The Current

The federal government says it's not going to go ahead with an expansion of medical assistance in dying for people whose only medical condition is a mental illness. Advocates say people with mental illness are being discriminated against, and opponents say there are too many unresolved questions about whether a mental illness is treatable. The Globe and Mail's Stephanie Levitz explains the political context, the timing of the announcements, and how the Opposition is responding.

Meta's personal AI agent Muse is now one of Canada's most downloaded apps, and has attracted millions of users since it was first launched in September. It acts as a personal assistant and can help with things like paying bills and ordering food, but it relies on a lot of your personal information. We speak with the Wall Street Journal's personal tech columnist, Nicole Nguyen, who has tried the app and tells us why she finds it both incredible and terrifying at the same time.

The ‘Cornell 7’ incident has people talking about sexual assault. Some are asking why cases like this keep happening, even after years of education on consent. Two counsellors who talk to boys and young men about sexual violence and toxic masculinity tell us what's working and what stands in the way.

After 25 years in development, there is a new apple hitting grocery stores near you. We'll hear from Amritpal Singh, a scientist at Summerland Research and Development Centre and creator of the Sunpunch apple, on why he makes new fruit and why it takes so long.

Do you know the story of how the beaver became an official symbol of Canada in 1975? Hint: it involved a real live beaver peeing on a CBC radio host during an anti-American campaign to "Keep the beaver Canadian!" We bring you the remarkable tale — and look at how it relates to the moment we're in right now politically with the US. Plus, a trip to the Utah desert, where our national symbol has become a conservation hero. We speak with Nate Norman, director of the Beaver Ecology & Relocation Collaborative at Utah State University, and Colin Coates, professor of Canadian studies and history at York University.