Zoomer Week In Review

Delayed and cancelled flights, huge waits on the tarmac after landing, even longer delays to get through security and customs. That is reality around the world as tens of thousands of people rush to fulfill their delayed holiday plans. Travel insurance expert Martin Firestone experienced it all first hand this week. Libby Znaimer reached him a few hours after he got home to talk about what to expect and how to prepare. AND This week marked the 78th anniversary of D-Day amid an ongoing effort to re-consecrate the graves of Jewish soldiers who were killed in World War 2. While many were keen to join the Allied forces to fight the Nazis - some concealed their faith because they feared worse treatment if they were captured. The result? They were buried under Christian crosses and given Christian rites. The work of finding those graves, replacing the headstones and offering descendants the proper religious ceremonies has resumed for the first time since the pandemic. But the work began in the U.S. when Shalom La

The Progressive Conservative’s huge majority victory this week means it will be harder to hold that government to account. But CARP has a plan to push its healthcare priorities to the top of the agenda. Anthony Quinn, CARP’s Ontario Election Lead, shared the strategy. AND Langdon Hall, in Cambridge - is one of Canada’s most luxurious and celebrated country inns and it boasts one of the best restaurants in the country. Now home cooks can try their hands at recreating some of Chef Jason Bangerter’s sumptuous dishes. I talked to him while flipping through “Langdon Hall: A Cookbook.”

Experts say we should expect more extreme weather events like last weekend’s devastating storms which killed 11 people. But are we doing the right things to limit the damage? Libby Znaimer reached Blair Feltmate, head of the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. AND Maye Musk’s billionaire son Elon has been all over the news lately, but now she is making headlines of her own. The 74-year-old Saskatchewan-born model, author and dietitian has become the oldest person to appear on the cover of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. She appears wearing a one-piece beige and orange bathing suit accentuated with ruffles. What does it mean for Zoomers? Libby asked Zoomer Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Suzanne Boyd.

This week’s whirlwind Royal visit by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla focussed on reconciliation with Indigenous people. But for many Canadians it raised the question of whether it’s time to cut ties with the monarchy. Recent polls show a slim majority think that should happen when Charles becomes king. Libby talked with David Onley who served as the Queen’s representative, the Lieutenant Governor, from 2007 to 2014. AND Huge lineups at security and customs. Passengers held on the tarmac for hours because there is literally no room for them in the airport. The government, the airlines, and the airports are all blaming each other. Even transport minister Omar Al’Ghabra is pointing the finger at inexperienced passengers. Al-Ghabra denied that the government asked airlines to cancel flights to ease the backlog. That is where Libby started her conversation with Duncan Dee former COO of Air Canada.

Israel’s Emergency Medical Service is unique in the world because its 25,000 staff medics work alongside 29,000 trained volunteers and filmmaker Martin Himel is one of them! Libby Znaimer sat down with Martin at our Liberty Village Studios. Tel Aviv 911 premiers Monday, May 16, 2022 at 9pm ET on our sister station VisionTV. AND The recent carnage in the markets has many Zoomers reviewing their financial plans. But what is possibly the best advice ahead of retirement applies no matter which way the numbers are headed. Ten years ago, three quarters of the respondents to RGF Integrated Wealth Management’s retirement survey were very confident their marriage would adapt to retirement. Now fewer than half can say that. Which is why Financial Advisor Clay Gillespie says the best preparation is to work on your marriage. Libby reached him in Vancouver.

Marsha Lederman first learned that her family went through the Holocaust at the age of five. But it has taken all these years to learn about their epic stories of survival and to understand their impact on her. Her new book is called “Kiss the Red Stairs” and Libby's conversation with her was intensely personal because her parents also went through the Holocaust and she's still trying to piece together their very different stories of survival. AND It’s one of the few good things caused by the pandemic. Gardening is more popular than ever and a new study estimates a cool million of us are getting into it for the first time this season. Libby reached study author Janet Music from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

The Palace Papers promised to share riveting details about the British Royal family since Diana's death - and it delivers. Author Tina Brown is the celebrated former editor of Tatler, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair and she tapped more than 100 sources for the juicy details. We talked when she was in town this week. Will the monarchy survive after Queen Elizabeth? Tina thinks Charles and Camilla will do just fine - but for Harry and Meghan, the future is uncertain.

