Podcasts about Toronto Star

News & features from the Wednesday December 31st, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Tuesday December 30th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Monday December 29th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

DIALOGUES: Short Cuts to First Features" is a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Industry program featuring conversations with emerging directors who transitioned from making acclaimed short films (Short Cuts alumni) to directing their debut features, sharing insights on script development, collaboration, and overcoming challenges to build their filmmaking careers. It's a key part of the TIFF Industry Conference, focusing on practical advice and inspiration for filmmakers aiming to make that crucial jump to feature-length projects.  I had the grand pleasure to join alumni directors of TIFF Short Cuts and Industry Talent, Lloyd Lee Choi (Lucky Lu), Sasha Leigh Henry (Dinner with Friends), Taratoa Stappard (Mārama), and Eva Thomas (Nika & Madison), as they discuss their journeys from making short films to developing and directing their first features. Learn how they honed their scripts, found the collaborators and supporters they needed, and coped with practical challenges while protecting their creative visions. Lloyd Lee Choi is a Korean-Canadian filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He has directed the short films Same Old (22), which played the Festival, and Closing Dynasty (23). Earlier this year he received the TIFF–CBC Films Screenwriter Award for his screenplay Yakult Ajumma. Lucky Lu (25) is his feature film debut. Sasha Leigh Henry is a Toronto-based writer, director, and producer. Her short films include Love Bent (14), To Love and Back (16), Bitches Love Brunch (18), and the Festival Official Selection Sinking Ship (20). She also created, wrote, and directed the television show Bria Mack Gets a Life (22), which premiered at the Festival. Dinner With Friends (25) is her latest film. Taratoa Stappard was born in Aotearoa and lives in London. He has directed the shorts Eight for Eight Thirty (96), Strip (98), Euston Road (04), Goalie (16), and Emkhatsini: Between (18). Mārama (25), his latest film, is his feature debut. Eva Thomas is a writer and filmmaker from Walpole Island First Nation based in Wallaceburg, Ontario. Her production credits include the Festival Official Selections Night Raiders (21) and Kaniehtiio Horn's Seeds (24). She directed the short film Redlights (23) and co-directed the feature Aberdeen (24), both of which played the Festival. Nika & Madison (25) is her latest film. Moderated by: Jason Anderson is the International Programmer for Short Cuts. A member of TIFF's Programming team since 2015, he's also worked on TIFF Kids and Canada's Top Ten. He's been the director of programming for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival since 2008 and the programming director for Aspen Shortsfest since 2019. A longtime journalist and critic who graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in English literature, he was a film critic and columnist for the Toronto weeklies The Grid and Eye Weekly, and regularly contributed to such publications as The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Toro, and Saturday Night. He currently writes about music and film for Uncut magazine, Sight & Sound, and Cinema Scope. He has taught a course on film criticism for the University of Toronto since 2008 and has taught journalism courses at Toronto Metropolitan University. His least useful areas of expertise include the Step Up franchise, show business memoirs, and the discography of Nile Rodgers. Stay connected with me here: https://www.instagram.com/shesallovertheplacepodcast    

In 2024 a story appeared in the Toronto Star by Deborah Dundas that set the world of biography on fire. At the centre of it was Alice Munro’s biographer Robert Thacker, who has devoted thirty years of his life as an academic to a close archival study of Alice Munro’s work. It was revealed that Thacker had known for two decades that Alice’s daughter Andrea had been sexually molested by her stepfather Gerald Fremlin. When Andrea approached Thacker to ask him to make revisions to the manuscript of his book, in the light of this information, it was just at the point when the manuscript was complete and about to be printed, and he declined. He declined again when a revised edition of the book appeared several years later. He has always maintained that as an archival scholar, he had no interest in personal family dynamics and in the psychological aspects of Alice’s oeuvre. Gerald Fremlin pled guilt to a charge of indecent assault and served a suspended sentence with two years probation. Alice Munro chose to remain with Fremlin rather than support her daughter. In this episode Caroline Baum talks to Robert Thacker and explores the uncomfortable moral terrain of a biographer when presented with explosive material that they feel is beyond the scope of their particular focus and asks where does the biographer’s responsibility lies. To read an in-depth account of Andrea Skinner’s experience and its repercussions for her, for Alice Munro and for Munro’s reading public, go to the excellent piece by New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/alice-munros-passive-voice There is also an essay by Anne Enright in her latest anthology Attention, on the Munro affair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Dave Bidini, Renaissance Man With the holidays upon us, we brought the biggest baseball romantic we know into Deep Left Field to talk about the magic that was the Blue Jays' 2025 season. Dave Bidini - author of multiple books including "Baseballissimo," publisher of the West End Phoenix, Toronto Star contributor and Rheostatics guitarist - joins us to wax poetic on the year that was, the post-season run and how he's handling the Blue Jays' loss in Game 7 of the World Series. And, as always, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca (our inbox is always open) to hear your thoughts including, of course, questions about Bo Bichette's still-unresolved free agency.

