The Decibel

In scenes that have baffled many across the country, groups of people have been protesting COVID-19 legislation outside hospitals. Despite the fact that healthcare workers have nothing to do with lockdowns or vaccine mandates, they are still being targeted by these demonstrations.Globe health reporter Andrea Woo went to one of these protests in Vancouver this week and is on the show today to discuss what the protesters said, who is organizing them, and why this is happening during a fourth wave of the pandemic that by some measures is worse than ever before in Alberta and Saskatchewan.Read more about the response to these demonstrations. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The increasing price of everything from cell phone bills to housing to child care can feel overwhelming. And when a federal election rolls around, it’s a chance for politicians of all parties to vie for votes by pledging to make life more affordable for Canadians.So who is promising what in this election? And what do the experts think about their solutions? Report on Business reporter Mark Rendell is on the show to go through how the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP are saying they will make your life cheaper, especially when it comes to home ownership and daycare. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mohammed Sharif Sharaf and Mukhtar Amiri worked for The Globe in Afghanistan alongside our correspondents. Between them, their work for the newspaper spans a decade, and included translating, arranging interviews, reporting trips and helping Globe reporters safely navigate a country at war.When the Taliban took back Afghanistan in August, Sharif and Mukhtar knew that work put them – and their entire families – at risk of attack by the Taliban or their supporters. The Globe’s Senior International Correspondent Mark MacKinnon and other journalists knew that too, and began figuring out a way to help their former colleagues escape.You can read and watch more about the escape of Sharif and Mukhtar here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Omar Mouallem was just a kid growing up in High Prairie, Alberta when the World Trade Center in New York was brought down by two commercial airplanes hijacked by members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, killing almost 3,000 people.Now a journalist and author, Omar explores how the events of that day shaped his own relationship to his Muslim heritage, and about his journey to mosques and Muslim communities across the Americas to better understand the history and present day lives of Muslims here.You can read Omar’s essay for the Globe on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 here. His book Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas is out on September 21st. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With less than two weeks to go, the federal election campaign is heating up with two official election debates back-to-back. While Jagmeet Singh’s NDP have gained ground, polling suggests the Conservatives’ popularity have tied them with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.Writer-at-large and political columnist John Ibbitson has been on the campaign trail with Erin O’Toole, and tells us how the leader has exceeded expectations this campaign. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Women were hit harder than men by layoffs during the pandemic, and those who were caregivers or parents and kept working had to contend with COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care and schools. Online learning, runny noses and COVID-19 scares all meant that kids stayed home more, often on short notice. This made remote work necessary for many parents and the burden fell disproportionately on women.As kids return to school, and the vaccine buys us some freedom to move around, employers are eyeing a return to the office. But child care remains precarious as COVID-19 scares – or even the kind of common childhood bugs that resemble the virus – threaten to keep kids home on short notice. That reality, along with the flexibility of remote work many employees have grown accustomed to, has given rise to the idea of a hybrid model, where employees can choose when to work at home, and when to come into the office.But as ROB senior business writer and columnist Rita Trichur points out, the hybrid model can only work fairly if those who need to work remotely are given the same opportunities to advance in their careers as the employees who put in more face time at the office. And that means deliberately shifting the culture of many workplaces. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Even before COVID-19, one in five kids in Canada met the diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder. Since school closures, lockdowns, job loss, and of course the illness and death caused by the pandemic, children’s mental health has gotten even worse.Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is co-author of a report from the Royal Society of Canada that explains what we know about the effects of school closures on children during the pandemic. She is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Children’s Mental Health and Violence Prevention at the University of Ottawa.She’ll explain how the government could help children struggling with their mental health in the wake of the pandemic, and how parents can support their children’s mental health. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Seven Hong Kong democracy activists were sentenced to prison this week for their roles in the 2019 protests that saw hundreds of thousands of people protesting, and many violent clashes with the city’s police.That unrest continues to have a major impact on Hong Kong today, thanks to the national security law passed in its wake, which banned secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. This broad law created a chilling effect on the city’s once-vibrant pro-democracy movement and other civil society.Hong Kong-based Asia correspondent James Griffiths speaks with us from the city to explore how it has changed since the national security law was passed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re heading into the third school year of the pandemic. For 18 months now, students and their parents have had to deal with unpredictable school disruptions and a lot of anxiety around contracting COVID-19. Most students were forced into remote learning for weeks at a time. Kids in Ontario spent more than half of the 2020-2021 academic year out of the classrooms. Most kids and parents managed the isolation, the screen time, the tech issues. But very few thrived.And now that the vaccination rollout has over 65 per cent Canadians fully inoculated, most Canadian students are returning to in-person learning. But there is still a tangled web of restrictions for parents to sort out and the looming threat of the Delta variant that could send kids home, again.The Globe and Mail’s education reporter, Caroline Alphonso, is on the show to help parents understand how schools are gearing up to keep kids stay and facilitate as normal of a return to school this fall as possible. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has started in California. Holmes has been accused of defrauding investors and patients by lying about a groundbreaking technology that could test for a range of diseases from a single drop of blood.Jason Kirby, a reporter with The Globe’s Report on Business section, has been following the case and tells us Silicon Valley entrepreneurs will no doubt be closely watching to see how the court – and media – regard one of their now-fallen stars, the youngest ever self-made female billionaire. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.