AI mental health support is built around user satisfaction, and that's exactly the problem. You open ChatGPT at 2am, type out what's wrong, and it listens. It validates. It never pushes back. A therapist optimizing for your satisfaction the way a chatbot does would have a serious ethics problem on their hands, because making you feel good and helping you get better are not the same thing.

Amelia Knott asked ChatGPT what it thought its role in mental health was. It described itself as a first-line response offering support, validation, and resources. She found that answer compelling and concerning in equal measure. A chatbot will let someone ruminate about a breakup for six or seven hours if that's what the user wants. A therapist interrupts that pattern. And a therapist notices when you start tapping your foot mid-session, which opens doors the conversation wasn't heading toward on its own.

AI can be one item on the menu: type out a scenario, get some orientation, then take it to a real relationship. The limitation isn't that it's unhelpful. It's that it can't notice what's happening in the room with you, and sometimes that's the whole thing.

Topics: AI mental health support, chatbot therapy limitations, therapy vs AI, mental health access Canada, somatic therapy

GUEST: Amelia Knott

Originally aired on 2026-02-20

AI mental health support is built around user satisfaction, and that's exactly the problem. You open ChatGPT at 2am, type out what's wrong, and it listens. It validates. It never pushes back. A therapist optimizing for your satisfaction the way a chatbot does would have a serious ethics problem on their hands, because making you feel good and helping you get better are not the same thing.
Amelia Knott asked ChatGPT what it thought its role in mental health was. It described itself as a first-line response offering support, validation, and resources. She found that answer compelling and concerning in equal measure. A chatbot will let someone ruminate about a breakup for six or seven hours if that's what the user wants. A therapist interrupts that pattern. And a therapist notices when you start tapping your foot mid-session, which opens doors the conversation wasn't heading toward on its own.
AI can be one item on the menu: type out a scenario, get some orientation, then take it to a real relationship. The limitation isn't that it's unhelpful. It's that it can't notice what's happening in the room with you, and sometimes that's the whole thing.
Topics:&nbsp;AI mental health support, chatbot therapy limitations, therapy vs AI, mental health access Canada, somatic therapy
GUEST:&nbsp;Amelia Knott
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-20

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.

Your Therapist Noticed Your Foot. The Chatbot Wouldn't Have

Police body worn cameras are in your city, on the officers you interact with, recording everything. In Canada, if you want to see footage that documents you, you file a freedom of information request and wait. The officer who recorded you reviews it whenever they want. That asymmetry is not a bug someone is working to fix. It's how the policy is written.

Chris Schneider spent years tracking how "transparency" and "accountability" became the defining language around body cams, and found that the research literature on whether cameras actually change police behavior is inconclusive. Sometimes use of force drops. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes civilian complaints decrease. Sometimes they don't. The cameras keep rolling out anyway, at significant taxpayer expense, attached to terms nobody has agreed to define.

Professional liability insurance is Schneider's most direct fix: tie misconduct findings to premiums, let the insurance math do the work that oversight agencies haven't. If police administrators are right that bad actors are rare, almost no officer would be affected. That's the version of accountability that comes with a number attached to it.

Topics: police body worn cameras, body cam footage Canada, police accountability, freedom of information, police reform

GUEST: Chris Schneider | http://chrisschneider.org

Originally aired on 2026-02-20

Police body worn cameras are in your city, on the officers you interact with, recording everything. In Canada, if you want to see footage that documents you, you file a freedom of information request and wait. The officer who recorded you reviews it whenever they want. That asymmetry is not a bug someone is working to fix. It's how the policy is written.
Chris Schneider spent years tracking how "transparency" and "accountability" became the defining language around body cams, and found that the research literature on whether cameras actually change police behavior is inconclusive. Sometimes use of force drops. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes civilian complaints decrease. Sometimes they don't. The cameras keep rolling out anyway, at significant taxpayer expense, attached to terms nobody has agreed to define.
Professional liability insurance is Schneider's most direct fix: tie misconduct findings to premiums, let the insurance math do the work that oversight agencies haven't. If police administrators are right that bad actors are rare, almost no officer would be affected. That's the version of accountability that comes with a number attached to it.
Topics: police body worn cameras, body cam footage Canada, police accountability, freedom of information, police reform
GUEST: Chris Schneider |<a href="http://chrisschneider.org"> http://chrisschneider.org</a>
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-20

Body Cams: Who Actually Controls the Footage?

