Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter
In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.
Episodes
149 episodes
Ford has faith Carney will steer his way on 401 tunnel
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has faith that Prime Minister Mark Carney will back his dream of a
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3:46
Barrie mayor says ‘more and more’ cities will follow his lead on encampments
It’s been 10 days since Barrie mayor Alex Nuttall declared a state of emergency over homeless encam...
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32:14
Sign up here to get your slice of the $500M bread price-fixing settlement
If you bought a loaf of bread sometime over the past 20 years — and really, who didn’t? — you’re entitled to some dough.Claim forms are
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27:34
The number of senior citizens in Canada is about to soar — are we ready?
By every measure, our population of senior citizens is about to get a whole lot bigger.According to Statistics Canada, the number of people aged 85 and older is
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29:17
Trump diplomat has ‘a hard time understanding’ why Canadians boycott U.S.
Pete Hoekstra, the United States Ambassador to Canada, joined our Closer Look podcast last week for a
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13:21
Trump’s man in Canada stops by our podcast, insists we can still be friends
Pete Hoekstra is Donald Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to Canada, which means he spends a lot of time answering questions about the pressing issue of the day on this side of the border: tariffs.The President's musings about Canada be...
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44:17
Bonnie voyage? Liberals decide this weekend if Crombie stays or goes
Judgment day looms for Bonnie Crombie.The Ontario Liberal leader faces a mandatory leadership review at the party’s annual general meeting this weekend, and it’s
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42:22
Is it time to ban sports gambling commercials? This might convince you
Here’s a sure bet: If you watch a sporting event tonight, you’re going to see a gambling ad. They’ve become ubiquitous ever since the Ontario government legalized sports betting across the province in 2022.But doctors are
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21:08
When did Ontario schools become so violent?
By every measure, violence is skyrocketing inside Ontario schools.According to a survey released earli...
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27:49
Where is Nicole Morin? 40 years later, there’s still hope for an answer
Forty years later, it remains one of Canada’s most perplexing unsolved mysteries: What happened to Nicole Morin?On July 30, 1985, the eight-year-old girl left her penthouse apartment in west-end Toronto to meet a friend for a ...
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26:10
Hurry! Don’t miss our interview with ‘rock star’ curler Jennifer Jones
Tonight on Village Media's 'Closer Look' podcast: One of the greatest curlers of all time stops by our house for a sweeping conversation about her legendary career and new autobiography.One of the greatest curlers of all time ...
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22:07
Chronic concern: This Ontario town smells like pot all the time
Tonight on our new 'Closer Look' podcast: After multiple legal challenges, years of complaints and thousands in fines, the Town of Pelham is still grappling with the stench from local cannabis facilities.In this case, resident...
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22:40
Homeless encampment becomes a ‘heinous’ crime scene
Tonight on Village Media's 'Closer Look' podcast: Barrie Police have charged a man with murdering and dismembering two people following an investigation inside a controversial homeless encampment.The details are still tricklin...
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19:51
Who should take the heat for sweltering classrooms?
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: Amid a summer heat wave, parents are calling on the province to create new regulations to deal with scorching temperatures in daycares and classrooms.As heat waves continue to grip...
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19:09
CLOSER LOOK: Let’s talk about Doug Ford’s tunnel vision
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: We dig a little deeper into Premier Ford's big idea to construct a massive, congestion-easing tunnel underneath Highway 401 in Toronto.For a story about boring, this one has proven...
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19:47
CLOSER LOOK: What happens when your mayor is under OPP investigation?
It's not everyday that the OPP launches an investigation targeting an Ontario mayor. But that's exactly what happened this week in North Bay...
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19:12
‘I’m not going anywhere’: Bonnie Crombie tells us why she should keep her job
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: Ontario's Liberal leader concedes that 'mistakes were made' during the last election, but she has every intention of steering her party into the next campaign.Bonnie Crombie acknow...
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33:10
Steve Paikin has a new agenda keeping him busy
Tonight on 'Closer Look': One of Canada's most recognized and respected journalists talks to us about his beloved Red Sox, his new podcast, and why he's excited to once again team up with Village Media.Don’t use the word retir...
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25:07
We learned some things about the chief fundraiser for Doug Ford’s PC party
Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: What our Queen's Park team at The Trillium discovered about the chair of the PC Ontario Fund — and how Premier Ford reacted to the investigation."He could be the most powerful pers...
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17:29
Car thefts are suddenly way down across Ontario
Tonight on Village Media's new 'Closer Look' podcast: One month after masked men tried to steal a vehicle out of Doug Ford's driveway, a new report finds a major decline in reported auto thefts.Last year, when the provincial a...
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19:04
Lots of worry kicking around about World Cup we're hosting with U.S.
Remember back in 2018, when the United States, Canada and Mexico celebrated their successful bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup?Now that the big event is
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21:16
Major project? Maybe it’s time to finally fix Ontario’s northern highways
Donald Trump’s tariffs have triggered a lot of talk on this side of the border about building big
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18:15
CLOSER LOOK: How scammers are using AI to rip you off
Back in June, police in Barrie issued what has become an all-too-common warning: beware of fraudsters.
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18:52
Nate Erskine-Smith tells us why Bonnie Crombie needs to go
Bonnie Crombie is set to face a leadership review at the Ontario Liberal Party’s annual general meeting in September — and one former rival has some well-publicized thoughts about what should happen.In a Substack post last wee...
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26:56
CLOSER LOOK: Is Canadian fentanyl really ‘pouring’ over the U.S. border?
As trade negotiations drag on, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to insist that tariffs are justified because Canada isn’t doing enough to stop fentanyl from “pouring” over the border into American communities.The data doe...
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12:48