The Big Story

Depends on how you do it, and who you ask. Regenerative agriculture is a practice almost as old as farming itself. But recently it's been touted as a potential climate saviour for its ability to help capture more carbon in the soil. But with no real regulation or certification, it can be a dedicated, environmentally healthy way for farmers to make their produce better and more sustainable, or a pretty claim to put in a press release. How can you tell which is which?GUEST: Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, reporter and writer covering food, climate, plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

March Vautour is a border-hopping Canadian con artist who's tricked women and men out of over a million dollars. He's been getting away with it for over 20 years, but now his survivors have teamed up to do everything they can to stop him. From Pink Moon Studio and Frequency Podcast Network, Catch Him if You Can mixes documentary and drama to tell the story of a man who thought he was untouchable and his survivors' real-time crusade to catch him.Check out Catch Him If You Can here. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

When Canadians were asked to get their first two covid vaccines, they were told that doing so would get them back to normal. Now some of them are booking and receiving their fourth shots. And more than that, we originally called two shots "fully vaccinated"—when clearly time and the virus have proven that wrong. So what happened to our plan for vaccinations and how has it changed? Could a new, targeted vaccine expected this fall put an end to endless boosters? Did we get the messaging about vaccines wrong a year ago? And how do we make sure that vaccine hesitancy around Covid shots doesn't spread to shots that we've all been giving our children for decades? GUEST: Sabina Vohra-Miller, clinical pharmacologist We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Probably! It's called dynamic pricing, and it's very different than paying extra for premium matchups at the ballpark or seats on an airplane. Dynamic pricing in an online marketplace is an opaque system that uses an algorithm to determine how much to charge you (or someone else) for anything from milk and paper towels to books or even a Tinder subscription. Factors at play when a price is set can include your neighbourhood, shopping history, recorded preference and many others. If it sounds shady, well, it's impossible to determine just how shady it is because none of this is public to would-be consumers. And none of our existing regulations address it. Should they? And if so, how?GUEST: Vass Bednar, Executive Director, MPP in Digital Society at McMaster University, Author at Regs2Riches.com We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Many victims have come to Canadian hospitals after they've survived a sexual assault, only to be informed that the hospital doesn't have either the equipment or the personnel to properly collect evidence for a future investigation. In some cases, victims have been sent to hospitals many miles away. Why are these kits scattered around the country, instead of being immediately available at any hospital? And who has the power to fix it?GUEST: Jacqueline Villeneuve-Ahmed is the founder and director of She Matters, a community of women-identifying survivors and allies We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Last week, Conservative leadership favourite Pierre Poilievre released a video excoriating both municipal and federal governments for failing to keep housing affordable for the average family. It struck a chord with conservatives and many liberals as well, because of just how hopeless home ownership seems to so many. But are Poilievre's solutions workable? Are anyone's?For a long time now housing has been a commodity, an investment—not a place of shelter and safety. What will it take to actually make a dent in the affordability crisis? And does any party or politician have the guts to do it?GUEST: Leilani Farha, global director, The Shift We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

When the Toronto Raptors face the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night in the opening game of their NBA Playoffs series, thousands of fans will be gathered in the square outside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, watching the game from what has come to be known as 'Jurassic Park'.The last time they did this, the Raptors became the 2019 NBA Champions. And since then, everyone's life has been turned upside down. The team's journey has mirrored ours, and the hope is that Saturday marks the beginning of the end of a couple of really tough years...GUEST: William Lou, co-host of The Raptors Show, Sportsnet We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

At the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two things became immediately clear. First, this would not go according to Putin's plans. Russia has met fierce resistance every step of the way and has been forced to retreat from its attempt to take the Ukrainian capital. Second, it became obvious that misinformation would play a role in what we learned and didn't learn about the situation on the ground. Russia, obviously, has some experience in that area. So how are Ukrainians surviving and resisting, and how long can they hold out?GUEST: Stewart Bell, Global News Online  We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The supply chain is a problem. The cost of raw materials is rising. The cost of labour is up, too. But while we tend to assume inflation is caused by companies hiking prices due to reasons that are beyond their control, the truth is much more complicated. So, how much of Canada's current price hikes are due to market factors, and how much is simply companies taking the opportunity to increase their profits? And what can we do about it?GUEST: Jacob Lorinc, business and economics reporter, Toronto Star. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Very early in the pandemic, Canada put a pause on deportations. Conditions were unsafe, the world had stopped, and a lot of these workers were doing jobs Canadians badly needed done. But the pause didn't last long, and since deportations have resumed more than 18,000 people have been sent back to their country of origin, even as frontline labour is at a premium and some of them face health and safety risks upon their return.What's the rationale behind this? What options do these aspiring Canadians have? And could we have found a different way?GUEST: Isabel Macdonald, researcher and writer based in Montreal, writing for The Walrus We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter