The Big Story

This episode contains conversations about mental health, suicide, and sexual assault. Please take care. Kids Help Phone, a service offering free, mental health service over the phone or online to youth across Canada, has had a spike in overnight calls-- the most dramatic increase in their more than three-decade history. The reasons are various, but the need is great, putting strain on the service's volunteer force. Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Rebecca Shields, President and CEO of Kids Help Phone, about the spike they've seen, what's driving it, how they're handling it, and more.

Plus: Montreal’s police chief plans to provide an update on a patrol unit that disbanded in June over serious allegations, the Conservative leader writes a letter to the Prime Minister on the response to tariffs from the U.S., a toddler grounds a flight in Victoria, football officials push for heavier consequences for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and investigative genetic genealogy is used to charge a suspect in a decades-old murder case in Toronto.

It's taken Toronto Police more than 20 years to charge a suspect in the murder of Patrick Santos, a 21 year old Scarborough man that was found zip-tied and duck taped in his home in 2006. Investigative genetic genealogy was able to match the DNA sample taken from the crime scene to that of Pierre O'Connor, a Hamilton man who had no previous criminal record. Host Maria Kestane speaks to Fil Martino, co-host of Tracking a killer, to dig into the details of the 20 year-old cold case. Then she's joined by Steen Hartsen, a faculty member of the British Columbia Institute of Technology to learn more about genetic genealogy - including its ethical risks.

Enjoy this special feed drop from our sister show "In This Economy?!" OpenAI recently went rogue, hacking into an AI start-up in a matter of hours. It stunned some – even those in the tech industry – but it also opened the door to a series of new questions as companies and consumers rely more and more on the technology. Host Kris McCusker gets some perspective on what it really means from Charles Findlay, Executive Director of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Plus: Meta is ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars after it was found liable for contributing to the mental health crisis in children, new salary cap circumvention allegations against the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, a study finds a type of transmissible cancer in catfish may be more widespread than previously thought, and why are so many Canadian workers leaving some of their paid time off unused?

When was the last time you took a day off? Went on vacation? Gave yourself an extra-long weekend? If it's been a while, well, you're not alone. A recent survey showed that 4 in 10 Canadians aren't using all the personal time off they're allowed from their job. And in doing so, essentially giving themselves a pay-cut, otherwise known as paying the "time-off tax." It's certainly not that people don't like vacations, so why aren't people taking full advantage of all the time they can get? Host Catherine Jette is speaking with Emily Durham, author and host of the careers podcast "Clock In", about time-off tax, the workplace cultures that can cultivate it, how employers can actually lose out too, and more.

Plus: Canada establishes a registry to track foreign influence, WestJet flight attendants’ union shares details of its new deal with the airline, Prime Minister Mark Carney suggests his government’s shutdown of plans to allow jets at a downtown Toronto airport may not be a permanent rejection, a multi-million-dollar contract is awarded to build a laboratory in Winnipeg that will prepare for future disease outbreaks, and why are ads for full body MRIs everywhere despite a lack of support for the procedure from top medical associations?

Perhaps you've heard one on the radio, or got one before a video online, or maybe even seen one on transit, but ads for full-body MRIs are everywhere these days. They tell you to book an appointment, selling it as a preventative measure to catch something early. But it's not something that's actually recommended by any medical association—anywhere. So why have they become so popular? Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Dr. Matt Davenport, Service Chief and Vice Chair in the Department of Radiology and a professor at the University of Michigan about what a full body MRI actually is, it's potential value and harms, and if it's something that you should actually consider getting.

Plus: An Ontario city deals with the impact of historic floods, wildfire damage in B.C. is assessed with hot days in the forecast, Canadians look at cutting back their insurance to save money in the short term, and how will Israel and Hamas resolve their stalemate on the road to peace in Gaza?

US President Trump touted about a 'great breakthrough' in a deal to bring peace to Gaza, although the two main characters in the fight seem to remain in a deadlock on who moves first. Hamas says Israel will have to withdraw forces before they disarm, meanwhile Israel says Hamas needs to disarm before they withdraw. Host Caryn Ceolin speaks to Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University to discuss what's at stake for the Palestinian territory should the militant group disarm, and the future of Israel just a few months out from its national election.