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This Matters

The world is changing every day. Now, more than ever, these questions matter. What's happening? And why should you care? This Matters, a daily news podcast from the Toronto Star, aims to answer those questions, on important stories and ideas, every day, Monday to Friday. Hosts Saba Eitizaz and Ed Keenan talk to their fellow journalists, experts and newsmakers about the social, cultural, political and economic stories that shape your life.

How Alberta and Saskatchewan lost control of COVID’s fourth wave

21 mins; October 04, 2021

Opening the Pandora Papers and what they reveal

20 mins; October 04, 2021

Many businesses are refusing the new vaccine certificate rules. What now?

13 mins; October 01, 2021

Annamie Paul and the Green Party: what it reveals about Canada’s misogynoir problem

18 mins; September 30, 2021

How should Canada handle former residential school sites? Ask the Indigenous community

19 mins; September 30, 2021

What we know about vaccines and younger kids

17 mins; September 29, 2021

Can an MP be forced to resign and, if so, how?`

15 mins; September 28, 2021

Two Michaels return. Where does that leave Canada and China?

22 mins; September 27, 2021

Vaccine certificates are the law in Ontario. Here’s how they’re working

17 mins; September 24, 2021

Facebook’s relationship with its own research is complicated

19 mins; September 23, 2021

The election is over. Now where will Trudeau's Liberals take Canada?

24 mins; September 22, 2021

Déjà vote: Unpacking the election

27 mins; September 21, 2021

The state of the race

18 mins; September 20, 2021

Fact checking the leaders on the campaign trail

15 mins; September 17, 2021

How candidates say their party will address racism

19 mins; September 16, 2021

Affordability, housing and recovery: what are the parties promising?

22 mins; September 15, 2021

Temperature check: Comparing platforms on climate change

17 mins; September 14, 2021

In battleground ridings, what does the federal election campaign look like? A Star roundtable discusses

21 mins; September 13, 2021

Two journalists from opposite hemispheres discuss a post-9/11 world

20 mins; September 10, 2021

Data shows Canadians are running out of empathy as the pandemic runs on

17 mins; September 09, 2021

Why some medically fragile kids can’t return to school because of a nursing shortage

11 mins; September 08, 2021

Fear and loathing on the campaign trail ’21

26 mins; September 07, 2021

From being burned at the stake to digital abuse, it’s not you. It’s the patriarchy (Rebroadcast)

20 mins; September 06, 2021

Back to School: students, symptoms and screening guides

22 mins; September 03, 2021

Everything you need to know about Ontario’s vaccine passport plan

18 mins; September 02, 2021

The debate and ethics of vaccine boosters

16 mins; September 01, 2021

Lessons lost: An Afghan educator shares his story

17 mins; August 31, 2021

Want to be at a live event again? Vaccine mandates are being pushed by businesses

13 mins; August 30, 2021

Vaccine mandates and the return to work

18 mins; August 27, 2021

The mob war that followed Angelo Musitano’s murder

17 mins; August 26, 2021

Why is femicide on the rise in Canada?

18 mins; August 25, 2021

Behind 6ixBuzz’s controversial rise

21 mins; August 24, 2021

What Afghan women want: a conversation on the situation in Afghanistan

21 mins; August 23, 2021

COVID and kids: What we know and what to expect in September

15 mins; August 20, 2021

An unwinnable situation: American foreign policy after Afghanistan

20 mins; August 19, 2021

Canada's two Michaels and China's long history of 'hostage diplomacy'

16 mins; August 18, 2021

How COVAX is getting vaccines to nations that need it the most

16 mins; August 17, 2021

Canada’s federal election is on. Here’s what you need to know

20 mins; August 16, 2021

Canadians want vaccine passports. Why is Ontario’s government saying no?

16 mins; August 13, 2021

Running the numbers: The fourth wave is moving faster than expected

18 mins; August 12, 2021

Pink robots are delivering your food. What does this mean for local gig workers?

16 mins; August 11, 2021

Pandemic style wars: From face masks and sweatpants to what’s next

18 mins; August 10, 2021

Canada’s $31-billion food waste problem

12 mins; August 09, 2021

Olympic bonus: Partner podcast Tokyo Daily discusses Christine Sinclair and Canadian soccer

16 mins; August 07, 2021

How Simone Biles brought the importance of mental health to the world’s greatest stage

18 mins; August 06, 2021

The pandemic of the (still) unvaccinated

24 mins; August 05, 2021

How should Canada handle former residential school sites? Ask the Indigenous community

19 mins; August 04, 2021

9 to 5? More like 24/7 for women during COVID. How will this impact their return to the workplace?

15 mins; August 03, 2021

Four. Day. Work. Week.

