Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift

Digital sovereignty starts with a practical question: who can turn off something you rely on? Andrew Caddell helps you weigh Canada's dependence on private companies, whether they're providing essential services or receiving public money to build here.

Picture the cheque and the announcement. Now ask who advised against the deal. Andrew points to a possible conflict inside government that changes who should answer for the decision. But does that explain why attracting a business can require so much public money in the first place?

If doing business in Canada is the problem, what do you make of manufacturers that have succeeded here? Honda and Toyota complicate the argument. Before deciding whether politicians, bureaucracy or business costs deserve the blame, consider what those exceptions might tell you.

Topics: digital sovereignty, industrial subsidies, Stellantis, government accountability, Canadian business costs

GUEST: Andrew Caddell

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Sports fans swear, but which crowd actually earns the reputation? More than 9.7 million Reddit comments put that argument to a numerical test. With over 200 teams in contention, there's more at stake than one hockey rivalry's bragging rights.

Seven inches doesn't sound ambitious. Add Chicago's Bean, a public invitation and a crowd willing to push, and the logistics get interesting. Where does everyone stand? Who thinks this will work? And what counts as a successful afternoon when that's the assignment?

A child supposedly plays soccer so well that someone calls 911. It's an irresistible sports-parent story, right up until the police account enters the picture. Before the outrage gets another lap around the field, one important claim needs checking.

Topics: sports fans, hockey profanity ranking, Alberta accents, Chicago Bean, soccer 911 rumour

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Weekend movies can be a tough sell when the trailer looks this rough. Steve Stebbing offers a reason to reconsider Johnny Depp's Ebenezer before writing off another telling of A Christmas Carol.

Scrooge has already had the Muppets treatment. What could another version possibly bring? The familiar plot isn't the selling point here, and the director behind X and Pearl gives Steve something more specific to judge than another eccentric performance.

How to Rob a Bank offers a different test: can online support for the robbers turn a heist into a worthwhile night out? For another choice, Club Kid leaves a New York promoter facing a child on his doorstep. Which kind of upheaval earns the evening?

Topics: weekend movies, Ebenezer, A Christmas Carol, How to Rob a Bank, Club Kid

GUEST: Steve Stebbing | stevestebbing.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Relationship triggers can make an innocent comment land like an attack. Dr Laurie Betito offers a way to distinguish an old emotional wound from a partner knowingly causing hurt, without treating every painful exchange as the same problem.

An unanswered text can carry more weight than the words that never arrived. So can constructive criticism or an unreturned 'I love you.' What belongs to this relationship, and what arrived with it? The difference matters before either person gets assigned the blame.

A pause sounds simple until the reaction is already underway. How can a difficult conversation stop long enough to make sense of the emotion without becoming a conversation that never happens? Laurie offers language for that moment, along with something to notice in a partner's response.

Topics: relationship triggers, emotional wounds, partner communication, intentional hurt, pausing an argument

GUEST: Dr Laurie Betito | drlaurie.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Your AI tokens are running out, but the task still isn’t finished. Mohit Rajhans helps you question what you’re paying for when repeated attempts consume credits without delivering the correction you requested.

At work, that same usage total raises a different question: what does it say about your performance? Picture two employees with different jobs being measured by how much AI they use. Before accepting that number as a measure of efficiency, there’s a comparison worth hearing.

And when the service goes wrong, where does your complaint go? Mohit puts accountability to a practical test with a question about whom you would actually contact. Having access to the technology is only the beginning of that answer.

Topics: AI tokens, unsuccessful AI requests, workplace productivity, subscription pricing, service accountability

GUEST: Mohit Rajhans |http://thinkstart.ca |http://mohit.ai

FULL SPEECH HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ef0ocEoBCs

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Bag tag switching can put your name on luggage you never packed. W5 investigator Avery Haines takes you behind the baggage belt to understand how that substitution happens and what it can mean at customs.

Avery stresses that the identified cases are statistically rare. But for one Toronto traveller heading to Albania with his pregnant wife, the precaution recommended to Canadians became part of the ordeal. He had photographed his bags at Pearson. What did those pictures mean to the officers questioning him?

The other question starts before any suitcase leaves Canada: who gets access to it? Avery’s reporting has prompted proposed security changes, including a screening gap that makes the promise of restricted airport access worth a closer look.

Topics: bag tag switching, checked luggage, overseas arrests, airport employee screening, security clearance

GUEST: Avery Haines |https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialW5/

Originally aired on 2026-11-13

Christmas lights can wait until November 12. But before you make that a rule for everyone, consider the text message that complicated the argument. It offers another way to think about respect, remembrance and the choices your neighbour makes.

Standing among hundreds at Merrickville’s Remembrance Day ceremony gave Shane something he hadn’t found in contributing from elsewhere. What made being there feel different? From the wreaths to the reunions, there was more to the gathering than the formal observance.

And if the mention of the Grey Cup makes you want chicken wings, Ryan has a family memory for that. Calgary’s preparations bring out a conversation about football rituals, hometown loyalties and a scientific explanation that takes a wrong turn before finding its feet.

Topics: Christmas lights, Remembrance Day ceremony, Merrickville, Grey Cup traditions, chicken wings

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Food security funding comes with a question beyond how much Ottawa spends: what should that money achieve? Dr. Sylvain Charlebois helps you identify what to ask before treating a spending announcement as a measurable investment.

An operational budget and an investment budget can tell different stories about the same government. But what happens when support for the same agricultural sector crosses both? Follow the accounting question that matters to your tax dollars and to the countries buying Canadian food.

A quiet restaurant dinner brings another question about what you’re paying for. Should children be welcome everywhere, and who accounts for the extra work after they leave? A father of four, Sylvain has an answer that reaches beyond the seating plan and onto the bill.

Topics: food security, budget transparency, agricultural support, kids in restaurants, tipping

GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois | @‌foodprofessor

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Kids in restaurants can mean a family meal or a date night interrupted. Consider where you would draw the line between a business choosing its atmosphere and parents being responsible for what happens at their table.

An iPad keeps a child occupied, but does that make it good dinner company? Ryan’s objection takes the argument somewhere other than noise. If your solution to a disruptive meal is a screen, there’s another question waiting at the table.

And should a respectful night out depend on the price of your plate? A restaurant owner’s text adds a business perspective to the debate. Between fine dining, neighbourhood locations and families looking for somewhere welcoming, who actually benefits when a restaurant says no?

Topics: kids in restaurants, adults-only dining, table manners, restaurant iPads, family dining

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

1986 nostalgia sounds innocent until the Zelda theme won’t stop. A childhood spent with that loop suddenly becomes evidence in a very unserious argument about Gen X and nineties raves. Hear the music underneath the case before deciding whether Nintendo has anything to answer for.

Meanwhile, the latest gadget has already been ordered. It arrives tomorrow. One small detail remains: what is the thing called? The search for a name becomes its own demonstration of enthusiasm getting ahead of product knowledge.

Fancy an easier 1986 question? How many goals did Wayne Gretzky score? An answer comes quickly, but keeping score gets more complicated once the conversation reaches beyond regular-season NHL goals. There’s a little room between remembering the record and finishing the count.

Topics: 1986 nostalgia, Zelda music, Gen X humour, gadget shopping, Wayne Gretzky goals

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Corporate subsidies can help announce a factory. Can they make a company stay? Rob Breakenridge offers a test for promises of lasting jobs: what happens when keeping the promise stops making business sense?

A minister says she’s fed up. But surprise and frustration mean something different if the government already knew plans were changing. Before accepting the public reaction over Stellantis, there’s a question about what happened before the cameras captured the anger.

Demanding the money back sounds straightforward. Making that demand stick, protecting workers and persuading the next company to invest may be considerably harder. What leverage remains once the announcement is over? Rob considers the uncomfortable choices behind a response that sounds simple from outside the negotiating room.

Topics: corporate subsidies, Stellantis, manufacturing jobs, government transparency, investment guarantees

GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | robbreakenridge.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Midnight game launches sound unnecessary when a download can deliver the same entertainment at home. This Throwback Thursday, Zelda’s 1986 beginnings open a door back to something a faster purchase might leave out: a place to belong.

Minus twenty. A lineup outside a game store. Somebody has brought a television. That sounds like an excessive amount of effort for a shopping trip, unless the shopping isn’t really the point. What was happening before the doors opened?

Being sold a game and feeling part of its world aren’t quite the same experience. Ryan’s memories from behind the EB Games counter make that distinction personal. The enthusiasm starts with Zelda, but the reason he cares reaches beyond anything happening on the screen.

Topics: midnight game launches, Zelda, Throwback Thursday, EB Games memories, gaming community

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

AI in education raises a question for your child’s next exam: what should a good result prove? Michelle Sengara offers a way to rethink success when recalling information and knowing how to work with it are different tasks.

Picture a student asking AI to summarise a chapter before class. Michelle doesn’t treat that as the end of the learning story. What she expects students to do next is where her approach gets interesting, especially if you’re wondering how school can make thinking visible again.

