- A team of experts plan to battle science disinformation head on
Tuesday, February 2nd 2021
The past 12 months have seen a flood of scientific misinformation on social media. Some of it is lies for profit. Some of it is myths and hoaxes for engagement. And a whole lot more of it is just unintentionally wrong—complex science parsed by scared amateurs in the middle of a terrifying pandemic. But it all gets attention—a lot of attention.
A new group aims to meet this bad information where it lives. Not in papers and journals and books, but in social media posts and threads and DMS. Science Up First hopes to create an army of fact-wielding social soldiers to do battle with info that needs debunking. But they'll be fighting an uphill battle every step of the way.
GUEST: Science Up First co-founder Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, University of Alberta
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Homeless in the winter, in a pandemic. A deadly combination.
Monday, February 1st 2021
A man in Montreal was found dead in a portable toilet. The shelter he often used had been temporarily closed for overnights due to a Covid-19 outbreak. The Canadian winter puts those without homes in danger every year—but Covid-19 has made it impossible for them to access many of the resources that can be lifesaving.
How did the system fail Raphaël André? How are advocates fighting to prevent further deaths? Have we learned anything during this horrible year that could help us solve the problem? And, simply, why hasn't more been done?
GUEST: Jake Kivanc (You can read Jake's reporting here.)
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- Inside the world of Instagram surgeons
Friday, January 29th 2021
He goes by Real Dr. 6ix. He has 140,000 followers on Instagram, where he posts before and after photos of his clients—and also graphic videos of surgeries he performs. And this is where the ethical trouble starts. There is a whole subculture of influencer surgeons who take their followers inside the operating room. Their patients sign waivers giving them permission, but some of them feel pressured, or feel that once they were on the table, the doctor went too far.
What kind of rules govern this new promotional space? Does Real Dr. 6ix cross the line? What punishment is he facing, and how far is too far for reality surgery on social media?
GUEST: Katherine Laidlaw
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- What the heck just happened on Wall Street?
Thursday, January 28th 2021
The investors came from Reddit. They came in droves. They bought GameStop stock and sent it soaring. They cost massive hedge funds hundreds of millions of dollars. They sent shockwaves through the markets. Now a full-fledged mania is underway, with several other stocks in play as well.
How did all this happen? Is it a fluke? A new strategy that will change the game? Will the people who have the power on Wall Street take steps to shut it down? And what happens if and when these bubbles burst?
GUEST: Mike Eppel, Sr. Business Editor, 680 News, CityNews
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
- What Canadians do and don’t understand about Covid-19 vaccines
Wednesday, January 27th 2021
Sometime soon, if all goes well, we'll have four or even five approved vaccines for Covid-19. Do they work differently? Is there a "best" one, and will some Canadians hold out for that brand? How many eligible people are opting out of the early doses? Are reports of allergic reactions and even deaths following vaccination worth worrying about? And what happens when rich people try to jump the queue?
GUEST: Sabina Vohra-Miller, masters in clinical pharmacology, co-founder of the Vohra Miller Foundation
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
