. Rob also takes calls from many listeners who protest the dumping is getting out of hand.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Through a FOIP the Wildrose Party has discovered which parts of AB highways are the most deadly. Grant Hunter, Wilrose MLA and Shadow Cabinet Minister for Transportation and Technology.  The map is here. Rob takes a few calls as well about where the roads get ugly in our province.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Clark, Leader of the Alberta Party, is pointing to the 800 million dollars more the Sturgeon Refinery is supposed to cost, over budget. And he has some questions about how this affects Alberta's finances.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent studies from American cities have shown that 15$ minimum wage may not be conducive to positive growth. Trevor Tombe Economist, Fellow at The School of Public Policy at the U of Calgary joins Rob to chat about it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roger Taylor, the drummer of Duran Duran joins Rob on air to preview the Roundup Music Fest two weeks from today.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob is joined by Bruce McAdams, Assistant Professor in the School of Hospitality, Food, and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph.  He says that the amount we tup is constantly increasing- and it may be getting out of hand More here: https://news.vice.com/story/north-americas-tipping-culture-is-increasingly-oppressive?utm_source=vicetwitterca   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

We live in a paranoid time- and a would be good samaritan in Florida has the bruises to prove it after he tried to return a 2 year old to her parents- only to have dad beat him up.  Lenore Skenazy, founder of the Free-Range Kids movement joins Rob to chat about our paranoia of our kids.  The story is here: http://globalnews.ca/news/3558935/good-samaritan-mistaken-for-child-predator/?utm_source=%40...

Derek Filderbrandt joins Rob in studio today to chat about "United Liberty" and rolling back the "nanny state" in Alberta.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the mob mentality of censure on twitter is affecting discourse.  With Jonathan Kay, National Post.  His Piece here: http://nationalpost.com/news/world/jonathan-kay-on-the-tyranny-of-twitter-how-mob-censure-is-changing-the-intellectual-landscape/wcm/c94cb9be-3eef-4982-9e65-7f4e934c2afb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ontario Provicial Government is looking to find a way to ban and prevent scalper bots from spoiling ticket sales for real fans. Josh O'Kane joins Rob from the Globe and Mail, His piece here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/ontario-to-make-ticket-buying-bots-illegal-cap-markups-in-scalping-crackdown/article35460982/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

So no cops were allowed to march in Toronto Pride, but Justin Trudeau and Kathleen Whynne did.  Sue-Ann Lewvy, investigative journalist at the Toronto Sun joins Rob to share her thoughts on the matter.  More here: http://www.torontosun.com/2017/06/25/cop-ban-sours-good-pride-party   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should the government step in with a bail out for fledgling newspapers in Canada? Jesse Brown, media critic, Canadaland. More on his thoughts here: http://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/great-newspaper-bailout/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate sent an unprecedented message to the House of Commons stating that the Red Chamber has every right to amend the government’s budget bills. Kelly Mcparland, National Post contributor, joins the show to share some insight.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defence in Derek Saretzky triple-murder trial will not present any evidence. Nancy Hixt from Global News joins the show to provide an update.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A study in the States has found that people of all income levels tend to eat fast food at the same rate. Jay Zagorsky is an economist and research scientist atThe Ohio State University.   More here: https://theconversation.com/do-poor-people-eat-more-junk-food-than-wealthier-americans-79154 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Jean Harvey, Director, Canadian Population Health Initiative. More here: http://globalnews.ca/news/3547212/77000-canadians-hospitalized-because-of-alcohol-in-2016/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob chats about criticizing politicians and takes a call from a listener who thinks President Trump faces too much criticism.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The election of a speaker. With Vancouver Sun Columnist Vaughn Palmer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mia Bloom, Professor of Communication at Georgia State University.  Her piece here: http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/islamic-state-has-weaponized-children/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CBE Trustee Trina Hurdman joins Rob to chat about the CBE decision on bussing changes for certain schools and the falling of math scores in AB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington Post Columnist Christian Caryl has been following the story of American student Otto Warmbier who died after being returned by the North Korean government this week.  His piece here https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/06/19/let-us-mourn-otto-warmbier-the-north-koreans-treated-him-like-one-of-their-own/?utm_term=.b8fe9a46c2e3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...