News & features from the Tuesday December 23rd, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star joins Nick Alberga & Jay Rosehill to break down the Maple Leafs' decision to fire assistant coach Marc Savard — and the bigger question: will it actually fix anything? With Toronto sitting at an ugly 12-for-90 on the power play, the conversation zeroes in on just how damaging the Leafs' PP has been, how much better this team could be with even league-average results, and what's been missing from the group all season long.McGran also weighs in on William Nylander's recent bout with confidence, noting how uncharacteristically dejected the usually calm and cool winger looked following the loss in Dallas. The boys discuss Craig Berube's future behind the bench, before Kevin delivers a sobering prediction for the rest of the season — he doesn't believe the Leafs will snap out of it, and thinks they'll ultimately miss the playoffs.To wrap things up, Kevin promotes his new book Auston Matthews: A Life in Hockey, which sparks a conversation about Matthews' struggles this season and McGran's thoughts on what might be going on with the Leafs' superstar.#LeafsForever #LeafsMorningTake

Nick Alberga & Jay Rosehill break down a major shakeup in Toronto, as the Maple Leafs fire assistant coach Marc Savard following a power play that's sunk to a league-worst 12-for-90. The boys share their thoughts on what went wrong, why the move was made, and whether it can spark any sort of turnaround.They also preview Toronto's matinee matchup on home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins — the Leafs' final game before a three-day holiday break. Toronto enters on a three-game skid, while Pittsburgh has dropped eight of its last nine, setting the stage for a desperate showdown at Scotiabank Arena.Plus, Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star stops by to discuss his new book, Auston Matthews: A Life in Hockey, and weigh in on the very latest surrounding the Maple Leafs.#LeafsForever #LeafsMorningTake

News & features from the Monday December 22nd, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, CPA Ontario, and the Port of Vancouver.Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites. I'm looking for the most accurate adjective to sum up the year in Canadian politics. Watershed ... Pivotal ... Seismic.They all fit to some extent. But they don't really capture the whole of it, eh? So, the pod today is a Journalists Panel to do a fulsome Year in Review on all that went down politically across the country, in 2025.Joining me are 3 titans of the Canadian political pen: Paul Wells, Tonda MacCharles, and Kathleen Petty.When you're a titan at something, and work in media to boot, you're obviously pretty well known, so just as a primer:Paul Wells – formerly at Maclean's, the National Post and The Gazette. He now publishes his own brilliant and widely read newsletter: paulwells.substack.com.Tonda MacCharles – Ottawa Bureau Chief and Senior Reporter for the Toronto Star. Spent nearly a decade on CBC's The National and The Fifth Estate.Kathleen Petty – Host of West of Centre Podcast. Host of Alberta at Noon. Former executive producer of CBC News Calgary and host of The House.Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

News & features from the Friday December 19th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

In this annual Christmas episode of Rector's Cupboard, the cupboard is opened for seasonal tasting, spirited conversation, and a few holy disagreements. Over glasses of wintery mead, the hosts reflect on Christmas songs they love and those they would happily never hear again, exploring how nostalgia, repetition, and theology shape the sounds of the season. What begins lightheartedly soon deepens into a conversation about nativity scenes, immigration, resistance, and why the Christmas story continues to unsettle cultural and political certainties. Along the way, inflatables are stabbed, Randy Savage offers unexpected wisdom, and familiar carols are reframed through histories of abolition, protest, and hope. The episode closes by returning to the heart of Advent and Christmas alike: a reminder that comfort and joy are not sentimental escapes, but promises spoken into a dark and waiting world. As a small gift to you this season, we offer a version of O Holy Night, produced and recorded by friends of the podcast, Mark Woodyard and Rick Colhoun, for the conclusion of the episode. Merry Christmas!   Our tasting today came from Golden Age Meadery, on Salt Spring Island.    Articles referenced “Christmas display carnage in Scarborough caught on camera: ‘Dad, they're popping the inflatables!'”, Toronto Star, December 11, 2025 “As anti-ICE Nativity scenes spark outrage, faith leaders grapple with politics at the pulpit”, CNN, December 15, 2025   Song List Least favourite The Little Drummer Boy (Carol) Mary, Did You Know? (Michael English) Away in a Manger (Carol) All I Want For Christmas is You (Mariah Carey) Last Christmas (Wham!) Tomorrow Christ is Coming (Carol)   Favourite A Charlie Brown Christmas Album (Vince Guaraldi Trio) What Child is This? (Carol) Star of Wonder (Sufjan Stevens) O Holy Night (Carol)  