Knowing an answer is one thing. Working through a disagreement with someone who sees it differently asks something else of you. Michelle makes room for that uncomfortable work in her teaching. Find out what she wants students to leave with beyond the information they brought in.

Topics: AI in education, assessment, flipped classroom, social connection, collaborative learning

GUEST: Michelle Sengara |http://michellesengara.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

1986 nostalgia looks different when a day off feels harder to spare. With historian and writer Ed Conroy, revisit Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for something you might have missed when the Ferrari was the main attraction.

You remember the parade. But what happens to that scene if you question whether Ferris is even real? A theory about Cameron offers another way into a movie you thought you knew, with the biggest spectacle providing an unexpected clue.

Then there’s the camera you handed over without knowing what was on the film. Getting those pictures back meant somebody else could see them first. Ed’s childhood memory of a photo shop window gives that familiar ritual a different kind of exposure.

Topics: 1986 nostalgia, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Cameron fan theory, disposable cameras, photo privacy

GUEST: Ed Conroy |http://retrontario.com | @‌retrontario

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Music and movies can move you before you can explain why. Richard Crouse offers a way to reconsider what you hear in a favourite song and what makes a familiar underdog story worth another trip to the cinema.

Can a Word Count Hear What You Hear?
A study of nearly 40,000 songs puts emotion under the microscope. But if a lyric never names the feeling it gives you, what gets counted? Richard has a soundtrack in mind that puts that question to the test.

One Condition Before the Cameras Roll
In I Play Rocky, Sylvester Stallone needs money, but selling his script comes with a decision a cheque can’t settle. Find out what makes the performance work for Richard, then get a Philadelphia punch recipe for a gathering of your own.

Topics: music emotion study, AI song remixes, Notting Hill house, I Play Rocky, Fish House Punch

GUEST: Richard Crouse |http://richardcrouse.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-12

Canadian veterans’ homecoming photographs capture a moment, not everything that follows. With historians Andrew Burtch and Michael Petrou, discover what those pictures leave outside the frame: the relationships, memories and identities shaped long after a uniform comes off.

At a family dinner, an Afghanistan veteran begins crying when someone mentions a fallen comrade. His grandfather, a Second World War veteran, finds him in the hallway. What passes between them reaches across decades of different wars.

And what about the stories a family has never heard? The interviews behind Ripples of War sometimes brought relatives into unfamiliar parts of a loved one’s past. Hear what becomes possible when someone sits down to ask about the life that continued after military service.

Topics: Canadian veterans, Ripples of War, homecoming, family memory, oral history

GUEST: Andrew Burtch and Michael Petrou | http://warmuseum.ca | https://www.amazon.ca/Ripples-War-Canadian-Veteran-Experience/dp/0774873868

Originally aired on 2026-11-11

Good News Tuesday starts with a 30th birthday and presents that could only belong to one person. Hear what made a collection of ridiculous gifts feel like something more: being known by the people who brought them.

Twenty-five friends went out to watch Nicolas Cage’s The Wicker Man. Only a few brought gifts, and nobody was expecting them. What turns a terrible movie and some highly specific presents into a birthday worth feeling grateful for?

There’s another version of that connection in Merrickville. An offer to help the Legion becomes a group text about setting up for Remembrance Day. The response offers a small glimpse of what it can mean to find your people in a new place.

Topics: Good News Tuesday, turning 30, thoughtful gifts, friendship, Merrickville volunteering

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Canadian news has competition for your attention, including inside Canadian newsrooms. With Matt Gurney, get a clearer sense of why American politics keeps taking up space that could go to stories closer to your daily life.

Even a journalist tired of talking about the United States can find himself pulled back into it. What keeps that cycle going when there are Canadian stories he would rather cover? Matt identifies a newsroom pressure that goes beyond simply finding the Americans interesting.

Consider a family doctor who knows what a patient needs but cannot arrange it. An account published by The Line puts a concrete problem behind the argument over attention. What happens between identifying the care someone needs and actually getting them there?

Topics: Canadian news, American politics, newsroom competition, family doctors, access to care

GUEST: Matt Gurney |http://readtheline.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

A Rush Sphere residency changes who packs a suitcase for the concert. With Eric Alper, discover why staying in one place can appeal to veteran musicians and what that arrangement could make possible for the show you see.

A night off on tour still leaves a stage, equipment and crew to move. What changes when the next performance happens in the same building? Eric connects the practical side of touring with the business interests behind keeping artists performing.

For Rush, there’s also the question of what to build inside that room. Eric outlines the music he says is planned, then imagines how the band’s ambitious visuals could use the dome. What might become possible when the production doesn’t have to leave town tomorrow?

Topics: Rush Sphere residency, concert residencies, touring logistics, live production, veteran artists

GUEST: Eric Alper |http://thatericalper.com | @‌thatericalper

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Rush fans might recognise this budgeting problem: there’s a wedding to pay for and a Vegas concert you really want to see. Join the temptation without booking anything, and hear why this particular show makes staying sensible so difficult.

The pull starts well before Sphere. It runs through a first Rush song, an iTunes library assembled one purchase at a time, and a concert that seemed impossible to improve on. What could make another trip feel worth considering?

Then an airline birthday coupon arrives. Convenient timing, or a very unhelpful coincidence? The wedding remains real, the concert remains a possibility, and the advice about which one deserves priority becomes considerably less responsible as the conversation goes on.

Topics: Rush fans, Sphere, wedding savings, concert temptation, music memories

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Murder mystery puzzles usually ask you to follow the detective. Eve Christie puts you in charge, with 50,000 suspects and ten clues. Discover how to approach a case where choosing your first move is part of the challenge.

A publishing legend announces he’s changing his will at a midsummer party. Then he’s dead. You have the clues, but which one will clear the most names, and which should wait until your suspect list is smaller?

Naming the killer doesn’t finish the investigation. There’s a weapon, a crime scene and a motive still to uncover. Eve explains how Crossout Club makes you work for those answers, with another piece of the story waiting once you’ve cracked the case.

Topics: murder mystery puzzles, Crossout Club, deduction, British Manor, hidden clues

GUEST: Eve Christie | @‌crossoutclub

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Screen time isn’t the only activity that can keep you hooked. With neuroscientist Dr. Samantha Yammine, discover the distinction she sees between getting absorbed in a puzzle and getting pulled through your phone, and what it means for choosing your downtime.

You meant to call your mum. Somehow, you’re watching TikTok instead. Sam recognises that detour herself. What changes between deciding to do something and finding yourself somewhere you never intended to go?

A book, a puzzle, something to colour: an analog stack offers alternatives within reach. But does stacking them have specific scientific support? Sam separates what has been studied from her own reasoning about why a little variety might make those options more inviting.

Topics: screen time, analog activities, brain stacking, autonomy, novelty

GUEST: Dr. Samantha Yammine, @science.sam samanthayammine.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Smart home ideas can begin with a forgotten fan or a long wait for hot water. With Handy Andy Baryer, consider what you’d want your house to handle, and what still needs checking before an idea becomes a working solution.

What If Nobody Flips the Switch?

A bathroom fan can’t help when it stays off. Andy describes the controls he tried and the tiny adjustment dial that sent him looking for something better. Could measuring the room’s humidity make the decision easier?

Certainty Isn’t a Compatibility Test

A proposed bathroom-triggered pump offers one automation idea, but it hasn’t been switched on yet. Elsewhere, an installed light switch settles conflicting AI advice. What happens when asking for verification produces more certainty rather than a dependable answer?

Topics: smart home, humidity controls, hot-water automation, switch compatibility, AI reliability

GUEST: Handy Andy Baryer | handyandymedia.com | @handyandymedia

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Robots guarding your home sound a lot more tempting when the price is surprisingly low. Kris Abel isn’t buying this one, and the specification that stops him is worth hearing before you picture it patrolling your hallway.

Imagine checking a disturbance without being there: the camera leaves its base and goes looking. That’s the appeal. But look past the demonstration and ask what you’d actually be bringing into the rooms where you live. One deliberate design choice makes this a particularly unusual housemate.

The question isn’t whether a flying camera would be interesting to own. It’s whether you want to be among the first people finding out how well it works. Kris has a clear answer, with reasons that the purchase price alone won’t tell you.

Topics: robots, home security, indoor drones, interactive characters, cyclist visibility

GUEST: Kris Abel | krisabel.com | @realkrisabel

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Older athletes have given Bob Addison more than people to play against. Hear how his hockey and curling circles make room for friendship, and what you might recognise in the conversations that keep going after a game ends.

There are political arguments, repeated stories and people happy to sit and gab. Nobody needs a new anecdote every week to belong. Bob describes the routines around his games that turn time on the ice into time together.

And how mature does the humour get when your curling team’s combined age reaches 291? Bob is the baby at 62, but one story sends him straight back to being 14. Hear the sweeping call he still can’t repeat without laughing.

