Talking Shop Podcast

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shows off her communications skills in a passionate rebuttal to Republican Ted Yoho following a confrontation earlier in the week. We dissect her approach and explain why it worked so well, then mentioned a few other tips to become a compelling public speaker.

COVID-19 cases may still be on the upswing, but companies are asking reluctant employees to come back to the office. If you don't feel safe, what options do you have?

Then...

"Release the Kraken!" went from an obscure movie reference to centerstage in a genius marketing maneuver in Seattle. We also look at the ice cream museum meltdown, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and more.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful!

Don't miss a new episode -- or an update to topics discussed on the show -- by following us on social media. You can find our accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. You are also welcome to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

If you have a question we would be happy to answer it on the show! Just post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources

• How Trump is Helping Tycoons Exploit the Pandemic - New Yorker
• Zoom Embroiled in Data Scandal (Discussed in Episode 2) - PR & Law Podcast
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Full Response to Rep. Ted Yoho - YouTube
• The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain - Amazon
• The Class of RGB - Slate
• Seattle Kraken Officially Announce Team Name and Logo with Banner Unveil - YouTube
• I Scream. You Scream. The Meltdown at the Museum of Ice Cream - Forbes

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter.

Lessons from the world of PR and employment law are more pertinent than ever, especially as the pandemic continues to spread rapidly across the US and now in Hong Kong, too. Ewan provides a definitive answer on whether stores can make you wear a mask, and when a person might have a legitimate case to ignore the policy.

Then we dive into some PR lessons from 30-year PR veteran Edward Segal, the author of a new book called "Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare For and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies". We dissect some of his key takeaways, including advice for companies on managing a #MeToo crisis, monitoring social media 24/7, why it's important to engage with reporters, and whether to even think about getting involved with Twitter.

We also discuss the feelings on both sides of the Canada-US border and how COVID-19 has left the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team without a place to play.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful!

Don't miss a new episode -- or an update to topics discussed on the show -- by following us on social media. You can find our accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. You are also welcome to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

If you have a question we would be happy to answer it on the show! Just post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources

• 'Toronto is in Canada': Twitter Fires Back at Laura Ingraham Tweet - HuffPost
• Amy Cooper Fired after Central Park Tantrum (Discussed in Episode 8) - PR & Law Podcast
• United Airlines Hits PR Turbulence (Discussed in Episode 13) - PR & Law Podcast
• Spray Tans, Pants-Wetting and Little Hands: the GOP Race Goes in the Gutter - Washington Post
• Pandemic Threatens Decades of Women's Labor Force Gains - RBC
• Kicked Out of China, and Other Real-Life Costs of a Geopolitical Meltdown - New York Times

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter.

We raced through the show this week with so much to cover. We kicked off looking at how COVID-19 has come back with a vengeance, and not just in the US this time. We look at how discrimination works on religious grounds, and then dive into the story of TikTok, what it is, how it works, and why governments are banning it.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. You can also subscribe to the PR & Law Podcast on YouTube.

If you have a question for the hosts, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources

• SCOTUS Holds Teachers are 'Ministers,' Rules Religious Schools Don't Have to Follow Anti-Discrimination Laws - Law and Crime
• Proposed Class Action Against Skip the Dishes Moving Forward After Supreme Court's Uber Ruling - CBC
• AB 5 Employment Status - State of California
• What TikTok Said a Day After Being Blocked - NDTV
• TikTok's New CEO is Facing His First Big Challenge After India Banned the App and Left Tiktok's Thousands of Indian Employees Stuck in Limbo - Business Insider
• The Humbling of the Anglo-American World - Financial Times (Paywall)
• Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley's War Against the Media - New Yorker
• Robinhood Has Lured Young Traders, Often with Devastating Results - New York Times
• Vietnam's Successful Fight Against Covid (Discussed in Episode #13) - PR & Law Podcast
• Uber Driver Sues Uber (Discussed in Episode #12) - PR & Law Podcast

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter.

United Airlines runs into both legal and PR trouble this week after some ill-advised comments from its Chief of Communications on precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on board.

Hong Kong's freedoms virtually vanish overnight (literally), leaving the city firmly in the clutches of Beijing and potentially making criminals out of people who support Hong Kong's protest movement all around the world. Cam speaks about what it's like having such a monumental change in the city he calls home.

We also discuss Facebook's slow-moving train wreck, as the list of advertisers boycotting the company continues to grow. We play a clip of Mark Zuckerberg that gives a glimpse into how he thinks about free speech.

Then we talk about employee rights in an era of COVID-19, why kids like the darkness in Roald Dahl's novels, the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, and the markable story of a COVID-infected British pilot on life support in Vietnam and how doctors saved him from the brink of death to maintain the country's sterling record of zero deaths from COVID-19.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources

• Rebranding Hong Kong Will be a Hard Sell - South China Morning Post
• Unfriending Facebook: New Research on Why People Like Facebook Less - Startup
• United Airlines Turns a Manageable Situation into a Total Disaster - CamMacMurchy.com
• See How Canada Crushed the Curve While the US Struggles - CNN
• Patient 91: How Vietnam Saved a British Pilot and Kept a Clean COVID-19 Sheet - BBC
• U.S. v. Ghislaine Maxwell Indictment - Scribd
• The Dark Side of Roald Dahl - BBC

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter.

Cam and Ewan debate the 'gig economy', going back and forth over whether millennials and Gen Z have lucked out with all the cool digital opportunities, or whether they're stuck building a career with scraps of work here and there without any benefits. The debate stems from an Uber driver in Toronto who is suing Uber, claiming he's an employee of the company and not a contractor.

