Front Burner

Right now former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is on house arrest, after being sentenced to 27 years in prison. On Sunday his son Flavio won the first round of that country's presidential elections, his wife, and two more of his children were voted into office. A runoff election is three weeks away.

It's a stunning political turnaround.

In part, because the man who could be toppled by the return of the Bolsonaros, is a towering figure of leftist Latin American politics: Lula da Silva. Under Lula's leadership, tens of millions of Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty. He's currently serving his third term as President.

These early results in Brazil mirror a right-wing surge across the region. One that aligns with Donald Trump's so-called 'Donroe Doctrine' where America has free reign to influence, coerce and pick favourites to further U.S. interests.

We're joined today by Brian Winter, author of several books on Latin America, editor in chief of Americas Quarterly and Vice President of policy at the Council of the Americas.

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

Since last week, there have been a series of alarming bits of news emerging from Siberia. It began with the mysterious death of a woman who worked at a plague research institute. Russia has said she contracted pneumonia but has been slim on details. But the World Health Organization wants more information, including details about whether or not there has been a second case, which has been rumoured, but not confirmed.

All of this, including Russia’s moves to quarantine, has people scared of an outbreak of one of the most aggressive forms of plague: the pneumonic plague.

So we wanted to talk to someone who looks at global health risks and biosecurity to get a temperature check. Gregory Koblentz is the Director of the Biodefense Graduate Program at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He’s also the co-director of the Global Bio Labs initiative which tracks high containment labs around the world.
For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

With the election of the Parti Québécois in Quebec Monday night, it's the first time in twelve years that Canada will have a separatist government in power.

Over the course of the campaign, the party's leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, made clear some of the fights he could take up with Ottawa, over issues like immigration. He also vowed to hold a referendum on separation in his first term, a promise he doubled down on this week despite only securing a minority government.

With the Alberta referendum coming up, this means Mark Carney is now dealing with separatist movements on both ends of the country, at a time when he's trying to lead a united front against U.S. aggression.

Montreal-based journalist Martin Patriquin joins us to talk about what this election means for the country right now.

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

Celebrated author Naomi Klein joins the show to talk about how Mark Carney's response to Trump's trade war echoes themes in her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. We also discuss her latest work "End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World.

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

Ten years ago, Britain voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the European Union. The result reshaped British politics, triggered years of negotiations and remains deeply contested a decade later. Now, as Alberta prepares to vote on whether to begin a process that could eventually lead to separation from Canada, there are obvious differences between the two situations, but also some striking parallels.

We hear from three people who experienced Brexit from very different perspectives: a former Conservative MP who supported leaving the EU, an Alberta separatist who says independence needs a concrete plan, and a Brexit scholar who warns that the political fallout from a referendum can last for years.

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