Topics: older athletes, men’s friendship, postgame conversation, curling humour, community

GUEST: Bob Addison | @‌riobobbo

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Career uncertainty can leave you waiting for an answer before you take a step. Wayne Greenway, a career and resilience professional, offers a way to approach your next decision while the outcome is still unknown.

What happens when an old regret starts writing the story of what might go wrong tomorrow? You can end up responding to both at once. Wayne introduces a small shift in how you observe that experience, creating room to consider what you can do now.

And what could coping aboard a space station have to do with finding your direction at work? The connection brings meaningful work and everyday emotions into the picture. You don’t need an astronaut’s circumstances to consider what might help you navigate your own unknowns.

Topics: career uncertainty, decision making, resilience, emotional awareness, meaningful work

GUEST: Wayne Greenway |https://careeraviators.com/workshops

Originally aired on 2026-11-10

Remembrance Day has a nighttime tribute at Toronto’s Mount Pleasant Cemetery. With John Wright, discover a different way to honour veterans and an idea other communities can take up, starting with what happens when the sun goes down.

Four hundred gravestones, small Canadian flags and solar lights make up the installation. John was there for a test run. What does a familiar cemetery become when those individual points of light begin appearing in the dark?

You can also take part closer to home. Setting up chairs, attending a ceremony or thanking a veteran can each be a beginning. Hear how a gathering that started with a handful of people became something its community made its own.

Topics: Remembrance Day, veterans, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, RCAF Foundation, community participation

GUEST: John Wright, https://rcaffoundation.ca/

Are voters satisfied with the government's direction? The Monday Study delves into the numbers. Changes are coming for temporary foreign worker's program. Lesley and Jimmy give their perspective. And a hockey player's visit stirs up protests in Ottawa. Can you separate sports from politics in 2026?

Guests: 

Lesley Kelly, Founder of High Heels & Canola Fields and Co-Founder of Do More Agriculture, Cohost of What The Farm Podcast

Jimmy Zoubris - special advisor to the former Mayor of Montreal 

Originally aired on 2026-11-09

Conspiracy theories surrounded the Georgia Guidestones, a monument carrying instructions for a future humanity. With Dr. Lee Kuhnle, find out what this dispute can reveal about the way you interpret a mysterious message, and why its stated purpose failed to settle the argument.

An anonymous backer, eight languages and a population limit gave people plenty to work with. But when you spot a pattern, how do you tell whether someone planted it or your own mind supplied the connection?

Before choosing what those stones meant, consider the problem their creators faced: leaving advice for people they could never meet. What would you carve into granite, and how might someone turn your words into an entirely different message?

Topics: Georgia Guidestones, conspiracy theories, pattern recognition, public monuments, ambiguous messages

GUEST: Dr. Lee Kuhnle | https://www.amazon.ca/Uncover-Up-Think-Clearly-Conspiracies/dp/1770418873 | @‌uncoverup

Originally aired on 2026-11-09

Coercive control is where Shane Hewitt starts when he asks what makes a group a cult. If you’ve ever walked out of a course wondering what you’d just signed up for, he offers a question you can use to sort out what felt off.

A group can ask a lot of its members. Listen for what changes when it starts shaping who you spend time with and what you’re allowed to believe. Shane gets into how that pressure can reach into the rest of your life.

How much say do you still have when you disagree? Shane makes the question practical by looking at what happens when you decide you’ve had enough.

Topics: Coercive control, cult warning signs, voluntary membership, isolation, group pressure

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

The federal budget looks different from the bleachers of a small-town rink. Andrew Caddell gives you a way to judge Ottawa’s recreation spending by what happens when the local team plays on a Friday night and the town turns up.

Shane wonders if funding rinks and rec centers is an easy way for the government to look good. Caddell takes him straight to a junior hockey game. If that’s where you catch up with people you haven’t seen all week, hear why he thinks the spending lands differently in rural Canada.

There’s another choice in the budget Caddell would make for young Canadians. Given free admission to a museum or a national park, hear which one he puts first and what he hopes young people take home from the visit.

Topics: Federal budget, recreation funding, junior hockey, rural Canada, national museums

GUEST: Andrew Caddell

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

Online cults can draw in people who never signed up. W5’s Avery Haines takes you inside the Honolulu courtroom where three Saskatchewan residents faced a defamation suit from spiritual influencer Liana Shanti. They had relatives in her community, and they filed a claim of their own.

Shanti believed the three Canadians were behind online posts criticizing her. Haines traces how those posts and Shanti’s public accusations against the Canadians turned into a four-year court fight that cost them hundreds of thousands in legal bills.

Listen for what happened when the jury started reading the awards. Haines thought the first figure would cover the Canadians’ legal bills. Then the jury kept going.

Topics: Liana Shanti, Saskatchewan families, online criticism, defamation countersuit, jury awards

GUEST: Avery Haines |https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialW5/

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

If you’re deciding what to watch this weekend, Steve Stebbing has two casting choices that might settle it. One actor made him look twice at a scene he already knew, and one name on a Crave cast list surprised Shane.

How Do You Play the Guy Who Wrote Rocky?

In I Play Rocky, Anthony Ippolito plays Sylvester Stallone writing his way into a starring role. If you know the original by heart, hear which scene had Steve wondering how the filmmakers got the recreation so close.

A Family Business With Actual Bears

Jared Keeso’s I Kill the Bear follows a French-Canadian family that has raised bears for entertainment for generations. The family’s old ways are falling out of step with the times, and one of the brothers is played by Georges St-Pierre.

Topics: I Play Rocky, Anthony Ippolito, Wild Horse Nine, I Kill the Bear, The Gilded Age

GUEST: Steve Stebbing | stevestebbing.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

When relationship patterns repeat, is it just bad luck? Clinical psychologist Dr. Laurie Betito hears that question in her office and offers another place to look: what makes a new partner seem familiar in the first place?

After his divorce, Shane was told that if dating felt easy, he might be repeating an old pattern. Laurie adds a question to the advice: what kind of easy? That distinction is worth hearing before taking ease or discomfort as a sign of anything.

In one of Laurie’s examples, a woman grows up trying to get her father’s attention. Years later, she’s drawn to partners who are emotionally unavailable, and there’s one thought that keeps the story going: maybe this time it’ll work. What makes another try seem like a chance at a different ending?

Topics: Relationship patterns, dating after divorce, emotional familiarity, emotional availability, repetition compulsion

GUEST: Dr. Laurie Betito | drlaurie.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

What do Canadian media archives actually hold from the shows people grew up watching? Mohit Rajhans went looking for the story behind the SCTV documentary and found a question that goes beyond comedy: who knows where the old footage is when somebody finally comes looking?

Radio makes that question harder. A broadcaster can be on the air for years, leave a station and suddenly be hard to find. Shane names one whose television work is easier to track down than his time on the radio.

Mohit has another reason to go looking. He remembers people in Canadian broadcasting who had to fight to be first. What would go missing from that story if all that survived were the shows somebody had the money to go looking for?

Topics: Canadian media archives, SCTV, Canadian radio, diversity in broadcasting, archival footage

GUEST: Mohit Rajhans | mohit.ai

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

The CFL division finals could send two Western teams to the Grey Cup. TSN 690’s Sean Campbell sizes up whether the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can pull that off by beating the Montreal Alouettes, the last team left from the East.

Winnipeg has already gone into Toronto and won. Now the Bombers have to get through Montreal with injuries at quarterback and running back. Campbell weighs what Winnipeg showed against the Argos against what Montreal has done at home all season.

Montreal has the league’s Most Outstanding Player in Davis Alexander. Winnipeg has already made the crossover count. Hear which team Campbell backs when the whole East comes down to one game.

Topics: CFL crossover, East Final, Montreal Alouettes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Davis Alexander

GUEST: Sean Campbell |tsn690.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

AI and youth mental health meet a difficult parenting question: how do you stay close when a screen feels easier to talk to? Nicholas Watters offers ways to start that conversation without making your child feel inspected.

Being glad your child is opening up and questioning the answers they receive can happen at the same time. But how do you encourage that openness while helping them challenge what sounds convincing? There is more to it than getting a better answer from a chatbot.

And if your child is still years away from a social media account, when should those habits begin? One age range in this conversation may change where you think the work starts.

Topics: AI and youth mental health, parenting and AI, critical thinking, digital resiliency, family technology habits

GUEST: Nicholas Watters |https://www.cymha.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-06

When did the analog to digital transition actually happen in our everyday lives? Think beyond computers, CDs and the internet. There was a point when the way we communicated, handled money and spent time together began to change. But can we identify a single year?

Your answer might depend on when you grew up. Ryan O'Donnell remembers getting his first smartphone in high school, while earlier generations recall a world of handwritten notes, physical banking and logging onto the internet rather than carrying it everywhere. What experience marked the change for you?

For Throwback Thursday, we're searching for the dividing line between two remarkably different ways of living. From early smartphones to depositing cheques without visiting a bank, which development finally moved our lives into the digital world?

