

Front Burner
CBC
Front Burner is a daily news podcast that takes you deep into the stories shaping Canada and the world. Each morning, from Monday to Friday, host Jayme Poisson talks with the smartest people covering the biggest stories to help you understand what’s going on.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 2, 2021 • 32min
Introducing: Unlocking the Fountain
What if there were a pill that could add decades to your life? Would you take it? For thousands of years, people have searched for elixirs that could delay death and extend human life. Could new advances in medicine finally make this a reality? From madcap medicine to cutting-edge science, the quest to unlock the fountain of youth is teeming with dreamers, skeptics and charlatans alike. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/unlocking

Oct 1, 2021 • 24min
Inside the push to decriminalize drugs in Canada
The views from two Canadian cities where the opioid crisis is driving a new movement for decriminalization, with the Ontario Harm Reduction Network’s Nick Boyce and Chief Const. Mike Serr of the police force in Abbotsford, B.C.

Sep 30, 2021 • 25min
Renamed, shamed. Searching for an Indigenous boy’s true identity
On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the story of a quest to find the true identity of a boy who died at residential school, and was identified only by a cruel nickname.

Sep 29, 2021 • 30min
Stories from inside Canada’s hospital crisis
Even with 80 per cent of eligible Canadians fully vaccinated, hospitals in many parts of the country are facing an unprecedented crisis. Today, we speak to doctors and nurses about how the fourth wave is pushing Canadian health-care systems to their breaking point.

Sep 28, 2021 • 20min
Auf Wiedersehen, Chancellor Merkel
Angela Merkel will step aside after 16 years as Germany’s chancellor, but Sunday’s election leaves questions over who will lead next. Today, how Merkel built her legacy of stability, and the forces that threaten to reverse it.

Sep 27, 2021 • 21min
The day that set the Michaels free
After 1,020 days in Chinese jail cells, the two Michaels — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — came home. CBC’s Jason Proctor and the University of Ottawa’s Errol Mendes break it down.

Sep 24, 2021 • 22min
From Hotel Rwanda to a Kigali prison
Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina once won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, for protecting Tutsis from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. This week, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for terrorism charges. What happened?

Sep 23, 2021 • 21min
The mystery surrounding Gabby Petito
New York Times’ Katie Rosman on the internet’s obsession with the murder of Gabby Petito and the online sleuths trying to crack the case.

Sep 22, 2021 • 20min
Conservatives lose again. What now?
Leader Erin O’Toole brought a moderate strategy to the Conservative election campaign, but his loss was nearly identical to his predecessor's. What went wrong, and what that means for the party’s future.

Sep 21, 2021 • 23min
Election changes little, Liberal minority continues
After a day of voting and with some ballots still left to be counted, Justin Trudeau will remain Canada's prime minister, and the Liberals will continue ruling with a minority. CBC's Aaron Wherry breaks down the results of the election so far.