The toonie's 30th anniversary lands this week, and the coin's origin story has a detail most people missed. The $2 bill was officially withdrawn on February 16, 1996, three days before the coin debuted. The government's reasoning: coins last longer than paper bills, so it would save money. The TTC's reasoning, announced one day before the toonie launched: transit now costs exactly $2. Convenient for everyone, apparently.

The polar bear on the coin was sketched by wildlife artist Brent Townsend, who deliberately drew the fur wet to make it more visible on the metal. Early stress tests showed the core could withstand 181 kilograms of pressure, which is why people immediately went home and tried it with hammers. The mint produced 375 million of them in 1996 alone. The rejected name list includes the Beary, the Moony, and the Doubleoonie, which does sound like a Tim Hortons combo.

The coin that was supposed to make paying for things simpler made transit more expensive the day it arrived. That pattern didn't end in 1996.

Topics: toonie 30th anniversary, 1996 Canadian history, $2 coin Canada, transit fare increase, throwback Thursday

Originally aired on 2026-02-19

The toonie's 30th anniversary lands this week, and the coin's origin story has a detail most people missed. The $2 bill was officially withdrawn on February 16, 1996, three days before the coin debuted. The government's reasoning: coins last longer than paper bills, so it would save money. The TTC's reasoning, announced one day before the toonie launched: transit now costs exactly $2. Convenient for everyone, apparently.
The polar bear on the coin was sketched by wildlife artist Brent Townsend, who deliberately drew the fur wet to make it more visible on the metal. Early stress tests showed the core could withstand 181 kilograms of pressure, which is why people immediately went home and tried it with hammers. The mint produced 375 million of them in 1996 alone. The rejected name list includes the Beary, the Moony, and the Doubleoonie, which does sound like a Tim Hortons combo.
The coin that was supposed to make paying for things simpler made transit more expensive the day it arrived. That pattern didn't end in 1996.
Topics: toonie 30th anniversary, 1996 Canadian history, $2 coin Canada, transit fare increase, throwback Thursday
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-19

The Toonie Turned 30 and Transit Raised Its Price the Day Before It Showed Up

Toonie buying power in 1996 is the kind of throwback that starts as a fun memory and lands somewhere genuinely uncomfortable. You walked into McDonald's with two dollars and came out with three hamburgers. You grabbed a large Tim Hortons coffee and a fresh sesame bagel, both a dollar fifty, and still had change to spare. Gas in Toronto was 56 cents a litre. The same coin sitting in your pocket right now once covered all of that, and somewhere along the way it quietly stopped being able to cover most of it.

What's interesting is how fast businesses moved to reshape their prices around the new coin. The TTC raised its fare to exactly $2 the day before the toonie launched, calling it a convenience for riders who could now pay with a single coin. McDonald's built three-for-a-toonie hamburger promotions around the new anchor price, and video stores offered two rentals for two dollars on older titles. The coin became a pricing reference point almost immediately, and every deal set that week became the baseline everything else got measured against for years.

Tim Hortons bagels have only moved from $1.50 to $2.20 since 1996, which is surprisingly modest. The small coffee is still $1.50. But somewhere in between those gentle numbers and today's grocery receipts, two dollars went from buying a bunch of grapes to buying one.

Topics: toonie buying power 1996, 1996 Canada prices, food inflation throwback, McDonald's toonie deal, Tim Hortons bagels

Originally aired on 2026-02-19

Toonie buying power in 1996 is the kind of throwback that starts as a fun memory and lands somewhere genuinely uncomfortable. You walked into McDonald's with two dollars and came out with three hamburgers. You grabbed a large Tim Hortons coffee and a fresh sesame bagel, both a dollar fifty, and still had change to spare. Gas in Toronto was 56 cents a litre. The same coin sitting in your pocket right now once covered all of that, and somewhere along the way it quietly stopped being able to cover most of it.
What's interesting is how fast businesses moved to reshape their prices around the new coin. The TTC raised its fare to exactly $2 the day before the toonie launched, calling it a convenience for riders who could now pay with a single coin. McDonald's built three-for-a-toonie hamburger promotions around the new anchor price, and video stores offered two rentals for two dollars on older titles. The coin became a pricing reference point almost immediately, and every deal set that week became the baseline everything else got measured against for years.
Tim Hortons bagels have only moved from $1.50 to $2.20 since 1996, which is surprisingly modest. The small coffee is still $1.50. But somewhere in between those gentle numbers and today's grocery receipts, two dollars went from buying a bunch of grapes to buying one.
Topics: toonie buying power 1996, 1996 Canada prices, food inflation throwback, McDonald's toonie deal, Tim Hortons bagels
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-19

Your Therapist Noticed Your Foot. The Chatbot Wouldn't Have

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