Front Burner

Today on the show, the President of Princeton University, Christopher Eisgruber, joins us.

He makes a defense of the role of post secondary institutions at a time when they are at the centre of a culture war and the target of an incredibly hostile White House that casts universities and professors as the enemy.

He discusses the limits of free speech, his views on civility, artificial intelligence and more.

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

President Trump arrives in Beijing today for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He’s bringing with him a long list of tech and business titans like Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.

There’s a lot on the line.

The two countries have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade war for years – which escalated last year after Trump’s Liberation day tariffs. They came to a truce in the fall but the relationship is still fraught. In addition, the war in Iran looms. China is an ally to Iran and the largest buyer of its oil.

Jonathan Cheng is the Wall Street Journal’s China bureau chief. He walks host Jayme Poisson through what to expect in the coming days.

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

As part of its Spring economic update, the federal government revealed that it’s considering privatizing the country’s airports. The Prime Minister says it could free up money to fund other major projects and improve air travel for Canadians.

But a number of critics have come out against the idea. One of them is veteran journalist and activist Linda McQuaig, author of ‘The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth’. She joins us to talk about what the government is proposing and how things can go when public infrastructure comes into private hands.

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

Recent polls show that Canadians are increasingly concerned about the growth of AI.

And yet, the AI race is hurtling forward with few guardrails. In many cases, people aren’t even being given a lot of choice around using it. Many jobs now include the use of AI.

Today, we are talking about that tension and more with technology ethicist Tristan Harris.

He’s been sounding the alarm about AI growth, arguing that the tech industry is currently in a dangerous race without the proper checks and that the consequences will be profound.

Harris is the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, which he founded after working at Google. He’s also featured in the new documentary The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.

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

On the week where Alberta separatists should have been celebrating a major milestone on their quest to split the country apart, they are instead facing a police investigation and the anger of people across the political spectrum.

Separatist group the Centurion Project released the names, addresses and phone numbers of all eligible voters in the province during a political recruitment gambit that could undermine their whole mission.

We’re joined by Jason Markusoff who covers Alberta politics for the CBC. He’s going to talk us through what this all means for the future of Alberta's independence movement.

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