The Big Story

It will be the biggest foreign policy question of the next year, and so far our government doesn't have a concrete answer. Canada will not send diplomats to the Beijing Olympics, but we will (probably) send our athletes. The two Michaels are home in Canada, but there are other Canadians in Chinese jails. As we find ourselves torn between the traditional alliances of America and the UK, and the rising power of China ... where will Canada go in 2022?GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, former national security analyst, author of Stand on Guard: Reassessing threats to Canada's National Security 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

Hopefully, an ending! But we have hoped all along that the end was right around the next corner, only to be disappointed. It looks like we will enter 2022 riding a new wave of Covid-19 driven by the omicron variant—but will this prove to be a new evolution in the virus' takeover of our way of life or the beginning of the end? What will we learn in the next month or two that could determine how long it takes for Covid to evolve into an endemic nuisance rather than a deadly threat?And how can we get from now to whenever that happens?GUEST: Dr. Raywat Deonandan, Global Health Epidemiologist and Associate Professor with the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. 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 staggering toll on people and infrastructure over three separate climate disasters in British Columbia this year was highly unlikely, even considering the degree of warming the world has seen. But we also just don't know how weather systems will react in the climate era. As BC plans to rebuild, how should its government be thinking about adaptation? How can it be ready for whatever comes next, even if it's not as bad as this past year ... yet.GUEST: Ainslie Cruickshank, climate and environment reporter 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

We've told ourselves this whole time that our children are resilient. Every missed event, virtual school session or socially distant celebration, we've clung to that thought. But after nearly two years we're seeing the impact of Covid-19 on children and teens' mental health. And one of the ways it is registering frequently is through eating disorders.What do we know about the huge spike in teens and others struggling with this? How can we try to mitigate it? What should you watch for if you are worried about someone you love?GUEST: Dr. Ayisha Kurji, consultant pediatrician in Saskatoon, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan 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

It's referred to as "benzo dope", or even as "robbery dope" because it leaves its users vulnerable to theft or worse. It appears to be both more harmful and addictive than regular fentanyl and it has users and their advocates struggling to find ways to limit it or provide alternatives.The overdose crisis is already worse than ever. Do we have the will in Canada to act now to save lives?GUEST: Manisha Krishnan, ViceNews (Read Manisha's story on benzo dope 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

We're starting to see some data on how well a two-dose vaccine series protects people from the omicron variant. It seems scary, but it actually might be hopeful? Meanwhile, Canada has been slow to scale up its booster shot program. Will the new variant give governments some urgency to move faster? And what about kids who just had their first dose or younger ones who haven't had any? How do they fare against the new variant?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

After years of negotiations got them nowhere, last year, the Wolastoqey nations of New Brunswick filed a legal claim for title to their traditional lands. Those lands cover almost 60 percent of the province. With no response forthcoming, last week they upped the ante, taking the rare step of including corporations in the claim, including some of New Brunswick's biggest companies.The premier has responded by telling citizens that the lawsuit may involve them losing their land and houses—which the chiefs explicitly deny in the text of the claim. And now, with the long standing acrimony between the province and First Nations in NB, a long, bitter and potentially historic fight looms.GUEST: Angel Moore, Atlantic region video journalist, APTN 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

In case you've been under a rock, or are rich enough not to care, ordinary Canadians (and people around the world) are paying a lot more for basic stuff like groceries and gas. Why? Is this an effect of a two-year pandemic? A glimpse into the new reality of the climate era? Or a blip that will soon correct itself?We don't know yet, and until we do it's going to impact our daily lives in several ways. It will hit our wallets, of course, but perhaps also our wages, and that might not be a bad thing. With everyone being forced to pay more for things, it's fair to ask what our government plans to do, or not do, about it. Can they be blamed for whatever comes next?GUEST: Max Fawcett, National Observer columnist 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 package at the Calgary airport was ... moving. Inside were 11 baby turtles who never should have crossed the border. Who never should have left their New Jersey marsh. But they were victims of a global smuggling ring which deals in a very specific kind of turtle. This is the story of how those turtles got to the airport, and who sent them there.GUEST: Dr. Clare Fieseler, journalist and Fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (Read Clare's investigation in 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

They've been around in one form or another for almost two decades. And the impact these apps have had on the restaurant business has been immense, and costly. But even as they take over every aspect of food delivery, these apps aren't turning a profit — so whatever their final form, they haven't found it yet.The real value of these apps is in the data they collect from their users—and that leads to the next logical question: If tech companies know everything about what kind of food we like, when we like it and how much we're prepared to pay...what do they need local, independent restaurants for, anyway?GUEST: Corey Mintz, food reporter, author of The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them and What Comes After 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