The Decibel

Personal connections have always mattered when it comes to political lobbying, but as the trade war ramps up, and global interests try to influence U.S. policy as set by U.S. President Donald Trump, industry sources told The Globe that those connections at the executive level matter now more than ever.
Today, Irene Galea is on the show. She’s a business reporter for The Globe, and she was in Washington, D.C. in the lead up to Canada’s countertariffs coming into effect. She’s here to talk about how the dynamics of lobbying have changed and what that tells us about power and influence in the trade war.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scary bond market headlines – warnings of an impending financial crisis – have been in the news for weeks now thanks to a rise in U.S. Treasury yields. This market is the bedrock for much of the global financial system and changes in it can ripple across governments and companies and right into people’s bank accounts.
Scott Barlow is a columnist for Globe Investor. He explains the worry about the current rising bond yields, what’s behind the increase and what kind of impact it may have on your life.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With Canada’s countertariffs coming into effect on roughly $28-billion worth of U.S. goods on Tuesday, the trade war between Canada and the U.S. is heating up. With neither side indicating whether they plan to return to the negotiating table anytime soon, we wanted to look at how Carney’s goal to drum up foreign investment is going.
Tim Shufelt is the Globe’s investment reporter. He’s here to talk about whether Carney’s bet on foreign investment is working, which sectors are seeing an increase in investments, and what this says about the resilience of Canada’s economy.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A growing and worrying trend is happening in Canadian schools – student violence against teachers is on the rise. Data from school boards across Canada supports this finding, with one study finding that the modern-day classroom is a hazardous workplace. But the reasons why violence is more common are complex, and educators, school boards and unions aren’t always in agreement on how to fix it.
Dave McGinn, The Globe’s education reporter, joins the show to recount the experiences of teachers who’ve faced assault, the reasons why violence is surging and what ideas are being considered to address a nationwide problem in the education system.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A big issue hangs over university students and professors, and that’s artificial intelligence. There are some rules and guidelines, but professors are largely left on their own to determine how much they want to adopt AI or not – and that’s created a wide range of opinions.
Today, we hear from five Canadian university professors about how they’re thinking about education and students in the world of AI. We speak with Amanda Perry, professor of literature at Champlain College-Saint Lambert and Concordia University; Matt Dinan, associate professor and director of the Great Books program at St Thomas University in New Brunswick; Sarah Elaine Eaton, professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary; Adegboyega Ojo, professor and Canada Research Chair in AI Governance at Carleton University; and Mike Welland, professor of Engineering Physics at McMaster University.
This episode originally aired May 4, 2026.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.