Front Burner

In the midst of a pandemic, two veteran executives launched Quibi — a video-streaming app intended for watching on the go. With nearly $2 billion in cash invested and a huge roster of A-list celebrities creating content, it seemed like a recipe for success. But two months later, the app has largely missed the mark, with subscriptions way below expectations. Today on Front Burner, we talk to Kathry...

There’s another public health crisis killing Canadians in record numbers. In May, 170 people died from illicit drug overdoses in British Columbia. It's the worst death toll in the province’s history. And it’s not just B.C., people are overdosing all over the country, particularly in Ontario and Alberta. Garth Mullins is a documentarian and host of the award-winning podcast Crackdown. It was create...

Ten years ago, an eccentric Santa Fe art dealer named Forrest Fenn says he hid a treasure chest somewhere in the American Rocky Mountains – and then he wrote a poem with clues to tell people how to find it. Hundreds of thousands have tried. At least five have died on their search. And now, Fenn says the treasure has been found. But is the story really over? Today we’re joined by Robert Nott, a rep...

We are living in a time of ubiquitous recording. There are cameras are everywhere; capturing the last moments of George Floyd’s life; recording the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta Police on Friday night; and documenting another angle of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam being punched by an officer during an arrest in Fort McMurray. There are also live streams of protes...

After more than 1000 episodes, the reality television show COPS has officially been cancelled. For thirty years, COPS has broadcast police officers chasing down suspects and arresting them as entertainment. But according to Henry Molofsky, producer of the hit investigative podcast Running From Cops, the vision of crime and policing portrayed by COPS was often distorted. Today, Henry Molofsky discu...

Bon Appetit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport resigned on Monday over accusations of brownface. It involved a 2004 photo of Rapoport and his wife dressing up as Puerto Ricans. But according to more than a dozen former and current employees of colour who have since spoken out, the racism runs deeper than just that photo. Today on Front Burner, a conversation with culture writer Navneet Alang about this...

Last Thursday, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman was killed by a New Brunswick police officer. Chantel Moore was shot five times during what was meant to be a wellness check. Her death is one of several recent incidents of police violence against Indigenous people in Canada. As the Black Lives Matter movement shines a light on police brutality and calls into question the power and even necessity of p...

On the weekend, a majority of the Minneapolis city council declared their intention to disband the city's police force. The move comes in response to the killing of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin — a member of that force — and to other local instances of police brutality. Today on Front Burner, we talk about the growing "defund police" movement that says scaling down police budgets and spending the...

Twitter says its staff can work from home as long as they want. The head of Shopify says “office centricity is over.” OpenText is shuttering half of its offices, reducing its workforce and shifting 2000 employees to remote work. COVID-19 forced hundreds of millions of employees to temporarily work from home, but companies are starting to change their remote work strategies from “pandemic” to “perm...

From the aggressive tactics of police at demonstrations in the United States, to the increasing demand to recognize systemic racism against Black communities and deal with police violence, to the ongoing threat of COVID-19 — it has been a chaotic and politically charged week. Today on Front Burner, we take a step back to listen to individuals who are deeply affected by the week’s events. Five Blac...

While scientists worldwide are trying to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, reports show an uptick in state-sponsored medical hacking. Countries like China and Iran appear to be actively hacking vaccine research. Today on Front Burner: We talk to cybersecurity expert Priscilla Moriuchi about the fears that are driving these hacking efforts, and how they could derail vaccine research.

Demonstrations across the US protesting the death of George Floyd are coinciding with a global pandemic and an economic crisis. And it’s a moment when many Americans are calling on the president for leadership. Keith Boag, a longtime political correspondent and a contributor to the CBC on US politics, joins us to talk about how Donald Trump is responding to this critical moment — and what lies ahe...

Despite making up only 13 per cent of the population, black Americans represent about a quarter of all people killed by police. Today on Front Burner, we speak to civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson about the concrete steps he thinks could be taken to deal with the problem of race-based police violence.

