Newstalk Tonight

Is the Queen Amused, or Not Amused?

Breaking down the Oprah Harry and Meghan Interview

Jim's take on Oprah interviewing Harry and Meaghan, with Guests Keith Roy from the Monarchist League of Canada and Amanda Galbraith with Navigator communications. 

SHOWGRAM MARCH 5TH

Royal Rumble .. What song gets played because the Showgram does not have a budget?   Jim is crushed by hate from George Norby Fans  .. he turns to another celebrity who has gone thru the same.   A Heartbreaking call about Mental Health   An Expert talks about how to deprogram QAnon or Trump Fans   Jim Bits

SHOWGRAM MARCH 4TH

Who is George Norway? Why is he mad at Jim   Copycat Crimes and how did a criminal get caught because of Cheetos   Jim Tells you when you are grown up   Will there be another insurrection today March 4 th   Hear from a Professor who admits to doing heroin.   And Jim Bits​

March 3 Showgram

Huge Show. Praise from a radio consultant. Lets Cancel Cancel Culture.  Is it just liberals who cancel stuff? There was a narc at your High School jimBits  

Late Showgram March 2 - Hour 1

Late Showgram March 2 - Hour 2

Late Showgram March 2 - Hour 3

Late Showgram March 2 - Hour 4

Late Showgram March 1 - Hour 4

Late Showgram March 1 - Hour 3

Late Showgram March 1 - Hour 2

Late Showgram March 1 - Hour 1

Introducing ''The Showgram with Jim Richards''

Brands and business will have to appeal to our cave dweller instincts in order to succeed in the COVID era

We began this podcast series by exploring the behavioural and perceptual effects this pandemic has had on us and what will be the lasting impact. We learned that changes will actually come slowly, but the changes will be long lasting – perhaps even generational.   We’ve learned that the future of work is no longer about working from home. It’s now about living at work.   We’ve learned that our behaviour drives outcomes. Physical distancing, wearing masks, sneezing into our elbows are behv...

Early tests of an Austrlian vaccine show no side-effects in humans. Part 2 with Nikolai Petrovsky

We know there will be a second wave of COVID-19. And it’s likely to hit us before the end of this calendar year. We also know that some countries, like Canada, have managed to crush the curve. Still, there are regions of the world where the curve continues to rise – particularly in Brazil, India and the United States. So, the daily news can be exhausting at best and grim when we consider the worst case scenarios. But there is some reason for optimism. Four months into the pandemic and more ...

Promising news on the vaccine front. Part 1 with Nikolai Petrovsky, Chairman of Vaxine Pty.

Some good news, if not great news, on the research front. There are 147 COVID-19 vaccines in development and 17 of them are into the human trials. Professor Nikolai Petrovsky is the chairman of VAXINE – an Australian based company that is undertaking an international effort to develop a COVID 19 vaccine.  He and his team started human trials on July 1st, 2020

It's not a cure but it may help you survive COVID-19. A Halifax firm is working on a preventative pill.

The past few episodes of the NEXT NORMAL have focused on the SECOND WAVE of the COVID pandemic – likely to hit us in the next 4 of 5 months.   While there’s still a lot we don’t know about this strain of the coronavirus, we have learned a lot since it was detected in December of last year.   Much of that knowledge has come from an historic and piercing international scientific focus on COVID-19. There are hundreds of efforts underway to develop a vaccine and we know that some are well on ...

What have we learned to help prepare us for the Second Wave of COVID-19?

Economies are in various stages of reopening across the country. But we do so with one eye on the SECOND WAVE which is expected to hit in the late autumn and last into the winter of 2021. Are we ready for it. We’ve been asking that question of late from a number of perspectives. In this episode, we look at some of the science lessons and medical lessons we’ve learned during the course of the pandemic so far. We talk to Dr. Mitch Shulman, and emergency medicine specialist in Montreal and the...

Are our frontline healthcare workers prepared for the second wave of the pandemic?

We often talk about the heroes of the pandemic and that brings our front line healthcare workers to mind almost immediately. What does the Next Normal look like for them as we approach the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19? What the learnings they have had as they've faced down the COVID crisis? Tim Guest is President of the Canadian Nurses Association.

