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.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 22 minutes
- Episodes
- 1077
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Buttergate, the dairy conspiracy theory, explained
Guest: Karon Liu, food reporter for the Toronto Star
What’s going on with Canadian butter? For more than a year, hawk-eyed bakers, chefs and food experts stuck at home have noticed something odd, a h…
How some restaurants opened and adapted during the pandemic and what’s next
It sounds counterintuitive, but according to some research, more restaurants opened than closed in Toronto during the pandemic. Data from Yelp, found by Shauna Brail and her team for the Toronto: Aft…
COVID case counts decline but a variant could be rising
Guest: Ed Tubb, Toronto Star journalist focused on COVID-19 data
With declining case counts and other positives indicators, it looks as though Ontario might have finally turned the corner of the deva…
How radar technology found the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children, renewing calls for more searches and truth
An Indigenous archaeologist reflects on the discovery in Kamloops, explains how radar technology helps find burial sites in a culturally respectful way and the reckoning that will follow in finding t…
The unmarked graves of Indigenous children and Canada’s shameful legacy of residential schools
The horrific discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation grounds is a glaring r…
Domestic violence victims’ social housing applications highlight shadow pandemic during COVID-19
Ontario law gives people facing domestic violence, abuse and trafficking priority access to social housing. Those applications spiked by more than 50 per cent last year — a disturbing reflection of t…
Bathrooms and porta-potties are pandemic essentials. Why don’t they stay open?
Guest: Shawn Micallef, contributing columnist on Toronto and urbanism, Toronto Star
Public parks and city streets have been a lifeline for Torontonians, cooped up in their homes and apartments, throu…
Waxing poetic with Ontario’s first Poet Laureate, Randell Adjei
Ontario’s first Poet Laureate, spoken word artist Randell Adjei is on “This Matters” to talk about his life, his work and his plans to bring beauty and poetry into our lives during these exceptionall…
The case for outdoor graduation ceremonies
Guests: Anoosha Keshav, Grade 12 student and Kim Moran, CEO, Children’s Mental Health Ontario
Ontario is slowly reopening and the school year is coming to its close. For the high school graduating cl…
How a COVID ‘blindspot’ keeps essential workplaces dangerous
Guest: Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star’s Work and Wealth Reporter
In COVID’s third wave, workplaces are the single largest outbreak settings, according to Ontario’s provincial data. More than 23,500…
Start spreading the news. New York is back
Guest: Edward Keenan, The Star’s Washington Bureau Chief. New York, America’s biggest city, officially reopened this week after a year of devastation, grief and loss as one of the worst hit cities by…
When is a COVID layoff actually constructive dismissal?
An Ontario judge has recently ruled that an employee of an ophthalmic clinic who was laid off early in the pandemic was actually terminated, and eligible to sue for constructive dismissal. Some legal…
Why it’s time to rethink outdoor COVID risk
Being indoors is a well-known recipe for COVID-19 transmission: poor ventilation, aerosol particles in the air and prolonged exposure. But more than a year into the pandemic, the evidence is clear th…
Meet Vaccine Hunters, the volunteer team helping Canadians get their jabs
Canada’s vaccine has been plagued by problems. Fast-changing rules, buggy websites and last minute openings have turned finding a jab into a holy grail-like quest. Through it all, Vaccine Hunters Can…
20 million years: Human potential lost to COVID can be measured in years
As we all struggle with the weight of what we have lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists say you can measure that loss by calculating the years of unlived life that COVID took from those who …
The truth is out there: How Canada tracks UFOs
The minute you mention Unidentified Flying Objects or UFOs, there are some who are ready to custom fit you for a tin foil hat. But the truth is there are more people who are taking this very seriousl…
Canada’s one-time immigration program is a doorway to dreams but with a deadline
A new pathway designed for recent international graduates and essential migrant workers already in Canada is offering permanent residency to 90,000 people. There is a limited time window for applicat…
AstraZeneca and second thoughts on second doses
Just as Gen X went from being slackers to pragmatic when the vaccine eligibility hit the 40+ age demographic in Ontario and they rushed out to get jabbed, the AstraZeneca vaccine has gone from being …
Why COVID will stay when the pandemic ends
Despite more vaccinations around the world, infectious disease experts are coming to a consensus that COVID, as a viral strain, isn’t going anywhere soon. Instead, it’s likely to be endemic, meaning …
Daycare testing: Making sure the kids are all right
Ask any parent with young children in daycare and they’ll have plenty of COVID-19 testing stories for you. With higher rates of COVID transmissions, many parents and families have caught the virus th…