Front Burner

Today, if all goes well, a ceasefire will begin in Gaza. In phase one, Hamas has pledged to return all of the hostages, living and dead. For its part Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, while withdrawing troops to an agreed-upon line in Gaza and maintaining majority control of the territory. Beyond that, the details of Trump’s promise of a “strong, durable, and everlasting peace...

Beyond the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, a shadow war between the Kremlin and Kyiv is escalating -- with covert assassinations, car bombs, civilian recruitment, and even the involvement of a terrorist group with a history in Canada.   Today, national security reporter Ben Makuch examines how it’s transforming the character of the biggest land war since the Second World War -- and who migh...

The term ‘Antifa’ derives from the German word for Antifascist — and the constellation of resistance movements largely created as a response to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Today, Antifa describes a decentralized anti-fascist movement with local groups and unaffiliated activists all over the world.  Many became aware of Antifascist organizing following  Antifa’s intervention at the...

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel in Egypt are underway, with the goal of reaching an agreement on the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposed peace plan. It would see the release of all remaining Israeli hostages by Hamas and potentially, over a thousand Palestinians detained by Israel as well as   a ceasefire. The overall plan aims to end the war altogether. But aft...

Aaron Wherry, senior writer at CBC's parliamentary bureau, is back today to talk Canadian politics. We get into Mark Carney’s upcoming trip to Washington and what it might mean for the possibility of some sort of trade stability with the United States. Plus, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her province will propose a new bitumen pipeline to B.C.’s coast to the federal major projects office. Bu...

When the book ends, the conversation begins. On Bookends, Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read. Bookends does not shy away from difficult conversations … and neither does Anna Sale, the host of the popular Slate podcast Death, Sex and Money. The show is...

After Donald Trump was elected for a second time, historian Timothy Snyder wrote this in the New Yorker: “Trump has always been a presence, not an absence: the presence of fascism.” Today on Front Burner, Snyder makes that case again. His warning about fascism feels particularly relevant at this point in Trump’s presidency, as the U.S. sees an escalation in political violence, the deployment of fe...

The U.S. government has shut down after Republicans and Democrats failed to pass a spending bill before the end of Tuesday. Government services will grind to a halt and hundreds of thousands of federal employees face unpaid leave. How long is it expected to last, and could it have been avoided?  Plus, President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth held a rare gathering of the count...

Last week, Canada officially recognized Palestinian statehood.  In explaining this decision, Prime Minister Mark Carney released a statement which read, "Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel." Just over a week later, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime...

While Donald Trump may have shocked many at the UN General Assembly when he called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, he may just have been the most extreme messenger of a global shift being seen elsewhere.  David Wallace-Wells, author of “The Uninhabitable Earth” and friend of the show, recently wrote a feature for the New York Times detailing the ways much...

It’s been about a month since the NDP leadership race began and two main contenders have emerged: longtime climate activist and former broadcaster Avi Lewis, and NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, Heather McPherson, one of the most prominent New Democrat voices in Western Canada. The NDP suffered a crushing defeat last election. The party went from 24 MPs to only seven, losing official party status.&...

Dan Wang is a tech analyst and a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover History Lab. He’s one of the leading China analysts in the world right now and his new book is called “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future”. Today on the show he explains his novel way of understanding the clash between China and the United States: China owns the future because it is an “engineering state”...

After a brief suspension for comments he made in the wake of the Charlie Kirk killing, Jimmy Kimmel has made his return to late night. It was just the latest example in a string of cancellations, resignations, lawsuits, settlements and potential mergers that tell the story of a media industry buckling to Trump or consolidating under a wealthy and powerful few, many of whom are friendly with the Tr...

Health professionals around the world are disputing  the Trump administration’s claims about autism and its potential causes. U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with President Donald Trump himself, said this week that taking Tylenol while pregnant may cause autism in babies, and the U.S. FDA said it would reclassify the drug leucovorin — primarily used to mitigate chemother...

Beloved children’s author Robert Munsch has chosen medically assisted death. Canada is one of the few places in the world where MAID is legal for patients like Munsch, who are not terminally ill. Today, a conversation with journalist Katie Engelhart, on the legacy of one of the great Canadian writers, how dementia has impacted his life and ability to come up with stories. Plus we take a broader lo...

Today, a wide-ranging interview with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. She talks to host Jayme Poisson about Alberta’s future in light of the Carney government’s push to fast track major projects, arguing that energy development is an issue of national unity for her constituents. Smith also responds to the controversy around her potential use of the notwithstanding clause in protecting three laws th...

Memes have been written on weapons, quoted in manifestos, and cited by young attackers as the inspiration for acts of mass violence. It's a phenomenon that springs from groups of disaffected people communicating on the web through a convoluted language of impenetrable memes and irony. Utah Governor Spencer Cox has said about the 22-year-old man charged with the killing of Charlie Kirk: "There was...

For the first time since June, MPs returned to the House of Commons to decide the path of Canada’s future. And just a few days into the fall session, it’s already looking like a busy season. After more than a decade in politics, Chrystia Freeland announced she is calling it quits. Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney faced off for the first time in question period, and we learned when we’ll see the Li...

The Liberal government has launched its $13-billion agency called “Build Canada Homes” which Prime Minister Mark Carney says will supercharge housing construction across the country. Today, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson talks to host Jayme Poisson about Canada’s housing affordability crisis, how the Liberal government is meeting the challenges around it, and why he thinks he’s the right person...

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk we're joined by Bruce Hoffman, a Senior Fellow for counter terrorism and homeland security at the Council for Foreign Relations. He helps us understand the history of assassinations, the connections between violent rhetoric and incidents of material violence, and the online meme-world that communicates motives that are unintelligible to those outside tha...

Donald Trump has declared a war on drug cartels. He’s wielded the flow of narcotics, namely fentanyl, into the U.S. as one of the major reasons behind aspects of his global trade war. He’s added a number of cartels to the foreign terrorist organisations list.  And last month, the Trump administration stepped things up by quietly signing a Pentagon directive to allow the use of military force...

American conservative media figure and activist Charlie Kirk was one of the most prominent young voices of the American right. The founder of Turning Point USA, a close ally of Donald Trump, and a figure who helped shape the culture and pipeline of the MAGA movement. On Wednesday, he was shot at one of his trademark campus debate events at Utah Valley University. Will Sommer, a senior reporter wit...

As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal forces into Chicago — a city he’s referred to as the ‘murder capital’ of the world — we have a look at Trump’s long standing focus on Chicago, and how the city became a favourite metaphor in conservative politics. This month, Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to send federal forces into Chicago to confront what he calls 'the most danger...

This coming Monday, MPs return to Ottawa for Parliament’s fall session, with the health of Canada’s economy front and centre. Last Friday, Prime Minister Carney unveiled a new set of measures designed, he says, to make Canada’s economy more resilient in the face of persistent U.S. tariffs. We also now have a leaked list of the major infrastructure projects that are being considered for fast tracki...

Over the last few weeks, horrific crimes have dominated headlines across the country. There was a father of four who was killed after at least three suspects broke into his home in Vaughan, Ontario. There was a mass stabbing attack on Hollow Water First Nation, just north of Winnipeg. The suspect had been out on bail. Last weekend in Edmonton, a woman was found shot to death in her car. The suspec...