CanCon

It's not easy to be an artist in Canada. It is perhaps harder to be someone who organizes a festival to celebrate those artists every single year, amid changing funding models, occasional public and government indifference, inflation, pandemics and everything else. Yes somehow, Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival has endured since 2001.This year's festival takes place Nov. 18-22, and before it kicks off founder and director Leslie Ann Coles, a filmmaker herself, joins us to walk us through exactly what it takes to keep an endeavour like this going in a country that eats its own creators. Hint: It takes wits, cajoling, determination and a LOT of paperwork.All that, as well as a thanks to (most of) our American friends. We are friends again, now, right? Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

It's been too long, but this week the whole crew comes together to be called out (or praised!) by our listeners.Will Canada's privatized airports become another example of enshittification? Was $100 million worth it to put down the Alberta separatists? How many referendums are enough, exactly? This week it's all about your feedback, our responses, and Jordan's apparently wrong opinions!  Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

Unlike their Western brethren, Quebec separatists are good at this. They've been at it a long time. They are organized, patient and understand how to get elected. And they just did.With the Parti Quebecois winning a minority government, another referendum is at the very least back on the table, even if it isn't likely anytime soon. But there's a lot more going on in the province than a potential vote years down the line. Politics in Quebec is largely ignored by English Canada unless separation is a possibility. It shouldn't be.With the help of independent journalist Nora Loreto, of Sandy and Nora Talk Politics, we're here to help with that today. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

There's no way to sugarcoat the story of Ryan Wedding. Once an aspiring snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a member of the Canadian team. He didn't medal. Two decades later, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, being compared to the likes of El Chapo and Pablo Escobar by American officials.After years on the run, Wedding was apprehended in January of this year in Mexico City, and he'll soon head to trial facing up to 19 felonies for his role in allegedly importing nearly 60 tons of cocaine into the US and Canada, working with the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.How did Wedding end up here? Perhaps, as a famous writer once put it, "gradually, then suddenly". But he's well on his way to becoming one of Canada's most infamous criminals, and a new podcast series explores how an athlete from Northern Ontario found himself among the most wanted fugitives in the world.Michelle Shephard, Canadian journalist, documentarian and the host of the CBC/Toronto Star podcast, The Most Wanted Olympian, alongside Toronto Star journalist Calvi Leon, walks us through what we know about Wedding's journey and what we're still waiting to find out... Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

You've been warned about them, undoubtedly. You've probably passed on that warning to your elderly loved ones, or anyone you see as a little digitally naive. But how much do you really know about how so-called 'Grandparent Scams' operate in Canada—from the scale of them to their ever-increasing sophistication to the damage they leave behind in their wake?This week, Rachel Brown walks us through her detailed reporting for The Walrus to give you a detailed look inside what's becoming a huge criminal industry, one that shows no signs of slowing down...  Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].