From a Trump trade war and a historic teachers' strike, to the UCP government's use of the notwithstanding clause, 2025 has been a high-stakes whirlwind for Alberta.This week on West of Centre, the CBC's own Jason Markusoff swaps his producer and writer hat for a clipboard as quizmaster for our "not-quite-annual" quiz show. Testing their knowledge of the year's headlines: Falice Chin, Alberta bureau chief of The Hub; Alex Boyd, Calgary-based reporter for the Toronto Star; and pollster Janet Brown of Janet Brown Opinion Research. Think you can beat our political smarties?Use our study guide to prep for a look back on such key topics as:The prime ministerial pivot (Justin Trudeau's resignation).The Mar-a-Lago minute (Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's trip to Florida).The notwithstanding fall (when Albertans got a lesson on the Charter).The ‘La-La-La-We-Can't-Hear-You' Act of 2025 (Markusoff gave a certain piece of legislation a very catchy nickname).Mayoral shakeups (new faces in the big chair in Calgary and Edmonton).Test your knowledge, keep your own score, and stick around to find out which of the panellists wins bragging rights and the coveted ‘No. 1 Nerd' trophy.Host: Jason MarkusoffGuests: Alex Boyd, Janet Brown, Falice ChinProducer and editor: Diane Yanko

News & features from the Thursday December 18th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

The final episode of The Food Professor Podcast for 2025 delivers a timely, wide-ranging examination of Canada's food system, blending macroeconomic analysis with a compelling, real-world industry case study. Co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois open the episode by reviewing their Top 10 Food Stories of 2025, a list that reflects a year defined less by short-term volatility and more by deep, structural challenges.Among the key themes is the growing consensus that food inflation in Canada is structural rather than cyclical, driven by long-standing issues such as interprovincial trade barriers, fragmented labour policy, logistics inefficiencies, regulatory complexity, and limited scale in food processing. The hosts revisit major developments including tariffs and counter-tariffs, the Grocery Code of Conduct, meat counter economics, the Ozempic and GLP-1 drug effect on food consumption, and the controversy surrounding cloned meat approvals. Together, these stories underscore why Canada's food system struggles to absorb shocks compared to larger, more flexible global peers.The second half of the episode features an in-depth interview with Ryan Koeslag, Executive Vice President & CEO of Mushrooms Canada, joined by Janet Krayden, Workforce Specialist at Mushrooms Canada. Together, they provide a rare inside look at one of Canada's most technologically advanced yet frequently misunderstood agricultural sectors. Listeners learn that Canadian mushrooms are grown 365 days a year, supply nearly 100% of domestic grocery demand, and export approximately 40% of production to the United States—all while operating with largely organic practices and world-class automation.A central focus of the discussion is labour. Koeslag and Krayden explain that mushroom farming is non-seasonal, capital-intensive, and highly technical, yet still dependent on skilled human labour for harvesting. Recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, combined with the cancellation of the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot, have created significant unintended consequences for growers, threatening productivity, workforce stability, and long-term investment.The conversation also explores sustainability and innovation, highlighting Canada's leadership in mushroom automation, organic growing methods, and environmental stewardship. Krayden emphasizes that farmers are strong advocates for worker well-being and housing—an aspect often overlooked in public debate.The episode closes with forward-looking commentary on 2026, including front-of-package labelling, AI-driven pricing ethics, and the ongoing challenge of scaling Canada's “unscalable middle” in food processing—making this episode both a reflective year-end review and a practical roadmap for the year ahead.Mushrooms Canada Jobs webpage https://mushrooms.ca/mushroom-jobs/Mushrooms CanadaRecipes https://mushrooms.ca/recipes/Nutrition Page:   https://mushrooms.ca/nutritional-benefits/Quality farm worker housing Highline campus in Leamington: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CNj4H8dGz/MORE high quality mushroom farm worker housing offered in Ontario for our farm workers https://youtu.be/ocrXL9DX7ys?si=Okdfpk2kx9lVHOoo The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