Topics: analog to digital transition, smartphones, online banking, digital nostalgia, 2007

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

Grocery cybersecurity has a weakness you probably never considered: the freezer. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois reveals why connected refrigeration systems are attracting hackers, and what the growing threat means for your food, your personal information and potentially your grocery bill.

Think about how much technology sits between you and your groceries. Digital price tags, purchasing histories, artificial intelligence and temperature monitoring all serve a purpose. But when so much information and equipment is connected, where does convenience end and vulnerability begin?

There's another side to this story. The same consumer data that raises concerns about surveillance pricing can also help grocery stores protect customers. Dr. Charlebois brings that contradiction into focus as cyberattacks raise a larger question: how secure is the food supply chain we're all depending on?

Topics: grocery cybersecurity, surveillance pricing, digital price tags, food supply chain security, consumer data

GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois | @‌foodprofessor

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

Data breach protection often arrives as an apology and an offer of free credit monitoring. Technology expert Carmi Levy confronts a question worth asking every time another company loses your personal information: who is responsible for protecting you when the damage is already done?

Lose your wallet and you'll cancel your cards, replace your identification and take immediate action. But when a company loses sensitive personal data, the response can feel remarkably different. What would happen if we treated our digital identities with the same urgency as our physical belongings?

Then there's the familiar offer of two years of identity theft protection. What happens when those two years end? Carmi considers the limitations of these services, the responsibilities of technology companies and the uncomfortable reality of how much protection falls on the individual.

Topics: data breaches, credit monitoring, identity theft, cybersecurity, corporate accountability

GUEST: Carmi Levy

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

The Sopranos finale gave television audiences a moment that might feel completely different in the streaming era. For Throwback Thursday, revisit 2007, when a television screen going black could send viewers wondering whether the problem was their cable connection or something else entirely.

Ryan O'Donnell considers it one of television's greatest endings. But what made that final scene so controversial, and why are people still debating what happened to Tony Soprano nearly twenty years later? Even the music from that moment has an extraordinary story attached to it.

Meanwhile, 2007 brought the first iPhone, Netflix streaming and a changing relationship with technology. Yet answering machines, fax machines and old-fashioned routines remained part of everyday life. Was this really the year we crossed from analog to digital?

Topics: The Sopranos finale, 2007 nostalgia, cable television, Netflix streaming, analog technology

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

Canada's federal budget arrives while households are managing higher everyday costs. Rob Breakenridge considers the growing tension between government spending and personal affordability, and why Canadians might want to look beyond the headline deficit numbers.

You're paying more for groceries, fuel and other essentials. Some government revenues rise alongside those prices, yet the federal budget remains in deficit. How should Canadians judge the government's financial progress when their own budgets are already under pressure? And what happens if borrowing eventually leads to new demands on taxpayers?

There's also the cost of carrying the debt itself. Interest payments compete with the money available for government programmes and future promises. Rob weighs the significance of those costs, the government's investment priorities and the question of how long the current approach can continue.

Topics: Canadian federal budget, government debt, cost of living, federal spending, tax policy

GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | robbreakenridge.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

When did the analog to digital transition really happen? Technology expert Daniel Tsai challenges the familiar timeline, from the arrival of the internet to smartphones and artificial intelligence. His answer might change how you think about the technology surrounding your everyday life.

Remember dial-up internet, searching Yahoo and the excitement of your first smartphone? Each innovation promised greater convenience, but something else was happening as our information, communications and financial transactions moved online. The technology wasn't simply connecting us. It was learning about us.

Now AI is changing what it means to search for answers, make decisions and even perform work. Daniel identifies a surprisingly recent turning point in our digital evolution. What makes this moment different from everything that came before, and which device started the transformation?

Topics: analog to digital transition, iPhone history, cloud computing, surveillance capitalism, artificial intelligence

GUEST: Daniel Tsai

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

Was 2007 the last great year of analog life? RetroOntario's Ed Conroy takes us back to the moment when the digital world was beginning to change how we lived, connected and spent our time. The technology was exciting, the internet felt different, and nobody quite knew what was coming.

Remember when Facebook was actually about your friends? When message boards were communities, digital cameras were a novelty and getting your first iPhone felt like discovering the future? Something about that period still feels remarkably close, yet strangely distant.

Now vinyl records and VHS tapes are finding their way back into our lives. Is it simply nostalgia, or are we searching for something we left behind? Ed considers the unexpected appeal of the analog world and what happened to the experiences we once had together.

Topics: 2007 nostalgia, analog technology, early social media, iPhone history, physical media

GUEST: Ed Conroy |http://retrontario.com | @‌retrontario

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

James Bond casting speculation is heating up, while Godzilla has another shot at movie greatness. Film critic Richard Crouse brings the Hollywood intrigue, an unexpected television cameo and a monster movie verdict that might surprise you.

The Bond Contender and Hollywood's Unexpected Guests
A new James Bond could be getting closer, but what does landing the role mean for an actor's career? Richard has the latest casting chatter, including a former Bond's opinion. Then there's Matt Damon and David Letterman's unlikely appearance in The Gilded Age, and a private meeting between Bob Dylan and Pope Leo XIV with a fascinating backstory.

When the Monster Movie Becomes Something More
Godzilla Minus Zero delivers the monster battles, but Richard believes something else makes this sequel even better than its predecessor. What turns giant creatures into compelling cinema? Plus, Godzilla's surprising birthday traditions and two monster-inspired cocktails for Booze and Reviews.

Topics: James Bond casting, Callum Turner, The Gilded Age, Godzilla Minus Zero, movie reviews

GUEST: Richard Crouse |http://richardcrouse.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-05

Your emergency kit might look impressive until somebody asks you to name what’s in it. If your answer starts with a phone, a first-aid kit and several excellent coats, this inventory gives you a funny reason to check what you’re counting as preparation.

Why buy a flashlight when your phone already has one? There’s the battery question, the awkward business of propping up a screen, and a family rite of passage that phone designers may have accidentally retired.

Then the texts arrive from people who have thought further ahead. One household has a rule about backups that changes the counting entirely. Before calling yourself ready, what happens when you compare the supplies you own with the things you’d actually need to keep working?

Topics: emergency kit, phone batteries, flashlights, backup supplies, household preparation

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

A Canadian budget promises a direction, but what would let you recognise progress? Jamie Ellerton and Lindsay Broadhead offer questions to bring to the next announcement: where will investment become opportunity, and what will make that opportunity easier to pursue?

A little breathing room with Washington could feel like permission to relax. Should Canada take it? The panel’s response to the U.S. midterms puts the focus on what this country can build, and which relationships deserve continued attention.

Closer to home, how prepared are you for an interruption to ordinary life? An emergency-kit inventory starts with bandages and gets increasingly revealing. Between roadside snacks and a condo garbage chute, the practical meaning of being ready becomes a much funnier question.

Topics: Canadian budget, economic opportunity, international partnerships, emergency supplies, practical preparedness

GUEST: Jamie Ellerton |http://conaptus.com
GUEST: Lindsay Broadhead |http://broadheadcomms.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

Video game music can bring back an entire era before you’ve touched a controller. If a familiar menu theme still stops you in your tracks, Ryan’s conversation with composer Grant Kirkhope offers a way into the work behind that memory.

How does someone end up making those sounds for a living? The path involves years in bands, an unexpected combination of musical skills and recordings sent through the post. It’s a career beginning that may sound familiar even if you’ve never worked on a game.

Then comes a different challenge: adding music to a world whose fans already love what they hear. Where do you find room to create? A shift from Nintendo 64 sounds to a full orchestra makes the possibilities especially worth hearing.

Topics: video game music, Grant Kirkhope, game nostalgia, composing, orchestral soundtracks

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

An emergency kit needs to cover more than the jobs your phone usually does. Suzanne Bernier, an instructor with Disaster Recovery Institute Canada, helps you identify everyday dependencies worth checking before a short disruption becomes an extended outage.

How would you hear updates, light a room or pay for something if the usual systems stopped working? The useful additions aren’t all high-tech. Some are familiar objects you may have stopped carrying, and others need preparation before you reach for them.

You also need a plan for where you’ll be. Supplies that help you stay home could become the things you must take when told to leave. From what’s in the pantry to what’s ready by the door, how easily could your household make that switch?

Topics: emergency kit, prolonged outages, backup communication, payment disruptions, evacuation readiness

GUEST: Suzanne Bernier | dri.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

Emergency preparedness takes on a different meaning when a shopping list arrives labelled as a White House warning. Nathan Radke follows the claim toward its source, offering a way to separate a recommendation from the authority attached to it.

Thirty days of food and water is the headline. Familiar advice from other countries appears to back it up. But the dates on those policies matter as much as their contents, and Canada's own campaign supplies a revealing detail.

There is also a government zombie-survival campaign that Nathan says really happened, complete with a graphic novel. That leaves a more interesting question than whether every strange-sounding claim is false: what distinguishes a publicity idea from a warning about something imminent?

