The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Video)

Already a significant problem in Ontario, opioid deaths have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Northeastern Ontario Hub journalist Nick Dunne investigated the province's response to the epidemic and learned how the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth outreach team is trying to help drug users cope with their circumstances.

Rachel Romu has been bringing visibility to disability one runway at a time. The fashion model and disability advocate joins Ontario Hubs field producer Jeyan Jeganathan to talk about her career, the fashion industry, and how COVID-19 has affected people with disabilities.

News of murder hornet and locust swarms in Africa and Asia, and the calmer, but equally devastating, gypsy moth caterpillar that's currently wreaking havoc on trees in eastern Ontario has all also been concerning. To explain what's going on with bugs and provide updates on mosquito-borne illnesses, The Agenda welcomes Rosalind Murray, an entomologist and an NSERC postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toronto.

They're not exactly fish, and they're certainly not snakes that live in water. What they are - if you can get over the slithery, darting weirdness of eels - is fascinating: truly ever-changing, versatile and resilient. To discuss the remarkable characteristics of eels, Nam Kiwanuka welcomes Patrik Svensson, journalist and author of "The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World;" and Steven Cooke, professor and Canada Research Chair of Environmental Science and Biology at Carleton University.

Nancy Simmons of the American Museum of Natural History; and Burton Lim of the Royal Ontario Museum discuss the evolutionary history of bats, why they are often vilified - especially amid this pandemic, their essential role in ecosystems, and factors that have led to endangerment. They dispel common myths about bats and tell what they love most about their jobs as chiropterologists.

Deborah Martin-Downs and Jeff Payne of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority discuss the history and health of one of the Credit River in Ontario and how it's been affected by climate change.

Comic conventions in Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara, at which creators showcase their work, have been cancelled this year due to COVID-19. What does that mean for Ontario's comic-book writers and illustrators? Hamilton-Niagara Hub journalist Justin Chandler spoke to some local artists who are having to find other ways to promote their work.

In 2004, producer Meredith Martin visited the Credit River and explored how this natural sanctuary is able to survive under intense pressures from development.

With much of the world still grappling with COVID-19, it's clear people must learn to live with it for a while, perhaps indefinitely. With that in mind, Andrew Frontini, design director at Perkins and Will; and Cheryll Case, founder and principal urban planner at CP Planning, talk to Nam Kiwanuka about how cities might adapt public spaces to meet social distancing needs.

Educators and policymakers are planning for the return of the school year in under six weeks. What does that look like in this COVID-19 era in terms of keeping everyone safe and learning? Nam Kiwanuka talks to Pam Belluck, health and science writer for the New York Times; and Kristin Rushowy, who spent 15 years covering education for the Toronto Star, and now reports from the paper's Queen's Park bureau.

At age seventeen, journalist Duncan McCue spent five months on a Cree trapline in northern Quebec, learning how to live off the land, hunt, and speak the language. In "The Shoe Boy, A Trapline Memoir," he writes about the value of the experience at a pivotal time in his life when he was exploring his Indigenous identity. Nam Kiwanuka talks to McCue about his memoir and about his work helping journalists understand how to cover Indigenous issues.

Southwestern Ontario Hub journalist Mary Baxter explains how Bill 175: The Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act affects current operations.

As TVO celebrates its 50th year, it's a great time to look to the past for some advice on what to do in this summer of physical distancing. Avid birder Suanne Kelman, professor emerita at the Ryerson School of Journalism, gives Nam Kiwanuka an update on the pastime of birdwatching from the time she took part in a 1999 Studio 2 episode until now.

An underwater photographer's search for a clear shot, boaters looking for a getaway, and migrants fleeing their homes. Journalist Laura Trethewey's new book, "The Imperiled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea," collects voices from across the globe who together tell a story that is hard to see when viewed on their own.

It's been three decades since the groundbreaking 78-day standoff between Mohawks and Canadian soldiers. The Agenda reflects on the significance of the resistance that began outside Montreal in June 1990, how it's influenced Indigenous people and culture, and the land claim challenges that remain.