- Gen. Wayne Eyre on a new era for Canada's military
Wednesday, August 20th 2025
The year since Wayne Eyre retired as Chief of Defence Staff has seen unprecedented change in Canada's national-security environment. Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced plans to boost Canada's defence-related spending from less than 2% of GDP to 5%. The United States has become an unsteady ally. What do those big changes mean for the future of Canada's military? An in-depth conversation.
- Scott Anderson on the Revolution in Iran
Wednesday, August 13th 2025
Veteran foreign correspondent Scott Anderson, who's written for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and Esquire, has a new book, King of Kings, about the fall of the Shah of Iran and the rise of the ayatollahs in 1979. He opens with a big claim: that the Iranian revolution changed the world as much as the revolutions in France, the United States or Russia. He tells Paul about the failure of two leaders — the Shah and President Jimmy Carter — to understand what was happening in Iran.
- Encore: Olivia Chow Wants Toronto to Work
Wednesday, August 6th 2025
When John Tory resigned as mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow decided to take another shot at the job. Despite much of the establishment lining up against her, she won. She talks to Paul about that campaign, and about trying to implement her vision for the city on a shorter-than-usual term, while dealing with a $1.5 billion deficit from COVID.
This episode was recorded live at the University of Toronto’s Munk School. It episode originally aired on November 22nd, 2023, a few months after Chow's election.
- Encore: A history of Chinese influence in Canada
Wednesday, July 30th 2025
Was the commission into foreign election interference asking the wrong question about China? That’s what journalist Jonathan Manthorpe thinks. He argues the real issue is that for decades Canada has failed to confront China’s efforts to control Canadians of Chinese heritage and influence Canadian institutions.
He wrote a book about it, Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. It was originally published in 2019, but it’s now been updated to take into account everything that’s happened since, right up to the Foreign Interference Commission
This episode originally aired May 1st, 2025
- Encore: The War Inside Rogers
Wednesday, July 23rd 2025
The book Rogers v Rogers takes us into the messy succession drama inside one of Canada’s biggest companies, Rogers Communications. It features family members fighting in public, two competing boards, and even actor Brian Cox from HBO's Succession.
The book’s author, Alexandra Posadzki, takes us behind the scenes of a company trying to find its footing after the death of their founder, all while navigating a high-stakes business deal.
This episode originally aired on March 20th, 2024
