The Decibel

When’s the last time going to see a movie was a cultural event? Director Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has people flocking to theatres for its star-studded cast and action-packed storytelling — but also because of the way it was made. The Odyssey is the first full-length feature shot entirely with IMAX film and getting a ticket to see it in ‘the best format’ has sent some Canadians on odysseys of the...

What does it mean to create music? Would you be able to tell if the sounds you were listening to weren’t made or sung by a human? Artists and supporters of the music industry are asking some of these existential questions, as technology in consumer generative AI has grown in leaps and bounds and record companies are settling legal battles with AI companies.

Josh O’Kane, Globe reporter on arts and business...

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50-per-cent tariff on more than 500 Canadian goods effective next month. This is far from the first time the Trump administration has threatened levies on Canada. But this time, the administration has pulled a lever that dates all the way back to the 1930s.

Today, Adrian Morrow, The Globe’s U.S. correspondent based in Washington, walks us through the Smoot-Hawley Act Trump ha...

Nearly 900 wildfires are burning across Canada, and early estimates suggest Ontario is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record. In Northwest Ontario, more than a dozen communities – most of which are First Nations – have been evacuated, with some people taken to places as far away as Niagara Falls. As fire seasons get worse, Indigenous people are disproportionately affected, but their historical practices of fo...

One of the key jobs of a prime minister is to help build out the story of what is Canada. And while Mark Carney was considered a political neophyte when he became Prime Minister, he’s proven to be adept in using political symbolism to build out his version of what it means to be Canadian at this moment in time.

Shannon Proudfoot, a feature writer for The Globe, pieces together the actions, speeches and policies that Prime Min...

There are several development projects underway for AI data centres in Canada, with plans for many, many more. The Canadian government is behind these projects as it tries to encourage Canadians to adopt the technology and increase Canada’s digital sovereignty by housing data within our borders. But there is a lot of opposition to these data centres from the communities where they’d be built, including in Hamilton, and ...

Pitch and Power is The Globe and Mail's World Cup podcast.

In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s England was a country under strain, marked by industrial decline, social unrest and sharp political divides. In that climate, English soccer became a national problem rather than a point of pride. Stadiums crumbled, hooliganism spread and tragedy struck at Bradford, Heysel, and Hillsborough. The game felt like a relic: toxic, unsafe, ...

A lot of attention has been given to the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran’s closure in response to attacks by the U.S. and Israel. But another key strait in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, has also been threatened with a shutdown, and it’s similarly vital to trade.

Thomas Juneau is a professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. As an expert on Y...

Evacuation orders are under way in communities in northwestern Ontario, as more than 140 wildfires rage in the region. Meanwhile, smoke from the fires has drifted south, blanketing cities like Toronto in a yellow haze. Fire officials confirm more than 4.7 million acres have burned throughout Canada this year. As wildfires have become a regular occurrence in Canada, questions about what can be done to mitigate the damage and protect...

A new deal between Canada and the U.S. resolves issues around the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is now set to open on July 27. The bridge – which will become the second bridge connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich., – nearly opened last month, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony was quickly called off after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to open the American side of the bridge. A month later, the federa...

The 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., led to a major diplomatic rift between Canada and India. Mr. Nijjar was a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist. Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of being involved in the killing. Four people had previously been arrested in connection to Nijjar’s killing. Now, U.S. officials have unsealed an indictment alleging gang leader Lawrence...

A lot of Canadians struggle to take their allotted, paid vacation days, according to new research, meaning those days go unused. It’s not just internal pressures making people skip a holiday, it’s coming from higher up – from managers’ attitudes towards vacation all the way up to the state of the economy.

Today, Globe reporter Zosia Bielski explains the reasons why Canadians aren’t taking their paid da...

In the heat of USA ’94, Roberto Baggio carried the nation of Italy on his shoulders— and then saw it all slip away from twelve yards. This episode explores one of soccer’s most spellbinding talents and the penalty kick that turned his decorated legacy into a lingering question mark. But this isn’t only about one miss. 

Host Eoin O’Callaghan and guests John Foot, Ben Lyttleton and Kevin Kilbane exp...

Decisions in two landmark trials in the U.S. found social media companies responsible for harms to youth on their platforms, earlier this year. They follow years of growing concern about the dangers that social media poses to young people. And now, those concerns are starting to show up in policy decisions. Back in December, Australia banned those under 16 years old from creating accounts on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Other...

Canada’s Big Six banks are doing very well financially – their stocks are up an average of 62 per cent over the past year. In previous years, five or 10 per cent increases would be considered good for the banks. Financial reporter and columnist Tim Kiladze says this development is “absurd” and “baffling”.

Today, Tim explains why the banks are doing so well. (Spoiler alert: it’s connected to...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been front and centre of two pipeline proposal announcements in the past week. First, she and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new southern route for the proposed West Coast pipeline on Thursday. Just a few days later, on Monday, she and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a proposal for a new 3,300-kilometre pipeline that would carry crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Sarnia, Ontario. ...

The value of copper has sky-rocketed in the last number of years. The pink orange metal has been in high demand for data centres, telecommunications services and EV charging stations. 

But the increased value of copper has led to a rising number of thefts. These incidents have caused internet blackouts, disrupted phone lines, and have cost thousands of dollars in repairs. 

Irene Galea is the Globe’s telecommunicatio...

A recent report from the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s electronic eavesdropping agency, revealed it conducted cyberattacks to disrupt the online fentanyl supply chain. The report also detailed the agency’s growth; its budget will surpass $2-billion in 2026–27, up from just over $1-billion in 2024–25. The organization is one of the two main spy agencies in Canada and yet it remains relativel...

Interprovincial trade within Canada is complicated. Existing barriers mean that many goods, like alcohol, often can’t be sold across provincial and territorial lines. Prime Minister Mark Carney has been pushing for ‘one Canadian economy’ in the wake of attempts to diversify away from the U.S. Opening up interprovincial alcohol sales, especially direct to consumer sales, have been a litmus test for this vision. But...