Our final episode of this Courage My Friends season features a December 10th Human Rights Day Panel Discussion, the first of a series of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Community Worker Program at Toronto's George Brown College. Community workers and human rights advocates, Brianna Olson Pitawanakwat, Samira Mohyeddin, Diana Gallego, Desmond Cole and Diana Chan McNally discuss the meaning of human rights in Canada 77 years after the UN adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, critical issues facing us today and the power of solidarity-driven, rights-based organizing. Speaking to Canada's approach to human rights, Pitawanakwat says: "A big wakeup call was a couple of days ago when the UN passed the International Day Against Colonialism and Canada abstained. Because Canada is very much still rooted in this colonial mechanism and ideology here … In Anishinaabe culture, we don't rely on the idea of rights, rights are a European construct. We rely on the idea of responsibility … If we relied on human rights, we would be in a dismal place, which is where we are today." According to Chan McNally: "Every time you see an encampment that is someone exercising their right to housing by literally making their own tent.We have downloaded the responsibility directly on homeless people to ensure their own rights. And criminalizing even that action of survival ... It's ludicrous, ludicrous to me." Speaking to the importance of community work, Cole says: "People are doing it in this school and in this program. The reason that I always say yes, when you ask me to come here … I was homeless myself more than 20 years ago when I moved to this city. Somebody who took a community worker program referred me to a youth shelter and changed my life. For real." On the role of independent journalism, Mohyeddin reflects on her upcoming documentary about the pro-Palestine student encampment at UofT: "Our corporate media was vilifying these young people. And you know, my motto for journalism has always been to 'Make mad the guilty and appall the free.' And I think that if we operate from that place, even as citizens, we can really make a change." On the power of solidarity, Gallego says: "The system want us being isolated. Solidarity is a word they trying to penalize … Solidarity is going and bringing the power that the Indigenous community have with the Palestinian movement. Bringing the solidarity of the unions back to us, back to the people.Being a community worker … Being the first face that a refugee is seeing in Canada and seeing the welcoming and seeing the support, means a lot." About today's speakers:  Brianna Olson Pitawanakwat is an Anishinaabekwe, Indigiqueer and member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded First Nation. As an Indigenous Birthworker, jingle dress dancer, artisan and radical educator, she is committed to principles of Indigenous Liberation and self determination. Her journey as a Birthworker began on the prairies where she practiced Harm Reduction and perinatal outreach for over a decade. She holds an undergrad degree from University of Victoria social work program and has a Masters in social work from university of Toronto with a trauma specialization. Olson Pitawanakwat  currently co-leads Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction and Native Arts Society, both 2spirit/Queer/Trans led initiatives. Desmond Cole is a journalist, radio host, and activist. His debut book, The Skin We're In, won the Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. It was also named a best book of 2020 by The Globe and Mail, NOW Magazine, CBC, Quill & Quire, and Indigo. Cole's writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, The Walrus, and the Ottawa Citizen, among others. He lives in Toronto. Diana Gallego is a Colombian trained lawyer with a background in advocacy, human rights, and social justice. In 2002, she was forced to flee Colombia with her husband and son, an experience that deepened her commitment to working with immigrants and refugees. She is a graduate and former faculty with Community Work from George Brown College in Toronto and joined the FCJ Refugee Centre in 2015, where she is now one of the Co-Executive Directors.  Gallego served as president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, from 2023 to 2025. She also serves on the Inland Protection steering committee of the CCR, focusing on the social and economic integration of refugees and family reunification as primary areas of her advocacy.  Samira Mohyeddin is a multi-award winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has a Master of Arts in Modern Middle Eastern History from the University of Toronto and a graduate of genocide Studies from the Zoryan Institute. For nearly a decade, she was a producer and host at CBC Radio and CBC Podcasts. She resigned from the CBC in November 2023 and founded On The Line Media, where she brings audiences intimate conversations and informed commentary with a focus on critical and contextual journalism. Mohyeddin was the 2024 - 2025 inaugural journalism fellow for the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto and is the 2025 PEN Canada Ken Filkow Prize recipient. She is currently in production on a documentary about the Palestine solidarity student encampment at the University of Toronto. Diana Chan McNally (she/they) is an alumni and former faculty of the Community Worker program at George Brown College (Toronto) and is a community worker in downtown Toronto. As someone with lived-experience of social services and of being unhoused, Chan McNally's work focuses on human rights and equity issues for people who are homeless. Chan McNally is the founder and Coordinator of the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People and works with human rights organizations The Shift and Maytree. For Community Worker Program and application information, please visit  Community Worker Program at George Brown College Donate to the 50th Anniversary Community Worker Program Student Bursary Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Diana Gallego, Samira Mohyeddin, Brianna Olson Pitawanakwat (Photog. Mahihkan Studios), Desmond Cole (Photog. Gage Fletcher), Diana Chan McNally (Photog. Gage Fletcher) / Used with permission - Photographer, Gage Fletcher Panel Recording: Prof. Ben McCarthy Introduction to Session: Prof. John Caffery Community Worker Program 50th Anniversary Organizing Committee: Prof. John Caffrey, Dr. Rusa Jeremic, Prof. Berti Olinto, Dr. William Payne, Stefan Kallikaden, Dr. Bill Fallis, Prof. Emeritus Bob Luker, Prof. Resh Budhu Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

