The Game That Saves Lives: Dungeons and Dragons

The Game That Saves Lives: Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons started in 1974 with no budget and a simple idea, and Ryan O'Donnell makes the case that it has been saving lives ever since. If you've never rolled a die, this is the episode that explains why people who have can't stop talking about it. For neurodivergent kids especially, the game builds social skills that don't come easily anywhere else. A CBC story on a D&D group and a TED talk called Saving Your Brain with D&D back that up, and the story of Storm King at summer camp makes it impossible to dismiss. A professional Dungeon Master joins to explain what the role actually involves, and why the person running the table might matter more than anyone gives them credit for. Topics: Dungeons and Dragons, neurodivergent kids, social skills, tabletop RPG, community   Originally aired on 2026-07-02

NEW - Borrowing Against Your Investments: Good Idea or Trap?

Wealth Simple is expanding fast and Vincent Gregoire, Canada Research Chair in Finance and Technology at HEC Montreal, is paying close attention. Lower fees and less friction are good for investors. The new ability to borrow against your portfolio, including potentially your registered retirement savings, is where the conversation gets harder. The mechanics are straightforward: hold a thousand dollars in stocks, access a thirty percent line of credit against them without selling and without triggering a tax bill. Use that money to reinvest, cover expenses, or do what you want. It levels the playing field for people who don't own property and have never had access to that kind of leverage. It also amplifies losses when markets drop, and if the loan gets called on a registered account, the withdrawal penalties stack on top of the portfolio hit. Gregoire's concern isn't the tool. It's whether the people using it understand what they're holding. Gamification nudges frequent trading. Frequent trading, the research consistently shows, is bad for smaller investors. Topics: Wealth Simple investing, margin loans Canada, RRSP collateral risk, gamification investing, fintech Canada GUEST: Vincent Gregoire | @vincentgregoire   Originally aired on 2026-07-02

SHIFTHEADS: 1974: Trudeau, Nixon, and 79-Cent Ground Beef

Canada Day 1974 means a federal election, a sitting prime minister fighting for his majority, and a American president about to become the first to resign the office. The past has a way of arriving right on time. This Throwback Thursday lands on the Canada Day long weekend and goes back fifty years to a moment that feels uncomfortably familiar: Canadians worried about mortgage rates, gas prices, food costs, and the cost of living while the political ground shifted under everyone's feet. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was campaigning hard. Robert Stanfield was pushing back. And south of the border, Richard Nixon was telling the world he was not a crook, with about six weeks left before he proved otherwise. Bread was thirty-five cents. A dozen eggs cost seventy cents. Gas was twenty cents a litre. The more things change. Topics: Canada 1974, Pierre Trudeau election, Watergate Nixon resignation, Canadian cost of living, Great Lakes water protection Originally aired on 2026-07-02

NEW - Secrecy Creep: What Governments Hope You Don't File For

Canadian politics commentator Rob Breakenridge joins the Canada Day long weekend to make a distinction most people skip: the country is not the same thing as the people running it, and one can be worth celebrating while the other deserves serious scrutiny. A piece Rob wrote a year ago on Alberta's secrecy creep turns out to be more relevant now than when he wrote it. Delayed access to information requests, redacted documents, topics quietly pulled from committee agendas — Rob walks through how governments limit what Canadians can see, and why most of it happens in plain sight. With trade uncertainty, provincial tension, and a new federal government still short on deliverables, Rob lays out what he's watching in the months ahead — and why how people feel about this country depends heavily on what happens next. Topics: secrecy creep, government transparency, Canadian politics, national unity, access to information GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | Rob Breakenridge  | Substack [http://robbreakenridge.ca/]   Originally aired on 2026-07-02

Shiftheads - Why Protein Matters More as You Age

Holistic nutritionist Alyssa B of nourished.ca [http://nourished.ca] makes the case that protein isn't a fitness trend — it's the foundation everything else depends on. Muscle protects bone. Bone protects you from the fall that changes everything. Getting enough protein is how you stay independent at seventy. Alyssa breaks down exactly how much protein you actually need, why front-loading it at breakfast changes the rest of your day, and how to hit those numbers without overthinking it. Two eggs gets you twelve grams. Add a cup of egg whites and you're most of the way to forty before you've touched your toast. The protein chips and protein coffee aren't the answer, but they're not nothing either. Alyssa explains when the marketed stuff earns a place in your day, what to look for on the label, and why frozen edamame is doing more work than most people give it credit for. Topics: protein intake, holistic nutrition, aging, high protein breakfast, budget nutrition GUEST: Alyssa B | nourished.ca [http://nourished.ca] Originally aired on 2026-07-02