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PODCAST

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.

news documentary

All Episodes

20:21

The Worst Commute

This Matters ·

2025/10/10

Guest: Andy Takagi, Toronto Star transportation reporter Many of us know this pain too well: waiting on a very late bus or crawling between subway stations with no idea when we’ll get to where we're trying to go. Long commutes can famously take a real toll on your quality of life and Andy Takagi is walking a mile - or, rather, commuting several miles - in the shoes of those who claim to have the worst commutes in the city. Andy shares insights from his written series on the subject, The Worst

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20:24

Inside Canada's biggest dark web drug bust

This Matters ·

2025/10/07

Guest: Omar Mosleh, Toronto Star reporter The RCMP says it has dismantled one of the largest dark web drug networks in Canadian history, a GTA-based group called RoadRunna that was allegedly shipping about 400 packages of drugs a week across Canada, including through Canada Post. Seven people from Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga are facing charges after officers seized 75 kilograms of cocaine, MDMA, heroin, meth, ketamine and more than 10,000 pills. But the RoadRunna bust is part of a larger

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20:09

We look at the Jays ALDS matchup against the New York...

This Matters ·

2025/10/03

In honour of the Blue Jays playoff run starting tomorrow, we’re sharing an episode from our sister podcast Deep Left Field. Guest: RUSH frontman and Blue Jays fanatic Geddy Lee The Blue Jays are on the eve of their American League division series against the New York Yankees, which begins Saturday afternoon. We talk to the Jays' most famous fan, the lead singer, bassist and keyboardist from the legendary Canadian rock band Rush, who also happens to be a massive baseball geek. Geddy Lee shares his

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27:33

Truth and Reconciliation and the reality of...

This Matters ·

2025/09/30

Guest: Steve Teekens, Executive Director, Na-Me-Res, a Toronto-based Indigenous-run non-profit that provides temporary, transitional and permanent housing Indigenous people make up less than one per cent of Toronto’s population, but about 15 percent of the city’s homeless. Nationally, they are around 5 percent of the population yet account for more than a third of those without homes. These numbers reflect the ongoing legacy of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and systems that continue to

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31:10

Has Big Tech rewired Gen Z?

This Matters ·

2025/09/26

Guest: Ava Smithing, advocacy director at the Young People's Alliance Young people today have been raised with the most powerful tools in human history at their fingertips. Entire childhoods have played out online, with algorithms acting as babysitter, therapist, and mirror through which they see themselves. And now, we’re seeing what happens when the first generation raised on smart phones comes of age; shaped by platforms designed to manipulate attention and monetize minds. Ava Smithing was just

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23:42

Why Toronto's garbage problem stinks for everyone

This Matters ·

2025/09/23

Guests: Star journalists Ben Spurr and Mahdis Habibinia The Star’s City Hall bureau has been digging deep into the garbage with its Waste Not, Want Not series, examining how Toronto handles its trash and how the choices we make shape our city. In this episode, City Hall Bureau Chief Ben Spurr explains where most of our garbage actually ends up and what options the city has next, with its main landfill nearing capacity in just over a decade. Then, reporter Mahdis Habibinia shares what she learned

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26:58

Serial vandalism of Toronto speed cameras are about...

This Matters ·

2025/09/19

Lately, speed cameras in this city and neighbouring cities have become a symbol and target of people’s rage. The Parkside Drive speed camera was erected when this spot saw a horrific and fatal crash in 2021, due to speeding. It is now Toronto’s most prolific speed cam and was recently cut down by vandals for the seventh time in eleven months. And earlier this month 16 cameras across the city were taken out in a single night. This week, three more have come down. The City of Vaughan has decided to

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25:09

Why is Canada changing its immigration policy?

This Matters ·

2025/09/16

Guest: Nicholas Keung, Toronto Star Immigration Reporter Canada is quietly but significantly changing course on immigration. As the federal government moves to reduce the number of non-permanent residents, critics warn this may signal a harder shift in policy, with growing efforts to tighten border controls and slow down immigration processing. Questions are mounting about how these changes will affect the labour market, the economy, and the people caught in the middle. In this episode, immigration

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31:20

The cycle of Toronto's gun violence that statistics...

This Matters ·

2025/09/14

Guest: Jason Miller, Toronto Star crime reporter On Aug.16, eight-year-old JahVai Roy was shot and killed in his North York apartment when a bullet pierced his bedroom window. A teenager has since been charged, and Toronto police are looking for two more teen suspects. But for JahVai’s family, the trauma didn’t end that night. They’re now displaced, grieving, and navigating a system with few real supports. In this episode, we look at how gun violence continues to disproportionately impact Toronto’s

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23:10

Listen: Are Ontario's new stricter background checks ...

