Some Politics is Local

In this week’s episode, for US politics, we talk about the latest developments to come out of the House of Representatives investigation on the insurrection that took place on January 6th. How many Fox News anchors did Donald Trump have on speed dial (and how often did Mark Meadows cockblock them?) - we discuss! For provincial politics, we talk about the latest policy changes from the Kenney government to ensure he gets the kind of Christmas gathering that he'd want. We layer in a conversation on the 'Brian Jean machine' (TM) and whether or not he can knock Kenney off from leadership.

For DocReport this week, Mike watched the National Film Board (NFB) documentary on former Prime Minister Kim Campbell called Through the Looking Glass. Make sure to listen in order to hear who was hot and who was not from (a 1993 election) fashion and hair perspective.

In this week’s episode, for global politics, we talk about the flurry of diplomatic boycotts (including Canada's) that have hit China as host of next year's Olympics. What does this say about the state of relations between China and the rest of the world? Is this a template for how Western nations deal with perceived infractions from China? We will discuss!

For BookReport this week, Mike read (with his eyes!) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, which is a critically-acclaimed novel set at various times in Afghanistan's history (and is depressing as hell).

In this week’s episode, for global politics, with the arrival of the Omicron variant, we talk about vaccine distribution strategy. What is best from a utility perspective and how might this diverge from the best course for countries politically? We discuss! We then talk about federal politics, with the (shocking) unanimous passing of the anti-conversion therapy legislation in Parliament. We dig into what this means for the federal Conservatives electoral fortunes, as well to whether this new cooperation in the House is here to stay.

For PodReport this week, we both listened to the new Jon Stewart podcast, The Problem with Jon Steward, which delves into important but underreported issues today.

In this week’s episode, for federal politics, we talk about the Throne Speech that was for the governing Liberals. Were there any revelations or tea leaves to be read about the future of the Justin Trudeau government, we'll discuss! For provincial politics, we dissect the United Conservative Party (UCP) Annual General Meeting (AGM) that took place at the (lovely) Grey Eagle Resort and Casino. We talk about how strong or not so strong Kenney's hold on power is after the proxy leadership vote and the shenanigans of Brian Jean. 

Don't Count by David Baddiel, which examines the curious way that Jews are treated/thought-about versus other groups in society.

In this week’s episode, it is our triumphant return to American politics, where we discuss the off-year election results, Biden's low approval ratings and what it all means for the mid-term elections - and the Presidency in 2024. We also return to our first love (?) of provincial politics, with Jason Kenney under fire from over a quarter of his constituency associations amid the impending jamboree/AGM at the Grey Eagle Casino.

For DocReport this week, Mike read (with his ears) the Peter Mansbridge memoir entitled 'Off the Record', in which he recounts his childhood and a bunch of old man anecdotes (some of which involve politics).

In this week’s episode, it's the long-awaited return of Global Politics, with analysis of the COP26 conference in Glasgow. We talk about the federal government's big announcement to cap oil and gas emissions as well as Mark Carney's Big Finance Crew's deal to possible be more responsible with global investment.

For DocReport this week, Mike watched (with his eyes) the four-part, eight hour, documentary on Muhammad Ali, by legendary documentary film-maker, Ken Burns.

In this week’s episode, we honestly and openly review our Predictorama guesses for who would occupy what position in the federal Liberal cabinet picks (spoiler alert: we weren't even close). We also delve into the logic and politics behind Trudeau's (actual) picks...and who became 'non-picks', ahem, talking to you (astronaut) Marc Garneau.

For BookReport this week, David read (with his eyes) 13 Days in October - in which Robert (AKA Bobby) Kennedy chronicles the play-by-play and team dynamics during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In this week’s episode, we are doing Predictorama for the federal cabinet picks that will be coming out next week - how wrong will we be? We will see! We also talk about the results for the Calgary municipal election, which had Jyoti Gondek defeating handily Jeromy (Fartface) Farkas. Also, we couldn't get away with not talking about world-class POS Sean Chu - and how he is the worst.

For PodReport this week, Mike listened to Total Recall - a CNN podcast series on the 2003 recall election that saw Arnold Schwarzenegger elected governor (or 'gover-nator') of California.

In this week’s episode, we have our second (and, sadly, last) installment of Municipal (Calgary) ELECTION WATCH! For this one, we go through a scorching hot take of the last candidates debate that just happened on Thursday night. We also go into Predictorama-mode and offer our pronouncements on who will occupy the big seat of mayor. Finally, we go through Mike's vote point by point - does he actually love fluoride? We'll find out!

For BoardgameReport this week, we went head-to-head and played the long but very entertaining board game 1960 - which seeks to simulate the Presidential Election of 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon.

In this week’s episode, we talk about the Liberals vaccine mandate plan of action released this week. Is it a political and/or public policy winner? What will the Conservatives say as a rebuttal? We'll discuss! We also have Municipal (Calgary) ELECTION WATCH, where we give you the latest info on the polls and also a play-by-play for how David actually voted.

For DocReport this week, we both watched (with our eyes) the five-part documentary 9/11 and the War on Terror on Netflix, which chronicles that fateful day, as well as how Afghanistan has been dramatically impacted by it.