The Decibel

In September 1969, two baby girls were born in a tiny hospital in rural Newfoundland, a few hours apart. A simple accident led to both of their lives being changed forever.Over 50 years later, the truth serendipitously revealed itself and their lives changed again. Freelance journalist Lindsay Jones unravels the mystery of how these two women were switched at birth.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.

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 reservists in a partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine. That sparked protests in several cities in Russia, and a flood of people trying to leave the country. This is happening just before referendums are set to take place in four regions of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia – and many suspect Putin will use the referendums to claim the regions as Russian territory and further escalate the war.The Globe’s senior foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon is back on The Decibel to explain what is happening in Russia right now, what the repercussions of Putin’s escalation might be, and what it means for the broader conflict.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.

Inflation is on the decline for the second straight month. New numbers from Statistics Canada show that inflation slowed to 7 per cent in August – down from 7.6 per cent in July and 8.1 per cent in June. While these numbers point to an easing in prices for consumers, not everything is cheaper – yet.Economics columnist for The Globe’s Report on Business, David Parkinson tells us what items are getting less expensive, why groceries are still so high and whether what the Bank of Canada is doing to tamp down inflation is working.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.

In the final days of a chaotic government effort to rescue people from the Taliban last summer, Senator Marilou McPhedran and one of her staff members sent travel documents to a family attempting to flee Afghanistan. The documents, called facilitation letters, were supposed to help the Afghans bypass checkpoints that had been set up around Kabul’s airport, so they could catch one of the last evacuation flights out of the country. A year later, the people who received those documents are still stuck in Afghanistan. And the Canadian government has at last explained why: the facilitation letters they received from the senator and her office were not authentic, and the people named on them had not been approved to come to Canada.The Globe’s Marieke Walsh explains what happened, how government officials are responding, and what this means for the people still stuck in Afghanistan.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.

In March, Ontario became the last jurisdiction in Canada to sign on to the national Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The $30-billion commitment by the federal government aims at bringing down the cost of daycare to an average of $10 per day by 2026. While all provinces and territories are working out the kinks of their rebate programs, Ontario’s rollout has been particularly plagued by delays and confusion.The Globe’s Dave McGinn has been following the child care agreement and its rollout across the country. He tells us which jurisdictions are doing well according to child care advocates and why Ontario is falling behind. Plus, we hear from parents about their experiences trying to navigate the system.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.

On Oct. 1, natural gas bills in the U.K. will go up by 80 per cent. Most households rely on natural gas for heat, and this means their energy bills would increase from an average of £1,971 to £3,549 a year. For one third of people in the country, that would mean falling to below the poverty line. The new Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plan is to cap energy bills and pay the difference to energy companies, but estimates say the plan could cost more than £100-billion.Europe correspondent Paul Waldie tells us what this crisis means for the people and businesses in the U.K. and what’s being done to fix it.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.

Initially, residents of James Smith Cree Nation did not want to welcome the reporters into their community following the mass stabbing attack that left 10 people dead on September 4, 2022. But after suspect Myles Sanderson died in police custody, things changed.Globe reporter Nancy Macdonald was allowed into the community and she worked with colleague Jana G. Pruden to help construct a better understanding of what happened prior to the tragedy. Jana explains what they’ve discovered from their reporting and how members of the First Nation are finding ways to move forward.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.

After months of fighting the Russian invasion, Ukraine has gained significant ground in Kharkiv Oblast, a province in the northeast of the country. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that they have retaken more than 6,000 square kilometres in September.The Globe’s senior foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon spoke with a commander of a special forces unit that was integral in this counteroffensive, and he visited some of the places newly liberated from Russian control.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.

There seem to be a lot of serious storms these days, and those storms are causing more and more damage. The storm that hit southern Ontario in May claimed the lives of at least 10 people, and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.The storms we are seeing in Canada are changing – but not how you might expect. David Sills, a severe storms specialist and executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University, explains what changes he’s seeing in storms, how prepared we are to handle the damage from them, and the connection one of these storms has to a producer here at The Decibel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

While Canada’s overall inflation is ticking down, the cost of food continues to rise. Inflation for groceries rose in July to 9.9 per cent.Lisa Noonan and Filomena Bilotta are both administrators of the Canadian Savings group on Facebook, where they teach the 100,000+ members how to fight back against inflation in the grocery store. They explain how you can push back against your ever-rising grocery bill. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.