This Matters ·

2025/09/09

Guests: Star reporters Amy Dempsey Raven and Megan Ogilvie A new Ontario law was meant to protect vulnerable children in care, but it may be deepening the very crisis it set out to solve. The province has expanded police background checks for people working or volunteering in the child welfare system. But under the new rules, it is not just criminal records that show up. Any documented interaction with police, including traffic stops, noise complaints or mental health calls, could be flagged.Experts

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28:53

Talking TIFF at 50 with those in the know

This Matters ·

2025/09/05

This year marks TIFF’s 50th anniversary. The festival has done many things over the years - it’s been a bellwether for industry talent along with changing how movies are made and marketed. It’s also really helped shape the identity of this city. Today we speak with two veterans who have been covering TIFF for decades. Peter Howell, long-time Toronto Star film critic remembers his first time covering TIFF in the 70’s all the way up until present day; what’s changed, what’s stayed the same (for better

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16:47

Are financial landlords reshaping Toronto's rental...

This Matters ·

2025/08/29

Guest: Manuela Vega, Toronto Star housing reporter A new study has found that financial landlords are filing eviction applications at much higher rates than other types of landlords in Toronto, especially after acquiring new buildings. In one case, more than half the tenants in a building received an eviction notice in a single year. Experts say this reflects a wider business strategy and it’s reshaping the rental market, raising concerns about affordability, and who gets access to housing in this

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24:01

Elbows in? Why Carney pulled back on tariffs with Trump

This Matters ·

2025/08/26

Guests: Star reporters Raisa Patel and Josh Rubin Prime Minister Mark Carney is pulling back on Canada’s trade fight with the U.S., dropping retaliatory tariffs on goods covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) even as Donald Trump escalates with new penalties on Canadian steel, aluminum, and hundreds of manufactured products. It’s a sharp turn from Carney’s “elbows up” campaign promise, and it’s raising questions in business and political circles alike. We unpack the

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15:53

Record enrolment, shrinking budgets. Why the math...

This Matters ·

2025/08/22

Guest: Kris Rushowy, Toronto Star reporter It’s back-to-school season and Ontario universities are packed like never before. A record number of more than 84,000 first-year students are starting this fall. But even with record enrolment, schools are facing an $80 million shortfall. For years, international students have been the financial safety net, paying up to six times the tuition of Ontario students. Now, with Ottawa tightening immigration rules and visas harder to get, those numbers are

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20:43

Young, qualified and still jobless in Toronto

This Matters ·

2025/08/19

Listen here or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can at thestar.com/subscribe. Guest: Nathan Bawaan, Toronto Star reporter Youth unemployment in Toronto is at its highest level in decades outside of the pandemic and it’s not just a tough job market. A new report reveals that discrimination based on race, age, gender, language, and even postal code is one of the biggest barriers

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19:55

Long COVID, the pandemic that never ended for...

This Matters ·

2025/08/15

Guest: Kevin Jiang, Toronto Star reporter Nearly one in five Canadians who had COVID—more than more than 3 million people—went on to develop long COVID, also called post COVID 19 Condition (PCC). Symptoms can include fatigue, brain fog, breathing problems and heart damage, sometimes lasting for years. In Ontario there is still no coordinated plan for care. Funding for specialized clinics has disappeared, rehab services often have to be paid for out of pocket and most patients report getting little

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16:04

Could Doug Ford's 401 tunnel fix gridlock or is it...

This Matters ·

2025/08/12

Guest: Andy Takagi, Toronto Star transportation reporter Premier Ford says he’s pitching an unprecedented plan to tackle one of the GTA’s biggest headaches; gridlock on Highway 401, the busiest road in North America. His vision is a single three-level tunnel running under the highway, which could stretch from Brampton to Scarborough. He outlined the concept at an unrelated press conference this week, but he’s been talking about it for nearly a year. Ford says this will serve people for decades to

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22:04

What this family doctor wants you to know about...

This Matters ·

2025/08/08

Guest: Dr. David Barber, Chair OMA’s General and Family Practice Two million people in Ontario do not have access to a family physician, and that number is expected to more than double by 2026. At the same time, many doctors are stepping away from comprehensive care, citing burnout, bureaucracy, and financial strain. In this episode, Dr. David Barber shares what is happening inside the system through his own lived experience. He is a family physician in Kingston and chair of the Ontario Medical

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26:00

Inside the Premiers summit as Trump's tariff deadline...

This Matters ·

2025/07/29

Guest: Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief, Robert Benzie Last week, Canada’s premiers wrapped up their annual Council of the Federation meeting in Ontario’s cottage country, against the backdrop of serious political and economic pressure. With Trump’s threat of tariffs on August 1 looming large, and Prime Minister Mark Carney facing his first major leadership test, the summit was framed as a show of strength and unity. But was that solidarity real behind the scenes? And how prepared are the provinces

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23:06

Reflecting on the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial

This Matters ·

2025/07/25

Guest: Toronto Star court reporter Jacques Gallant All five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior hockey team accused of sexual assault have been found not guilty, ending one of the most closely watched trials in Canadian sports. The case centred on a woman known publicly only as “E.M.” due to a publication ban. Her allegations against the players shook the sport, triggered years of scrutiny, reopened a police investigation, and fueled a national reckoning over Hockey Canada’s handling of

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1,088 results

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