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PODCAST

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

Village Media Inc.

In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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All Episodes

18:52

CLOSER LOOK: How scammers are using AI to rip you off

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/24

Send us a text Back in June, police in Barrie issued what has become an all-too-common warning: beware of fraudsters. But this particular story was especially shocking. A local senior had fallen victim to an elaborate scam that ended when he handed over $725,000 worth of gold bars to a stranger in his driveway. “The reality is, sadly, this gold will never be seen again and the dollar value it represents can never be recovered,” police said in a news release. If it feels like fraud cases are...

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26:56

Nate Erskine-Smith tells us why Bonnie Crombie needs...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/23

Send us a text Bonnie Crombie is set to face a leadership review at the Ontario Liberal Party’s annual general meeting in September — and one former rival has some well-publicized thoughts about what should happen. In a Substack post last week, Nate Erskine-Smith — a Toronto MP who finished second in the 2023 leadership race — said Crombie should resign if she doesn’t receive at least two-thirds of support from Liberal delegates. “We need change,” Erskine-Smith wrote, adding “that renewal s...

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12:48

CLOSER LOOK: Is Canadian fentanyl really ‘pouring’...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/22

Send us a text As trade negotiations drag on, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to insist that tariffs are justified because Canada isn’t doing enough to stop fentanyl from “pouring” over the border into American communities. The data doesn’t seem to back up the president’s claim — and neither does the evidence seen by one of Ontario’s top cops. During a recent episode of our ‘Closer Look’ podcast, we asked OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique to weigh in on Trump’s claim. He called i...

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18:18

Trump looms large as Ford hosts fellow premiers in...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/21

Send us a text Canada’s premiers are gathered in cottage country this week for a series of meetings that all revolve around the same man: U.S. President Donald Trump. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, chair of the Council of the Federation, is hosting his counterparts at the Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka — with tariffs and trade at the top of the agenda. Earlier today, the premiers met with First Nations leaders concerned about Bill 5, which gives the province the power to speed up the development o...

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44:11

Canada’s steel industry is fighting for its life

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/18

Send us a text Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new measures this week to help support Canada’s struggling steel industry, which has been battered in recent months by Donald Trump’s trade war. The changes include restricting and reducing the amount of foreign steel imports — especially from China, which is notorious for illegally flooding the Canadian market with cheap steel — and prioritizing made-in-Canada steel for major domestic projects. Although welcome news, the industry is still...

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24:35

In a perfect world, every kid would go to summer camp

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/18

Send us a text For Erin Sharpe, summer camp turned out to be a defining moment in her life. The weeks she spent as a teenager at YMCA's Camp Wanakita taught her real-life lessons about teamwork, resilience and independence that still resonate today. "I learned a lot about myself that I didn't realize before, in terms of what I could do," she says. "And the bonding that came with the other people in the group, it definitely has stuck." Now a professor of recreation and leisure studies at Bro...

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28:26

Decades later, Terry Fox’s brother finishes his own...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/16

Send us a text Darrell Fox was only 17 years old when he accompanied his older brother, Terry, on what would become the most famous run in Canadian history. Last week — 45 years after Terry Fox was forced to end his Marathon of Hope near Thunder Bay — Darrell Fox completed a monumental journey of his own. He and a group of fellow cyclists pedalled from coast to coast (a 32-day journey that spanned more than 7,000 km) and raised more than $1 million for cancer research along the way. Now bac...

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21:44

The pandemic is long over — get back to the office

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/07/15

Send us a text In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new daily podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmak...

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21:49

First came the Stanley Cup win, then the viral video

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/06/28

Send us a text If you’re a hockey fan, you’ve no doubt seen this viral video by now: Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice rewarding his fourth-line forwards in the waning seconds of this year’s Stanley Cup final. “I want you three f—ing guys out there for the last shift,” said Maurice, in a behind-the-scenes moment recorded on the bench. “You throw your sh— off when we win this.” Maurice was acknowledging the fact that his grinders — A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich — had pla...

