The Big Story

Enjoy this special feed drop from our sister show 'In This Economy?!'. Artificial intelligence is working its way into our daily lives – and it’s probably turning up in places you hadn’t though of – like the local coffee shop. While there are many positive applications, the technology is also very expensive to run – and not just financially. And while it continues to proliferate into our workplaces, our homes, and the public, it remains something few people, even those politicians charged with regulating it, actually understand. Today on In This Economy?!, host Kris McCusker speaks to Richard Lachman, professor of Digital Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. He recently published a book called “Digital Wisdom: Searching for Agency in the Age of AI,” designed to help policy-makers, professionals, educators, and regular citizens understand all the impacts this groundbreaking technology could have.

Plus: Stats Canada has released a better than expected jobs report, an investigation is underway after an Air Canada aircraft overshot the runway in Montreal, a deadly wildfire hits Spain, a warning from experts about illegal nicotine pouches, and Canada cozies to Europe with German sub pick.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $100-billion dollar contract to replace Canada's submarine fleet will be awarded to Germany and Norway, marking the largest contract of its kind in Canadian history. The choice though, goes beyond the subs themselves and sends broader signals to who Carney is eyeing to create lasting trade relations with. Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with journalist David Pugliese about why the fleet needs updating, what the decision could signal for Canada's relationship with the Indo-Pacific, and what these new subs will mean for Canada's military overall.

Plus: Mark Carney is in Saudi Arabia, federal officials provide a wildfire update, the death toll is rising in Venezuela, and Bonnie Tyler has died.

Prime Minister Carney has made his first Senate appointments - including a sitting Conservative MP and the PM's former Principal Secretary. When Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, he ended the practice of making partisan appointments to the Senate, kicking every Liberal senator out of his caucus, and creating an independent panel to make senate recommendations. But now, Carney seems to be going back to the old way of doing things-- with a twist. Host Maria Kestane speaks with Eleanor Wand, a political reporter from the Hill Times, to discuss what the move by Carney might mean, what political choices might be being made, and what it all means about Carney's approach to Parliament's upper chamber.

Plus: the Liberal government’s plan to buy thousands of condos in B.C. faces scrutiny, Air Canada chooses its next CEO, Count Binface takes on a British party leader in a bizarre by-election, and how will Bill C-22 affect Canadians’ privacy?

Bill C-22 has sparked wide controversy surrounding its potential threat to privacy, as well as the way it's been rushed through parliamentary processes. Not only that, but experts are sounding the alarm on its potential connection to the US Cloud Act, which gives American government officials the power to demand user data from tech companies. Host Caryn Ceolin speaks to Kate Robertson, a senior research associate with the Citizen Lab to discuss the implications of Ottawa's Lawful Access Act on your data and privacy.

Plus: Alberta and Ontario plan a new oil pipeline, Jeremy Hansen leaves the Canadian Space Agency, Kyle Lowry retires as a Raptor, and what are the risks of bringing prediction markets to Canada?

It seems like you can place a bet on anything these days-- and in some places, you pretty much. With sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, you can put money on whether or not a politician will utter a phrase, major geopolitical events, how many goals an athlete might score, and more. But in Canada, stricter regulations have prevented these sights from spreading north of the U.S. border. But that's about to change. Wealthsimple, a Canadian finance company, is bringing Kalshi to the great white north-- if in a limited capacity. Today on The Big Story podcast, host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Elliot Goodell Ugalde, a Ph. D candidate at Queen's University, specializing in political economy and the governance of artificial intelligence about the risks are of bringing prediction markets into the country, what the government could do to mitigate them, and how they could affect society.

Plus: Rogers reaches a deal to fully own many of Toronto’s biggest sports teams, new funding for energy projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan, a CN Rail train derails near Montreal, and what does the future of North American free trade look like?