The Ben Mulroney Show - There's an asteroid heading towards Earth and the odds of it hitting us are better than winning in roulette

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Freed Israeli hostages did not know their loved ones had died with Guest: Michael Levy, Brother of Or Levy who was a hostage released in Gaza -Taking a historical look at Rose Fortune with Guest: Craig Baird, Host of Canadian History Ehx -Odds of asteroid YR4 hitting Earth just went up again, reaching new high with Guest: Dr. Gordon Osinski, Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, Expertise in Planetary geology and impact cratering If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TD Direct Investing offers live support. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for total fund savings adventure, maybe reach out to TD Direct Investing. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. We are coming at you on the chorus radio network on this Wednesday. Thank you so much for joining us. But you might be listening to us on the iHeartRadio app, or you might be listening to us in podcast form on any platform on Amazon, on Apple podcast, or on Spotify, wherever you're finding us, we say thank you. So a big announcement happened that on its face should get everybody excited. Our Prime Minister made an announcement on a high-speed rail corridor between Quebec City and

Toronto. Today I'm announcing the launch of ALTO, the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history. A high-speed rail network between Quebec City and Toronto with stops in Trois-Rivières, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough. It'll span 1,000 kilometres with 100% electric trains that will reach speeds of 300 kilometres an hour. I'm very excited about this. I've always wanted high-speed rail between Quebec City and Toronto. The devil is obviously in the details. How many stops are there going to be? Is it going to be on a dedicated line?

How much is it going to cost? Who's going to pay for it? All of these things are going to make me, I know as we get those answers, less excited in the future because it's going to get slower and it's going to cost more and it's going to take more time. But I like that we are at least engaging in it. However, here's my problem.

This seems like a campaign style, election style announcement by a prime minister who is resigning. He was standing shoulder to shoulder with his transport minister who has announced, she will not be seeking reelection. The leader to replace Justin Trudeau, Mark Carney, was on the CBC just a few days ago saying, I am a different leader than Justin Trudeau. I am going to do things differently than Justin Trudeau.

Which means, is he going to look at this and decide it's not in his best interest to rubber stamp this decision made by an outgoing prime minister? Our parliament is prorogued, which means we shouldn't be able to spend any money. His government shouldn't be able to spend any money. So making this announcement, it doesn't make any sense to me unless he's trying to curry favor. Look, a lot of this is going to happen in Quebec City, in the Quebec area. Again, is this designed to shore up support in Quebec? The Bloc Québécois has come out ferociously in favor of this.

51,000 new jobs. It's supposed to spur $35 billion in economic activity. I agree with all that stuff. I'm just wondering why this is the man and this is the time to make that announcement. A lot of questions here because I am way too cynical these days to take this at face value and just this is not just an announcement. There is politics behind it. And I don't this is a government that has been playing politics with the situation and

the time we're in far too often. I will accept this. I'm glad it's happening. I just don't know that this prime minister was the right guy to announce it at this time. So as I said, the devil's in the details. I will wait to hear more details, but I can't be mad at something that will help us get to the places that we need to get to faster and hopefully cheaper.

Let's move on to again, the man who is supposed to succeed Justin Trudeau, who will succeed Justin Trudeau if the polls are to be believed and the numbers are to be believed. Mark Carney. At a rally on Flag Day, Pierre Poliev said that carbon tax Carney will not get rid of the carbon tax. He's just going to hide it until the end until after the next election. Then it's going to come back bigger and stronger and more expensive than ever before. Mark Carney went on the

record about his position on the consumer carbon tax. If you just ask the tax, you don't help our steel companies and our auto companies become more competitive in a world where we need new trading partners. So what we did is we proposed is to yes, ask the tax for individuals, for small businesses, for farms, for medium-sized businesses. It's going to be gone on the elected leader and it will be gone by April 1st, just to be clear. But we said at the same time, we're going to make sure that our businesses can become more competitive and at the same time we're going to make sure every Canadian, if they want to make investments

in insulating their homes or driving a more fuel efficient car, reducing emissions, reducing costs otherwise we're going to get the large polluters to pay them, pay you for it, not the taxpayers, the large polluters. That's the smart way to do it, because it actually makes it cheaper for the large polluters and better for all of you. Okay, I've heard him say this before, and I don't think I'm an idiot. I think I'm a fairly smart person.