Former Dragon's Den Dragon and author of The Wealthy Barber, Dave Chilton, has just released a completely updated version of his bestseller from 1989. The new edition has already topped the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star bestseller lists with Chilton's apt financial insight proving to be timeless. Evan revists this conversation that he had with Dave from this past Tuesday.

News & features from the Wednesday December 17th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Tuesday December 16th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Monday December 15th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

Why you should always go to one Plus - Should drivers have to be retested every few years? GUEST: Kevin Donovan - Chief Investigative Reporter for the Toronto Star

This episode was recorded in 2020.Donna Laframboise is a Canadian investigative journalist, writer and photographer. She has previously worked as a columnist for the National Post and the Toronto Star, and served as the past vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.She is known for her critical reviews of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its reports for the United Nations.Her book, on which my conversation with her is based, The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World's Top Climate Change Expert, exposed two major issues:Reliance on non-peer-reviewed literature: She found that a significant portion of the scientific literature cited in the IPCC's influential 2007 Fourth Assessment Report came from sources that were not peer-reviewed.Use of non-scientist contributors: Her investigation revealed that many of the authors and reviewers for the IPCC reports had affiliations with activist organisations.Donna explained why the IPCC should not be trusted with anything to do with climate science.➡️ If you enjoy my work, please show your support.

News & features from the Friday December 11th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Thursday December 11th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

In the final hour, Ben Ennis and Daniele Franceschi are joined by Toronto Star writer and Leafs historian Damien Cox. They discuss the Northern Star award voting, including the debate over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus Summer McIntosh and other candidates. The conversation shifts to the Leafs, examining their recent performance, Dennis Hildeby's role, and player safety decisions around Bobby McMann. Damien also shares insights on Auston Matthews' transition. Next, sports analyst Luke Gazdic (22:44) joins to discuss Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks' potential, the Leafs' resurgence, and Troy Stecher's impressive performance. They also explore Team Canada's goaltending prospects for the Olympics before wrapping up with today's Canadian Sports Moment.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliate.

This episode of The Food Professor Podcast opens with Michael and Sylvain analyzing the most pressing developments shaping Canada's food and retail landscape. Sylvain reflects on the extraordinary national and global reach of Canada's Food Price Report, which this year generated unprecedented media attention and continues to influence retailers, manufacturers, governments, and consumers planning for 2026. They dig into the structural issues behind Canada's complex food-tax regime, discuss why the GST holiday changed how Canadians think about food pricing, and explore the broader economic forces influencing consumer behaviour.The hosts then turn to one of the most surprising developments of the season: mounting instability in the chicken sector. With nine consecutive missed production cycles, increased reliance on imports, and confusion around border testing, the system designed to provide stability is under strain. Sylvain breaks down why this matters for households, grocers, foodservice operators, and the broader supply chain—especially as chicken remains Canada's most-purchased protein. The conversation then expands southward to U.S. agricultural subsidies, tariff battles, Costco's legal challenge over tariff refunds, and the potential fallout of proposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian fertilizer.The second half of the episode shifts to a live interview recorded at the Coffee Association of Canada conference, where Michael and Sylvain sit down with Carman Allison, Vice President, NIQ Canada, one of the country's most respected consumer data voices. Carman previews his conference keynote, “Navigating Disruption,” and explains why coffee inflation is reshaping buying behaviour even among loyal consumers who consider coffee essential. He outlines NIQ's segmentation showing that 29% of Canadian households are now financially vulnerable—and how this is affecting deal-seeking, product substitution, and consumption patterns.Drawing on NIQ's expanded Omni Shopper Panel, Carman describes how rapid multicultural population growth is shifting beverage preferences, why Generation X now holds the greatest spending power, and how value-seeking is reshaping entire store categories. He also reveals early evidence of the GLP-1 effect, where households using weight-loss or diabetes medications show measurable declines in food consumption.Carman closes by highlighting growth opportunities in instant coffee, protein-and-coffee hybrids, Maple-forward flavour innovation, and the continued rise of home-meal-replacement programs. His insights give retailers and suppliers a grounded, data-rich roadmap for growth in a highly price-sensitive marketplace. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

