You can listen to the first episode of this three-part series here.

GLP-1 medications to treat diabetes, obesity and several other illnesses have exploded in popularity since Ozempic was approved for use in Canada back in 2018. Ozempic and Wegovy, the GLP-1s which contain semaglutide, are the third-most prescribed drug in Canada, and by far the best-selling one.

Chris Hannay, The Globe’s business of health reporter, will explain why the introduction of generic semaglutide will mean lower prices and more options for Canadians. And we’ll explore access to these drugs with The Globe’s health reporter Kelly Grant on who gets their GLP-1 covered by their insurance – and who doesn’t.

Plus, Globe audio producer Kasia Mychajlowycz leads us on a journey to understand just how the virtual pharmacies advertised all over her social media feed are vetting people who want Ozempic prescriptions.

The next episode and final episode of Skinny, Inc. is next Monday, March 9.

You can contact the National Eating Disorders Information Centre at their toll-free hotline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or visit their website.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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Months before the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., earlier this month, the shooter was banned from OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for violating its usage policy. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported this, said that the interactions with ChatGPT were describing scenarios involving gun violence. That has furthered calls for the Canadian government to regulate AI companies and their products – but there are challenges.

Taylor Owen is an associate professor at McGill and founding director of McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy. He’s also host of The Globe and Mail podcast Machines Like Us. He’ll tell us what responsibility companies have to report concerning or violent content, and what the government is up against in trying to regulate AI.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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On Tuesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump touted his tariff regime, after a Supreme Court decision that severely limited his ability to impose tariffs. Now countries trading with the U.S. are left with even more uncertainty about what will come next.

Jason Kirby is a staff reporter for The Globe’s Report on Business. He explains what the court ruling means for Canada, what other tariffs could be coming our way soon and who have been the winners and losers in the trade war over the last year.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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On Tuesday, Canadian airlines began to resume operations in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. They had been suspended days earlier after the Mexican army killed El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, leading to a wave of violence across Jalisco and elsewhere in Mexico. Residents of Puerto Vallarta, the popular tourist destination, and Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, were told to shelter in place. Many Canadian tourists found themselves stranded.

David Agren is a freelance journalist covering Latin America. He joins The Decibel to talk about how cartels operate in Mexico, how the government has dealt with them in the past, and how pressure from the Trump administration is ramping up the stakes for the Mexican government to crack down on cartels.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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It began with three executives from the CAAT Pension Plan raising concerns over a $1.6-million vacation payout and a relationship between the CEO and an employee. That has now led to a ‘full-blown crisis over governance,’ with nearly all of the senior leadership team changed or gone, including the long-standing CEO who’s on administrative leave.

The Globe’s institutional investing reporter James Bradshaw has been covering the turmoil at CAAT. Today, he explains how these issues led to such turbulence and why it’s so important to have steady leadership at one of Canada’s big pension plans.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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Dr. Daniel Drucker’s research helped pave the way for Ozempic, the blockbuster GLP-1 class drug. The endocrinologist has been researching the effects on Ozempic’s active ingredient semaglutide in the body for decades.Today he’ll show us around his lab and explain how a stout lizard kept in a freezer helped unlock the science behind a drug taken by more than a million Canadians.

Then, health reporter Kelly Grant tells us about rising obesity rates in Canada, and we’ll hear from a doctor who prescribes GLP-1s— and a patient who takes them.

This is part of a three-part series. The next episode is next Monday, March 2nd.

You can contact the National Eating Disorders Information Centre at their toll-free hotline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or visit their website.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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A conversation between two acclaimed Canadian authors – Margaret Atwood and Michael Crummey on ‘The Art of the Story’. A live discussion about writing, reading, what makes Canadian authors unique and the publishing landscape. Atwood is one of Canada’s most celebrated writers, recently published Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts. Crummey is the author of numerous short stories, poetry and novels, his most recent work being The Adversary.

This recording was from a live event at The Globe and Mail headquarters in Toronto on Dec.1, 2025, as part of celebrations for The Globe 100, an annual list of the most notable reads.

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This week, Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc, led a trade delegation to Mexico. He was joined by government and industry officials, as well as leaders of around 250 Canadian businesses. It’s the largest Canadian trade delegation to Mexico in recent memory, and it’s set against the backdrop of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s goal of diversifying Canadian trading partners.

Mark Rendell, the Globe’s economics reporter, joins the show to talk about the opportunities for growth in Mexico, and how the two countries are preparing for discussions around the renegotiation of USMCA later this year.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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