The Big Story

Since the pandemic put a sudden stop to foreign travel, places around the world that were once overrun by tourists have had a chance to breathe. And the people living in them have started to realize what life is like without all those extra people. For some, the break has been nice — a chance to finally visit the monuments that were always just around the corner, but never empty enough to enjoy. For others, it's revealed a deep-rooted dependency on an industry that doesn't always love them back. As travel restrictions start to ease in Europe and other parts of the world, are we going to revert to our old habits or look for ways to create new experiences? GUEST: Christopher de Bellaigue, writer for The Guardian. 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

Hundreds of migrant farm workers in Ontario have tested positive for COVID-19 and three have died, leaving behind wives and children. Health officials say the workers arrived healthy and that the virus was spread locally. How do these outbreaks happen even with regular screening in place? What measures are now being put in place to control the spread? Are they enough? GUEST: Kathryn Blaze Baum, The Globe and Mail 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

You may have seen the picture during one of its many trips around the internet over the past seven years. It's a honeycomb shaped like a heart, allegedly made by the bees themselves, freeform, when their keeper forgot to put the frame in their hive. It's a lovely story, and that's why it sticks around. Is it true? Not entirely. Does that matter? Maybe. But the case of the heart-shaped honeycomb provides a look inside a rapidly developing field called Internet Folklore, and can teach us a lot about the stories we tell and why some of them endure. GUEST: Steve Bryne, Folklorist 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 this special episode of the Big Story, Arash Madani of Sportsnet hosts a discussion of racism and activism in sports. The games we love have been at the forefront of many waves of social change, and they have the power to bring us together for a common cause. From John Carlos' raised fist at the Olympics to Colin Kaepernick's brave protest that cost him his job, we'll explore athletes, activism and what needs to happen now if real progress is to be made. GUEST HOST: Arash Madani, 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

In a perfect world, a "wellness check" would be exactly what it says. A person seems like they’re having trouble or are in crisis, so we call someone to check on them, to help them get well. As you probably know by now, that's not always what happens, and the results are people dead at the hands of the police. Why are police the default when a wellness check is called for? Does it have to be that way? How is a wellness check supposed to be conducted—are there protocols that aren't being followed? How are officers trained for them? Exactly how much mental health training do prospective officers get? GUEST: Uzma Williams, teaches a mental health course to students and prospective police officers at MacEwan University in Edmonton; she's also a co-editor of Police Response to Mental Health in Canada 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 Big Story turns two today. We're officially entering our toddler years, just in time to throw a tantrum at the news cycle with two of our favourite guests. This year is not yet half done and it either feels like it's been a week or a decade long. How will we remember 2020? Among the thousands of things that we've changed so far this year, which ones will last when things return to normal? How have we done, as the media, covering history as it happens? And is there ANY good news in this year? ... Anything? GUESTS: Sarah Boesveld and Fatima Syed 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 allegations in a recent lawsuit are horrifying to read. Teenagers allegedly being bullied and abused by older teammates as coaches watched and did nothing. These aren't the first stories to come from Canadian junior hockey players and they likely won't be the last. The initial reaction from those without a stake in the game, including our host, is to burn the whole system down. Is that the only way to fix it? What needs to change for the game we love to be safe for the kids who play it? Who's standing in the way of that? And what does real change look like inside locker rooms everywhere? GUEST: Brock McGillis, former OHL and pro player, LGBTQ+ speaker and advocate 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

Today is the 35th anniversary of the Air India bombing, which killed 329 people, 280 of them Canadian citizens. In the immediate tragedy, the terrorist attack was seen largely as a foreign incident. As recently as 2007, not even half of Canadians considered it a "Canadian" tragedy. Why did the largest mass murder of Canadians in the country's history remain for so long a story about India and Ireland? And how have things changed in the past decade to reframe it? GUEST: Chandrima Chakraborty, Professor, Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University 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 we discuss how COVID-19 has changed everything on this show, there's one big topic we haven’t covered yet. It’s sensitive. It’s intimate. It’s not easy to talk about even when there is no pandemic. It’s … just messy. It’s marriage. And living together. And partnership, with kids or without. If you’re married, or partnered, you haven’t been alone through all this. So you’re lucky. But you’ve also likely spent the last few months navigating an entirely different landscape, adjusting to a new daily life and, probably, fighting. At least sometimes. GUEST: Stephen Marche, host, How Not To F**k Up Your Marriage Too Bad (Available on Audible for free until July 11) 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

You might expect the world's biggest technology companies to have your data and know a lot about your life. But your favourite (or least favourite) coffee chain?! This is the story of what happened when one reporter saw a notification on his phone and followed it down a rabbit hole to find out what, exactly, Tim Horton’s knows about him—and you too, if you use their app. Also, why exactly do they need to know that stuff? And what do they do with it? And who else might be doing it? Because if your local coffee chain can compile this stuff...what’s stopping everyone else? GUEST: James McLeod, business and technology reporter, Financial Post 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