The Current

Mar 30 2025 231 ep. 19 mins 6.9k
The Current Podcast artwork

Three stories to expand your worldview, delivered daily. Matt Galloway cuts through a sea of choice to bring you stories that transcend the news cycle. Conversations with big thinkers, household names, and people living the news. An antidote to algorithms that cater to what you already know — and a meeting place for diverse perspectives. In its 20 years, the Current has become a go-to place for stories that shape and entertain us. Released daily, Monday to Friday.

Some of the topics we’ve covered recently, include: the Canadian Federal election and the party leaders running for Prime Minister; namely current Prime Minister and Liberal leader Mark Carney, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. Also, how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are impacting the Canadian election; tariffs threatening Canadian jobs, especially farmers, truckers, auto workers, energy sector workers, construction workers and steel and aluminum workers; raising the cost of living, inflation, and unemployment in Canada; straining cross-border relationships, including the historic friendship between Windsor and Detroit. We also discuss “Team Canada,” interprovincial trade, and the rise of “elbows up” Canadian patriotism; Canadian sovereignty and backlash to ‘51st state’ threats; on the world stage, including our relationship with China, Ukraine, India; security and our status in the Five Eyes spy network, NATO and NORAD, and shifting global alliances in general.

Other recent topics include: the liquidation of Hudson’s Bay; the surge in measles cases, hair loss drug finasteride, extremist network 764, protests against Elon Musk and Tesla; Starlink and the rural internet; the turmoil around Israel and Gaza’s ceasefire; more adults with ADHD, Blue Ghost on the moon, genetically modified pig organs; aging well, wellness, dementia and long term care, as well as cancer and “commonsense oncology,” Greenland and Arctic sovereignty, cuts to USAID; Canada’s critical minerals; inflation; mortgages; opioids and Fentanyl, parenting, Canada’s best vacation spots, teens ditching social media; crypto power brokers in the White House; NASA’s new telescope and the making of a 3D map of the universe.

Some of the stand-out guests we’ve had on recently: acclaimed author Salman Rushdie; Basketball star Demar Derozan; comedian Mark Critch; music legend Bob Ezrin; addictions advocate Scott Oake; Sapiens writer Yuval Noah Harari; Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha; CBC’s new CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard; Chef Yotam Ottolenghi; best-selling author Louise Penny, Fashion journalist Jeanne Beker; On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder; former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew; Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, author and former spouse of the Prime Minister; MSNBC’s Chris Hayes; Alberta Premier Danielle Smith; Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell; godfather of AI Yoshua Bengio; Xena star Lucy Lawless; bestselling author and Prof G Pod host Scott Galloway; Trump nephew and critic Fred Trump III; former prime minister Joe Clark; The Certainty Illusion author Tim Caulfied; Indigenous author Tanya Talaga; tech insider and Pivot podcast host Kara Swisher; and NWT Premier R.J. Simpson.

The Current is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — and has recently recorded live shows about the Canadian election in Surrey and Burnaby BC. And shows to come in Oshawa and the 905, Red Deer, Alberta, Quebec City and Halifax.

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The Current’s travel bucket list: Vote for your favourite!

Mar 30 2025 20 mins  
We asked for your favourite Canadian vacation spots for The Current’s travel bucket list — and you certainly delivered, with more than 2,000 submissions. Rick Mercer joins Matt Galloway to unveil the shortlist of 20 amazing locations, and explain how you can vote for your favourite.

Is the election pitting generations against each other?

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The FBI agent who infiltrated neo-Nazi biker gangs

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How a bear attack story helped this author understand her cancer diagnosis

Mar 27 2025 25 mins  
Claire Cameron has been obsessed with bears since hearing about a bear attack while she was working in Ontario’s Algonquin Park as a teenager. But when she was diagnosed with cancer, Cameron revisited the details of that attack and the wilderness environment that’s shaped much of her life. She tells Galloway about her new memoir How to Survive a Bear Attack, and what facing dea

Which will matter more in this election, policy or vibes?

Mar 27 2025 19 mins  
Promises and policies will matter in this election — but in the face of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, could a strongman persona be more important? CBC's chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, senior reporter with The Globe and Mail Stephanie Levitz, and Toronto Star political reporter Ryan Tumilty are here to discuss that and break down the first few days of t

Why Yale professor Jason Stanley is moving to Canada

Mar 27 2025 20 mins  
Jason Stanley, a Yale University professor who studies fascism, is moving to Canada after seeing too many signs from his own work in the American political landscape. Stanley tells Matt Galloway about how he hopes to protect democracy from north of the border — and issues a warning to his new Canadian neighbors.

Could this psychedelic drug help curb opioid addiction?

Mar 26 2025 22 mins  
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U.S. officials spark outrage with planned visit to Greenland

Mar 26 2025 19 mins  
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Tariffs are wreaking havoc on trucking and construction in Surrey

Mar 25 2025 21 mins  
Local industries are looking for a leader who will support their business interests. We hear from truckers hauling goods back and forth across the border, plus home builders who say tariff threats are scaring off prospective buyers, about how they hope to see the next prime minister stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump.