
The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio)
The Agenda with Steve Paikin is TVO's flagship current affairs program - devoted to exploring the social, political, cultural and economic issues that are changing our world, at home and abroad. The Agenda airs weeknights at 8:00 PM EST on TVO - Canada's largest educational broadcaster.
Latest episodes

Jun 28, 2025 • 4min
Steve Paikin Signs Off The Agenda
After 19 seasons as anchor of TVO's flagship current affairs program The Agenda, Steve Paikin signs off with a final goodnight. As well, a brief highlight reel, including Jean Chretien, Salman Rushdie, Doug Ford, Janice Stein, Elizabeth Dowdeswell among others, offers a glimpse of the range and depth of what the show covered over the years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 28, 2025 • 16min
Who is The Agenda's last guest?
The Agenda is coming to an end after 19 seasons. We present the show's final guest: Steve's dad.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 27, 2025 • 22min
This is Not Your Grandparents' Retirement
After a long, successful career in journalism, Cathrin Bradbury was at loose ends, post-retirement. How should she spend her time and still-abundant energy? In her latest book, "This Way Up: Old Friends, New Love, and a Map for the Road Ahead," she charts a fresh direction, including a new identity as a writer, grandmother, and freer spirit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 27, 2025 • 37min
What Will Future Generations Look Back On in Horror?
Smoking in elevators, movie theatres, or airplanes. Goaltenders playing hockey in the NHL without a mask. Burning tons of coal to generate electricity. Today, we look back at these practices and wonder, how did we ever allow that to happen? Because today, of course, we know better. But what about the future? What do we do today that future generations will shake their heads at? And how do we chart a different path to ensure we make better decisions going forward? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 26, 2025 • 12min
Surviving the Michipicoten
Now retired, Kent Knechtel, a former second engineer aboard the freighter Michipicoten, recounts the day a 13-foot hull crack changed everything. Thanks to calm waters, clear skies, and the swift response of the United States Coast Guard, disaster was narrowly avoided. One year later, Kent reflects with gratitude and quiet resolve on the incident that marked the end of his decades-long career sailing the Great Lakes. This video is brought to you through a partnership with Detroit Public TV's Great Lakes Now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 26, 2025 • 8min
What is Thermal Comfort?
Toronto is adapting to climate change with new Thermal Comfort Guidelines, developed after a city-wide study by DIALOG and Buro Happold. With the number of days exceeding 30 C projected to rise from 10 to 55 annually by 2080, we're examining how the city is reimagining public spaces to stay livable throughout the year. Field reporter Jeyan Jeganathan dives into what makes us feel comfortable outdoors-examining the role of wind, humidity, sun, and shade-and how better design can create more resilient, equitable cities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 26, 2025 • 35min
How Has Medicine Advanced Since 2006?
Since its launch 19 years ago, The Agenda With Steve Paikin has highlighted scientific discoveries and new insights into health. So what's changed over the course of over two decades-and what kinds of challenges and breakthroughs do experts anticipate seeing in the decades to come? To discuss, we're joined by Keith Stewart, University Health Network vice-president, cancer, and director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist and associate professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa; Saskia Sivananthan, neuroscientist and affiliate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University; and Ghazal Fazli, epidemiologist and assistant professor with the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at the University of Toronto Mississauga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 25, 2025 • 16min
A Canadian Picture Book at the U.S. Supreme Court
How did a Canadian author's alphabet book end up at the United States Supreme Court? And what does this mean for 2SLGBTQ+ books for kids in Canada? We welcome Robin Stevenson to discuss.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 25, 2025 • 34min
How Much Has the World Change in 20 Years?
What has Canada learned from its participation in the war in Afghanistan? Is a two-state solution the only way forward for Israel and Palestine? And while the West sees Russia as a destabilizing force on the world stage, is there another legitimate interpretation of what they're doing in Ukraine? Over 19 seasons of The Agenda, we've revisited these themes time and again, to help viewers understand the complex and often troubling times in which we find ourselves. And, with the U.S. now involved in the war between Iran and Israel, all the more reason we do one final program on a world that often feels like it's gone berserk. For more, host Steve Paikin asks: Erin O'Toole (former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada), Arne Kislenko (Professor of History at Toronto Metropolitan University), Doug Saunders, (International Affairs columnist at The Globe and Mail), and Janice Stein (Founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 25, 2025 • 6min
Is the World Falling Backwards?
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and then the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, many thought the world was going to be a much better place going forward. That has not turned out to be the case. 9/11; the failed promise of the Arab Spring; the Middle East still on fire; Russia-Ukraine; political tribalism. Does it sometimes feel as if the world is no longer capable of making progress? Host Steve Paikin asks Janice Stein (Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management, University of Toronto). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.