Topics: emergency preparedness, misinformation, source checking, zombie preparedness, public trust

GUEST: Nathan Radke |https://www.amazon.ca/Uncover-Up-Think-Clearly-Conspiracies/dp/1770418873 | @‌uncoverup

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

An AI business model depends on what happens after another customer signs up. Computer scientist Greg Fish helps you examine the cost behind your next query, and why he questions the assumption that AI growth will follow the familiar software playbook.

Build the product once, then serve more people cheaply: that’s an appealing proposition. But what changes when each additional interaction needs more computing? Greg offers a comparison from outside the technology sector that puts the promise of expanding margins in a different light.

For anyone paying for AI, usefulness is another part of the calculation. Does a helpful tool necessarily support the business story being sold around it? His dot-com comparison gives you a way to consider those questions separately.

Topics: AI business model, computing costs, customer growth, profitability, technology hype

GUEST: Greg Fish | cyberpunksurvivalguide.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

Gas prices heading down are welcome news, but how much could your next fill-up change? Dan McTeague of Canadians for Affordable Energy gives you regional forecasts for gasoline and diesel, with a distinction worth knowing before you judge the sign outside your station.

Diesel drivers may recognise this frustration: the predicted decrease makes headlines, yet the pump seems reluctant to follow. What accounts for that gap? Dan identifies a difference in how diesel sells and puts numbers around the relief he expects.

Then comes the question behind any cheaper tank: how long could it last? Markets are responding to political expectations, while physical supplies face different pressures. You can welcome the forecast and still ask what would need to happen for those savings to hold.

Topics: gas prices, diesel forecasts, regional differences, pump-price delays, oil supply

GUEST: Dan McTeague |http://affordableenergy.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

Retail strategy gets interesting when your office-supply run becomes a chance to buy a birthday present. Tony Chapman helps you consider what makes an unexpected addition useful, and when a store risks becoming harder to recognise.

Would toys make more sense if the intended buyer were shopping for colleagues? Before dismissing the shelf as a mismatch, there’s another way to imagine who it serves. Party supplies push the question further: how much can a familiar brand stretch while still giving you a clear reason to visit?

At home, the competition is for the convenience of bringing everything to you. What happens to that bargain as delivery services consolidate? The same shopping habits that retailers want to attract also give delivery businesses something valuable to compete over.

Topics: retail strategy, Staples Canada, customer relevance, brand identity, delivery consolidation

GUEST: Tony Chapman |http://chatterthatmatters.ca

Originally aired on 2026-11-04

Godzilla sounds like a great LEGO project until you have to find somewhere for him to live. If you’ve ever wanted a huge build before considering your available space, Ryan’s enthusiasm and apartment dilemma will feel familiar.

The monster also presents a challenge for a movie-trailer assignment. What do you select when much of the audio is Japanese dialogue and sound effects? Noah’s accompanying note turns the task into a joke worth hearing in its own right.

Then there’s good news that arrives without a shopping list. Someone quietly arranges an opportunity for a friend, without being asked. The details remain private, but the reason behind the gesture offers something to consider about how you treat people every day.

Topics: Godzilla, LEGO builds, apartment space, trailer humour, unexpected kindness

Originally aired on2026-11-03

U.S. midterms raise a question that a winning seat count alone cannot settle: what are voters actually supporting? If you’re trying to interpret a shift in the polls, Ryan’s questions offer a useful distinction between enthusiasm for one party and frustration with another.

Even Republican support needs a closer look. Ryan cites polling that separates MAGA supporters from other Republicans, with a striking difference between them. What might that split mean for the party beyond this election?

Then there’s the Canadian hope that a different result brings a simpler relationship with Washington. How much should you assume? Questions about Democratic priorities and the next generation of party leadership make this a conversation about what follows the vote, as well as who wins it.

Topics: U.S. midterms, Republican voters, Democratic support, Canadian expectations, future leadership

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

U.S. midterms can change who controls Congress while leaving the president in office. David Schultz, a distinguished university professor of political science, gives you a Canadian-friendly guide to what the House and Senate each control, and why the distinction matters.

If one chamber changes hands, where does the president lose leverage first? David makes a case for watching one result especially closely. Then comes another hurdle: winning seats and getting an agenda into law are different tasks.

Why is finding common ground so difficult in the first place? David’s research takes that question beyond speeches and voting records into neighbourhoods, cars and groceries. The examples offer a surprisingly everyday way to picture the divide behind the election.

Topics: U.S. midterms, congressional powers, judicial appointments, presidential veto, political polarization

GUEST: David Schultz

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

Good News Tuesday takes an ordinary outing on the water and adds a million-dollar fish. If your idea of a successful fishing trip is simply catching something, this Australian story gives you a much bigger result to imagine.

Naturally, the next question is what a Canadian version might involve. An increasingly ridiculous wildlife contest takes shape, followed by a movie comparison that makes the proposed television show sound considerably less relaxing than fishing with your brother.

There’s room for smaller celebrations too: visitors coming to stay, finishing touches on a fireplace and a LEGO build that tests the hobby budget. A major gift to Ottawa’s new hospital campus rounds things out. What counts as good news today depends on whose day you’re making.

Topics: Good News Tuesday, million-dollar fish, Canadian wildlife humour, LEGO enthusiasm, Ottawa Hospital

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

The cost of living turns up in unexpected places, including the instructions in an old family recipe. Matt Gurney offers a recognisable way to spot shrinkflation when the package you always bought no longer does the job it used to.

At the gas pump, what happens when you finally fill up after weeks of mostly battery-powered driving? Matt’s plug-in hybrid provides an unexpected pause between fuel purchases, and a fresh encounter with the cost that regular commuters face much more often.

What would make the coming budget or a possible trade deal meaningful against those everyday pressures? Matt sees room for Canada to act, alongside a limit on how long political patience lasts. The question is what turns that room into progress people can recognise.

Topics: cost of living, shrinkflation, household budgets, fuel prices, Canadian economic policy

GUEST: Matt Gurney |http://readtheline.ca | @‌mattgurney

Originally aired on2026-11-03

Brand loyalty can turn an ordinary bathroom shelf into a judgement about who you are. Tony Chapman of Chatter That Matters helps you think through how products become badges of belonging, and what that means for your relationships with brands and people.

Coke versus Pepsi once offered a rivalry people could enjoy. What changes when the products you choose become evidence that you belong to the right or wrong crowd? Tony considers the challenge for businesses trying to speak across that divide.

And how much of that identity is being reinforced back to you? The conversation follows your personal data into the messages competing for your attention. Tony’s explanation invites you to reconsider why some content feels so perfectly aligned with what you already believe.

Topics: brand loyalty, political identity, consumer tribes, personal data, confirmation bias

GUEST: Tony Chapman |http://chatterthatmatters.ca

Originally aired on2026-11-03

U.S. midterms could change who controls Congress, but what would that change for Canada? Matthew Lebo, professor of political science at Western University, helps you assess where election results could create pressure on tariffs, presidential power and the Iran conflict.

A president can face an opposing Congress and still have room to act. If you’re hoping for movement on trade, which powers could lawmakers use? Matthew identifies potential leverage beyond simply passing a bill the president might veto.

Then there’s the question of what a losing result teaches the politicians who remain. Could their own reelection concerns change their willingness to push back? Matthew considers that possibility, while leaving a clear distinction between an election setback and the end of a presidency.

Topics: U.S. midterms, Canada-U.S. trade, congressional leverage, presidential power, Iran conflict

GUEST: Matthew Lebo

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

Apple devices leave a store in the hands of thieves. Then someone switches one on. Kris Abel’s account gives you a different way to think about connected technology: what can the original owner still tell a device to do after it’s gone?

Now bring that question of control into your living room. Would a robot earn your trust by helping with chores, or by recognising you and responding like a companion? Reported plans from Apple and Meta put different versions of that future within imagining distance.

And how far should a marathon be when its entrants are babies? Forget the usual finish-line expectations. A miniature course and some inventive equipment make movement itself the reason to celebrate, with parents there to encourage every step.

Topics: Apple, stolen devices, home robots, human-machine interaction, first steps

GUEST: Kris Abel | krisabel.com | @realkrisabel

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

U.S. midterms put everyday frustrations alongside a president’s ambitions for his place in history. Don Abelson, professor of political science at McMaster University, helps you assess why attention abroad can become a political liability at home.

What happens when voters feel their own priorities have slipped out of view? Don draws a comparison with an earlier Republican president whose foreign-policy focus became a problem with Americans. The parallel offers another way to think about what voters may be judging.

And if your concern is Canada’s relationship with its neighbour, the stakes extend beyond one election. What would a future president have to repair? Don’s assessment of trust and reputation brings the conversation back to the allies watching from outside.

Topics: U.S. midterms, presidential legacy, domestic priorities, foreign policy, allied relations

GUEST: Don Abelson

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

Garbage trucks, moving vans and Halloween candy have Bob Addison keeping a neighbourhood grievance list. If you’ve ever listened to a driver lean on the horn instead of sorting out a blockage, his morning outside the window will sound familiar.

