EP 111: George Packer on Activism and Bad Art

One of the big stories of this summer was immigration. Canada has had a decades-long, bipartisan, pro-immigration consensus — but in recent months, that has collapsed. And one of the most contentious parts of our system is now the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which was deregulated during 2022 in the midst of pandemic labour shortages. Our guest on the program today was just in Halifax at the Prime Minister’s cabinet retreat, making the case that the low-wage, non-agriculture stream of th...

4 Syys 202424min

The news cycle is currently dominated by the American presidential election — but there’s also a lot going on here in Canada. Our guest on the program today is a veteran journalist and the publisher of a reporter-owned and operated outlet in Ottawa. As you’ll hear, there’s been no shortage of consequential stories this summer. Tara is away this week, but she asked podcaster Aaron Pete to bring you this interview with Holly Doan, the publisher of Blacklock’s Reporter. You can find Tara Henley ...

28 Elo 202434min

One of the bright spots in the Canadian media landscape is the emergence of a new generation of digital creators, who are filling the gaps in coverage in innovative ways. My guest on the program today is at the forefront of this movement, helming a thoughtful, nuanced current affairs podcast out of British Columbia. He will be guest hosting this podcast next week, and I’m thrilled to get to introduce him to you today. Aaron Pete is a Councillor for the Chawathil First Nation, and the host of ...

21 Elo 202435min

With J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate, the economic populism that’s ascendent in the Republican Party is in the spotlight. To understand this set of policy concerns, there is no better person to speak to than my guest on today’s program, who has been influential in driving this agenda — and in challenging the economic orthodoxy on the right. Oren Cass is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, and the author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in Ame...

14 Elo 202430min

J.D. Vance was once a liberal media darling. But in recent weeks, since Donald Trump selected him as his running mate, the Ohio senator has been the subject of almost wall-to-wall negative coverage — in both the liberal press, and on left-leaning social media. But our guest on today’s program says that Vance is a complex figure, and one we should take a closer look at. Zaid Jilani is the freelance American journalist behind the Substack newsletter The American Saga. His recent essay for Compa...

7 Elo 202421min

Given the state of our politics right now, it is easy to feel hopeless. But our guest on this week’s program says things are not as bleak as they seem, that people want to heal our deep societal divisions, and that the answer to bridging these divides lies in rebuilding civic life — one conversation at a time. John Wood, Jr. is a former nominee for congress, a columnist for USA Today, and a national ambassador for Braver Angels. Its new campaign is called American Hope. You can find Tara Henl...

31 Heinä 202434min

America is in the grips of polarization, and the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump has underlined the potential for an escalation in political violence. It has never been more important for the media to complicate dominant narratives and resist oversimplification. Today, a journalist I admire returns to the program to model what that looks like in practice, bringing us a nuanced story about tensions within the conservative movement over school vouchers. Alec MacGillis is an aw...

24 Heinä 202417min

This summer, the glamorization of divorce has reached its apex. There are divorce rings, divorce parties, divorce albums, and divorce memoirs — all portraying the act of walking away from a marriage as inherently empowering for women. But our guest on today’s program argues that so much of the current divorce discourse is just narcissism disguised as feminism. Kat Rosenfield is an American novelist, cultural critic, and podcaster – and a columnist for The Free Press. Today, we discuss h...

17 Heinä 202421min