I don't understand how he can say that. We're going to make the large polluters pay the consumers if the consumers want to make green decisions. And that in turn is going to drive down costs for the large emitters. So you're going to make the emitters pay the consumers and that in turn is going to make money for the large emitters? I can't be alone here that this doesn't make any sense. I can't. It doesn't make any sense that somebody has to explain how that makes sense to me Making the large emitters pay

Somehow makes money for the large emitters I'm sorry mark Carney, but this feels like one of those situations where you know a banker is using his banking knowledge and and word smithing to Overcomplicate something in order to confuse me enough that I'll just give up and say well He must be right because he's smarter than I am But But I'm sorry, I can't get there from here. Somebody needs to explain that to me because it doesn't make any sense to me. And I am not that dumb. Our foreign minister, Melanie Jolie was was recently in Europe. And she spoke of how the sort of Trump and his tariffs and his aggressive behavior on international trade

is making his way, he's shifting his attention. Well, he's keeping his attention on North America, but he's now broadening his attention to the EU. What is really, really important to remember is, and that was my message, is Canada went through a lot in the past month when it comes to dealing with the American administration. We've been under threat of many tariffs against us, and we're the cannery in the coal mine. And at the same time, we're the biggest trading partner, the biggest client of the United States.

We buy more from the US than China, Japan, the UK and France. And so we have really power over and leverages over the Americans. At the same time, I don't think Europeans understood what was really happening and the impacts of the new administration in Washington on American people and the world. And my job was to explain what was going on and to tell them that it's coming. And so that's why I think it was a very impactful meeting.

And you know what? That's not a bad message. I think that's why I think it was a very impactful meeting. And you know what? That's not a bad message. I think that's a fair message. I'm not going to sit here and just rail on liberals because they're liberals. That's not a bad message. And if you're looking to find common cause, as you're looking to expand relations, deepen trade relationships with the EU, reminding them that we're all in this together versus Donald Trump is not a bad message, but we'll have to see how that pans out and finally Fox's Sean Hannity scored An interview that I didn't see coming But I'm glad happened because you got to see a dynamic at play that people have been wondering about for a long time

And that's the dynamic between Donald Trump and Elon Musk Let's let's listen to a little bit of that relationship and that just then raises a question. You're the richest man in the world. You may not like that part. You're pretty competitive. But that's why he's on your team. Well, that's true. We can't top that. You know, I wanted to find somebody smaller than him. I searched all over. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't. I could really tried hard. I couldn't find anyone smaller. him. I searched all over. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't. You really tried hard. I couldn't find anyone smaller, right? So we had it for the country. But this is the thing. We settled on this guy. Well, thanks for having me.

I mean, they clearly like each other and we'll see how long that lasts, but a lot of people said that they'd soured on each other already and that clearly hasn't happened. So more to come in that relationship. Let's turn our attention to the Middle East. Of course, so many of us have been gripped by the plight of all of the hostages that were taken on October 7th, hoping against hope that all of them would find their way home, that all of them would find their way into the loving embrace hope that all of them would find their way home, that all of them would find their way into the loving embrace of their family and their friends. And slowly but surely, a great many of them are making their way home, but that is not

without ensuing sadness. We know of the story of Orlevy, who was recently one of the hostages released on Saturday. And when he came out, he was hoping that his wife would be there or that he would get news of his wife and that she was safe or at least healthy. But he found out that she had died and that he had not known for sure.

He had no access to media during his time in captivity, but found out afterwards that she had passed. And to join us to discuss the happiness of having his brother home, but the sadness that surrounds it is his brother, Michael Levy. And welcome to the show, Michael. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. So tell me about the moment that you knew he was coming home and then seeing him for the first time

and being able to be with him. Wow, that's a feeling I don't think I can describe in words. It was probably the happiest moment of my life. I couldn't even speak when I heard, definitely couldn't speak when I hugged him for the first time. It's a moment I'm not going to forget for the rest of my life.

There is something wonderful about the Israeli people and the Israeli and Israel as a nation where there's a solidarity where yes you're happy that you have your brother back but there's a solidarity amongst all of the families that I've talked to, all of the families of the hostages where they believe that until we have them all home, we are not fully complete. The mission is not done. We cannot rest. So knowing that there are still hostages in captivity, and there are still, sadly, hostages

who perished in captivity, who have not yet been brought home, it must feel to you like the job is not yet done. I think you perfectly described it. People keep asking me if we're happy. So obviously we are happy to have Orbeck and watching him hugging his three-year-old son, Almor. But at the same time, we are sad and we are worried and we feel that we didn't complete our mission because there are still hostages there and we have to keep fighting for them.

