Front Burner

Today on the show we are going to talk about a grave threat made by U.S. President Donald Trump towards Iran where he wrote that unless the Strait of Hormuz is opened up “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

It set off a whole day of worried speculation. Could this mean the obliteration of Iran’s energy grid and water plants? A nuclear strike? Or could it be some incredibly high stakes bluster in search of an off-ramp?

On Tuesday evening the picture got marginally clearer when Trump said he’d extended his self-imposed deadline by two weeks.

Alex Shephard from The New Republic is back on the show. He joined us before Trump’s deadline extension offer, and the conversation remains very helpful.

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

Today, a check-in on Israel’s expanding wars in Iran and Lebanon, violence in the West Bank and details of a new law that could see the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.

Jayme welcomes Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport back to the show. Meron has been reporting on Israel for over 30 years, and was formerly the head of news at Israel's Ha’aretz newspaper. He’s now an editor with the Hebrew-language news site Local Call.

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

Deepfake porn is a billion-click industry built on stolen faces, while the people making it hide theirs behind screens. Hosted by journalist Sam Cole, Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire traces the decades-long rise of synthetic porn, the targets who are fighting back, and the global investigation that led to its Canadian kingpin.

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 — we explore the stories that define our digital age with hosts and characters embedded in the heart of the action.

More episodes of Deepfake Porn Empire are available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/DPExFB

As the Iran war wraps up its fifth week, the increasing price on fuel and food is wreaking havoc on consumers and businesses around the world. Global markets are also incredibly volatile.

Right now, the economic fallout is more pronounced in the Gulf, Asia, and Europe, but analysts say the shockwaves could soon be felt in North America.

Liz Hoffman is the business and finance editor at Semafor, and the host of their podcast, Compound Interest.

She talks to host Jayme Poisson about how close we are to a full blown global economic disaster.

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

Since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war, Iran has been publishing AI propaganda videos online trolling the United States, and Donald Trump.

Conversely, the U.S. military, and Donald Trump specifically, have spent the better part of the last year publishing all kinds of war and military content and propaganda of their own.

Propaganda has always been part of war. But in 2026, something about it looks and feels different: it’s shorter, funnier, more synthetic, and tailored to the algorithm.

Nicholas Cull is an authority on propaganda and has written a number of books on the subject including ‘The Cold War and the United States Information Agency.’ He’s a professor at the University of Southern California.

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