Front Burner

On Monday, NXIVM member and former Smallville actress Allison Mack pleaded guilty in a New York court to racketeering charges for her role in a cult-like group called NXIVM. Mack is one of several high-ranking NXIVM members who have been charged with manipulating women into becoming sex slaves for Keith Raniere, the group's leader, among other charges. Today on Front Burner, Josh Bloch, host of CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM, reports on what we've now learned about the secretive organization.

The Canadian government is considering regulating social media giants like Facebook. This comes after the release of a report by Canadians electronic spy agency, showing how Canadians are vulnerable to foreign interference in this upcoming election. Today on Front Burner, Roger McNamee, the author of "Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe" explains how the business model of big tech is inseparable from its most negative effects.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel for ten years. If he is re-elected and stays on in the job through the summer, he'll be longest serving Prime Minister in the country's history. But he faces a tough opponent in former military general Benny Gantz. Today on Front Burner, CBC's Derek Stoffel on Benjamin Netanyahu's political staying power.

For weeks, the song "Old Town Road" by rapper Lil Nas X had been climbing the country music charts. After Billboard disqualified the hit saying it wasn't "country" enough, there's been a big conversation about genre, authorship and race. Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone breaks it down.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was protested by dozens of young women with political aspirations who were visiting the House of Commons. This came just hours after expelling Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from caucus. It's just one example of the kind of frustration that's surrounded the SNC-Lavalin controversy. CBC opinion columnist Robyn Urback and freelance journalist Jen Gerson share their thoughts on that, and what it means for Canadians' expectations of government.

This week a new federal carbon tax on fossil fuels came into effect in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. These are all provinces that took a hard pass at creating their own version of a carbon pricing plan that would meet the Liberal government's standards. They're being called "The Holdouts". Today on Front Burner, CBC's J.P. Tasker walks us through how each province proposes to fight climate change without a carbon tax.

In this season of Uncover: The Village, reporter Justin Ling reveals the history of unsolved murder and missing persons cases in Toronto's gay village.

CBC Power and Politics host Vassy Kapelos breaks down the secretly-recorded phone call between former Attorney-General Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick - as the SNC-Lavalin controversy grows.

Since the writ dropped in Alberta, two candidates have resigned from the United Conservative Party over Islamaphobic, white supremacist, homophobic and transphobic messages on social media. This is only the latest controversy for the party. The Jason Kenney campaign has been accused of supporting a 'kamikaze candidate' to help him win the leadership race in 2017, and the RCMP is looking into allegations of voter fraud. Maclean's Alberta correspondent Jason Markusoff says the scandals may not prevent Jason Kenney from winning the premiership. "This is an economically anxious province," says Markusoff. "Albertans are frustrated and anxious, they're looking for some change to make to liberate themselves from the status quo."

When Edward Snowden showed up at her door, Vanessa Rodel had no idea who he was. Then she saw his face of the front page of the newspaper. Rodel and her daughter have just arrived in Canada as privately sponsored refugees. Vanessa tells the story of how she hid Snowden, who at the time was the subject of an international manhunt for leaking top secret information that exposed a global US spy program. She also talks about the price she paid to help him.

After the merger of Disney and Fox, one movie studio controls almost 40% of the box office. The merger puts Disney in a position to compete with big tech companies like Netflix and Apple in the streaming game. But is it good for moviegoers and TV watchers? Film critic David Sims says 'bigness' can lead to bad outcomes for less profitable content like local news and art movies, but will increase our diet of superhero blockbusters. "It seems that these companies that have always existed in the movie business are looking at this industry and saying, we can only make a few kinds of movies anymore that can make money," says Sims.

In 1982 a brutal massacre in a small farming community during the Guatemalan civil war left over 160 men, women and children dead. Over thirty years later, one of the men responsible for the horrific murders has been sentenced to more than 5000 years in prison by a Guatemalan Court. His name is Santos López Alonzo. Today on Front Burner, CBC's Nahlah Ayed explains how a little boy that Santos López kidnapped from the village after the massacre? would one day grow up and help put him behind bars.

A summary of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election is out. CBC Washington correspondent Keith Boag breaks down what we know so far, and the implications for the Trump administration.

The Christchurch mosque shooter formed his radical views online. Today, an examination of how far right communities spread their toxic messages on the Internet and how they use YouTube to do it.

This week's federal budget laid some initial groundwork for the possibility of a national pharmacare plan in Canada. But with a contentious election year ahead, there are still plenty of questions around how a strategy could be implemented. Today on Front Burner, Globe and Mail health reporter Kelly Grant explains how the pharmacare debate is unfolding and what we can expect from the Liberals in the coming year.