Video game benefits rarely get the headline, but the numbers make the case before the conversation even starts. More than 61 percent of Canadians play. The average age of a gamer is 36. You are not watching a niche hobby. You are watching the majority of the country do something together that most people still treat as a problem to manage.

 

What does it feel like to build a friendship with someone you have never met, then travel across the border years later to finally shake their hand? Bernard Mafei did that through Super Smash Brothers. One of those online friends turned out to be a rocket scientist. Another path led to competing internationally, running a varsity e-sports program, and watching indigenous communities in Canada use Minecraft to build digital replicas of significant spaces. None of that looks like wasted time.

 

The toxicity is real and the parental responsibility is real. But so is everything being built inside those games that nobody thought to put on a resume.

 

Topics: video game benefits, social gaming Canada, e-sports career, gaming soft skills, Minecraft education

 

GUEST: Bernard Mafei | bernardmafei.com


Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Video game benefits rarely get the headline, but the numbers make the case before the conversation even starts. More than 61 percent of Canadians play. The average age of a gamer is 36. You are not watching a niche hobby. You are watching the majority of the country do something together that most people still treat as a problem to manage.
&nbsp;
What does it feel like to build a friendship with someone you have never met, then travel across the border years later to finally shake their hand? Bernard Mafei did that through Super Smash Brothers. One of those online friends turned out to be a rocket scientist. Another path led to competing internationally, running a varsity e-sports program, and watching indigenous communities in Canada use Minecraft to build digital replicas of significant spaces. None of that looks like wasted time.
&nbsp;
The toxicity is real and the parental responsibility is real. But so is everything being built inside those games that nobody thought to put on a resume.
&nbsp;
Topics: video game benefits, social gaming Canada, e-sports career, gaming soft skills, Minecraft education
&nbsp;
GUEST: Bernard Mafei | bernardmafei.com
 Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

Shane Hewitt & The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world—always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.

From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane’s signature style—thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.

If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt &amp; The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world&mdash;always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.
From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane&rsquo;s signature style&mdash;thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.
If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

ICYMI - What You Need To Know That Your Kid Is Actually Learning By Online Gaming

Video game addiction in kids might not be what you think you're looking for. Your kid plays 15 hours a week. So does their friend down the street. One sleeps, socializes, keeps up at school. The other is up at 2am, cancelling plans, falling behind in class. Same hours. Same screen. The research says the hours are almost irrelevant.

What does it feel like to discover that the screen you have been fighting about might be the only place your kid feels like they belong? When young people are socially isolated or bullied at school, they are drawn toward gaming. Not because the screen created the problem, but because it offered something the school hallway was not giving them. That changes where you need to look.

Age 12 and 13 is not a random data point in this research. It is the exact window when identity and peer belonging are forming, which means what happens in that bedroom with the controller carries consequences well past the weekend. The question worth asking is not how many hours. It is what those hours are solving for.

Topics: video game addiction kids, problematic gaming, screen time teenagers, adolescent development, gaming mental health

GUEST: Dr. Vincent Paquin

Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Video game addiction in kids might not be what you think you're looking for. Your kid plays 15 hours a week. So does their friend down the street. One sleeps, socializes, keeps up at school. The other is up at 2am, cancelling plans, falling behind in class. Same hours. Same screen. The research says the hours are almost irrelevant.
What does it feel like to discover that the screen you have been fighting about might be the only place your kid feels like they belong? When young people are socially isolated or bullied at school, they are drawn toward gaming. Not because the screen created the problem, but because it offered something the school hallway was not giving them. That changes where you need to look.
Age 12 and 13 is not a random data point in this research. It is the exact window when identity and peer belonging are forming, which means what happens in that bedroom with the controller carries consequences well past the weekend. The question worth asking is not how many hours. It is what those hours are solving for.
Topics: video game addiction kids, problematic gaming, screen time teenagers, adolescent development, gaming mental health
GUEST: Dr. Vincent Paquin
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

NEW - Video Game Addiction: The Hours Don't Tell You Everything

TikTok Canada continuing feels like the end of a story, but it is closer to the beginning of a different one. You kept scrolling and the app kept running. What you might not know is what had to be agreed to in order for that to happen.