News & features from the Wednesday December 10th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

News & features from the Monday December 8th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

Guests: Toronto Star journalists Sheila Wang and Emma McIntosh A major joint investigation involving the Toronto Star, CBC/Radio-Canada, La Presse and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has uncovered more than 100 crypto-to-cash operations running across Canada, with many of them unregistered, unregulated, and openly violating anti–money laundering laws. As part of this collaboration, Star reporters went undercover to see just how easy it is to turn anonymous cryptocurrency into hard cash with no ID  and no record of the transaction. In this episode, we break down how these crypto-to-cash services actually work, why experts say they pose a serious risk for money laundering, organized crime and other illicit activity, and why Canadian regulators have struggled to stop a parallel financial system that's operating in plain sight. This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz and Sean Pattendon.

News & features from the Thursday December 4th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

In this action and insight-packed episode of The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois sit down with Hugo Magnan, President of Groupe MAG, the Quebec-based culinary innovator behind some of Canada's most delicious mayonnaise, salad dressings, dips, and sauces. Hugo shares the company's origin story — founded in 1989 by his father Jacques — and explains how Groupe MAG carved out a loyal following through premium ingredients, bold flavours, and a commitment to craft. Michael even reveals his own culinary experiments using MAG mayonnaise in a Texan-style potato salad, highlighting the brand's versatility and taste advantage over mainstream competitors. The conversation explores the future of condiments, how regional producers scale nationally, and why MAG's formula resonates with consumers craving authenticity and umami-rich flavours.The second half of the episode pivots to the newly released Canada's Food Price Report, featuring a detailed breakdown of projected food inflation for 2026. Using AI-driven forecasting, Sylvain's research team anticipates grocery price increases of 4–6% next year — adding nearly $1,000 annually for a family of four. Meat, centre-aisle pantry goods, and restaurant meals are expected to drive most inflation, while coffee prices are entering what Michael calls “eye-watering levels” due to global supply constraints. Sylvain warns that restructuring by major food manufacturers may lead to fewer product choices, reducing competition and elevating prices, particularly in packaged foods.Yet, amid affordability challenges, the report identifies positive shifts. Canadian consumers are entering 2026 more informed, intentional, and empowered than during the pandemic inflation wave. Shopping trips per household have risen from five to more than seven per month, as families comparison-shop, loyalty surf, and embrace food rescue apps, private label alternatives, and price-matching codes. Structural forces — from discount grocer expansion in Quebec to declining alcohol consumption in restaurants — are also reshaping the retail landscape. Restaurants, facing lower bar revenues, will need to reinvent profitability while consumers lean more into at-home dining.Whether you're a food lover curious about better mayonnaise, a retailer navigating shifting economics, or a policy-watcher tracking food affordability, this episode blends culinary storytelling with hard-hitting data, offering both delicious inspiration and serious insight into the year ahead. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

News & features from the Wednesday December 3rd, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

What to make of Mark Carney's decision to reach back into the Trudeau cabinet to replace another minister who quit? That's the question to the Toronto Star's Althia Raj and The Economist's Rob Russo on this latest episode of Reporter's Notebook. Also, what our two correspondents are hearing about the ongoing competition between the U.S. F35 fighter jet and Sweden's Gripen. Billions are at stake and thousands of jobs. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

She's tied for the most decorated Canadian Olympian, but she won't be anywhere near a podium for at least two years.Toronto's Penny Oleksiak has been banned from competing until 2027 after allegedly violating anti-doping whereabouts regulations, something she says has nothing to do with banned substances. The World Anti-Doping Agency is the international regulatory body that oversees drug testing for competitive athletes. Testing happens both after a competition, as well as in the form of pre-competitive check-ins, such as whereabout disclosures.Host Alex Seixeiro speaks to Bruce Arthur, columnist for the Toronto Star, to discuss what lies ahead for Magic Penny, and whether or not anti-doping regulation is too rigorous. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

News & features from the Tuesday December 2nd, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

The Halifax International Security Forum always includes a sizable and bi-partisan group of United States Senators who were suddenly put on the spot: Did they think Ukraine should accept this ultimatum? By Saturday afternoon, several senators issued a joint statement condemning this plan. Then something extraordinary happened. A couple hours after this joint statement was released, an even larger and more bi-partisan group of senators gave a press conference in which Republican Senator Mike Rounds said that he and two other senators had just got off the phone with Marco Rubio, who was en route to Geneva to meet with Ukrainian officials and European allies. According to Senator Rounds, Rubio said this stridently pro-Russian 28 point plan was not an American plan at all, but rather a Russian proposal that was improperly leaked to the press. But then, about two hours later, Rubio publicly disavowed that disavowal! He posted on Twitter that "The peace proposal was authored by the U.S." So what the heck is going on here? I caught up with Toronto Star columnist and fellow Substacker Justin Ling to try to make sense of this bizarre turn of events. We kick off discussing the back and forth on this plan, but then have a deeper conversation about what this episode reveals about American global leadership and what the conversations in Halifax revealed about how America's traditional middle power allies, like Canada and Europe, are adjusting to a world order in which the United States is an unreliable ally and unstable international actor.  