In the past 16 months, those hostages, those families of those hostages became my family and I feel that some of my family are still there and I have to keep fighting for them as well. What did you think when you saw the physical state that Or was in when he was paraded in front of the barbarians that are Hamas. What did you think when you saw how gaunt he was, how malnourished he looked? I was terrified. I've never seen such a terrified look on his eyes. The look on his eyes, it was... the look on his eyes was something that I haven't seen, not to mention his physical condition. He was... you know, I hate this comparison, but

his physical condition reminded me of the concentration camps in World War II. I hate to compare it, but this is how they look like. Yeah, I thought that to myself. I wasn't going to say it, but I'm glad that you did because that's where my mind and my heart went as well. I cannot imagine the psychological damage and torture that your brother endured in those tunnels and under those conditions. But then to come out with the hope of seeing his wife and then to learn that she had passed,

what did that do to him? And how did he react? In a way, I think he kind of knew that Inav was murdered, but he still had the hope that she somehow managed to survive. When he heard it, it broke his heart, obviously. It's just imagine losing the love of real life. Not to mention having to go to 491 days of the worst nightmare anyone can ever describe. But he stayed strong because he knew that he still has a son, a three-year-old son who was waiting for him and missed him so much. And he promised himself he will be strong for her

and for him. And that he will, in his words, he will keep the best present she ever gave him, Almog, and he will stay strong for him and for her. I'm speaking with Michael Levi, the brother of Or Levi, who was a hostage, who has now since been released in Gaza. And the image of Or hugging his son,

the strength that it must have taken him to survive, knowing that he would have to be there as a father for his son, who had been without a parent for so long. That it is a strength that I cannot fathom. You must be in awe of your brother right now. Proud of him will be an understatement. He's a hero, plain and simple. He survived the worst things you can imagine because he knew Almog is waiting for him and that's what he told himself in the worst moments in the tunnels. He was terrified, obviously, but he knew that he had to survive for him.

Well, I know that a lot of the hostages are being directed to the Sheba Medical Center, which is a jewel in Israel. I do some fundraising for Sheba here in Canada, and I know the hard work and the good work that they do. And while initially it's to ensure that the hostages are healthy enough, physically there is so much more work that needs to be done to ensure that mentally and psychologically, or and the other hostages can reenter society. I know there's a lot of hard work that needs to be done,

but Michael, I just, I wanted to thank you so much for coming and sharing this part of the story with us. There's an element of happiness, there is sadness, but I thank you for being so honest with us. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. And I just want to say also thank you to the amazing staff in Shiva Hospital

that helped us and helped all so much. Yes, thank you so much. Amazing. Thank you. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. Thank you so much for joining us. This is one of my favorite segments. I got a lot of favorite segments, but every one of them scratches a different itch.

And this next segment scratches my love of history itch. I was a history major in university. The one of the reasons I became a history major was because the first independent thought I ever had in high school was during a history class. And it was the first time I ever felt confident enough to challenge my teacher on something they said. And we got into the first real debate I ever had.

And as I say it now, I'm getting chills. I think that's what education is supposed to do. It's supposed to spark something in someone and that that began a lifelong appreciation and love of history and something I continue to study. And the fact that I can do that on this show gives me great joy and the fact that you the listeners respond to this segment so positively really makes me think that we're on to something so very, very pleased to to invite Craig Baird,

the host of Canadian History X, onto the show. Craig, welcome back. Thanks for having me. So today we are talking about Rose Fortune, who is the daughter of escaped slaves. She fled to Canada in the 1780s. And why don't you tell me a little bit about her? Yeah, so her parents actually escaped

from a plantation in Virginia. 80s and why don't you tell me a little bit about her. Yeah so her parents actually escaped from plantation in Virginia and you can actually find like the actual notice to to have them captured and they never were captured they were able to actually make it up to Philadelphia and then eventually when the American Revolution began they made it all the way to Nova Scotia and by that point Rose was still a child she was about eight or nine or 10. And when they reached Rova Scotia, her parents died relatively soon after. But then Rose Fortune kind of made a name for herself and a life for herself there and really prospered.