 

Imagine the platform you use every day being allowed to keep running because a minister agreed to watch it closely. That is the arrangement now. TikTok committed to being more responsible around features directed at young people and around the protections on your data. The Canadian government stepped back from shutting it down but kept the threat available, with the Minister of Industry monitoring TikTok's changes going forward. The shutdown is not off the table. It is now the consequence of misbehaving.

 

Kris Abel has been watching how people actually use TikTok and the shift from novelty clip feed to genuine news and information source surprised even him. The platform earned a second chance. What it does with the conditions attached to that chance is the part nobody has answered yet.

 

Topics: TikTok Canada, TikTok government agreement, TikTok shutdown avoided, Canadian tech policy, TikTok as news platform

 

GUEST: Kris Abel | realchrisabel.com


Originally aired on 2026-03-10

TikTok Canada continuing feels like the end of a story, but it is closer to the beginning of a different one. You kept scrolling and the app kept running. What you might not know is what had to be agreed to in order for that to happen.
&nbsp;
Imagine the platform you use every day being allowed to keep running because a minister agreed to watch it closely. That is the arrangement now. TikTok committed to being more responsible around features directed at young people and around the protections on your data. The Canadian government stepped back from shutting it down but kept the threat available, with the Minister of Industry monitoring TikTok's changes going forward. The shutdown is not off the table. It is now the consequence of misbehaving.
&nbsp;
Kris Abel has been watching how people actually use TikTok and the shift from novelty clip feed to genuine news and information source surprised even him. The platform earned a second chance. What it does with the conditions attached to that chance is the part nobody has answered yet.
&nbsp;
Topics: TikTok Canada, TikTok government agreement, TikTok shutdown avoided, Canadian tech policy, TikTok as news platform
&nbsp;
GUEST: Kris Abel | realchrisabel.com
 Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

Your Favourite App Just Got Put on Probation

Getting back with your ex starts with something small. A dream that leaves your chest tight at 2am. A run-in at the place you used to go together. Two people mentioning their name in the same afternoon. None of it means what you think it means, but your brain is already building a case.

Nostalgia is a very specific kind of liar. It keeps the good moments and quietly edits out everything that actually ended it. The comfort you are missing is real. The relationship that produced it might not have been. There is a difference between missing a person and missing the version of your life that person represented, and most people never stop to figure out which one they actually want back.

The text does not need to be sent. The dream does not need to be decoded. Write it down if you need to move it out of your head. Think forward, not back. That is what the 1am feeling is actually asking for, even if it borrowed an old face to make you pay attention.

Topics: getting back with your ex, nostalgia in relationships, post-breakup dreams, dating advice, moving forward

GUEST: Tony Tedesco, Jen Kirsch

Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Getting back with your ex starts with something small. A dream that leaves your chest tight at 2am. A run-in at the place you used to go together. Two people mentioning their name in the same afternoon. None of it means what you think it means, but your brain is already building a case.
Nostalgia is a very specific kind of liar. It keeps the good moments and quietly edits out everything that actually ended it. The comfort you are missing is real. The relationship that produced it might not have been. There is a difference between missing a person and missing the version of your life that person represented, and most people never stop to figure out which one they actually want back.
The text does not need to be sent. The dream does not need to be decoded. Write it down if you need to move it out of your head. Think forward, not back. That is what the 1am feeling is actually asking for, even if it borrowed an old face to make you pay attention.
Topics: getting back with your ex, nostalgia in relationships, post-breakup dreams, dating advice, moving forward
GUEST: Tony Tedesco, Jen Kirsch
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

ICYMI - What You Need To Know That Your Kid Is Actually Learning By Online Gaming

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