Our National Affairs Panel gets you caught up on all the latest politics. Rosemary Barton, CBC's Chief Political Correspondent, Stephanie Levitz, the Globe and Mail's Senior Reporter in the Ottawa bureau and Ryan Tumilty a political reporter with the Toronto Star join host Matt Galloway.

It's not the most commonly sought-after item on Facebook, but it's certainly not the least advertised on the platform's feeds either.Advertisements for highly addictive and illegal drugs like cocaine and oxycodone continue to appear on Meta's social platforms, amid their no-tolerance policy for such content and for what they call 'robust' measures to keep them off.The RCMP says it works extensively to intercept online purchases of illegal drugs, but Meta's reliance on AI to regulate advertisement sales and distribution doesn't allow for much policing.Host Maria Kestane speaks to Ben Musset, digital editor for the Toronto Star, and Omar Mosleh, reporter for the Toronto Star to discuss their investigation into Meta's advertising loopholes, and how Canada's most vulnerable could fall victim to the multibillion dollar self-regulating business platform. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

News & features from the Monday December 1st, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

It's not completely odd for a former Olympian to return to the limelight years after competing...but rarely is it for allegedly piloting a drug ring comparable to that of El Chapo's.Ryan James Wedding now sits alongside some of America's most dangerous criminals on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for several offences related to drug trafficking and murder. A number of Canadians have been arrested earlier this month in connection to the case, including Wedding's defence lawyer from Brampton, Deepak Paradkar. And the FBI has hiked up the reward for his arrest to $15 million USD. Host Richard Southern speaks to Calvi Leon, a crime reporter for the Toronto Star to break down how a Canadian born in Thunder Bay made his way to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for allegedly leading one of the most prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Guest: Megan Ogilvie, Toronto Star health reporter A new study has found that over a million Ontarians — that's more than one in ten people with a family doctor — live far outside their physician's region, often more than 30 kilometres away. Some are driving hours just to get a check-up. Others may be skipping care altogether because of the logistics. And it's leading to worsening health outcomes; more ER visits, missed diagnoses, and care that falls through the cracks. It's a hidden layer of Ontario's primary care crisis, and one we don't talk about enough. This episode was mixed by Paulo Marques 

In this episode, I sit down with Brjánn Batista Bettencourt - a Toronto-based photographer and cinematographer known for his analog and Super 8 work - to talk about what it actually looks like to shoot film in the wedding industry today.Brjánn shares how his journey from photojournalism to weddings, his skateboarding background, and his Portuguese-Canadian roots shaped the way he tells stories. We dive into why he's so committed to analog, what Super 8 brings to a wedding day, and the realities (and challenges) of shooting film for clients in a digital-heavy industry.Meet Brjaan Brjánn (Brian) Batista Bettencourt is a Toronto-based photographer and cinematographer whose work lives at the intersection of documentary truth and nostalgic longing.Brjánn's career spans photojournalism, editorial portraiture, and motion-picture work, with tenures at the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Country Music Television, where he photographed renowned artists such as Shawn Mendes, Shania Twain, Dierks Bentley and Florida Georgina Line. His analog film work has been featured by CBC and placed him on the cover of PhotoLife Magazine for his work with Kodak Ektachrome.Today, Brjánn works internationally across weddings, editorial assignments, and long-form personal projects, drawing inspiration from his coming of age experiences in the skateboarding community and duality of cultures as a Portuguese-Canadian. He lives in Toronto with his wife and collaborator, photographer and designer Ryanne Hollies.Connect with Brjánn:Stay tuned for a potential Super 8 workshop happening in 2026!Website: www.3bphoto.caInstagram: @brjann.c0mConnect with Me:Subscribe to our emails for updates on all things Summer School!SUBSCRIBE HEREShow Notes: the-summerschool.comInstagram: @summergrace.photo  @the_summerschool Shop My Products:Become a Member of Summer SchoolMy Summer Grace x G-Presets (discount code: SUMMERSCHOOL)My Pricing Guide

