Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter
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.
Episodes
Tonight on Village Media's 'Closer Look' podcast: One of the greatest curlers of all time stops by our house for a sweeping conversation about her legendary career and new autobiography.
One of the greatest curlers of all time is in our house tonight.
Jennifer Jones — six-time national champ, two-time world champ, Olympic gold medallist — is set to release an autobiography that promises to leave no s...
Tonight on our new 'Closer Look' podcast: After multiple legal challenges, years of complaints and thousands in fines, the Town of Pelham is still grappling with the stench from local cannabis facilities.
In this case, residents can be forgiven for their blunt opinions.
For years, people in the Town of Pelham have lamented the incessant stench of weed in the air — the result of two large cannabis producti...
Tonight on Village Media's 'Closer Look' podcast: Barrie Police have charged a man with murdering and dismembering two people following an investigation inside a controversial homeless encampment.
The details are still trickling out, but what’s known so far is disturbing: A Barrie man is accused of murdering and dismembering two people after a police investigation that centred around a longstanding ...
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: Amid a summer heat wave, parents are calling on the province to create new regulations to deal with scorching temperatures in daycares and classrooms.
As heat waves continue to grip the province, parents are speaking out about the "sweltering" conditions inside some child-care centres.
The Trillium, Village Media's bureau at Queen's Park, report...
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: We dig a little deeper into Premier Ford's big idea to construct a massive, congestion-easing tunnel underneath Highway 401 in Toronto.
For a story about boring, this one has proven to be anything but.
Premier Doug Ford is determined as ever to dig a massive tunnel underneath Highway 401 in Toronto — telling reporters yesterday that he's spoken with "...
It's not everyday that the OPP launches an investigation targeting an Ontario mayor. But that's exactly what happened this week in North Bay, where Mayor Peter Chirico has been dogged by a spending scandal that has triggered plenty of headlines.
The controversy revolves around nearly $16,000 in questionable expenses charged to Chirico's city-issued corporate credit card, including dog food, cigarett...
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: Ontario's Liberal leader concedes that 'mistakes were made' during the last election, but she has every intention of steering her party into the next campaign.
Bonnie Crombie acknowledges that “mistakes were made” during the last provincial election, but the Liberal leader insists she is the best person to steer her party into the next campaign — wh...
Tonight on 'Closer Look': One of Canada's most recognized and respected journalists talks to us about his beloved Red Sox, his new podcast, and why he's excited to once again team up with Village Media.
Don’t use the word retired to describe Steve Paikin. He’s working as hard as ever.
The longtime anchor of TVO’s The Agenda, who recorded his final show last month after 19 seasons, has shifted hi...
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: What our Queen's Park team at The Trillium discovered about the chair of the PC Ontario Fund — and how Premier Ford reacted to the investigation.
"He could be the most powerful person in the province."
That's the way one source described Tony Miele, the long-serving chair of the PC Ontario Fund — the fundraising arm of Premier Doug Ford’s Progre...
Tonight on Village Media's new 'Closer Look' podcast: One month after masked men tried to steal a vehicle out of Doug Ford's driveway, a new report finds a major decline in reported auto thefts.
Last year, when the provincial and federal governments announced millions of dollars in funding to crack down on car thieves, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had a stern warning for would-be criminals: “We’re...
Remember back in 2018, when the United States, Canada and Mexico celebrated their successful bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup?
Now that the big event is less than a year away — and U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed a tariff war on his country’s closest trading partner — things have gotten a bit awkward.
Offside, to borrow a soccer term.
Political tensions, combined with Trump’s immigration crackdown, are th...
Donald Trump’s tariffs have triggered a lot of talk on this side of the border about building big — and the race is now on to kick-start major infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening Canada’s autonomy and economy.
How about a massive upgrade to Highways 11 and 17?
That is the pitch being made by the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), which this week called on the federal and provincial go...
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,” p...
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...
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 ...
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, wh...
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 ...
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 g...
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 m...
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 ...
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