For decades, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, has been one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in Washington.

It has helped shape U.S. policy toward Israel, cultivated relationships with lawmakers from both parties, and more recently spent millions of dollars helping elect candidates it supports and defeat those it doesn't.

But after the war in Gaza, Israel's conflicts with Iran and Lebanon, and a dramatic shift in public opinion among many Democrats, AIPAC's influence is facing new scrutiny. Candidates are increasingly being asked whether they'll accept its support, some are actively distancing themselves from the organization.

Today on Front Burner, Alex Shephard of The New Republic explains how AIPAC became one of the most powerful forces in American politics, and why, for the first time, its political influence is facing meaningful resistance.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Following the critically acclaimed series Hunting Warhead, Season 2: Hunting the Suicide Salesman follows host Daemon Fairless as he takes us inside another dark corner of the internet: the online world helping people take their own lives. When people around the world started killing themselves with an obscure substance a few years ago, police were unaware that something – someone – was tying many of these deaths together.

It took grieving families and investigative journalists to piece together what was actually happening and to trace the source of the substance – first, to an online suicide forum and then, to a salesman in Canada: Kenneth Law. Police believe he sent more than 1200 shipments to 41 countries… and may be connected to more than 145 deaths around the world.

More episodes of Hunting the Suicide Salesman are available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/HTSSxFB

Canada has released its long-awaited national artificial intelligence strategy. It comes as a significant portion of the country feels uneasy about what impact the technology will have.

Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, speaks with Jayme Poisson about AI safety and the potential for job losses.

Canada has entered a “technical recession,” leading to fingerpointing in the House of Commons and Donald Trump renewing his calls to make Canada the 51st state.

Many economists are disputing that this is a recession at all. But whatever you call it, the economy is weak right now. It was weak before the trade war and it’s been made weaker by the tariffs, the threats and the uncertainty.

So how deep is this ditch that we are in, and how can we get out?

Frances Donald, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist at RBC, joins us.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is planting his federalist flag, wading into the Alberta separatism debate and making the case for a major new nation building project in his province. Today we speak to the former journalist, and first ever First Nations provincial Premier about keeping the country together, the need for stronger tech regulations and Indigenous consultation.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

At Donald Trump’s election victory event in 2024, he was flanked on stage by a collection of family, senior staff, and Ultimate Fighting Championship president and CEO, Dana White.

The UFC has, in many ways, functioned as the sporting arm of the MAGA movement. Fighters and the organization itself have pledged incredible support to Trump, and the President has become a ringside fixture at fights. This union is set to culminate later this month with a cage fight scheduled to be held on the White House south lawn.

Luke Thomas is an MMA journalist and host of the Morning Kombat podcast. He joins the show to talk about the upcoming White House fight, Trump’s decades-long presence in the world of combat sports and how the UFC - once maligned as a bloodsport - became one of the most important cultural institutions in the conservative movement.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Negotiations for an end to the war in Iran took a baffling turn last Monday when U.S. President Donlad Trump declared via social media that he would be willing to end the war in exchange for a number of countries in the Middle East and South Asia joining the Abraham Accords.

The Accords are a series of diplomatic agreements that normalized relations between Israel and some Arab states. They were originally touted as a Trump foreign policy victory, and a step towards a more peaceful Middle East. But six years on, the region has descended into widescale war.

Today we’re speaking with Matt Duss. He is the Executive Vice President at the Center for International Policy. He was also a foreign policy advisor to Bernie Sanders from 2017-2022. He’s co-written a piece for Foreign Policy that argues that the Abraham Accords laid the groundwork for this new era of violence in the Middle East.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

What happens when a human becomes intimately enmeshed with a chatbot? From people who’ve married their bots or who grieve their loved ones with the help of AI, host Victoria Hetherington (author of The Friend Machine) dives into the stories of the people who have invited these digital avatars into their hearts, minds, and even beds. And asks what do we gain and what do we stand to lose? Our intimacy, our resilience, even our grasp on reality? This latest season of Understood looks at who made the decisions that allowed chatbots to move way beyond digital assistants and into the most intimate parts of our lives.

Understood takes you deep inside the seismic shifts reshaping our world right now. From online porn and crypto chaos to the rise of tech oligarchs, deepfake AI, and the broken promises of the internet.

More episodes of Understood are available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/AIxFB