
Inside the Village - A weekly podcast featuring newsmakers in Ontario
Where all news is local, and no topic is off-limits. Join us every week for a unique podcast that explores the most important stories of all: the ones right in your neighbourhood. A rundown of the best local journalism—big and small—from Village Media newsrooms across Ontario.
Episodes
106 episodes
INSIDE THE VILLAGE: For online gamblers, Ontario is the new Vegas
This week on the podcast: As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, nearly half of all viewers in Ontario are expected to place a bet — a process that's never been easier, or more enticing.Welcome back to Inside the Village, a...
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27:33

Inside the Village: Election campaign? There's a cap for that
This week on our 'Inside the Village' podcast: Ontario will be in election-campaign mode over the next four weeks — and your local news outlet will be covering every step of the race.Welcome back to Inside the Village...
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26:49

Amid doctor shortage, medical misinformation has gone viral
How bad is the country’s doctor shortage? So bad that the medical misinformation business is flourishing online. Alarming new data released by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) shows that more than one-third of Canadians are getting he...
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29:33

Why don’t we care about the homeless crisis?
A new report has painstakingly tallied the number of Ontarians who experienced homelessness last year — and the figure is staggering: 81,515. If things stay the same, that number is expected to double over the next decade (and potentially r...
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28:06

Kathleen Wynne weighs in — on Trump, Trudeau and tariffs
Frisco and Scott are back for a fourth season of Inside the Village — and we kick things off with a blast from the past. Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is now a professor at the University of Toronto and has plenty of thoughts on the...
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32:59

We’ve hit 100 episodes! Let’s reminisce
Launched in 2022, this news podcast has covered a lot of ground. As we mark the end of 2024 — and the release of our 100th episode — we take a look back at some or our most indelible interviews, including Ted Nolan, Gurdeep Pandher, Prime Minis...
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57:42

You’ve got no mail (but we have an interesting guest)
Delivery date unknown. That’s the news at the moment when it comes to when a deal will be reached in the ongoing Canada Post strike. Both sides remain far apart on the key issues that triggered this labour dispute, and no new mediation is sched...
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31:44

GST holiday? Not everyone is celebrating
It’s a tough time to be a small business owner in Canada. Surviving the pandemic was a massive hurdle in any community, town or city. Now, the stakes seem just as high with the impact of the two week old Canada Post strike, potential tariffs on...
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32:58

You throw like a girl! Damn right
A new report says girls are closing the gap with boys when it comes to playing organized sports in Canada. A full 63 per cent of girls are playing sports weekly, compared to 68 per cent of boys, the report found. Although the numbers are up, th...
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34:27

The Taylor effect: Eras Tour hits Toronto
When all is said and done, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour will have grossed over $2.2 billion. Every community on her tour has cashed in the concerts — including Toronto, where Swift is about to open a six-night run at Rogers Centre starting Thursday...
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26:23

EXCLUSIVE: Justin Trudeau joins us for a chat — and insists he has no intention of quitting
Talk about good timing. On the heels of a caucus revolt, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with Frisco and Scott for a wide-ranging interview that was scheduled well in advance of all the political drama this week on Parliament Hill. Asked...
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39:08

Here’s a topic nobody is talking about: housing
Is it time to give up the dream of homeownership? Amid skyrocketing prices, scarce supply and longer mortgage terms, the goal of owning a home is slipping away from many Canadians — especially young ones. Diana Mok, a professor at the Universit...
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31:10

The cost of getting cancer can be staggering
Fighting cancer is hard enough. When the bills pile up, it’s that much worse. Anyone who has been touched by cancer knows it turns your life upside down — forcing people to take time off work, pay travel bills and incur other out-of-pocket expe...
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27:23

Code Blue: Hallway health care in Ontario getting worse
Internal government data shows that in January, nearly 2,000 patients per day were kept in ‘unconventional spaces’ like hallways and break rooms in Ontario hospitals — the highest number ever recorded. Through a Freedom of Information Request, ...
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30:49

Huge court settlement rights historic wrong
After years of court battles, the federal and provincial governments recently reached a $10-billion settlement with beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty. Simply put, members of those 21 First Nations in northern Ontario did not see an inc...
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30:38

The overdose crisis is about to get a whole lot worse
As expected, the Ford government has announced it is shutting down multiple supervised drug consumption sites across the province — and banning all new ones. For harm-reduction advocates, the decision flies in the face of years of scientific re...
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34:12

Running on Empty: Ontario hospital workers have nothing left in the tank
An alarming new study is out that shines a bright spotlight on the staffing crisis in Ontario hospitals. One of the study’s co-authors is Dr. James Brophy, a researcher at the University of Windsor, who joins Frisco and Scott on this week’s Ins...
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25:05

Looking Back: The midway point of season three of ITV
This week on the show, somehow Frisco had some holidays approved so Scott and Derek have taken over the show. Given that it's the halfway point of the season, they decided to look back at some of the great guests that have appeared on ITV so fa...
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29:46

In search of “super agers” — the rare people who never seem to grow old
Do you know a super ager? Maybe you are one? To be honest, we hadn’t even heard of the term until a few days ago — but we wanted to learn more, so we reached out to a person who knows a whole lot: Dr. Angela Roberts, a University of Western Ont...
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36:29

Money 101: The real reason financial literacy is now mandatory in high school
This week on Inside the Village, Frisco and Scott talk dollars and cents — and more specifically, whether high school students in Ontario know enough about how money works. The Ford government recently announced that financial literacy would be...
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33:42

What the puck? Way fewer Canadian kids are playing hockey these days
Frisco and Scott are back for another week of Inside the Village — and in the thick of the Stanley Cup finals, it’s only fitting that they talk some hockey. More specifically, why are fewer Canadian kids choosing to lace em up? Stats show parti...
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37:26

Not everyone is smiling about Canada’s new national dental care program
The federal government recently introduced its new Canadian Dental Care Plan, with the goal of providing oral health care to all. But so far, not everyone is smiling. Thousands of dentists across the country have not opted into the plan because...
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33:51

Big phish: Inside the multi-billion dollar fraud industry
From grandparent scams to romance frauds, phishing has become a daily part of life — forcing all of us to be constantly looking over our “digital shoulder.” Last year alone, Canadians lost more than $500 million to fraud (and that’s just the sm...
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28:51

School unplugged? We dissect Ontario’s new cellphone ban
Education Minister Stephen Lecce has announced a “comprehensive” crackdown on cellphones in schools that will take effect in September. According to the new rules, kids in kindergarten to Grade 6 will be required to keep phones on silent and ou...
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33:27
