The Decibel
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The Decibel
Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.
Recent Episodes
1230 episodes
How the towing industry is linked to police corruption
A wide-scale investigation into police corruption in Ontario – Project South – led to the arrests of 27 people, including seven Toronto Police Service...
Voices from the Iranian diaspora in Canada
Members of Canada’s Iranian community have been living through a complex set of emotions since the United States and Israel started a war with Iran ne...
Tumbler Ridge shooting highlights B.C.’s mental health deserts
A month has passed since the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., where eight people were killed by 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who then turned...
Skinny, Inc. Part 3: Body image in the age of Ozempic
The first episode of Skinny Inc. was all about the science behind GLP-1s, and the second episode was about the business, from the pharmaceutical compa...
Why a sleep doctor says we should never change our clocks again
On Sunday, most Canadians lose an hour of sleep as the clocks get turned forward to daylight time. But while most of us have gotten used to the bi-ann...
What Canada needs to learn from Alabama
When it comes to one economic indicator, Canada is lagging behind one of the U.S.’s poorest states: Alabama. And while GDP per capita is an imperfect...
After years of hostility, Carney defrosts relations with India
Prime Minister Mark Carney finished his trip to India this week, marking the start of what he says is a new partnership between the two countries. The...
How the war against Iran is choking global energy supply
Since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on Saturday, energy prices have been on the rise. Oil prices are up around 13 per cent, and LNG – liquefie...
What the U.S.-Israel attacks mean for Iranian leadership
The U.S. and Israel are continuing attacks on Iran for the fourth day. Iran’s leadership has been devastated, hundreds have been killed and retaliator...
Skinny, Inc. Part 2: The big business of Ozempic
You can listen to the first episode of this three-part series here.
GLP-1 medications to treat diabetes, obesity and several other illnesses hav...
The argument for AI regulation after Tumbler Ridge
Months before the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., earlier this month, the shooter was banned from OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for violat...
Winners and losers after a year of Trump tariffs
On Tuesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump touted his tariff regime, after a Supreme Court decision that severely limited his ability to impose tar...
Mexico’s uneasy balance of power between cartels and government
On Tuesday, Canadian airlines began to resume operations in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. They had been suspended days earlier after the Mexican ar...
The payout and relationship that led to crisis at a pension plan
It began with three executives from the CAAT Pension Plan raising concerns over a $1.6-million vacation payout and a relationship between the CEO and...
Skinny, Inc. part 1: the Canadian connection to Ozempic
Dr. Daniel Drucker’s research helped pave the way for Ozempic, the blockbuster GLP-1 class drug. The endocrinologist has been researching the effects...
Margaret Atwood and Michael Crummey on ‘The Art of the Story’
A conversation between two acclaimed Canadian authors – Margaret Atwood and Michael Crummey on ‘The Art of the Story’. A live discussion about writing...
What would a stronger trade relationship with Mexico look like?
This week, Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc, led a trade delegation to Mexico. He was joined by government and industry officials, as we...
Carney’s plan to expand Canada’s defence industry
As part of its plan to remake the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal government earmarked $6.6-billion over five years in the fall budget for its Defe...
What social media for AI bots can tell us about consciousness
Much has been made about a new social media platform called Moltbook, where AI agents are posting and appear to be interacting with each other. Some s...
Why Carney and Ford are talking about a federal election
The Globe exclusively reported that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford discussed the possibility of a snap federal election this...
Defying time and biology: the Olympic skater making history
Canadian figure skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek will make history this weekend at the age of 42, as the oldest female figure skater to compete in the Oly...
On the ground in Tumbler Ridge, after the mass shooting
Tuesday’s deadly mass shooting in the community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, marks the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history. Ni...
How police corruption allegations erode trust in justice system
This week, Ontario’s Inspector-General announced it is launching a provincewide review of corruption among police services in the wake of the arrests...
Carney shifts gears on EV and climate policies
The federal government recently announced that it is scrapping the zero emissions vehicle mandate – brought in by the Trudeau government in 2022. Zero...
Ontario pushes to allow retail access to risky investments
Ontario’s securities watchdog is facing pressure from the Ontario government to open up access to high-risk investments, called private asset funds, t...
What’s at stake for Canada at the Milan Cortina Winter Games
The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games begin on Friday. The Olympics are always a time to rally behind your country, but this year cheering on Team Canad...
Voices from inside Alberta’s separatist movement
Canvassers are currently collecting signatures for a petition in Alberta that could trigger a referendum on whether Albertans want to remain a part of...
What happened to $10-a-day child care?
The federal government’s Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program was meant to bring child care fees down to $10 per day and create 284,000 n...
U.S. and Iran weigh diplomacy as warships head for the Gulf
Over the last few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military intervention in Iran – first over the Islamic Republic’s treat...
Why road salt causes Canada billions in damage each year
Snow and ice is a fact of life in a long, Canadian winter. So are the millions of tonnes of salt that is used to combat it on roads across the country...
Why your grocery bill is still so high
Inflation in Canada has stabilized, but food inflation is continuing to rise. Food prices rose 5 per cent in 2025, and some items saw much larger incr...
Drug decriminalization is over in B.C. What’s next?
British Columbia’s drug decriminalization pilot program will end on January 31st. The controversial program was introduced in 2023, but was criticized...
How Minnesota is fighting ICE on the ground — and in the courts
Some of the 3,000 federal agents in Minnesota are set to leave following the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Pretti. ICE...
Alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding arrested
Ryan Wedding, former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug lord, is pleading not guilty to U.S. federal charges of leading an international...
What you need to know as Parliament resumes
It’s been a busy month abroad for Prime Minister Mark Carney, but now, he’ll have to turn his focus back to domestic issues as Parliament returns on M...
Happy Enough: Can psychedelics improve your mental health?
Psychedelics, substances like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms that cause altered states of consciousness, often remind people of hippies in the 1960s. Bu...
How the world changed this week at Davos
This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump made waves in Davos, Switzerland as both offered competing visions of a new worl...
What Carney’s China trade deal means for EVs in Canada
As part of Canada’s new trade deal with China, 49,000 Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles will be allowed to be sold in the Canadian market this ye...
Military models invasion of Canada as Trump threatens Greenland
As U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to ratchet up threats against Greenland, Canada has weighed plans to send soldiers there as part of a NAT...
What Legault’s resignation means for Quebec
Last week, Quebec Premier François Legault announced his resignation amidst plummeting poll numbers, while acknowledging Quebeckers are calling for ch...