A Losing Hand (Ep. 18)

In late 2024, award-winning journalist Rob Csernyik brought readers across the country an important investigation into the role legalised gambling is playing in suicides across the country.

In the course of his work, Csernyik found that Newfoundland and Labrador was one of the only provinces which couldn’t provide data on the role gambling was playing in suicides in this province — despite the massive growth of legalised gambling, and despite efforts by families of those whose lives ended too soon after struggling with gambling addiction.

A year after The Independent first published Csernyik’s investigation, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner began gathering data on gambling-related suicides.

Csernyik has now published a book, A Losing Hand: The Human Cost of Canada's Gambling Epidemic. He joined berrygrounds host Justin Brake at the Rotary Arts Centre in Corner Brook on Oct. 5, 2026 for a wide-ranging conversation about gambling and gambling-related suicides in Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada.

Host: Justin Brake
Guest: Rob Csernyik
Music: Shane Iver, Silverman Sound Studios

Further Reading:

• Preventing deaths like Susan Piercey’s (The Independent / Dec. 18, 2024)
• Learning lessons from Susan Piercey’s death (The Independent / Dec. 19, 2024)
• Dying to win: Canadian provinces are expanding legal gambling despite one death every nine days (Rirochet Media / Dec. 17, 2024)
• The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting (Michener Awards Foundation)

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berrygrounds is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network. The show is hosted, produced and edited by me, Justin Brake.

Creators and Guests

Host

Justin Brake

He/him. Journalist. Settler. Future ancestor. Born 338 ppm.

What is berrygrounds?

With an eye to power, host Justin Brake takes a closer look at key issues facing Newfoundland and Labrador. A podcast from The Independent.