News & features from the Tuesday November 25th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

At a press conference last week U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi laid out fresh allegations against Ryan Wedding, a 44-year-old Canadian and former Olympian who has been on the FBI's most wanted list since March.Wedding is already accused of orchestrating multiple murders, and these new charges add to the drug and conspiracy allegations he's facing.We speak to Calvi Leon, a reporter at the Toronto Star who's been covering this case extensively.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

This weeks guest is Brenton Mowforth who joins us from Toronto, Ontario. Since creating Cheers to Happy Hour in 2017, and Wander Thirsty in 2021, Brenton Mowforth has become the authority on where to drink and how to drink. His mission is to influence people to share in his passion for 'drinking better, not more' by taking a more thoughtful approach to what we consume. Celebrating flavour and savouring the moments that are usually accompanied by craft cocktails and spirits defines the business and mindset of Brenton's day-to-day operations. Brenton's online community is immersed in the Farm-to-Glass / Liquid-to-Lips culture that has imbibers across the world abuzz with libation filled conversations. Brenton's passion for cocktails and the hospitality industry have been recognized by the 50 Best Bars organization, Forbes, Toronto Star, Destination Toronto and Liqour.com, among others, and he continues to be a one-man encyclopedia on the subject of libations. Brenton is currently focusing on creating artisanal yet approachable cocktails that inspire his audience to take a closer look at the ingredients and the creativity that goes into modern cocktails and spirits. @cheerstohappyhour @wander.thirsty A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste using flavor profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more……Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling, Malivoire Winery and Terroir Wine Imports. Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

News & features from the Monday November 24th, 2025 edition of the Toronto Star

Guest: Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star columnist In a high-stakes war games exercise held in Toronto, top military officials, health-care leaders, and government representatives gathered behind closed doors to game out a scenario few Canadians can ever imagine; war arriving on our doorstep. The exercise, called Canada Paratus, was a joint initiative led by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research, St. Michael's Hospital, and other military-focused organizations. This wasn't about battlefield tactics, but about what happens when Canada's fragile health-care system is pushed to the brink. From mass casualties to logistical chaos, the simulation revealed uncomfortable truths about just how unprepared we are and what it could mean if Canada were drawn into a global conflict where hospitals, not just troops, have to hold the line. This episode was produced by Sean Pattendon

So in the end the Mark Carney government survived the budget vote. But you have to wonder whether the 140-138 vote in the Commons was what they really wanted. Sure it avoids a messy Christmas season election, but it also avoids what may have been the PM's best chance of turning a minority into a majority. We'll discuss that and what happens now with The Economist's Rob Russo and the Toronto Star's Althia Raj on this Tuesday's Reporter's Notebook. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cancer can be seen as a seed that only sprouts in the right soil—the body's inner landscape. Today, that soil is changing fast, and cancer rates are climbing, especially among young people. Our modern diet—packed with sugar, processed foods, and nonstop snacking—keeps the body flooded with signals to grow, not heal. But there's good news: by eating real, colorful foods and giving the body time to rest between meals, we can calm inflammation, balance our gut, and make our inner soil far less welcoming to disease. The power to shift the story lies in every bite and every pause we take. In this episode, I discuss, along with Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Thomas Seyfried, how modern diets and constant eating create a fertile soil for disease. Dr. Jason Fung is a physician, author, and researcher. His groundbreaking science-based books about diabetes and obesity, The Diabetes Code, The Obesity Code, and The Complete Guide to Fasting have sold over one million copies and challenged the conventional wisdom that diabetics should be treated with insulin. Dr. Fung is also the co-founder of The Fasting Method, a program to help people lose weight and reverse Type 2 Diabetes naturally with fasting. His work on fasting has been cited by CNN, Time, The Atlantic, Forbes, The Toronto Star, and many other media outlets. His latest book is The Cancer Code: A Revolutionary New Understanding of a Medical Mystery. Dr. Thomas Seyfried is an American professor of biology, genetics, and biochemistry at Boston College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1976 and did his postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Seyfried has over 150 peer-reviewed publications, and his research focuses primarily on the mechanisms driving cancer, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases and calorie-restricted ketogenic diets in their prevention and treatment. He is the author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer and presently serves on the Nutrition & Metabolism, Neurochemical Research, Journal of Lipid Research, and ASN Neuro editorial boards. This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers. Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%. Full-length episodes can be found here:Is Cancer Caused By Sugar? How Can My Diet Help Prevent Cancer? A Radical New Dietary Approach To Cancer Treatment