The Costs of the Winter Olympics and Toyota

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

It took seven years of planning, construction, hassle and heartache. Finally, the party is about to begin. Starting February 12th, British Columbia will host the Winter Olympics for 17 days. (And the Paralympics to follow.) Canadian taxpayers are on hook for CDN $6 billion, by some estimates. What did British Columbia get for all that money? Was it all worth it?

Also on this edition of the podcast, news about Toyota and Moscow McDonald’s turns 20. (Photo credit: © VANOC/COVAN)

McDonald’s marks 20 years in Russia

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Twenty years ago, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev was still in power. But the Berlin wall had just come down. And the times they were a-changing. At this pivotal moment, in the bleakness of a Russian winter, a bright new sign came to Moscow. It was the sight of McDonald’s Golden Arches. That was 20 years ago this week. Analyst Masha Lipman was then and still is a resident of Moscow. Download MP3 (Photo: Fred Adler / BBC)

• Voice of America article
• mcdonalds.com
• CBC video archive: McDonalds in Moscow

How Happy is the Economy?

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

The U.S. recession is over! (Technically speaking by one measure.) That’s because the nation’s gross domestic product is back in positive territory. But for the 10 percent of Americans who are out looking for work, it sure doesn’t feel like much of an economic recovery. Should GDP be the bar by which we judge economic health? And what about measuring a nation’s economic prowess by Big Mac sales? Many have argued that the mark of economic progress, or the triumph of American capitalism depending on your vantage, is when a nation serves up McDonald’s. By that argument, what does it say about a nation when its golden arches disappear?

No more Big Macs

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In the Geo Quiz we’re looking for an island nation where all three McDonald’s restaurants will close at the end of the month. And besides being destined to be Big Mac free by Sunday, it’s also famous for its glaciers and fjords, and, well, ice. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Guardian story