How do we prepare for a spike in mental illnesses that are sure to come during the pandemic?

Mark Henick is a Mental Health advocate and host of the podcast So Called Normal. There are some voices and expert thinkers among us who believe the "second wave" of the coronavirus pandemic may not be as severe as we had originally expected. But they do say it's coming and with it we will begin to see the true fallout of the "first wave" - the businesses that have gone bankrupt, the real job loss once government programs run out. And all of that will add up to an echo pandemic of mental illn...

Family Law is under pressure during the COVID pandemic

They’ve been dubbed the “COVID Cohort”. They are the high school grads, the class of 2020, who had fully intended to attend the college or university of their choice in September. But the pandemic upset those plans as it has done in almost aspect of our lives and livelihoods.   Post-secondary institutions across the country and around the world are moving from on-campus to online learning. It’s a move that makes sense from a public health perspective but it’s not what students signed up for...

Keeping the Courts on Track during the COVID pandemic

We have constantly talked about how we must re-invent, re-think, re-calibrate our economy, our personal and professional lives and our long-standing institutions as we respond to the COVID pandemic.   Healthcare and education have been front a centre for most families across the country. But the justice system may have faced the greatest challenges, forced to comply with the public health requirements while ensuring the courts continued to function.   John McMahon is a Superior Court Just...

Taking Canada's pulse during the pandemic. How do we view the Next Normal?

I was meeting with a friend over coffee at a local Starbucks the day the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. It’s been more than 100 days since that happened.   Needless to say, all of our jobs, our families, our homes have been disrupted when the pandemic forced a global economic shutdown.   So, how have we coped so far? How have our values been re-shaped and re-focused?   John Wright is a veteran pollster and a principal at DART Insights and Communi...

Is the COVID-19 pandemic an Apollo 13 moment for the science community?

We spent the first three months of the pandemic saying we need to trust the science and scientists. But we've also seen a good deal of frustration around mixed messages -  Lancet withdrawing the hydroxychloriquine research, and the WHO taking its "learning as we go" approach to this novel coronavirus.   Two things have happened. We have a better understanding of how the science community functions. On the other hand, it lays bare the fallibility of science and gives the critics/conspiracy t...

Will consumers push corporations to place purpose over profit in the post COVID world?

Economies are re-opening across Canada and around the world as we emerge from the first wave of the COVID pandemic. Some regions are opening more slowly than others, primarily because of the number of active coronavirus cases still being reported. While this has proven to be a balance between public health and the need to reignite business on main street and Bay Street, the real success is going to depend on individual behaviours.   How will consumers respond? How will you feel about going ...

Has the COVID pandemic accelerated the end of the American Century?

Has COVID 19 contributed to the rage and rallying we’ve seen in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis? Has COVID-19 accelerated the end to what’s been called The American Century?   David Schultz is a professor of political science and constitutional law at Hamline University in Minnesota. It’s his view that the pandemic has made it clear that America’s global influence is in decline while other nations are in their ascendancy.

The blueprint to rebuild Canada's Long Term Care system

Navigating the long term care system in Canada has never been easy. In fact, at best it could be qualified as frustrating, infuriating and exhausting. That has only been amplified by the onset of the COVID pandemic. It has also highlighted the urgency needed to address the appalling state of long term care homes and the sheer neglect and abuse suffered by some residents.   How do we rebuild the system?   Jeff Lozon is a former Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care in Ontario, the f...

Canada's Long-Term Care Homes are a national tragedy

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a number of areas our lack of preparedness – both on an individual and institutional level. And nowhere has it been more obvious than when we consider the state of Long Term Care facilities in Canada.   Coronavirus Outbreaks overwhelmed the system to the point where Ontario and Quebec asked the federal government to deploy the military to help with the staffing shortages. And based on that response and experience, we now know that many of these homes are ...

Part 2 - What’s next in the workplace?

What does the future of work look like in this COVID-19 era? Lisa Taylor - President of Challenge Factory and author of the Talent Revolution. She and her team are on the forefront of helping Canadians prepare for the Future of Work…   In part two of our conversation, Lisa says our initial reaction to the pandemic was a crisis response and we reacted without a full understanding of expectations of both the technology and outcomes. As an example, she points to the challenges we faced trying...