It's more proof that traditional retirement, and especially retirement planning, is long gone. JP Morgan told its asset management advisors ''to plan for clients to live to 100 if they are in excellent health and non-smokers.'' This caught the attention of David Cravit, vice-president at ZoomerMedia, who's written books and blogs about the ''reinvention'' of aging. AND Prostate cancer is the 4th most common cancer in Canada and in men it’s number one. A new medical paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology is reviving debate about dropping the word ‘’cancer’’ when patients receive the results of low-risk biopsy findings. For a Canadian perspective, Bob Komsic spoke with Dr. Tony Finelli, Surgical Oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and head of the Urology Division.

A new report from food rescue organization Second Harvest reveals the severity of Canada’s food waste problem and suggests solutions the food industry can implement to resolve the issue. WASTED OPPORTUNITY finds a staggering 96 percent of surplus edible food is wasted instead of being donated to feed those in need. And with nearly two-thirds of Canadians reporting difficulty feeding their families - and only getting worse with record high inflation - advocates say it's vital to take action now. Lori Nikkel is the CEO of Second Harvest, Canada's largest food rescue organization. AND We’ve all seen someone we’ve mistaken for someone else, and many of us have even been mistaken for another person. The theory that everyone has a doppelganger somewhere in the world has been around for a while, but a Montreal photographer set out on a mission to capture the likeness of people who’ve never met in a series of black and white portraits. We reached artist and photographer Francois Brunelle.

After two pandemic seasons, summer festivals are set to resume. One organization - the Shaw Festival - is emerging in much better shape than its peers and it’s because of one very smart decision. Libby Znaimer talked with Executive Director Tim Jennings. AND She started her career in the maternity ward and pivoted to the end of life. Dr. Stephanie Green was one of the first doctors to deliver MAID in Canada and she tells the powerful story in her new book "This is Assisted Dying".

Can the lessons of history help us make sense of the war on Ukraine? What is the impact of a single unexpected figure like Ukrainian President Volodimir Zylenskyy? Libby Znaimer turned to eminent historian Margaret MacMillan, former warden and professor at St. Anthony’s College, University of Oxford. AND It’s well known that Leonard Cohen’s classic “Who By Fire” is based on a Hebrew prayer recited on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Matti Friedman’s book by that name tells the little-known story of Leonard Cohen’s concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War, In October 1973, when he was—thirty-nine , famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end. I talked with the author about the iconic poet and singer’s wartime tour of the Sinai desert.

Liana Markunina and Leonid Markunin are among the first Ukranians to arrive in Canada since Russia invaded a month ago. They already had visitors’ visas because they have two sons who live in Toronto. They had been hoping to eventually immigrate here under the family reunification program. Instead they fled their home in Odesa to escape Russian bombing. Libby Znaimer talked with them, through a translator, about their harrowing journey. AND This week, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary reiterated the Russian dictator’s most potent threat - that he may resort to nuclear weapons. Dmitri Peskov’s comment had western defense experts worrying about the true level of threat. We reached Michael Krepon, Co-founder of the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank and author of "Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace".

Today marks the International Day of Happiness and it’s hard to remember a time when we needed it more. This year’s World Happiness Report says Canada is 15th out of 146 countries in the ranking of places with the happiest people - and there’s a surprising finding on the wellbeing of Zoomers amid the pandemic. Libby Znaimer talked with economist John Helliwell, the editor of the report and an ideaCity alum. AND Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations says Russia’s war on Ukraine is an attack on the world order. Can the U.N. do anything about it? We reached ambassador Bob Rae in between meetings in New York.

