People First Radio – September 18, 2025People First Radio – September 18, 2025
People First Radio
People First Radio features Dr. Shannon Charlebois on the harms of pervasive sports betting ads for young people and author Meg Todd on her novel about intergenerational violence, addiction, and poverty. Both conversations focus on how policy and empathy shape responses to harm and recovery.
0:00•18 Sept 2025
Gambling Ads, Hard Stories, and Finding Compassion: People First Radio
Episode Overview
- Gambling ads during sports broadcasts are frequent and heavily target environments where children and teens are present, raising concerns about early exposure.
- Research cited by Dr. Charlebois links problem gambling to increased suicide risk and crime, especially among young adults and those with lower incomes.
- Current "responsible gambling" messages in ads are described as ineffective and even promotional, with companies profiting most from heavy users.
- Dr. Charlebois supports tighter, federally led restrictions on sports betting advertising, including whistle‑to‑whistle bans and pre‑9 pm limits.
- Author Meg Todd stresses the importance of understanding rather than judging people like her character Crystal, highlighting how trauma, addiction, and poverty narrow real choices.
“I think we need to understand. It's our duty to try to understand.”
What emotional and inspiring tales of recovery are out there? This instalment of People First Radio lines up two very different, but equally gripping, conversations that anyone interested in addiction, mental health, or family violence will want to hear. First up, family doctor and medical editor Dr. Shannon Charlebois talks about why she is, in her words, "ticked off" by the surge of sports betting ads.
She shares research showing that during the NHL final there was a gambling promotion, logo, or sponsored segment about every 13 seconds, and describes watching that game with her children while her eight-year-old asked her to place bets. She and her co-author Dr.
Sean Kelly argue that "allowing glaring and ubiquitous promotion of sports betting" is worsening problem gambling among young people, tying it to suicide risk, crime, and long‑term harm, especially for those already facing poverty or living in rural areas. She calls for stricter limits on gambling advertising, especially before 9 pm and during games, and points to federal bill S‑211 as a small but important step.
The tone shifts but stays intense as Vancouver Island author Meg Todd talks about her debut novel, Most Grievous Fault. Centred on Crystal and her teenage daughter Becky, the book moves through intergenerational violence, addiction, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, poverty, and faith. Todd describes writing Crystal as "being her best friend" and admits Crystal "isn't an easy person to be close to", yet insists, "I think we need to understand.
It's our duty to try to understand." She speaks about volunteering in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, her focus on personal hardship and unfair starts in life, and the challenge of creating a flawed, often unlikeable mother who still clings to hope and small wins. If you're interested in how policy, storytelling, and compassion intersect around addiction and harm, this conversation might give you plenty to mull over on your own journey: where do you see yourself in these stories?
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