Three kinds of work vehicles arrive on roads barely wide enough for two cars. Bob has a scheduling solution, a theory about how the drivers should communicate and a precise account of how long the honking lasted. Which part would try your patience first?

His Halloween visitors and hockey schedule get their own hearings too. What does an adult trick-or-treater actually receive, and how does a question about buying a pickup bring the conversation back to that narrow road? Bob supplies the connections.

Topics: neighbourhood gridlock, garbage trucks, Halloween candy, adult trick-or-treaters, hockey schedules

GUEST: Bob Addison | @‌riobobbo

Originally aired on 2026-11-03

The time change has turned “What time’s our meeting?” into a question that needs follow-ups. If your calendar and your colleagues suddenly seem to disagree, there’s familiar comedy in a cross-country attempt to get everyone onto the same clock.

You’ve got someone in Calgary, someone in Ontario and a question about Kelowna. Surely working out the local time should be straightforward? A simple on-air comparison quickly becomes a game nobody sounds confident about winning.

At least there’s that extra hour of sleep to enjoy. Or is there? One alarm-free morning delivers its own verdict, before Heidi Klum and Martha Stewart supply two very different answers to another weekend question: what makes a Halloween costume worth talking about?

Topics: time change, cross-country scheduling, body clocks, Heidi Klum, Martha Stewart

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Canada-U.S. trade promises sound encouraging, but what would count as a win here? Jimmy Zoubris and farmer Lesley Kelly help you weigh the gap between a political announcement and the terms Canadians would have to live with.

What Would We Actually Be Agreeing To?

Both governments could celebrate the same agreement. That still leaves you asking what changed for farmers, and who absorbed the cost. Dairy quotas bring another question: how do you change a system people have invested millions in?

After the Votes, Who Changes Course?

A different Congress could bring more pressure on Donald Trump. Would that change his approach to Canada? Jimmy’s expectations and Lesley’s conversations with American farmers give you two ways to consider what an election result might actually deliver.

Topics: Canada-U.S. trade, dairy quotas, supply management, U.S. midterm elections, farming costs

GUEST: Jimmy Zoubris

GUEST: Lesley Kelly | highheelsandcanolafields.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

CFL fans filled a ballroom to celebrate a team that doesn’t exist. If you’ve ever felt outside sports culture, Ryan’s Grey Cup party story offers a different way into the game: through the people who make you feel welcome.

He expected a small gathering with friends from Nova Scotia. Instead, he walked into one of the best parties he’d ever attended. What could inspire that much enthusiasm without a team to send onto the field?

Then there’s the crowd waiting through an Ottawa losing season for something to celebrate. You don’t need to know the standings to hear what that moment means. Between the party and the final whistle, there’s a reason to care about Canadian football beyond who gets the trophy.

Topics: CFL fans, Grey Cup culture, Atlantic Schooners, Ottawa Redblacks, belonging

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Plane crash conspiracies can feel convincing when a frightening video meets an already uneasy world. Nathan Radke of the Uncover Up Podcast helps you recognise how separate events can start to look connected before the evidence establishes a link.

Nearby air defences become part of an online explanation. But what would have to be technically possible for that explanation to hold? Nathan identifies a specific detail to check before treating proximity as proof.

The same urge to connect events can pull emergency-preparedness messages and new technology into the story. How do you keep asking questions while leaving room for an answer you don’t yet have? There’s a distinction here between a possible explanation and knowing what happened.

Topics: plane crash conspiracies, conspiracy thinking, technical evidence, uncertainty, emergency-preparedness rumours

GUEST: Nathan Radke |https://www.amazon.ca/Uncover-Up-Think-Clearly-Conspiracies/dp/1770418873 | @‌uncoverup

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Smart home features are only part of the choice; where your footage lives matters too. Handy Andy Baryer helps you consider recording, notifications and access alongside the convenience of a connected front door.

Beautiful Video. Where’s the Parcel?

A doorbell captures beautiful video, yet the delivered parcel disappears from view. Another setup puts its recording card somewhere unexpected. Which details would you check before choosing what watches your doorstep?

When the Breach Notice Gets Personal

Then a breach notice lands in your inbox, listing information you never expected to see mentioned. How does that change the way you think about connected services? Andy connects the conversation to reused passwords and automated attacks, while questions about online refrigeration put a familiar appliance in a different light.

Topics: smart home, local video storage, package visibility, connected appliances, personal information

GUEST: Handy Andy Baryer | handyandymedia.com | @handyandymedia

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Mortgage rates can make choosing a fixed term feel like a bet on tomorrow’s headlines. Financial planner Anita Bruinsma helps you weigh the value of certainty when predictions leave you going in circles.

You have the option to lock in, but knowing when to use it is another matter. If you wait, will the choice get easier? Anita puts the timing dilemma into perspective without pretending anyone can know exactly where rates will land.

The decision also reaches into the rest of your budget. If a higher payment means choosing between a subscription and retirement savings, what should you ask before committing? A specific affordability check gives that question a more useful starting point.

Topics: mortgage rates, fixed rate mortgages, variable rate mortgages, financial security, retirement savings

GUEST: Anita Bruinsma |http://clarityonyourmoney.com

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Talking to strangers gives you a chance to make someone feel seen. Pete Bombaci, founder and CEO of GenWell, helps you recognise where a small gesture could matter during an otherwise ordinary day.

Think about the person serving your coffee or ringing through your purchase. You can finish the transaction without much acknowledgement, or make room for an exchange. Pete’s experience in retail and hospitality puts a different weight on that choice.

Already getting plenty of connection yourself? There’s still a reason to reach out. For someone who has fallen out of the habit, even a brief encounter can be a starting point. The invitation is to notice those opportunities, with room for different levels of comfort.

Topics: talking to strangers, feeling seen, belonging, everyday interactions, Talk to a Stranger Week

GUEST: Pete Bombaci |talktoastranger.org

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Dating fatigue can mean dreading another round of swiping or wondering whether you’re repeating a familiar pattern. Tony Tedesco and relationship columnist Jen Kirsch help you identify what’s wearing you out, so you can consider a different approach.

Three months in, things have been going well. You’ve put the apps away, and then you’re starting over. If that cycle feels familiar, Tony puts a specific frustration into words, while Jen recognises a different worry behind her own reluctance.

What changes when you name the part you find exhausting? Before deciding whether to keep dating, there’s a question about what you want someone to add to a life you already enjoy.

Topics: dating fatigue, starting over, relationship patterns, inconsistent communication, emotional investment

GUEST: Tony Tedesco | @‌tedescotony
GUEST: Jen Kirsch | @‌jen_kirsch

Originally aired on 2026-11-02

Halloween and Christmas are the same holiday, according to an argument that opens with “Merry Halloween.” The fun is in the defence: how far can pumpkins, presents and seasonal wardrobes carry a theory before it starts arguing against itself?

A pumpkin and a Christmas tree both qualify as decorated plants with lights. But the movie comparison has a complication, and a soundtrack featuring Mariah Carey doesn't slide neatly into the same category as the Monster Mash. Which similarities actually hold up?

Calling candy a gift might help the case. So might counting an ugly sweater as a costume. By the time the argument reaches its own progress report, the disagreement has acquired percentages. There's still a theory to defend, and a very different assessment across the microphone.

Topics: Halloween and Christmas, decorated plants, holiday movies, seasonal music, gift-giving

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Canada and Europe have a border question illustrated by two passports and one attempted departure. Andrew Caddell's experience in Switzerland opens a practical look at what closer ties could mean for travel, professional exchanges and the rules governing a journey.

He entered on an Irish passport and presented a Canadian one on the way out. The response at the exit tells a different story. What did the authorities need before he could leave?

The larger Canadian opportunity, in Andrew's view, reaches beyond goods crossing an ocean. Students, professionals and service businesses enter the picture, while the label for a closer relationship needs care. What kind of arrangement is actually being contemplated, and which parts of the economy would he expect to benefit?

Topics: Canada-Europe relations, passport checks, exit controls, professional exchanges, service industries

GUEST: Andrew Caddell

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Witchcraft has a story in which flying never requires leaving the ground. Dr Joe Schwarcz connects that image with plant chemistry, opening a different route into the history behind the Halloween broomstick.

A plant associated with beauty also appears in accounts of witches' visions. The familiar flying figure takes on another meaning when the sensation and the physical event become separate questions. What could produce the experience that the story describes?

Even an ordinary loaf of rye bread enters the picture. Joe outlines a contamination theory proposed for Salem, where reported experiences became accusations with devastating consequences. From the broomstick to the cauldron, the question becomes what an apparent supernatural event might conceal about the materials involved.

Topics: witchcraft, broomstick folklore, belladonna, ergot theory, Salem witch trials

GUEST: Dr Joe Schwarcz

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Halloween movies have room for a handmade husband and an outbreak heard through a radio microphone. Steve Stebbing's picks offer a route through new releases and archive discoveries, with very different kinds of night in store.

The Neighbours Celebrate Christmas. The Husband Is Wicker.