What is the Future of Work in the COVID era?

The pandemic has disrupted every part of our lives. None more so than your work life. Many of you have lost your jobs. Many others have had their hours reduced and almost everyone  who is still working has been working remotely from makeshift home offices.   Is this a glimpse of the future of work? Is the home office really going to be default posture for you and your colleagues?   This is the first of two parts of my conversation with Lisa Taylor - President of Challenge Factory and aut...

Part 1 - What is the Future of Work in the COVID era?

The pandemic has disrupted every part of our lives. None more so than your work life. Many of you have lost your jobs. Many others have had their hours reduced and almost everyone  who is still working has been working remotely from makeshift home offices.   Is this a glimpse of the future of work? Is the home office really going to be default posture for you and your colleagues?   This is the first of two parts of my conversation with Lisa Taylor - President of Challenge Factory and aut...

Ethics in the pandemic: What's the value of a human life?

COVID-19 has tested our resilience – the resilience of our economy, of our businesses, of our families health and well-being, and the resilience of our leaders.   And the greatest tests are still to come, particularly as we wade through the process of re-opening economies across Canada and around the world. One of the major challenges will be balancing public health concerns with economic well being.   And that will pose a number of ethical conundrums. In many cases, our leaders will have...

How we use our outdoor space will have a direct effect on public transportation

Don't Fence Me In was written by Cole Porter and Robert Fletcher and Roy Rogers sang in the 1944 movie – Hollywood Canteen. The idea of wide open spaces has always been a metaphor for freedom and healthy living…   But here we are in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and we are rethinking the safety and security of our open spaces. Even when we stroll in the park, we’re told we need to keep our distance.   It’s forced us to rethink how we use outdoor public space, how we re-organize ...

The success of the economic recovery during COVID-19 depends upon your behaviour

Whether it’s re-opening our economy, getting the kids back to class, or keeping your regular dentist appointment – the recovery and success will depend on your comfort and your confidence that we will be able to do all of this safely as we face the challenges of COVID-19.   Sarah Thorne, President and CEO of Decision • Partners is a behavioural researcher. She says we are all in a state of adaptive management. As much as we may think things have changed quickly, Thorne says our collective e...

Re-Imagining Recovery - Standing our cities back up in the COVID era.

The effort to restart and regenerate economies across the country is proving to be more art than science. It’s But it’s a choreography that leans towards improv over planning.  We’ve never faced this before.   So governements, public health authorities and business are having to process this as we go. And there’s only one opportunity to do it right.   How do we do that?   Well, the Toronto Region Board of Trade has laid out a series of measures to help local economies re-open safely. ...

COVID-19 hits Canadian agriculture hard and threatens the food supply chain

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the areas of neglect and concern that have been hiding in plain view. That includes the matter of FOOD SECURITY. The coronavirus pandemic has only increased the pressure on an already pressured food bank network across Canada. FOOD SECURITY at the dinner table is one thing.   But what about the SECURITY of the FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN? How do we ensure the food we grow gets out of the ground from the farm, onto the truck, to your local grocer and to your front d...

Australian researchers are excited by their vaccine tests in a colony of monkeys.

In this second of two parts of the NEXT NORMAL, we continue our conversation with Professor Nikolai Petrovksy – the director of endocrinology at flinders medical centre with a conjoint position as professor of medicine at flinders university in Adelaide, Australia. He and his team of international researchers are on the forefront of the effort to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Petrovsky says he is "excited" by the vaccine test results from a colony of ...

Competition drives the effort to find a coronavirus vaccine but don't think for a minute "We're all in this together."

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky leads a team of researchers that is bound and determined to develop a vaccine to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.   While that task is immediate and urgent, and his team isn’t the only one looking for the secret sauce to solving the pandemic, the structure of their consortium may well be the greater benefit if in fact they are successful. Petrovsky’s team is an international coalition of public and private sector contributors and none of them is pursui...