This weekend, in at least 75 U.S. cities, demonstrators marched against racism and police violence in the wake of the video showing the last moments of George Floyd's life, with a Minneapolis police officer's knee on his neck. North of the border, thousands of people rallied in Toronto, some holding signs demanding "Justice for Regis." Regis Korchinski-Paquet is a black woman from Toronto whose de...

For the first time, police are treating an alleged incel-inspired killing as an act of terror. In February, a 17-year-old male was charged with murder and attempted murder in the broad daylight slaying of a woman at a North Toronto massage parlour. Last week, those charges were updated to terror charges. Today on Front Burner, former CSIS analyst Jessica Davis and University of Calgary law profess...

China’s ceremonial parliament, the National People’s Congress, endorsed a national security law for Hong Kong on Thursday. Many residents are concerned that the law will undermine civil liberties and might be used to suppress political activity. Today on Front Burner, journalist and lawyer Antony Dapiran on what this might mean for Hong Kong’s future, and whether this could signal the end of “one...

York Regional Police announced an enormous bust taking down alleged organized crime rings in Southern Ontario’s tow truck industry this week. Police say that for the last three years, rival companies have used violence and intimidation to carve out turf, alleging they caused and staged collisions, worked with auto repair shops and rental companies to carry out fraud, set fires, and even killed in...

Cockroaches, rotten food, improper feeding of patients. These are just a few of the disturbing details emerging from a military report into five long-term care facilities in Ontario that were hit hard by coronavirus outbreaks. Today on Front Burner, CBC News correspondent David Common, who has investigated long-term care facilities since before the pandemic hit, walks us through the report.

Love him or hate him, Joe Rogan is one of the biggest names in podcasting. Now, he’s inked a $100-million deal with Spotify that could turn the podcasting industry on its head. Nick Quah, writer of the newsletter Hot Pod, and Devin Gordon, a journalist who’s written about Rogan for The Atlantic, join us to speak about Rogan’s appeal, and why this Spotify deal could be such a game-changer.

On Saturday, images of thousands of people at a crowded park in downtown Toronto went viral, infuriating people across Ontario for the flagrant disregard of social distancing. It was a bad look for the city, where the spread of the virus is increasing as Ontario fails to meet testing benchmarks. With some COVID-19 restrictions relaxed in the province, experts say Ontario is moving in the wrong dir...

After years of fervent campaigning from fans, director Zack Snyder’s cut of the 2017 Justice League movie has been greenlit for release in 2021. Culture critics John Semley and Tina Hassannia on why this campaign struck a cultural chord, and what it says about fandom today.

Canadian cattle farmers are having a hard week. The beef industry was already struggling after deadly mass outbreaks of COVID-19 hit the heart of Canada’s meat processing industry in Alberta, causing temporary closures, slowdowns in production and a backlog of cattle. Then on Tuesday, president Donald Trump mused about the possibility of terminating trade deals that allow for imports of live cattl...

Across Canada, the economy is slowly reopening. This week, with physical distancing measures in place, restaurants can resume dine-in services in B.C., retail shops with street entrances in Ontario can open, and in some parts of Alberta, you can get a haircut again. But as restrictions loosen, Canadians will be asked to use their judgment to limit the spread of COVID-19. Today on Front Burner, inf...

Amazon has seen an incredible demand for its products during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, it is also facing a wave of criticism over not doing enough to ensure the safety of its warehouse workers. We speak with Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham - two former Amazon tech employees. They say they were fired, because they tried to raise awareness about the conditions at Amazon warehouses.

A series of cell phone tower fires in Europe and Canada have been linked to a conspiracy theory about 5G networks and the coronavirus — a theory that’s been boosted by celebrities and politicians, and that has deep ties to the anti-vaccine movement. Today, CBC Senior Investigative Reporter Katie Nicholson joins us to break down the conspiracies, and talk about how they could have serious implicati...