Then we dive into the controversial practice of doxxing and whether it's justified to punish bad behavior. Mob justice doesn't come without risks, of course.

We also talk about a surprising milestone in the music world, the origins of the A&W Root Bear and its catchy jingle, and the economics around VIP parties.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources:

• A&W Root Beer Theme Song - YouTube
• Trader Joe's 'Karen' Goes Berserk After Being Asked to Wear a Face Mask - New York Post
• Court Supervisor Fired After Seen on Camera Tearing Down 'Black Lives Matter' Signs in South Philadelphia - ABC
• Episode #8: How Brands are Responding to George Floyd, the Firing of Amy Cooper After a Racist Outburst in Central Park, and Hong Kong Might Not be Dead Yet - PR & Law Podcast
• Various Artists, Pure Moods Vol. 1 - Pitchfork
• The Secret Economy of a VIP Party - The Economist

Hazing is an ugly ritual that permeated junior hockey for years, but those responsible are now facing a reckoning. We discuss why the toxic culture behind hazing is a PR disaster for a sport that is already considered violent.

Ewan goes into the US Supreme Court decision last week that defines the word "sex". We look at the ruling, the dissent, and what it means for employers and employees.

Then it's back into COVID-19, which is continuing to infect people in many parts of the United States as economies open. We talk about what the rising numbers could mean for both the global economy and the stock market. Then we have a brief discussion over 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite and Jon Stewart's searing interview in New York Times magazine.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources:

• In Countries Keeping the Coronavirus at Bay, Experts Watch US Case Numbers with Alarm - Washington Post
• A Former NHL Goon Used Twitter to Create a Hockey Abuse Hotline. His Inbox Exploded. - Washington Post
• Carcillo's Teammates Back up Hazing and Sexual Assault Allegations - The Hockey News
• Episode #5: The Embarrassing Leak of Private Misogynistic Chats on Instagram, COVID Chaos in the White House, and Why People are Unhappy in Retirement - PR & Law Podcast
• Jon Stewart is Back to Weigh In - New York Times
• Parasite - Rotten Tomatoes

What a show! A lot is packed into this week's episode, including a look at how companies are increasingly under-the-gun in an age of social justice, with consumers demanding more than platitudes and simple statements of support of the Black Lives Matter movement -- they want real action. We also welcome journalist Danny Lee from the South China Morning Post to talk about the surprise bailout of Cathay Pacific by the Hong Kong government and how COVID-19 has decimated airlines globally.

Ewan shines some light on a story that didn't manage to break through in a busy news week: the US has taken a startlingly punitive stance against the International Criminal Court.

We also explore the war underway in the New York Times newsroom, furore over JK Rowling and trans activists, and the awkward conversation between comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Marc Maron.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources:

• Breaking the Law: How the State Weaponizes an Unjust Criminal Justice System - Globe and Mail
• The Outcry over 'Both Sides' Journalism - New York Times
• J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking Out on Sex and Gender Issues - J.K. Rowing's Blog
• Jerry Seinfeld - WTF Pod with Marc Maron

The impact of COVID-19 is being felt worldwide, but not evenly. We look at how women have an even heavier burden, particularly with kids unable to attend classes. Also, with HBO Max officially launched, we join many others in asking: what exactly is this service? How's it different from HBO Go or NBO Now? It's the perfect case study of a marketing mess.

We also recommend an excellent interview with famed US writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and why it's in your own best interest to confront the inevitable decline in your professional capability.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources:

• The Inescapable Pressure of Being a Woman on Zoom - NY Magazine
• Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is Hopeful - Ezra Klein Show
• The Best Way to Handle Your Decline is to Face it Head On - The Atlantic

We just lived through one of the busiest news weeks since we started the show, and we tackled all of it! We dive into the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the nationwide riots that followed. A poll by PR firm Edelman shows that 2/3 of consumers want brands to take a moral stand on issues important to them, so we take a look at what Nike and Reebok have done about Floyd's death and changing consumer expectations.

We also play the shocking video of a confrontation in Central Park, where an employee of Franklin Templeton has a racist outburst after a man asked her to put her dog on a leash. After the video went viral, she was fired by her employer. We look at employee rights in this kind of situation, and what employers are allowed to do.

We also look at US President Donald Trump's announcement of sanctions against China as a result of the national security law being introduced in Hong Kong and what it means for the city's future, as well as Vietnam's remarkable success fighting COVID-19. The country has not had a single death from the virus.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.

Links and Sources:

• NYC white woman fired after backlash to racist outburst in Central Park - News10
• Killer Mike delivers emotional speech to Atlanta protesters at mayor's press conference - Rolling Stone
• How Vietnam managed to keep its coronavirus death toll at zero - CNN
• Nike, Reebok and more big brands are taking a stand for racial injustice as national unrest heats up - Footwear News

Hong Kong was in the headlines again this week after Beijing took a drastic step to force a national security law on the semi-autonomous region. We dive into the issue and potential fallout, which includes protests over the weekend in which police fired more tear gas. To fix the city's image, Hong Kong's government has put out a call for PR firms -- but is improving the city's image even possible?

Then we look at a strange argument declaring paper use at law firms superior to digital-only firms. Sorry, what?! We get into that, and a depressing look at what a post COVID-19 world might look like.

If you enjoy the podcast, please tell a friend or family member. We are very grateful! You can also follow us on social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the account name PRLawPodcast. We are also on YouTube. If you'd like to ask us a question, please post it to social media with the hashtag #PRLawPod.