This past Friday marked a grim milestone. It’s been two years since the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. While there’s been no official end to the virus and its variants, the world tries to turn the page on this once in a lifetime pandemic that upended the world. In the same week of the two year anniversary, the global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 6 million. For some perspective on where we’ve been, and what’s ahead, we reached Dr. Susy Hota, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at University Health Network. AND It’s National Nutrition Month, an annual campaign to promote healthy food choices and physical activity habits. At the start of the pandemic, worries about food shortages inspired people to get creative in the kitchen, buying flour in bulk to make their own bread. Some went old school and started pickling, leading to a shortage of mason jars. Now two years in, how have our food choices changed? We reached Registered Dietician and Food Advocate Irena

As Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine goes on, many of Ukrainian heritage living around the world are returning to their homeland to defend it. Mark Preston-Horin of Victoria B.C. is one of them. Bob Komsic talked to him as he was finalizing his travel plans. If you’re 50 and older, or have a loved one who is, hopefully you or they have received vaccine shots to prevent Shingles. The number who have is low - only about one-in-four Zoomers. Here to help raise awareness is Dr. Samir Sinha, director of research with the National Institute on Aging at Ryerson University and head of geriatrics at Sinai Health System and University Health Network.

We live in a world of misinformation which is described as any information that turns out to be false. It infiltrates current events ranging from elections, the pandemic, the recent blockades and protests in Canada and now, the war in Ukraine. While it’s not a new phenomenon, gone are the days of getting all of our information from the newspaper. And experts who study this influence of people’s reasoning even after it’s been corrected call it the ‘continued influence effect’. Here to explain is Dr. Maddy Jalbert with The Centre for an Informed Public at the University of Washington AND A trip to the maple sugar bush is a rite of spring for many. And producers are hoping for a sweeter season this year after last spring’s less than ideal weather and the ongoing pandemic created the worst season in half a century. But if weather and daylight conditions are ideal, Purple Woods Conservation Area in Durham Region hopes to produce up to 1,200 litres of the liquid gold. We reached Dan Hope who’s with the Central La

This long weekend, we mark Family Day. It comes as the two-year pandemic has changed our demographics and the structure of our families: more people live alone or in couples and there are fewer households with children. Doug Norris, chief demographer at Environics Analytics says it all flows from the aging of the population. AND There’s always lots of public discussion about immigration. This week the government announced it is increasing the target for the year - looking to welcome 432,000 new immigrants. But what about movement in the opposite direction, when immigrants return to their countries of origin? Kamal Al-Sleyli is the author of Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From. Libby Znaimer reached him in Vancouver.

The blockading protests calling themselves the Freedom Convoy have raised millions of dollars in a very short period of time. When GoFundMe froze their funds, sites like GiveSendGo took over. Reports suggest much of that cash is coming from the US and much has been donated anonymously. Who’s behind the money? Christian Leuprecht is a Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada and Senior Fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute. AND Along with most everything else, the pandemic has curtailed volunteering. Still, philanthropist Salah Bachir found ways to continue raising the funds for St. Joseph’s Health Centre and its new dialysis centre. He is well known in the entertainment industry and and is a long standing supporter of the arts and gay rights activist. He has just been honoured with a June Callwood Outstanding Volunteer Award.

Over half of Canada’s 30,000 deaths from COVID-19 were in long term care homes. Two years in, as hundreds of homes report new outbreaks of the Omicron variant, new draft national standards for the sector have been released that the authors claim would have saved many lives. Advocates say the changes are long overdue. Critics say they don’t go far enough. Dr. Samir Sinha is director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and also on the committee that wrote these proposed new standards. To offer your input, visit longtermcarestandards.ca AND Black Americans have been fighting for reparations tied to slavery for generations. But how close are legislators to making it happen in 2022? Opponents say maybe the time to redress slavery and the discrimination that followed has passed. The issue of reparations are back in the spotlight this month during Black History Month. We reached Dr. Earl Lewis, Founding Director of the Center for Social Solutions and professor of history at the University of Michigan.

When the pandemic began, it seemed that Covid would convince many Canadians to retire early. The science made it clear that the risks increased with age and the demands of moving everything online required a massive shift. But the opposite has happened. The pandemic is making Canadians delay retirement. Fidelity Canada explored the reasons in its most recent report. I talked with Michelle Munro, Director of retirement research. AND This week marked Holocaust remembrance Day and the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. With the numbers of survivors dwindling, and anti-Semitism rising around the world, 92-year-old Max Eisen says telling his story is more important than ever.