At Night With Dan Riendeau

The crimes of the so-called Islamic State are sometime difficult to talk about given their brutality – none more so than the stories of the women who have been captured and subjected to sexual enslavement.  The women who have escaped their captors are now documenting their stories in the hope that one day the perpetrators will be brought to justice.  Sally Armstrong, Freelance journalist       

Otis Redding would have turned 75 this month.  Instead the soul music legend died in a plane crash at just 26 years of age.  Despite that tragedy he managed to leave behind a body of work so powerful that it continues to awe music lovers five decades after his death.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is the most recent victim of a computer hack.  A large trove of his personel emails were released to the public revealing his low opinion of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  David Graham, Staff Writer at the Atlantic, covers U.S. politics and global news         

In the new book Cat Wars conservation scientist Peter Marra and journalist Chris Santella argue that cats both feral and domestic are responsible for a stunning number of bird deaths, species extinction and even disease transmission and for that reason should be regarded as an invasive species.  Peter Marra, Author of Cat Wars: the devastating consequences of a cuddly killer                                    

Canada will send more than $100 million in foreign aid to South Sudan this year.  That country is once again embroiled in a violent conflict that a new report says has much more to do with enriching the country’s leaders than any political dispute.  Debra LaPrevotte, one of the lead investigators on The Sentry report        

Hillary Clinton has increasingly staked out positions that are directly in opposition to Wall Street’s interests.  So why are they almost universally donating only to her campaign?  Alex Macgillis, political reporter for ProPublica                        

After weeks of protest the National Energy Board has dismissed three board members for having an improper meeting with an energy lobbyist. That has put the future of the controversial Energy Easy pipeline very much into question and created a political problem for the Prime Minister.  Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer with the Globe and Mail                                                                                              

A team of researchers from the Vancouver Aquarium are investigating the damage tiny paricles of plastic are wrecking in the oceans.  Dr. Peter Ross, director of the Ocean Pollution Research Program, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre      

In her new book mathematician Cathy O’Neill argues that our lives are increasingly being ruled by computer algorithms that are trusted with the most crucial aspects of our lives but are often producing flawed or outright bad data.  Cathy O’Neill, Author of Weapons of Mass Destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy     

North Korea has once again tested a nuclear weapon – likely the most powerful one yet.  The usual noises are being made by the international community about trying to contain or restrain the Kim regime but isn’t time to recognize that is basically impossible?  Jack Kim, Special advisor, HanVoice - an advocacy organization focused on North Korean human rights and refugee issues.     

NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently completed its first flyby of Jupiter,, the largest planet in the solar system.  The probe snapped some stunning photos of the red giant and recorded some truly eerie radio emissions generated by the planets massive magnetosphere.  Scott Bolton, Principal investigator on Juno Team      

Edward Snowden, the former defense contractor responsible for the biggest national security leak in US history, will soon be the subject of a new film directed by Oliver Stone.  How Snowden managed to evade US authorities hunting for him in Hong Kong in the immediate aftermath of the leak has until now remained a mystery.  Theresa Tedesco, Chief Business Correspondent, National Post

Buzzfeed News has just published the results of an 18-month long investigation into a parallel international legal regime that allows big business to overturn laws and erase prosecutions.  It’s a Global supercourt that critics on the right and left believe threatens the sovereignty of nations around the world including Canada.  Chris Hamby, investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News 

It is a story that has captivated Australia.  A family of five disappeared from their Victoria home only to gradually reappear scattered across the country and in various stages of mental distress.  Tammy Mills, Crime reporter, The Age Newspaper       

Federal Conservative leadership candidate Kelliey Leitch ignited a firestorm of criticism after she proposed screening immigrants for “anti-Canadian values.”  Are the fault lines in the Conservative coalition beginning to show?  Tim Powers, Vice-Chairman Summa Stragegies  

  It’s simple question that can generate a maddening number of usually contradictory responses.  With the Feds prepping Canada’s first major UN mission in years my next guest says for all the problems with peacekeeping it can still do more good than harm.  Richard Warnica, National Post                                                            

The purveyors of streaming music services like Spotify, Apple and Google have realized that when it comes to designing the perfect playlist nothing beats the human touch        Josh McConnell, producer/editor for the Financial Post's Tech Desk.              

Harvest is about to get underway for millions of farmers across North America.  That job could get a lot easier once autonomous tractors become widely available.  This week Case IH released a prototype for just such a machine.  Leo Bose, Marketing Manager for Case IH

Donald Trump’s visit to Mexico this week has been hailed as a triumph for Trump but a total disaster for the Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Enrique Krauze , Slate contributor. He's also president of Editorial Clío and director of Letras Libre.    

Danny talks about the new Netflix and the importance of Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc in inventing the music that has comne to dominate the 21st century.