The Current
CBC
Three stories to expand your worldview, delivered daily. Matt Galloway cuts through a sea of choice to bring you stories that transcend the news cycle. Conversations with big thinkers, household names, and people living the news. An antidote to algorithms that cater to what you already know — and a meeting place for diverse perspectives. In its 20 years, the Current has become a go-to place for stories that shape and entertain us. Released daily, Monday to Friday.The Current is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — and has recently recorded live shows about the Canadian election in Surrey and Burnaby BC. And shows to come in Oshawa and the 905, Red Deer, Alberta, Quebec City and Halifax.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 18, 2025 • 20min
Cracks in the Canadian economy
What does the Bank of Canada cut to its key interest rate mean for you - and for Canada's economy? CBC’s Senior Business Correspondent Peter Armstrong joins us to walk through the bad and the slightly less bad economic news. We’ll also talk to Avery Shenfeld, Managing Director and Chief Economist of CIBC, and Pedro Antunes, the Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada to look at what the coming months could bring.
Sep 18, 2025 • 24min
Exhausted? Sleep hacks that work — and the ones that don't
Getting a good night's rest can be hard. A sleep expert helps you navigate advice from mouth taping to melatonin to cognitive shuffling and more. Aric Prather, author of The Sleep Prescription: 7 Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest, on what works, what doesn't, and why we might need to reconsider our attitudes to sleep.
Sep 18, 2025 • 23min
Jennifer Brady fought for her health — and won
Jennifer Brady was suffering. The Nova Scotia woman was living with lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes painful swelling in the arms and legs. She couldn't get treatment there, and the government refused to pay for treatment out of province, so she applied for Medical Assistance in Dying. A year ago, we heard her story on our program. Ultimately, her case not only caught the attention of the Nova Scotia government — it has also prompted change. Now, a year later, Angela MacIvor brings us Jennifer’s story in her documentary, The Fight.
Sep 17, 2025 • 19min
Canada’s Condo Crash
Mike Moffitt, Director of the University of Ottawa's Missing Middle Initiative, dives into the troubling dynamics of Canada’s condo market. He examines the sharp decline in condo prices and the staggering number of unsold or unbuilt units, leaving first-time buyers and speculators in a tough spot. Moffitt discusses the pitfalls of pre-construction contracts and the challenges builders face. He warns of a market freeze that could lead to reduced building and future price spikes, reflecting deeper issues in housing policy.
Sep 17, 2025 • 24min
Brian Stewart on covering the world
For decades, CBC’s foreign correspondent Brian Stewart covered events that changed the world, from the famine in Ethiopia to brutal regimes in Latin America, to the fall of the Berlin Wall. But it was his reports from Ethiopia that galvanized Canadians to send humanitarian aid to the region, and led to Live Aid, one of the biggest charity concerts in history. Brian Stewart reflects on his remarkable career on the front lines of history.
Sep 17, 2025 • 15min
What makes a two-time hammer throw world champion?
Canadian athletes Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg are winning gold medal after gold medal in the hammer throw. The young B.C. natives join us from Tokyo, just after their gold medal wins at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Sep 17, 2025 • 11min
Mr Carney goes to Mexico
Prime Minister Mark Carney is off to Mexico this week to talk trade with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Why his agenda likely includes repairing strained ties. And what he has to do to grow trade between the two companies. Trade expert Carlo Dade, director of international policy at the New North America Initiative at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, joins us to talk about Carney's to-do list.
Sep 16, 2025 • 11min
Why calling bots "clankers" is all the rage
Memes and videos mocking AI and robots as "clankers" are having a moment. It's funny, but also reveals our anxiety about tech made to seem increasingly human, not to serve us, but to make a profit, says journalist Clive Thompson, author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World.
Sep 16, 2025 • 24min
Arundhati Roy: My mother and I were like two nuclear powers
Her mother Mary's death left acclaimed Indian writer, author of The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy feeling "unanchored in space with no coordinates," even though she'd often been a target of Mary's wrath. Roy talks to Matt Galloway about her new memoir, "Mother Mary Comes to Me," revealing their fraught relationship, and how her mother's trailblazing character influenced Roy's writing.
Sep 16, 2025 • 14min
Searching for Ukraine’s abducted children
Ukraine says several thousand children have been forcibly deported by Russia since the start of its full scale invasion in 2022. Parents, Ukrainian authorities, and NGOs have been trying to track down these missing children because some have been given new Russian names and passports.
