- How your donated clothes end up burning in landfills a world away
Tuesday, September 7th 2021
You thought you were helping someone when you put that bag of old clothes in a donation bin. But you probably didn't. A striking number of clothes donated in Canada and other wealthy countries end up clogging landfills in African nations. While a good suit or jacket might make a real difference to someone who needs one, the vast majority of donated clothes are cheap, fast fashion — and often totally unwearable. And the rise of disposable clothes has swamped the system, turning a process once intended to help into one fraught with inequality and pollution.
GUEST: Linton Besser, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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- Can we adapt our cities for our new climate reality?
Friday, September 3rd 2021
This week, Hurricane Ida rampaged through the gulf coast, leaving power grids and water lines strewn in its wake, and when it reached New York it caused massive flooding that has already resulted in at least two dozen deaths. Most North American cities — including Canada's — simply weren't built for the weather extremes we're now facing with regularity. And even 'safer' cities like Toronto and New York are now seeing massive floods. Can we adapt cities to handle this weather? What will it cost and do we have the will to do it?
GUEST: Alex Steffen, The Nearly Now
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- What's at stake at the Fairy Creek blockades?
Thursday, September 2nd 2021
For more than a year, protesters have been keeping industry away from old-growth forest on this site, and for months there have been RCMP on the scene attempting to remove them. But the story of Fairy Creek is about much more than just police against Indigenous protesters. What's really at stake as the police up their aggressiveness to attempt to clear the site, and why should all Canadians be watching closely?
GUEST: Jerome Turner
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- Can Justin Trudeau channel his Dad Energy to a new government?
Wednesday, September 1st 2021
Sunny Ways aren't going to work for Trudeau and the Liberals any longer. People are tired and angry and wondering why we're even having an election right now. Trudeau is being confronted at rallies and the Conservatives have pulled even in the polls. So what can he run on this time? Will calm leadership and a caring attitude in a crisis convince Canadians that he's the guy to look out for them when things get tough? Or has he squandered too much of his electoral goodwill?
GUEST: Max Fawcett, political columnist at the National Observer
(This is the third in a series of episodes examining how the major party leaders could each become Prime Minister.)
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- Vaccine FAQ: Timelines for kids, do vaccine passports help and do you need a booster?
Tuesday, August 31st 2021
It seemed in the spring that kids under 12 might have a chance at getting vaccinated before school started. But that didn't happen, and it turns out the timeline is still in flux even now. What changed? And is there any chance of shots before November?
Meanwhile, can we still convince Canadians who are eligible but haven't been vaccinated to get their shots? Or have opinions hardened by now? And will you be getting a booster while the rest of the world waits for their first shots?
GUEST: Sabina Vohra-Miller, clinical pharmacologist
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