The Big Story

Ridership is down by more than half, while costs to keep vehicles clean and employees and passengers safe are higher than ever before. Covid-19 has put an incredible strain on transit agencies across Canada. But at the same time, has the pandemic begun to change how we operate public transit—perhaps not with a break-even mentality but as a moral obligation to get Canadians where they need to go? Might more funding become available to run different routes at different times and ease crowding? Or will politicians back off as soon as the pandemic begins to ease? GUEST: Ben Spurr, Transportation 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

At the time it seemed like it might be the worst disaster of 2020. When Flight 752 was shot down in Iran, 176 passengers and crew, including 55 Canadians, were killed. In the months to come, the cries for answers would be drowned out by the rise of Covid-19, leaving the victims' loved ones still searching for answers and justice. What can be done to get them the concrete information that might give them closure? What does justice look like? What's it like when the world forgets a tragedy that you live with every day? GUEST: Hamed Esmaeilion had family on Flight 752 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 world watched as an angry mob stormed the US Capitol Wednesday. It was a scene few imagined we'd ever see—but it was also, somehow, inevitable. In the weeks since the election Donald Trump had been broadcasting his desire for his followers to take action. Then they did. The mob was cleared. Joe Biden's win was certified and it appears there will be a peaceful transfer of power. But what does an early-January insurrection attempt portend for US and global politics in 2021? And how safe are we in Canada from the sort of angry political uprising we just watched our neighbour grapple with? GUEST: Balkan Devlen, senior fellow at McDonald Laurier Institute, Superforecaster for Good Judgment, Inc. 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 past year has been hard on all of us—but especially for those to whom we entrust our children. From a rush to online learning with schools closed, to a hasty back-to-school plan that was followed by rising Covid-19 numbers in schools, to the uncertainty of not knowing when or how they'll be able to teach their students this winter...many educators are close to giving up. How can we keep our education system functioning while also protecting our kids, our families and the people we need to teach them? What have we learned about our education system that could help us adapt in the future? And what happens to it if enough teachers decide they simply can't take it anymore, and leave the public system for private schools? GUEST: Inori Roy 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 some parts of Canada—especially Ontario—hospitals are close to the breaking point. At the same time, tests are finding a variant of Covid-19 that may spread much faster than the usual virus. How worried should we be about what this means for the next several weeks? What do we know, and what don't we know, about the newest version of the virus? How precarious is our current situation? Is there a way to bring numbers down before the spring thaw and what would it take to do it? This is a look inside the second wave and at the light at the end of the tunnel. GUEST: Dr. David Fisman, epidemiologist, Dalla Lana School of Public Health 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

This past week, Ontario broke its seven-day average Covid-19 case record. Its hospitals are nearly full. Its vaccine rollout is slow. And the government lost its finance minister, who became the first of several politicians around the country to be found travelling outside of Canada in the middle of the pandemic. When Covid-19 first hit Ontario, Premier Doug Ford's straight-talk and frank empathy drove his approval rating through the roof. Ten months later, he's facing a host of of issues that threaten not just that rating, but the wellbeing of the entire province. It's been a bad month for the Ontario government—but the next few weeks will determine if it gets worse. GUEST: Cynthia Mulligan, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews 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

Welcome to 2021! It's going to cost more to eat this year. The unprecedented events of 2020 combined with longer-term issues will lead to a massive spike in the prices the average Canadian pays for most groceries — and restaurant food, too, when dining out returns again. How much? Which foods and why? Is this a one-time increase or the start of something that will only accelerate? And where can bargains still be found in the grocery store? GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University, lead author of the Canada Food Report. 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 the ability to put ourselves in another's shoes and it's been needed more this year than ever. But what kinds of experiences teach us empathy? How do our childhoods shape the people we become? What can second-generation immigrants teach the rest of Canada about the skill? And how will Canada change when the unprecedented number of second-gen kids grow up and lead the country? GUEST: Sadiya Ansari, writer and 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

Blink and you could miss it—the Richview Memorial Cemetery sits nestled on a thin slice of land between two of North America’s busiest highways. The cemetery is guarded by one Randall Reid, but not all such places are so fortunate. Today we bring you an episode of a new Frequency podcast hosted by Big Story producer Stefanie Phillips. In this first episode of the series, Stefanie digs into the world of "cemetery hunters"— a unique special interest group that tracks down cemeteries that are forgotten and in imminent danger of being paved over to become parking lots. What does the future of our cemeteries look like—and who will save them when we’re gone? Listen to Paradigm on your favourite podcast player today. 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

Over the past ten months we've been accustomed to seeing our daily routines change in ways large and small. Covid-19 has popularized phrases from "in these unprecedented times" to X "will look a little different this year". And for many Canadian families there is no annual tradition as profound as the holidays. And for those families' children there's nothing quite like Santa Claus. So how is the Jolly Old Elf coping with Covid, keeping his workplace safe and making sure that even if Christmas is different, it's still special? Well, we asked him. (Yes, this episode is child-friendly! Happy holidays from the Big Story team.) GUEST: ... Santa! 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