COVID intensifies famine that could kill as many as 300k per day

Julie Marshal is with the World Food Project. She tells The NEXT NORMAL, as many as 300,000 people could die per day - over the next 3 months if WFP doesn't get the funding urgently need to reach people with humanitarian assistance. 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world, chronically hungry, and as the new Global Report on Food Crisis shows, there are a further 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. That means 135 million people on earth are m...

Are we paying enough attention to our kids' health during the pandemic?

In this episode you will meet Dr. Sharon Burey. She is a Consultant Behavioural Pediatrician and the President of the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario and she joins us from her office in Windsor, Ontario. Dr. Burey is particularly concerned about the lack of COVID-19 studies that include children in the research. She is also worried about current data that suggests there has been a steep falloff in regular vaccines for young kids.

The NEXT NORMAL with Dave Trafford

In this episode you will meet Ujwal Arkalgud – a cultural anthropologist. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Motivbase. He and his team are studying how we are and will live in a world with covid-19.   He says as much as we may think changes are happening quickly, history says we are slow to embrace change even in the face of the most challenging times.   AND I’M ALWAYS INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM YOU. CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA @DAVETRAFFORD ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM AND @THEDAVETRAFFORD...

DAY 59 - The Final Episode of the COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 59   of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on    Friday, May 8, 2020   <<<<>>>    We are winding down the COVID-19 Daily Podcast as of tomorrow, Friday, May 8th. But, we are going away. We’re going to shift direction.   These past seven weeks have been spent focused on the Outbreak of the coronavirus that brought us the COVID-19 pandemic and brought the world to its knees.   Now, as we begin to stand back up again, the over arching question has been “w...

DAY 58 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 58   of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on  Thursday, May 7, 2020   <<<<>>>  We are winding down the COVID-19 Daily Podcast as of tomorrow, Friday, May 8th. But, we are going away. We’re going to shift direction.   These past seven weeks have been spent focused on the Outbreak of the coronavirus that brought us the COVID-19 pandemic and brought the world to its knees.   Now, as we begin to stand back up again, the over arching question has been “what...

DAY 57 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 57   of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on  Wednesday, May 6, 2020 Some dire projections from the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. Tom Frieden testified before a congressional committee in Washington on Tuesday and suggested the coronavirus death toll will exceed 100 thousand in the United States before the end of this month.   <<>>  In yesterday’s episode we told you that American researchers had discovered 14 mu...

DAY 56 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 56   of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what you need to know on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 SKY NEWS is reporting: Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US detected 14 mutations in the COVID-19 virus. Their research paper suggests the mutated strain of coronavirus that has become dominant across the world was first identified in Europe and is different to those which spread early on in the pandemic.   A Vancouver biotech firm says it has discovered COVID-19 antibodies. ...

DAY 55 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 55   of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on Monday, May 4, 2020   <<<<>>>  As economies begin to re-open in countries around the world, the international focus is turning to vaccine and treatment research.   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in a virtual meeting of international political and industry leaders on Monday morning to discuss the plan to coordinate those research efforts.   As a footnote, the United States did not take part in the co...

DAY 54 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 54  of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on    Sunday, May 3, 2020   <<<<>>>  We are going to feature an extended conversation with iHeart Radion Canada’s Medical Correspondent Dr. Mitch Shulman. We’ll get his take on WHAT’S NEXT as we begin to reopen our economies across the country. That’s coming up later in the podcast.   The slow and steady plans to reopen the economy above all are intended to ensure we don’t get another spike in COVID-19 cases but t...

DAY 53 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 53    of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on    Saturday, May 2, 2020   <<<<>>>  Provinces across the country are preparing to re-open their economies in the coming days and weeks. As we noted in yesterday’s episode, that will have at varying paces depending on the circumstances in each province.   That comes with questions of whether we’re moving too quickly or too slowly.   Managing the next phase of our pandemic response will test more than our pat...

DAY 52 - The COVID-19 Daily Podcast with Dave Trafford

This is DAY 52   of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Here’s what you need to know on    Friday, May 1, 2020   <<<<>>>  He wasn’t saying when he’d be ready to allow businesses to open up but he told businesses to be ready. Today, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford announced measures that will allow limited non-essential businesses to get back to work as of May 4th.   <<>>  Ontario’s measures are just that – measured compared to other provinces in the country where they’ve begun the process of re-open...