And what made her someone that bubbled to the surface that made you say, I want to highlight her on Canadian History X? Well, I think she's just a really fascinating person because at the time there was still slavery in Canada and she was a free person, but there was also a lot of racism and she was able to, as a woman,

build this baggage hauling business and make it prosper to the point where it lasted for over a century after her death. And she was also, you know, she was a smaller woman, but she would walk the docks and keep law and order and was a very kind of a Batman type figure for the docks where people were, you know, she, she ruled over that place to make sure that everything was, there was a curfew and that everybody was behaving the rules because she knew that if people were worried getting off the ships, that they were going to be robbed, that's going to hurt her business.

So she pretty much just took matters into her own hands. When you say she was a little lady, how little was she? Well, she stood about just over five feet from the descriptions that I found of her. They described her as, you know, this smaller black Canadian and she would wear this wide brim hat and kind of a long jacket or a men's jacket and she walked with a cane like it for me when I was putting together the episode it really made me think of Darkwing Duck with you know his costume and so I tried to evoke that with her. Sure a hero is she absolutely I get that. Why don't we listen to a snippet of Rose Forstin on Canadian History X.

Rose also knew that if people felt unsafe, it would hurt her business. The main issue was that there was no police patrolling the docks, so Rose took matters into her own hands. She stood over her mini kingdom, wearing a man's long coat with a wide brim hat to keep out the cold. Anyone who tried to intimidate her was quickly taught the error of their ways. She wielded her cane like Donatello's bowstaff and like a ninja turtle was ready to knock sense into anyone who didn't keep the peace.

Rose imposed a strict curfew on the docks and she made sure everyone followed it. It didn't matter that she was a short elderly woman. If you crossed her, you'd be nursing a goose egg on your head. As unofficial dock security, Rose has earned the distinction by historians of being the first female police officer in Canada and, quite possibly, North America. And on top of everything else, she made sure that those who wanted to escape to freedom could do so, Because Rose was part of the Underground Railroad. When escaped enslaved people reached the city, she ensured they were taken to safe locations. She knew what slavery had done to her parents, and

she wanted to help others escape it. So again, this is every time I have you on the show, it's just, I shake my head and I say, I just shame I don't I didn't know this until you taught it to me. And so I take these, I take these segments that we have as a real gift. And I know a lot of our listeners appreciate it as well. But explain to me, so she had no actual power. The power that she had on the docs

is power that she took for herself. Is that right? Essentially, yeah. She had no real official designation as a police officer. She just kept the law in order herself. She was the judge jury executioner, if you will, the judge dread of the docks. She kept order and it was her and it was just her trying to make sure that her business wasn't impacted because her business did very well and she wanted to

make sure that the docs where she did her business everybody was kept in line. But how did she do that in the time that it was and given the fact that she was that she was a black woman living in a time where being a black woman was not about you know taking power it was about being subjected to power. Well, I think that Cain had a lot to do with that. She definitely wielded that and wrapped a few heads with it. But I think she also commanded a lot of respect. One part of her job was to make sure

that people would actually get to their destinations on time. So she would actually wake them up and make sure that they got to their ships. And one of her most prominent clients was one of the judges on the Supreme Court at the time. So she actually did have some powerful allies behind her who did have her back when it came to enforcing the law. And really everybody probably saw it as what she's doing is good.

She's keeping law and order at the docks. And you know, if she's able to do that, why stop her? No, exactly. And that's what just came to the fore as you were saying it is, she wasn't doing, she didn't grab the power for power's sake, she grabbed the power for law and order's sake, and everybody benefited. So, you know, I guess, why not let her do it? Because without her lawlessness, I'm sure would abound. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And she kept that going, you know, well into her old age,

she eventually had to give up the business when she developed arthritis, but then her sons took it over, and her baggage hauling business lasted well into the 1960s. Now, so I'm, I was not aware of Rose Fortune, and a lot of people are learning about Rose Fortune through this segment right now. But what is her legacy in that area?

How is she remembered? Where is she patrolled? She definitely is very well remembered there. She's been named a person of national historic significance. There is a plaque actually at the docks where she used to patrol that honors her. There's her grave, didn't have a gravestone for many, many years, but most recently it did get a gravestone.

