

The Decibel
The Globe and Mail
Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 30, 2023 • 18min
The little-known document reshaping climate finance in Canada
As Canada races to compete in the clean tech sector as countries work toward their net zero climate goals, investors are trying to figure out where to park huge sums of money to back projects that are a part of this.Enter Canada’s green taxonomy, a guide to assess how green a project requiring investment actually is. Report on Business journalist Jeffrey Jones explains how it works and what it means for Canada’s oil and gas industries.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 29, 2023 • 23min
The 2023 federal budget, in 23 minutes
The Canadian federal government unveiled its 2023 budget on Tuesday, which sets the economic strategy and tone for the next fiscal year. There’s a lot packed into this document, ranging from measures to help with inflation to an expansion of the national dental plan to investment incentives to help us transition to a greener economy. But how will this budget really impact you?The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau – Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry, personal finance columnist Rob Carrick, senior political reporter Marieke Walsh and senior Parliamentary reporter Steven Chase – join the podcast, five minutes at a time, to break down the key takeaways of this year’s budget.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 28, 2023 • 20min
Swifties and Drake fans’ beef with Ticketmaster
The price of concert tickets has risen dramatically – with some tickets costing thousands of dollars. Ticketmaster, which controls a huge proportion of the market, has come under fire recently for some of its practices, like dynamic pricing and murky service fees. It’s now the subject of a proposed class action lawsuit in Quebec.The Globe’s Josh O’Kane has been covering concerns around Ticketmaster for years. He’s here to explain what’s going on with the company, how Ticketmaster got such a stranglehold on the market, and what it means for the music industry.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 27, 2023 • 20min
The dark side of collagen
Collagen supplements are marketed as a holy grail anti-aging product. Bovine collagen is made from cattle hides, and a new investigation from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism traced the supply chain of some collagen companies all the way to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.Elisângela Mendonça is a London-based Brazilian journalist with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Her reporting pulls back the curtain on the dark side of the booming collagen industry.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 26, 2023 • 27min
Stress Test: Why millennials and Gen Z are Alberta-bound for a more affordable life
In 2022, the number of people moving to Alberta hit its highest level in almost a decade. At the same time, a record number of people left Toronto for other provinces. And it all comes down to affordability. In this episode, we’ll delve into the factors contributing to the rise in interprovincial migration and hear from Canadians who made the move - and how it’s worked out for them. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 24, 2023 • 21min
Former governor-general Michaëlle Jean on Canada’s role in Haiti
Haiti is in crisis, after months of cholera outbreaks, a fuel and energy crisis, and violence. The UN estimates that 500 people have died in gang violence incidents this year alone. And Canada is facing pressure – largely from the US – to intervene.Michaëlle Jean is the former governor-general of Canada, and the former UNESCO Special Envoy to Haiti, where she’s from. Today, she tells us what led Haiti to this crisis, and what role Canada should have in the country.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 23, 2023 • 20min
Canada races the U.S. on a ‘green economy’
Canada has committed to going net-zero by 2050 and a big part of making that goal a reality is by transitioning the economy from being fossil fuel dependent to a cleaner and low-carbon one. Canada’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland calls the change the most “significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution”.So what will a ‘green economy’ look like for Canada? And how can it establish itself as a major player as it competes with the United States, its biggest ally and rival? The Globe and Mail’s climate change columnist Adam Radwanski explains.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 22, 2023 • 19min
What’s behind a surge of cheating in universities
Allegations of academic misconduct at Canadian universities have risen sharply in the 2020 to 2021 school year as more and more students turn to hiring people to complete assignments and tests for them. The consequences for the student are clear: a permanent blemish on their academic careers and possible impact on their job prospects if they are caught.But the wider trend is also a concern for Canadian universities as a whole, as their brand depends on maintaining academic integrity. Post-secondary education reporter Joe Friesen explains.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 21, 2023 • 18min
The whistleblower on Chinese interference in Canada, in their words
The Globe and Mail has been reporting extensively on China’s interference in Canadian elections. This information came to light, in part, because of a whistleblower who wrote an Opinion piece in The Globe this weekend.The Globe rarely publishes Opinion pieces by confidential sources. Today, David Walmsley, The Globe’s Editor in Chief, explains why he decided to publish this piece, and how he feels it contributes to the broader conversation of China’s interference in Canada. And, you’ll hear the entire piece from the whistleblower, in their own words.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 20, 2023 • 20min
Former ambassador on why Canada needs a foreign agent registry
As revelations about China’s interference continue, so do calls for a foreign agent registry. The U.S. and Australia have registries like this, where anyone acting on behalf of a foreign entity has to disclose it. But the idea has its detractors.David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, has been advocating for a foreign agent registry for years. He explains how it might work in Canada, why it’s controversial and how the registry could slow China’s interference campaign in Canada.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.


