• Netanyahu in Washington, and a Gaza ceasefire?
    Jul 8 2025

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington this week, meeting with Donald Trump and senior members of the Trump administration, in a trip that could end in a Gaza ceasefire agreement expected to last 60 days.


    The critical questions revolve around Hamas’ attitude toward the repatriation of the remaining 50 Israeli hostages in their custody, and Israel’s hesitancy to agree to a deal that involves a permanent peace.


    Our guest is Meron Rappaport, a 35-year veteran of the Israeli news industry and was formerly the head of news at Israel's Ha’aretz newspaper. Today, he works as an editor at Local Call, a Hebrew language news organization operating in Israel.


    For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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    29 mins
  • Medicaid cuts and RFK Jr’s MAHA mission
    Jul 7 2025

    The passing of Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill last week came with over a trillion dollars of cuts to Medicaid, kicking an estimated 12 million Americans off health insurance coverage by 2034. And it was passed with the blessing of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.


    Widespread upheaval of the American healthcare system, including cuts to public health departments and medical research, is all part of RFK Jr.’s plan to further his Make America Healthy Again agenda. But how will MAHA, a movement that’s touted vaccine disinformation among other things, actually impact the health of Americans and the world? Nicholas Florko from The Atlantic joins us.


    For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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    31 mins
  • How the Diddy case fell apart
    Jul 4 2025

    After a long and very public trial, producer and music mogul Sean Diddy Combs has been found not guilty of the most severe charges against him.


    On Wednesday he was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking, but found guilty on lesser charges - two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. This was widely considered as a huge victory for Diddy.


    During the trial, prosecutors had accused him of running an extensive sex trafficking operation. And that he did so with the help of a network of employees.


    Diddy's lawyers argued all the sex at issue in the case was consensual.


    Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty is a BBC journalist and host of the podcast, Diddy on Trial. She talks to Elaine Chau about the verdict, what led to this win for Diddy in federal court, and what it might mean for the #MeToo movement more broadly.


    For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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    29 mins
  • Politics! Carney so far, Poilievre’s second chance
    Jul 3 2025

    Prime Minister Mark Carney made big promises to transform the Canadian economy, fast track national building projects and secure a trade deal with U.S. He also set Canada Day this year as a deadline for some key goals. How has he done so far and what are we learning about what he’s willing to do to make things happen?


    Plus, where do trade talks stand now that Ottawa has dropped the Digital Services Tax, a major sticking point for their American counterparts? How has Pierre Poilievre been handling his time away from Parliament and the byelection race in Alberta? Catherine Cullen, host of CBC’s The House, joins us.


    For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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    28 mins
  • The repo man of the seas
    Jul 1 2025

    The Outlaw Ocean is an anthology podcast that plunges you into the vast and often lawless world of the open seas. Today we're featuring an investigation from S2 called The repo man of the seas.


    In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina joins Max Hardberger. Depending on who you ask, Max is either a seagoing James Bond or a swashbuckling pirate. Hardberger runs a rare kind of repo service, extracting huge ships from foreign ports. His company is a last resort for ship owners whose vessels have been seized, often by bad actors, and over the years he’s built a reputation for taking the kinds of jobs others turn down. Hardberger’s specialty is infiltrating hostile territory and taking control of ships in whatever way he can – usually through subterfuge and stealth. Whatever part of the world his missions take him, Hardberger thrives in its grey areas.


    More episodes of The Outlaw Ocean are available here: https://link.mgln.ai/oo-FB

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    50 mins
  • Encore: ex-Raptors President Masai Ujiri
    Jun 30 2025

    After a transformative 13 years, it was announced that the Toronto Raptors and longtime President Masai Ujiri would be parting ways. Across his time with the Raptors Ujiri became a figure central to Canadian and international sport — capping his time with the Raptors’ lone NBA championship in 2019.


    The years since then have been slower and gave way to a team in purgatory, as well as executive level disagreements about Ujiri’s place in the Raptors hierarchy.


    We sat down with Masai Ujiri in 2021 for a conversation about his career to that point. About revolutionizing basketball in Toronto, life after a history-making NBA title, his African roots, and his bid to internationalize the game of basketball.

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    30 mins
  • Canada’s energy minister on pipelines, Bill C-5 controversy
    Jun 27 2025

    Canada’s energy and natural resources minister Tim Hodgson is in charge of an extremely important file for the federal government.


    That’s because Prime Minister Carney campaigned on getting big energy and resources projects done, boosting Canada’s economy and extracting us from our close relationship with the U.S.


    The stakes are pretty high for Minister Hodgson, who is new to politics but has extensive experience in the private sector, including time as CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada. He was also an adviser to Mark Carney during his time as governor of Bank of Canada.


    He talks to host Jayme Poisson about the controversial piece of legislation, Bill C-5, that would allow the government to fast track projects, but also exempt them from environmental laws and with some exceptions, acts of Parliament.


    For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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    29 mins