A Christmas-obsessed family makes the holiday crossover a horror proposition, but does Christmas at the Kringles earn a recommendation? Wicker brings an entirely different marriage prospect, while Fatherland offers a compact, black-and-white departure from the Halloween mood.

Stay Inside the Radio Station

How much horror fits inside a radio station? Pontypool makes that the starting point, while Green Room gives Patrick Stewart a role far from a reassuring captain. Altered States and The Devils add experiments, censorship and another reason to revisit the archives.

Topics: Halloween movies, new releases, festival favourites, Canadian horror, archive discoveries

GUEST: Steve Stebbing | stevestebbing.ca

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Relationship baggage can be as tangible as an ex's key to the house. Dr Laurie Betito uses that example to make boundaries concrete, with a way to talk about safety while acknowledging shared children and continuing obligations.

Thirteen Years Later, the Words Are Still There

An old partner's words can also remain long after the relationship ends. A remark about finishing a backyard shed resurfaces thirteen years after divorce. What happens when someone else's criticism starts sounding like a personal rule?

An Ordinary Evening, an Unnecessary Lie

A new relationship brings another chance to notice those inherited habits. Ryan's text about an ordinary evening exposes a lie he couldn't explain, while nostalgia can make an old relationship look selectively appealing. Laurie identifies what needs attention and where support from a partner differs from responsibility for healing.

Topics: relationship baggage, inherited criticism, learned habits, co-parenting, personal boundaries

GUEST: Dr Laurie Betito | DrLaurie.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

A paranormal experience leaves two questions: what happened, and what explains it? Dr Josh Redstone makes room for taking the experience seriously while asking more of the explanation.

A dark house, a spooky forest, a sudden sense that something is off. Calling it intuition gives the feeling a name, but where does that intuition come from? Josh's answer gives the familiar idea of a sixth sense a different foundation.

The same distinction matters when something gets called scientific. A persuasive story, a physical reaction and a systematic test each establish different things. Between the shiver and the conclusion sits a question worth keeping open: what would explain the experience, and how could that explanation be tested?

Topics: paranormal experiences, intuition, anomalistic, scientific method, skepticism

GUEST: Dr Josh Redstone

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Could a jumping spider have an inner life after lights out? Dr Samantha Yammine gets to the evidence behind the dream question, starting with a researcher who noticed something odd on her windowsill.

Spiders in jars were hanging upside down, going still at roughly the same time each day. That could look like ordinary rest. What made the observation worth taking from the windowsill into the yard and the laboratory?

The answer sits in a part of the body associated with some very human nighttime activity. But recognising a sleep pattern and knowing what happens inside a spider are different achievements. A twitching dog, a remembered experience, a possible dream: how far can the resemblance carry the explanation?

Topics: jumping spiders, animal dreams, REM-like sleep, memory consolidation, consciousness

GUEST: Dr Samantha Yammine |http://samanthayammine.com | @‌science.sam

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

A Canadian AI brain trust sounds like a seat for someone who understands the technology. Mohit Rajhans opens that question to the people who understand the work, offering an entry point for established expertise in the AI debate.

Forty online learning programs turned up in his search. The harder question sits between the funding announcement and the course catalogue: who knows those resources exist, and what would meaningful adoption look like in a particular industry?

A classroom brings the stakes into focus. Learning to build with AI and retaining the skills it can take over are different goals. Mohit's proposal starts with the strengths Canada already has, then asks where the authority to shape their future should sit.

Topics: Canadian AI, industry brain trusts, AI learning resources, cognitive offloading, technology governance

GUEST: Mohit Rajhans |http://mohit.ai |http://thinkstart.ca

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Patrick Stewart made a starship captain feel like a promise about the future. Remembering the actor through Jean-Luc Picard and his advocacy against domestic abuse offers a fuller picture of what that familiar voice stood for.

A very different screen memory waits in the woods of The Blair Witch Project. The rumours surrounding its 1999 release were part of the experience, but one almost motionless basement scene still earns a place at the top of Ryan's scare scale. What made so little do so much?

Back in 1999, even the Canadian map was changing. Nunavut's creation prompts a memory of discovering that something learned in school could become outdated. A new territory meant reconsidering an old certainty.

Topics: Patrick Stewart, Jean-Luc Picard, domestic abuse advocacy, The Blair Witch Project, Nunavut

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Ghost stories sound different from behind the camera. Psychologist Peter Sacco takes you inside a paranormal investigation where filming stopped, offering a firsthand account of what made this encounter stand apart from his usual work.

Ten people were in the room, with a spirit box running. Peter was operating a camera when something happened that he says bypassed the equipment altogether. What would make an experienced investigator stop and reconsider the room around him?

Leaving the building brought another question. Peter describes feeling watched at home, then contacting the others who had been there. Their replies, and one guest investigator's parting request, give you more to consider before deciding where this ghost story ends.

Topics: ghost stories, paranormal investigation, spirit box, sensed presence, The Paranormal Profilers

GUEST: Peter Sacco | peterandrewsacco.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Halloween candy shopping still has a timing question: when do you fill the bowl? Dr Sylvain Charlebois puts numbers to the late chocolate discounts, giving you a reason to check the shelves again before the doorbell rings.

Those tiny fun-size bars make the price tag only part of the calculation. With fewer shrinkflation cases reported this year, what is happening to the cost of the treats themselves? Chocolate and the rest of the candy aisle deserve separate attention.

A Saturday Halloween also leaves room for another shopping trip. Is that extra time changing how people buy? Sylvain connects the markdowns with what retailers are seeing at the checkout, offering another way to read the sale signs.

Topics: Halloween candy, chocolate discounts, shrinkflation, candy sales, shopping timing

GUEST: Dr Sylvain Charlebois | @‌foodprofessor

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

The time change comes with an extra question when different provinces follow different rules: who checks the phone? Rob Breakenridge puts the scheduling puzzles into everyday terms, from a Sunday-morning clock check to a trip across the border.

A Canadian ferry, a Canadian destination and a connection to an American cell tower add another wrinkle. The original surprise was a roaming charge. With clocks in the conversation, that same experience raises a different question about which time a phone might display.

Even a familiar hockey schedule needs another look, along with a flight booked months ahead. And beyond the clock debate, a northern BC tanker restriction prompts a distinction between the projects it affects now and the routes Rob sees as future possibilities.

Topics: time change, smartphone clocks, border roaming, hockey schedules, BC tanker restriction

GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | robbreakenridge.ca

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Brand names can make a snack sound filling before you’ve tasted it. David Sidhu, assistant professor at Carleton University, offers clues to what you might be hearing in a name, useful if you’re choosing one yourself.

Imagine choosing a potato chip for a friend who prefers heavier food. Would Gobo or Tiki sound like the better fit? Around 600 people faced choices like these, and their expectations give you a reason to reconsider what a product name is doing.

Easy pronunciation is one consideration. But David points to another preference you can test by saying two made-up words aloud: binoca and canoba. The difference involves what your mouth does as you speak. Which one has the advantage?

Topics: brand names, sound symbolism, snack names, business naming, pronunciation

GUEST: David Sidhu |classilabs.ca 

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Halloween candy gets an enthusiastic welcome from Dr Gary Glassman, an endodontist with a soft spot for little chocolates. His comparison of chocolate and Rockets offers a practical way to weigh the treats in the bag.

The difference goes beyond sugar content. How long a sweet stays in the mouth gives Gary another reason to favour one treat over another. A joking request for an excuse to keep the parents' favourites turns into a revealing candy comparison.

The toothbrush has a timing question of its own. Gary names a waiting period after a sugar hit, then tackles the bedtime details: flossing order, water flossers and what belongs in a mouthwash. The Halloween haul comes with plenty to ask about afterward.

Topics: Halloween candy, chocolate, Rockets, brushing timing, oral fitness

GUEST: Dr Gary Glassman | https://drgaryglassman.com/

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

The Blair Witch Project came with a mystery that began before the lights went down. Ed Conroy's opening-night recollection offers a way into the question behind the 1999 phenomenon: what made a horror movie pass for recovered evidence?

The premise was simple: somebody found a camera, and the footage became a film. Keeping that possibility alive took more than a convincing performance. The internet itself had a part in the illusion, at a very particular stage of its development.

A successful scare usually invites another. This one raises a different question: could the same trick work twice? Ed's answer puts an unusual condition on the film's place in horror history.

Topics: The Blair Witch Project, recovered footage, horror marketing, early internet, horror history

GUEST: Ed Conroy |http://retrontario.com | @‌retrontario

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Horror movies promise an experience that would be dreadful outside a theatre. Richard Crouse offers a way into their strange appeal, even while admitting The Exorcist frightened him for months after he saw it too young.

Canada supplies a particularly unsettling invitation: a zombie outbreak heard from inside a radio station. Pontypool keeps the action outside, but Richard won't give away its twist. Alongside a cursed mask and a Cape Breton slasher, it raises another question: how much does a movie actually need to show?

Then Dracula, Frankenstein, the werewolf, and the mummy get a different assignment. Four monster-inspired cocktails turn the classic horror lineup into something pourable, complete with a bleeding effect, an edible garnish, and a little theatrical smoke.