21 mins; July 30, 2021

The dangerous business of Canada’s dead ships

16 mins; July 29, 2021

The Friend Zone with Benefits: The science behind why you should date your friends (no, really)

19 mins; July 28, 2021

What COVID reveals about Canada

27 mins; July 27, 2021

Opioid crisis: How Toronto’s street drug supply is getting more dangerous

18 mins; July 26, 2021

Introducing Tokyo Daily, the Summer Olympics podcast from the Toronto Star

2 mins; July 26, 2021

It’s summer! Let’s get together. Here’s how to do it COVID safe

21 mins; July 23, 2021

What you need to know about the fourth wave

24 mins; July 22, 2021

Canada’s bill to ban conversion therapy may be lost. Here’s why

22 mins; July 21, 2021

Quebec’s Bill 21 from a Canadian Muslim woman's perspective

23 mins; July 20, 2021

Flights of Fancy: How billionaires are making space tourism blast off

16 mins; July 19, 2021

How accommodating pets at domestic violence shelters can save lives

16 mins; July 16, 2021

Are conservatorships toxic? How Britney Spears’ cry for help forced a conversation in America

20 mins; July 15, 2021

The bugs that are ticking us off this summer

21 mins; July 14, 2021

Ransomware: How an expert deals with a breach

20 mins; July 13, 2021

By classifying workers as contractors, do Uber and Lyft avoid millions in taxes?

16 mins; July 12, 2021

How Toronto is using ‘playbooks’ and vaccines to reopen

17 mins; July 09, 2021

New Sick Kids study reveals the pandemic’s heavy toll on children

16 mins; July 08, 2021

New Sick Kids study reveals the pandemic's heavy toll on children

16 mins; July 08, 2021

A wave of terrifying racist attacks in Alberta sheds light on Canada’s Islamophobia problem

16 mins; July 07, 2021

Garment factory workers were already exploited and abused. COVID made it worse

23 mins; July 06, 2021

The neuroscience of lockdowns and reopening

15 mins; July 05, 2021

Why Canada is dreaming of a World Cup berth

22 mins; July 02, 2021

Should we cancel Canada Day?

18 mins; June 30, 2021

The shows will finally go on: Reopening and live performances

20 mins; June 29, 2021

Why optometrists and the province aren’t seeing eye to eye

15 mins; June 28, 2021

Pride Hamilton is facing police at human rights tribunal. The result will set a strong precedent

13 mins; June 25, 2021

Two-dose summer? Many Canadians haven’t had their first dose

18 mins; June 24, 2021

UK is a ‘crystal ball’ of Delta variant spread. Is Canada learning from it?

17 mins; June 23, 2021

The A-Z of AstraZeneca science, guidance and (mis)communications

20 mins; June 22, 2021

A lack of representation in the great Canadian outdoors and how we change that

25 mins; June 21, 2021

Kevin Donovan talks about his ‘Death in a Small Town’ series

22 mins; June 18, 2021

The stress test, young buyers and the housing crisis

24 mins; June 17, 2021

Nuclear option: why Ford used the Notwithstanding Clause and what it means

15 mins; June 16, 2021

Everything you need to know about the second dose

17 mins; June 15, 2021

Canada’s Islamophobia problem is real. It’s time we dealt with it

19 mins; June 14, 2021

How Trump’s big lies loom over the U.S. government

20 mins; June 11, 2021

‘Walk the walk.’ Canada’s Muslims want action, not words against rising Islamophobia

24 mins; June 10, 2021

The reckoning and push for ‘X University’ at a Toronto school

14 mins; June 09, 2021

Your one (or two?) dose summer guide to reopenings and travel

21 mins; June 08, 2021

Buttergate, the dairy conspiracy theory, explained

18 mins; June 07, 2021

How some restaurants opened and adapted during the pandemic and what’s next

21 mins; June 04, 2021

COVID case counts decline but a variant could be rising

17 mins; June 03, 2021

How radar technology found the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children, renewing calls for more searches and truth

16 mins; June 02, 2021

The unmarked graves of Indigenous children and Canada’s shameful legacy of residential schools

24 mins; June 01, 2021

Domestic violence victims’ social housing applications highlight shadow pandemic during COVID-19

14 mins; May 31, 2021

Bathrooms and porta-potties are pandemic essentials. Why don’t they stay open?

14 mins; May 28, 2021

Waxing poetic with Ontario’s first Poet Laureate, Randell Adjei

16 mins; May 27, 2021

The case for outdoor graduation ceremonies

21 mins; May 26, 2021

How a COVID ‘blindspot’ keeps essential workplaces dangerous

15 mins; May 25, 2021

Start spreading the news. New York is back

15 mins; May 21, 2021

When is a COVID layoff actually constructive dismissal?

12 mins; May 20, 2021

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