This Matters

Guest: Ed Tubb, Toronto Star assignment editor focused on COVID-19 data

With rising case counts and other indicators, the fourth wave of COVID-19 is here and just getting started. The Delta variant is more infectious than other forms of the virus and could have a serious impact on our health care systems. Unvaccinated people will bear the brunt of the latest wave, but there are others who are also at risk.

GUEST: Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour at McGill University

A recent study in Iceland involving thousands of workers has brought back the buzz around a shorter four-day work week. As the pandemic has accelerated the movement to work smarter and not longer, we explore the tantalizing possibilities — and potential problems — with a four-day work week in North America.

This is a rebroadcast from September 3, 2020.

Brain computer technology is at a point where the potential medical implications are so exciting many players are pursuing different approaches to the field. The potential ethics of using this technology are sometimes best explained in science fiction like “Black Mirror” and “The Matrix.” Neurotechnologist Graeme Moffat joins This Matters to discuss the latest in brain computer interface technology. He explains what’s important about Elon Musk’s recent Neuralink presentation where he revealed “Cyber Pigs.”

Ontario marked the first recipient of the Health Canada-approved Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, with at least 96,000 more to follow by year’s end. Distribution will be the next challenge. Who gets the vaccine first? What “high priority” regions will be reached? What can we expect over the next 12 months? Toronto Star reporter Rob Ferguson joins “This Matters” to talk about the vaccine plans, the timeline on when you can expect to get vaccinated and why “immunity passports” are being considered.

Crime is like a virus in a pandemic. Just this week, news broke a hacker gained access to documents related to Pfizer and Biontech’s vaccine and in another case, $11 million was stolen from pandemic relief funds in Ontario. The Star’s Peter Edwards and Robert Benzie joins “This Matters” to discuss how organized crime is at play in these uncertain times and how the authorities are trying to track down Ontario’s missing money.