Topics: horror movies, Canadian horror, Pontypool, classic monsters, Halloween cocktails

GUEST: Richard Crouse |http://richardcrouse.ca

Originally aired on 2026-10-29

Halloween movie choices depend on where you draw the line. Compare your own scare threshold with two very different benchmarks, including Ryan's pick of The Babadook as the scariest film he's seen. The other admission makes that comparison particularly interesting.

Candy has a threshold, too: how many people can you treat before full-size chocolate bars become an expensive commitment? An apartment building offers one answer. A village neighbour's revised head count gives the same question a whole different scale.

And how much of your supply makes it to the door? An eight-chocolates-a-day habit comes with a surprisingly specific research question about the assortment. There's a finding to hear before you accept the explanation.

Topics: scary movies, The Babadook, Halloween candy, neighbourhood traditions, chocolate assortments

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Canada’s future includes work Canadians can get on with today. Lindsay Broadhead and Jamie Ellerton offer practical priorities to consider, from business relationships to investment at home, as attention turns toward the American midterms.

What did your community ask for at the ballot box? Lindsay sees opportunities to build bridges, while Jamie finds encouragement in Canadians’ engagement. Their readings of recent elections give you different ways to consider what a mandate means and what should follow a win.

Then bring that curiosity home for Halloween. There are sleepover movie requests, a remarkably simple costume and an open invitation for ghosts to visit. When something goes bump in the house, where does your imagination go? Lindsay and Jamie have their own explanations ready.

Topics: Canada’s future, Canadian trade, local elections, Halloween, supernatural beliefs

GUEST: Lindsay Broadhead |broadheadcomms.ca
GUEST: Jamie Ellerton |http://Conaptus.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

A haunted radio station story gets especially interesting when management intervenes. Steph Vivier takes you inside 610 CKTB’s workplace folklore, including why a Halloween psychic interview ended up being recorded in a car outside.

Picture a Friday night recording session. A vacuum stops, a studio door slides open, and Shane calls out to let the cleaner know he’s there. Her reply places someone somewhere he hasn’t been. It’s one of several moments he still remembers from working in the building.

Steph hasn’t personally experienced anything paranormal, but she has heard enough to establish a bathroom rule: upstairs waits until daylight. Then a colleague reports an encounter near the spiral staircase. Hear what happened after Steph had finally felt brave enough to visit the attic.

Topics: haunted radio station, 610 CKTB, St. Catharines ghost stories, Yates Street, paranormal experiences

GUEST: Steph Vivier |610cktb.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Scary movies need a rating system you can actually feel. Find your own comfort level on a scale that starts with a hug and climbs through math class, a CRA audit notice and your mother calling your full name. Middle name included.

Now put The Polar Express on it. The Christmas story earns affection, but those animated faces get a very different reception. Where would you place it alongside Halloween and The Shining?

Even familiar horror titles produce wildly different results. One person's easy viewing lands at the very top of someone else's scale, while a film about the financial crisis brings another split. Bring your own ratings: agreeing on the movie title is about as far as the consensus goes.

Topics: scary movies, movie scare scale, The Polar Express, The Shining, Friday the 13th

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Disinformation doesn’t become credible because the threat behind it is genuine. Dr. Lee Kuhnle tackles the difficult middle ground between ignoring foreign interference and letting the accusation explain every political outcome someone dislikes.

The anger was already there. The divisions weren’t invented yesterday. If outsiders amplify those tensions, how much of the result belongs to their efforts? It’s a harder question than identifying a suspicious account, especially when money, political interests and real grievances overlap.

And expertise offers no comfortable exemption. Lee describes a story that seemed to confirm his own work so neatly that he carried it straight into the classroom. What finally made him reconsider matters well beyond one mistaken claim: it tests whether being right is more important than finding out.

Topics: disinformation, foreign interference, political divisions, confirmation bias, election confidence

GUEST: Dr. Lee Kuhnle |https://www.amazon.ca/Uncover-Up-Think-Clearly-Conspiracies/dp/1770418873 | @‌theuncoverup

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Haunted places can give you a feeling before you can identify a cause. Greg Fish offers a way to understand that uneasy first impression through the signals your body may already be processing.

An old building has its own background activity, and knowing its scary reputation adds another layer. But why would one room feel ordinary while the next sets you on edge? Greg connects that change to details you might overlook while searching for something spooky.

Then comes the question of trusting your gut. An explanation involving sound doesn't mean every uneasy feeling deserves dismissal. Abandoned buildings give Greg a concrete example of why the same threat assessment can still serve a purpose.

Topics: haunted places, infrasound, building noises, intuition, threat assessment

GUEST: Greg Fish | cyberpunksurvivalguide.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Volunteering can begin with a simple offer: I’ll come help you. Tony Chapman puts everyday generosity into focus, helping you recognise the value of the time and skills you can give your own community.

Consider the person who finishes a work shift and heads to the hospital to volunteer. What keeps someone showing up for others after their own busy day? Tony’s appreciation for these quiet contributors gives you a reason to notice who’s helping your community function.

You can also find satisfaction in a contribution that feels small. Tony remembers helping build a home, while a painter’s offer turns a conversation about renovations into something generous. What made those moments stick, and where might your own skills make a difference?

Topics: volunteering, community volunteers, generosity, giving back, meaningful contribution

GUEST: Tony Chapman |http://chatterthatmatters.ca

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Your money mindset can hide inside a perfectly reasonable sentence: you just want a peaceful life. Jessica Moorhouse helps you look at what that dream requires and whether you're being honest about wanting the money for it.

You can believe your own explanation so completely that it feels like fact. But what happens when someone else spots the gap? Jessica's response to Elizabeth Holmes raises a question worth bringing back to your own ambitions: does conviction make a motive true?

Even the wish to stop worrying about money has more than one version. Wanting to be wealthy, wanting not to be broke and wanting not to look broke lead into an uncomfortable distinction. Which one sounds most like you?

Topics: money mindset, money and greed, financial ambition, self-deception, financial self-image

GUEST: Jessica Moorhouse |http://jessicamoorhouse.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-28

Eric Bauza was the voice of Bugs Bunny, but this remembrance turns on something much smaller than fame. Through a few phone calls and one family photograph, you’re invited to recognize how brief encounters can leave more behind than you expect.

A father takes his son to Space Jam, posts their picture and tags someone connected to the film. Eric replies. Years later, revisiting that exchange brings the outing back with a different weight. What did a busy voice actor take the time to say?

There are old conversations to return to, a connection to Canada and a memory that now feels especially precious. The tribute ends with a reflection about the present: what changes when someone’s death makes you reconsider the moments you thought you could come back to?

Topics: Eric Bauza, Bugs Bunny, Space Jam, Canadian voice actor, remembrance

Originally aired on 2026-10-27

Good news for your next read: a familiar Star Wars movie might still have surprises waiting on the page. Ryan’s experience with one novelization gives you a reason to revisit a story you thought you knew.

Another unexpected discovery came much earlier in his radio career. Booking Eric Bauza meant calling the voice of Bugs Bunny directly. What could have been a quick arrangement became something Ryan still remembers, and the reason has little to do with getting a famous name on air.

Elsewhere, children look inside rocks and find something from a very different world. Five soldiers head toward Ottawa to help families facing hardship. What connects these moments is the invitation to pause long enough to notice what someone found, enjoyed or chose to give.

Topics: good news, Star Wars books, Eric Bauza, ancient fossils, Petawawa soldiers

Originally aired on 2026-10-27

Canada’s future might look brighter without your daily life feeling any easier. Columnist Matt Gurney offers a way to weigh encouraging national developments against the pressures that still follow you home.

Start with your ballot. Your community chose change, another kept its mayor, and somewhere else nobody challenged the incumbent. What can those choices actually tell you about where the country is heading? Matt pushes back on the urge to make them one story.

But ask whether Canada has reasons for optimism, and his answer changes. There’s a case he’s willing to make, with a qualification that matters if your family is still struggling. What should a national winning streak deliver beyond a better mood?

Topics: Canada’s future, Canadian politics, election results, national unity, household finances

GUEST: Matt Gurney |http://readtheline.ca | @‌mattgurney

Originally aired on 2026-10-27

Cosplay might seem unfamiliar, but how much of your own wardrobe is about fitting in? Dawn McKechnie, director of cosplay events at Anime North, gives you a different way to recognize the person inside a costume, including your own.

You wear a favourite player’s jersey and another fan starts talking. Put on a character’s costume, and a similar connection becomes possible. But there’s another appeal that sounds contradictory: how can hiding your face help you step outside your comfort zone?

And what would make you spend months building something to wear? Dawn has a costume story that puts that commitment into perspective. Before deciding what makes a costume good, consider what the person wearing it hopes you’ll feel.

Topics: cosplay, self-expression, fandom, costume making, Anime North

GUEST: Dawn McKechnie |http://animenorth.com

Originally aired on 2026-10-27