And it's actually, the gravestone is kind of structured like a wheelbarrow. And that's how she started her business was just by loading bags into a wheelbarrow and pushing them along the docks. So she's been honored quite a bit. And then the MV Fundy Rose, which is a ferry that operates between Digby, Nova Scotia and St. John New Brunswick is actually named for her as well. Craig, your podcast is such a gift that teaches us so much about the history that we should all probably know. When I hear this story of Rose Fortune,

it seems to me, had this happened in Virginia as opposed to Nova Scotia, there would have been a major motion picture about this woman already. Netflix would have commissioned a mini series about her and we would all know the story of Rose Fortune. Has anybody, is there any appetite, have people approached you about taking this research that you've done and this podcast that you've done and converted it in some way to the screen?

Not too often. I've had people approach me about stories to talk about the stories on their show and things like that, but there's so many Canadian stories that I think could be told. And like you said, if this was the United States, there would definitely be movies about her and Netflix documentaries and things like that. But in Canada, we so many people fly under the radar and it's really unfortunate. It is. But but to have you as a resource to to to shine a light on these people who are so deserving of attention. These are the stories that build the mosaic that is Canada.

Without stories like this, we default to Terry Fox. We default to, as our prime minister said a few days ago, being Canadian is not being American. That's not the case. And when you have a story like Rose Fortune, you appreciate what it means to be Canadian a little bit more. Craig Baird, host of Canadian History X, remind our listeners where they can listen to your show. Hi, you can listen to my show on the Chorus Radio Network every weekend. I just have to look at your local schedule. And then you can listen to Canadian History X and all 600 plus episodes on

all podcast platforms. Craig Baird,, keep doing what you do, my friend. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. It's time to have a conversation of global importance. And if any of you have listened to me long enough, you know that a movie that's very, very close to my heart is the film Armageddon.

It's not a movie, it's a film. It's that important. I've seen Deep Impact as well, came out the same year. Garbage. Garbage compared to Armageddon. And you'll know the story of Armageddon is that there is a world-ending asteroid that is making its way towards Earth. And the only way to get rid of it is to train a bunch of roughnecks from the oil patch and turn them into astronauts so they can fly up to the asteroid and drill down into the asteroid, deposit nuclear weapons, and blow it up

before it destroys Earth. And of course, the hero of the story is Bruce Willis, who died on the asteroid saving the Earth. And so I think I watched that movie at least once a year, and I don't care what you think. You may think that it's a garbage film. I believe that it is a how to film on how to save the Earth, because we're going to need to know how to save it based on this story that we've been monitoring and following for a couple of weeks now. There is an asteroid called YR4 that is projected to hit Earth

at some point in the future. The probability of impact is 3.1%. That is a one in 32 odds of impact. It's the highest probability of a collision ever. The closest before was one in 2004 at 2.7%. There is a very real chance that this thing could hit our planet. And so to discuss this is Dr. Gordon Osinski,

professor in the department of earth sciences at the university of Western Ontario with an expertise in planetary geology and impact cratering. Dr. welcome to the show. Thanks Ben for having me on the show. So this is, look, it's probably not going to happen, but it could happen. Therefore, we need to be talking about it.

Absolutely. And you know, like you say, this is the odds of hitting have gone up slightly since it was first discovered. And yeah, something we definitely have to pay attention to. So first of all, how far away is it? How big is it? So far away is, you know, it's still several hundred million kilometers away. The size is actually one of the big questions right now. You know, so there's probably two questions, you know, we kind of need to know to figure out, you know, what potential effects it will have.

One is its orbit. And you know, we need more measurements to be able to plot that trajectory more accurately and that you know translates into what are the odds of it hitting. But right now we only know it's somewhere between about 40 and 90 meters across. Okay so not as big as the one in Armageddon which tells me and the one in Armageddon was so big that you couldn't just blow it up with nukes. You had to drill down and blow it up from the inside. So if it remains that size, and it remains on projected path to hit Earth,

is it something that we could blow up with a nuclear weapon? That's a great question. So there's, you know, this whole conferences and, you know, fields of study dedicated to planetary defense. And if you remember from that movie, and actually the other movie you mentioned too, Deep Impact, one of the issues is if you blow something up in space, it just creates more particles but are smaller. So, you know, you could have the potential for lots more things still hitting the Earth that are even smaller.

