Some Politics is Local

In this week’s episode, we get back to the dumpster fire that is the COVID situation in Alberta (oh how we missed it...). We talk about the situation and whether Kenney's leadership/the UCP will be able to survive from it. We then talk about the Calgary mayoral race, which is on October 18th (don't forget to vote!). We strategize about how anyone can possibly beat Jeromy Farkas (AKA Jeromy Fartface, as the stickers around town would suggest).

For Report this week, we both read the long-form article by Anne Applebaum from the Atlantic called 'The New Puritans'. In this article, Applebaum argues that the woke/me too movements have had a side-effect of curtailing free speech.

In this week’s episode, it's...wait for it (one last time)...Election Watch! In the pod, we examine the federal election results to see how close we were in our seat/popular vote Predictorama! Of course, we also talk about the politics driving why we were so right/wrong. We then dive deep into the future of each of the party leaders after all the votes are counted. Who will stick around and who'll get kicked to the curb (hint: it ain't easy being green).

No Report this as we are chock-a-block full with election talky talk.

Just a quick reminder that we'll be LIVE TWEETING on election night starting at 6pm - you can follow along by going to @spilpodcast on Twitter. 

Also, we are recording a special election night podcast tonight, which you can expect in your feed late tonight - or tomorrow morning if you're a sane person.

In this week’s episode, it's...wait for it (once again)...Election Watch! In the pod, we review the CBC Face to Face episodes, in which each of the National Party Leaders faced questions from undecided voters (not to mention the wrath of Rosemary Barton)! Also, we hypothesize about the potential impact of the dumpster fire that is going on in Alberta (COVID) on the Federal race. We wrap it up with some (inevitably wrong) predictions on the election outcome.

For the first time ever, there is no Report this week due to all of the election action.

In the pod, we have a smoking hot take on the third and final federal election leaders debate - in English! Also, we talk about the winners and losers of the 2nd French language debate (yes, that's right, there are two in French and only one in English), which took place on Wednesday.

For PodReport, David listened to the Dan Carlin 'Common Sense' podcast series' episode on Afghanistan. Can the master of audio war history make sense of that country's experience of late? Listen to find out!

In this week’s episode, it's...wait for it...Election Watch! In the pod, we have a smoking hot take on the first federal election leaders debate, en francais! Also, David dug through the party platforms in painstaking detail - we discuss his findings and try to ID the policies that could indeed move the electorate.

For BookReport, David read (with his eyes) The Audacity of Hope by President Barrack Obama, which lays out his 'theory of the case' on politics in 2006 America. Mike also read it (with his ears, of course), but it was a while ago, so we're not going to call this a DualBookReport.

In this week’s episode, it's (once again) all about Election Watch! In the pod, we talk about how the latest developments in Afghanistan will shape the race, how the shift the centre has worked out for O'Toole and the Conservatives, and the impact of polls on the media election narrative. Also, we both try to channel Trudeau's "former" political Svengali, Gerry Butts, in order to offer some advice to the Liberal leader after a tough start to the campaign.

For DocReport, Mike watched (the entire) Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns. This (epic) 10-part, 18-hour documentary tells the story of the conflict from the French colonization all the way up to the normalization of relations between the two countries.

In this week’s episode, it's all about Election Watch! We breakdown the interesting and sometimes overlooked issues in this first week of the federal election, including: who is winning on mandatory vaccination, how much of an issue will daycare be, what does the PC Nova Scotia election win portend for the Liberals, and, most importantly has David been underestimating Jagmeet Singh?

For PodReport, David listened to the NPR Podcast series 'Throughline' on capitalism, which does a deep-dive into this economic system/ideology/way of life.

In this week’s episode, we continue our Election Watch! (TM) series and talk about all of the news of the week that could impact how Canadians vote in the (likely) upcoming federal election. For provincial politics, we have a HOT TAKE on the backtracking of the Kenney government on lifting testing, tracking and isolation restrictions for COVID.

For BookReport, Mike read (with his ears, of course) the book First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents, which recounts nine very different presidential friendship stories.

In this week’s episode, for global politics, David and Mike talk about the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, how this squares with the impetus to go in in the first place, and the political ramifications for the region. For provincial politics, they discuss the Alberta government plans to roll-back COVID testing, tracing and isolation measures later this month. What’s at stake here and is there a largely (perhaps sinister) play by the UCP? We’ll discuss!

For DocReport, Mike watched the documentary Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, which tells the story of how LA went from being the envy of the nation to a city of anarchy and riots.