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21:16

Inside the largest fentanyl bust in OPP history

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/06/27

Send us a text In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new daily podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. On tonight’s episode: One-on-one with Ontario’s top cop. Earlier this month, the Ontario Provincial Police announced the largest fentanyl seizure in the force’s history: 38 kg, or more than 380,000 street doses o...

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21:24

Bill Barilko disappeared that summer, but his old...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/06/25

Send us a text Bill Barilko is a familiar name to hockey fans — a talented Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman who famously scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1951. But for most Canadians, Barilko is even more famous for his appearance in The Tragically Hip's hit song Fifty Mission Cap. Bill Barilko disappeared that summer He was on a fishing trip The last goal he ever scored, in overtime Won the Leafs the cup They didn't win another till 1962 The year he was discovered This week, Barilko's ...

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20:45

This new robot cleans Ontario beaches like a Zamboni

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/06/24

Send us a text No, that’s not a Zamboni on the shoreline. It’s a BeBot — Canada’s first remote-controlled beach cleaning robot. The unique device was unveiled this week by the not-for-profit group Pollution Probe, which plans to dispatch the contraption this summer to various beaches across Ontario. The vacuum-like robot — which covers 3,000 square meters per hour — targets food wrappers, bottles, cigarette butts and plastic fragments. Melissa De Young, the CEO of Pollution Probe, joi...

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25:07

Charlie Angus has some things to say to Donald Trump

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/06/23

Send us a text In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new daily podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmak...

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32:27

‘Nightmare’ finally over for man wrongfully charged...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/05/28

Send us a text Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: Free at last. A nightmare vacation for a Burlington, Ont. man has finally come to an end — 71 days after he was arrested in the Dominican Republic and wrongfully accused of drug trafficking. David Bennett was innocent all along, but even after local authorities withdrew the charges, he spent weeks waiting for permission to finally fly home....

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30:58

Is this the solution to countering Trump’s tariffs?

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/05/17

Send us a text Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: the urgent push to break down interprovincial trade barriers. Yes, you read that right: this week's show is a detailed discussion about interprovincial trade barriers. Why? Because a lot of people are trumpeting them as a key front in the battle against Donald Trump's punishing tariffs. WATCH: Mark Carney joins our podcast to talk Tru...

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29:28

Measles is back with a vengeance, and we all know why

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/05/10

Send us a text This week on our 'Inside the Village' podcast: Eradicated nearly three decades ago, measles cases are soaring — fuelled by COVID fatigue and misinformation that spreads faster than the virus itself. Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: The spread of measles misinformation. Eradicated nearly 30 years ago, measles is back with a vengeance. The highly contagious virus is making a...

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23:53

As election day looms, Mark Carney joins our podcast...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/04/25

Send us a text On Monday, Canadians will cast their ballots in what many are calling the most important election in generations. If you believe the polls, this is a tight two-horse race between Mark Carney’s Liberals and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. This morning, Carney visited Sault Ste. Marie for a campaign stop at Algoma Steel, the city’s largest employer. After the press conference, the Liberal Leader sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Village Media’s Inside the Village pod...

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33:01

Steve Paikin has spent decades preparing for this moment

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/04/12

Send us a text This week on our 'Inside the Village' podcast: The moderator for next week's English-language leaders' debate tells us how he gets ready, what can go wrong — and his strategy for keeping things fair. Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: Prepping for the big showdown. Next week will be a crucial one in the ongoing federal election race, as party leaders take the stage for back-...

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35:28

Buy Canadian? It feels so good — and might actually...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/03/29

Send us a text This week on our 'Inside the Village' podcast: As Donald Trump hits us with tariffs and muses about Canada becoming the 51st state, shoppers on this side of the border are punching back. Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: How to "Buy Canadian" — and why this boycott might actually stick. Although Donald Trump struck a much more respectful tone on Friday after a phone call wi...

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28:15

‘It's a nightmare,’ says wife of Ontario man facing...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/03/22

Send us a text This week on our 'Inside the Village' podcast: We speak to Jane Wilcox, who is fighting around the clock to clear her husband's name — and bring David Bennett home. Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. On this week's episode: A dream vacation spirals into a nightmare. Family and friends are rallying around a Burlington man who was arrested in the Dominican Republic earlier this month and accused of d...

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207 results

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