One of the techniques that people are talking about a lot more these days is more deflection. And this was actually part of this deep impact mission last year and there's been a couple of missions recently where if you fly a spacecraft close enough, you could either fire a projectile not to destroy it, but to just nudge it slightly off course, which, you know, over years would mean it would miss Earth.

And so that's one of the neat things that people are looking into. And that is maybe a bit more feasible than, you know, blowing something to bits. Well, I just told you about one of my favorite asteroid movies, Armageddon. My favorite TV show of all time is the Apple TV show For All Mankind, which explores the alternate history of what would have happened had the Russians landed on the moon first. And by the time that alternate history gets into the early 2000s, they are working on an asteroid capture program where they essentially stick a rocket on the back of one of these asteroids in order to bring it into orbit of Mars.

Is that something that you could do with something like this? If you flew far enough out, could you put essentially an engine on the back of it to fly it wherever you wanted to? So, you know, it might sound far-fetched, but people are talking about this kind of technology for planetary planetary defense but also asteroid mining in the long term. The problem is we couldn't do it now. 2032 is not long in terms of space. If you follow anything about the space program, take the Artemis program for going back to the moon. It takes several years,

even decades to get the technology design, get it space ready, and get it launched. I think in the long term, let's say two, three, several decades in the future, sure we could be potentially blowing things up, putting engines on and deflecting them. I think 2032, we don't have much we could probably do about this particular asteroid. Yeah. So in the future, if we were to encounter something like this in the future, let's say it's 30, 40, 50 years from now, would we have the technology to rather than blow it up and fear that it's going to hit the earth, just move it enough that it would be caught by

Earth's gravity and it would just start, it would become a natural satellite of the Earth and we could just explore it and possibly mine it at our own convenience because it would just get captured by Earth's gravity and it would just become a natural satellite. Yeah, I think the short answer is yes. I think in the future, we've done again in the last couple of years, proof of concept studies such as this that have just nudged an asteroid off a few meters from its trajectory. So it's definitely technically and theoretically feasible. Like most things though, we can't just, especially with space, we can't just say, Oh, we can do this and leave it until we discover something to design the technology. Something that governments would need to put

money into now so that we have the technology if this kind of thing was discovered in the future. So well, maybe the doctor, this might be exactly what we need to spur that sort of innovation. This I mean, if this thing gets closer and that number ticks up higher, at what point does this become something we get truly concerned about? I mean, I don't know about you, but one in 32 chance, you know, I don't do too much gambling, but bet some things, but you know, there's actually fairly high odds

when you think about what, you know, winning the lottery. So I think it is something we should pay attention to. NASA and the world's space agencies are definitely going to be following this asteroid, try to get more data to better define its orbit and its size, like I said, and then we can go from there. Just to kind of put the size into perspective, I did some quick calculations before this show and 50 meters difference in the estimates may not sound like much, but it's the difference between something around three megatons and about nine megatons. If it's on that high end, it would destroy something on the order of four, 500 square kilometers of terrain on the Earth's surface.

order of four or 500 square kilometers of terrain on the Earth surface. And just for perspective, you know, Vancouver is about 115 square kilometers. Now where would let's assume let's assume the worst case scenario in terms of size, where would be the safest place for something like this to hit us on Earth? Oh, that's another great question. And it'd probably be debated, you debated. You could think, well, maybe the ocean. This is where it goes probably well beyond the science and into geopolitics. If it hit the ocean, you would have gigantic tsunamis radiating out. If it was only some small islands would affect it, would that be

good? In the middle of a continent that is uninhabited would probably be the best case because then you would have a crater formed in solid rock and assuming nothing was living around there for a few hundred square kilometers, that That would probably if I had to choose, be, you know, the safest place for this thing to hit. Dr. Gordon Zinski, professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario. Thank you so much. And I hope you come back soon as we as this thing gets closer and closer to its final destination. You're very welcome. And hopefully we'll have some good news. Yes. Where have you gone? Bruce Willis, we need you. We need you, man. Daniel Blanchard is no ordinary thief.

His heists are ingenious. His escapes defy belief. And when he sees the dazzling diamond CC Star, he'll risk everything to steal it. His exploits set off an intercontinental manhunt, but how long can CC Star stay lucky for Daniel? I'm Seren Jones, and this is a most audacious heist. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.