Pushkin.

You're listening to an I-Heart podcast.

How did you get into writing about raccoons?

I got into writing about raccoons because they started breaking into my supposedly

raccoon-proof green bin in Toronto.

I'm talking with intrepid investigative reporter for the Toronto star, Amy Dempsey Raven.

Typically, she covers police wrongdoing, child welfare, controversial homicides. But in

2016, when Toronto declared a war on raccoons and unveiled a new raccoon-resistant composting bin,

she realized it's time to get serious. The mayor came out on this garbage truck and made all

of these promises. and I wondered,

I thought to myself, I'm going to keep an eye on things here.

This raccoon-resistant bin costs the city 31 million Canadian dollars, but Toronto is known as

the raccoon capital of the world.

Theoretically, it's a point of pride, but it's a little more complicated than that.

If a race of Martians took over your city, would you call it the Martian capital of the

world?

Only if you'd already admitted defeat.

My first job after graduating was in Toronto, and I had a group house.

Local man, Malcolm Gladwell.

I did not grow up in raccoon country, so I had no idea.

Something was making a racket so loud and all night.

Like, when I say all night, I mean, without stopping, from the moment I went to bed to the moment I woke up, I couldn't sleep.

...