Front Burner

As the face of America's COVID-19 response, Anthony Fauci was a nearly constant presence in American life throughout the pandemic. To some, he was revered, reaching a sort of celebrity status. But to a movement on the American right, he eventually became a villain, accused not simply of mishandling the pandemic, but of misleading the public about its origins, and even bearing some responsibility for COVID-19 itself.

This week, Fauci testified before the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security Committee, to answer for his response to the pandemic. But the proceedings took a strange turn, as he refused to answer questions, repeatedly invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Daniel Engber is a senior editor at The Atlantic who co-wrote the piece, "What Anthony Fauci Didn't Say." He joins us to talk about why some Americans were so eager to put Anthony Fauci on trial.

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

A key part of Carney's deal to get a new pipeline built in Alberta involved the creation of the Pathways Project, which he touted as "the world's largest carbon capture and utilization and storage project." Canadian political leaders, both Liberal and Conservative, have been pinning high hopes on carbon capture technology for two decades, as a way to keep oil flowing while limiting emissions. But so far, it hasn't been adopted at a mass scale.

Investigative reporter Carl Meyer wrote a piece for The Narwhal about how politicians and oil companies have promoted carbon capture over the years. He joins us to talk about what we know about this technology, why we haven't seen it materialize at a large scale, and what it tells us about the politics around the climate.

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

This week, Sam Altman, CEO and founder of OpenAI, got much of the tech world talking after declaring that we are living in the singularity: a theoretical point when machines, with artificial intelligence, surpass human ability and are able to grow and improve beyond our control.

This comes less than a week after OpenAI admitted that two of its models went rogue and hacked another start-up. It has some American lawmakers proposing legislation that would ensure companies and the government have a “kill switch” for AI models that escape human containment.

So are we at a technological point of no return? Or is it just hype? Will Douglas Heaven, Senior AI editor at the MIT Technology Review, joins us.

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

The Trump administration is increasingly conflating communism and the political left, casting them as threats to American national security.

The rhetoric is beginning to take institutional form. The administration has directed federal agencies to investigate networks it says facilitate political violence, convened an international summit on so-called “far-left” terrorism, and published a report placing prominent American activists, politicians and organizations within a broader narrative of foreign communist influence.

For some, the parallels to an earlier period of American history - the Red Scare - are difficult to ignore.

Today historian Ellen Schrecker, author of Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America, joins us to examine the history of the Red Scare and whether it’s repeating itself.

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

Today, the Gordie Howe Bridge is set to officially open to the public, connecting Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan.

Its ceremonial opening on Friday was a one-sided affair. It was originally supposed to be a joint ceremony with U.S. officials, but that was cancelled after President Donald Trump announced his plans to hit Canada with a new whack of tariffs.

That’s just one of the many bumps in the road to getting this bridge open.

CBC Windsor reporter Emma Loop has been reporting on the Gordie Howe Bridge for years. She talks about the long journey to the opening, and how it represents the Canada-U.S. relationship writ large.

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