Last week, political leaders and elite business people gathered at the World Economic Forum's annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss solutions to problems such as climate change, the war in Ukraine and the growing global food crisis. But outside, among the usual crowds of protestors, were some unusual participants: members of the wealthy one per cent. They're part of a growing movement that is calling on governments to impose wealth taxes on the world's richest people. Today, Front Burner talks to Morris Pearl, the former managing director at the investment firm BlackRock and current chair of the group Patriotic Millionaires, about why he wants to pay much more in taxes and why it could alleviate many of society's biggest problems if more rich people wanted to do the same.

The wildly popular Punjabi artist Sidhu Moose Wala was a pioneer in his genre, fusing traditional folk sounds with contemporary rap and trap music. Sidhu shaped his career in Brampton, Ont., calling the city his second home. Through his rich, soul-filled melodies, and his socially conscious and sometimes politically charged lyrics, he gave Punjab's youth, and the youth of the Punjabi diaspora, a new way to connect to their roots. On Sunday, Sidhu was gunned down near his family's home in his home state of Punjab. There has since been an outpouring of grief and anger. Today, Jaskaran Sandhu, co-founder of Baaz News, takes us through Sidhu's life, legacy and the questions surrounding his death.

Bill 96, Quebec's newly adopted language law, is meant to protect the use of French in areas such as education, government services, courts and the workplace. But there has been a fierce backlash against it from some Indigenous communities, advocates for immigrants and refugees, business owners, and experts who say it infringes on an array of human and legal rights. Some analysts have criticized the Quebec government for invoking the notwithstanding clause, which allows provinces to override Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to pass the bill. That could help set the stage for a broader fight between Quebec and the federal government, they say. Today, Emilie Nicolas, a columnist with Le Devoir and the Montreal Gazette and host of Canadaland's French-language podcast Detours, walks us through some elements of the new law that critics find contentious.

An enormous effort is underway to gather evidence of alleged war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine. Investigators from the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are on the ground, collecting accounts of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and torture, among other abuses. Today, Belkis Wille, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, talks about what she and her team have found so far, and why she believes it’s important that “people around the world, those in power, but also citizens of Russia, can actually read about what this war looks like and what abuses are being perpetrated.” WARNING: This episode contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

Inflation is obvious in Canada, but the reasons for it are a little more complicated. Prices at gas stations rose above $2 a litre in many parts of the country, while the cost of pasta is up 20 per cent at grocery stores. Canada’s official inflation rate hit a three-decade high in April, rising at a 6.8 per cent annual pace. But what’s behind these sticker-shocking prices can’t be explained by any one factor; the ongoing war in Ukraine, climate change and even some unprecedented monetary policy all contribute to the current situation. Today, CBC business reporter Pete Evans joins Front Burner to sort through the myriad reasons prices keep rising and why the current inflation in Canada doesn’t mean the federal COVID-19 stimulus was a mistake.

Canadian writer Stephen Marche discusses the disconnect Americans feel with their government, fearing a dangerous direction. The podcast explores the frustration and anger around gun violence, potential civil conflict in America, and the need for political renewal. Also touches on language tensions in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, an 18-year-old shooter barricaded himself in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. This, nearly 10 years after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In the years between the shootings, no meaningful national legislation on gun control has passed in the United States. Veronique De La Rosa's son Noah was the youngest victim at Sandy Hook. She tells Jayme Poisson that she had hoped what happened at her son's school would be a watershed, but that now, "it's become painfully obvious that thoughts and prayers are not the way out of every single one of these tragedies."

Monkeypox was first detected in humans in 1970, but it has rarely spread beyond Central and West Africa, until now. As of Tuesday, 17 countries where the virus is not endemic have reported at least one case, including Canada. Given that COVID-19 is still a part of our day-to-day lives, the threat of another infectious disease spreading at a rapid rate feels unsettling at best. While there are many reasons to be aware of monkeypox, its symptoms and how it spreads, there are also plenty of reasons not to panic. Today on Front Burner, Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases doctor and scientist from Cameroon who is currently based at Emory University in Atlanta, delivers a primer on what you need to know about monkeypox. She also dispels some rumours about how it spreads and explains where we go from here.

A new investigation from the Guardian’s climate journalists shows that oil and gas investment continues globally on 195 projects that would each release more than one gigaton of carbon if the reserves were fully exploited. This, despite the fact that scientists say 60 per cent of oil and gas reserves will need to stay in the ground if we want to avoid heating the Earth by 1.5 C. If you add up all of the carbon that could be released from these oil and gas “carbon bombs,” Canada is in sixth place as one of the worst potential polluters. We’re home to nine sites that could release more than 27 gigatons of carbon. Canada is also home to three coal carbon bombs. Damian Carrington is the environment editor of the Guardian. He says the ongoing investment in these projects reveal an oil and gas industry that does not believe the world will achieve its climate goals.

Kuper Island is an 8-part series that tells the stories of four students: three who survived and one who didn’t. They attended one of Canada’s most notorious residential schools – where unsolved deaths, abuse, and lies haunt the community and the survivors to this day. Hosted by Duncan McCue. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/kuperisland