The Line

Today on On The Line, host Jen Gerson sits down with economics professor and  founding Director of McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy Chris Ragan. They talk about a story that has been absolutely buried under an avalanche of news -- the threatened indictment of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome (Jay) Powell.

Last week Powell put out a statement stating flatly that the Trump administration is abusing the courts in order to put pressure on the independence of the fed. 

What does that mean, exactly? Why does it matter? And what are the political and economic implications of the US central bank whose independence is increasingly under pressure?  We get right into it today on On The Line. 

Canada agrees to cut its tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products and Ontario premier  Doug Ford is positively pissed. In this week's episode of The Line Podcast, host Jen Gerson sits down with The Line Alberta's Rob Breakenridge at the Saskatchewan Crops Forum. This is a live taping of the podcast that took place, and what a topical moment as they were there to discuss China, tarifs, and agriculture just as Prime Minister Mark Carney conducted his delegation to China to ease tense trade relations between the two countries as the friendship between Canada and America continues to fray. 

The two Calgarians also lament the city's ongoing water restrictions, and the city's report outlining its failures. 

Today on On The Line, host Jen Gerson speaks with Heather Exner-Pirot, the Director of Energy and National Resources and Environment at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. Exner-Pirot does her damndest to check some of Gerson's rampant New Year's depression as they discuss the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. It may be bad news for the Venezuelans -- every hour seems to provide greater evidence for America's own greedy intentions and poorly thought out after-plan. However, she's not worried about what this will mean for Canada's own industry. In some ways, she's outright optimistic that the Americans will come around from their current trajectory. Gerson is not so convinced. You decide. 

In this episode of The Line Podcast, hosts Jen Gerson and Andrew Potter discuss trade, immigration, and the attempts to "Globalize the Intifada." Firstly, on the trade file, US trade rep Jamieson Greer has issued a list of grievances. The Americans are villainously committed to giving Canadians more options for eggs, chicken, and dairy. StatsCan shows a dramatic drop in immigration as the LIberals reign in a system gone pear shaped. And lastly, what do the young think "Globalize the Intifada" really means? 

Today on On The Line, host Jen Gerson talks to Brandon Forsyth, long time book buyer at Indigo. They chat about the hottest books heading into the Christmas season which, if you're anything like us, you are absolutely not yet prepared for. He's a list of kids' books, fiction, and non-fiction for the readers in your life. 

(Note, no, we at The Line are not taking any cuts for any of the books suggested. We just like books and reading. And if your family is like ours, books are pretty much what you all give to one another anyway.) 

Books mentioned: 

Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/dont-trust-fish/9780593616673.html

InvestiGators by John Patrick Green https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/investigators/9781250219954.html

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/impossible-creatures---indigo-exclusive-edition/9781774888957.html

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-poisoned-king---indigo-exclusive-edition/9781774888964.html

The Secret Of Secrets by Dan Brown https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-secret-of-secrets-a-novel/9780385546898.html

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/wild-dark-shore-reeses-book-club-pick-a-novel/9781250827951.html

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/heated-rivalry-now-streaming-on-crave-and-hbo-max/9781335534637.html

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-wealthy-barber-2025-indigo-exclusive-the-fully-updated-all-time-canadian-classic/9781068975004.html

What A Ride by Andrew Podnieks https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/what-a-ride-the-thrilling-toronto-blue-jays-of-2025/9781552673973.html

Book Of Lives by Margaret Atwood https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/book-of-lives-a-memoir-of-sorts/9780771096433.html

The Prime Ministers by JRM Stewart https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-prime-ministers-canadas-leaders-and-the-nation-they-shaped/9781998365777.html

In Today's The Line Podcast, recorded Dec. 12, 2025, host Jen Gerson is joined by special guest Andrew Potter to discuss this country's culture of complacency. We were once a nation that put its engineering achievements -- such as the Syncrude oil sands on a stamp. Now, the very idea that we should strive to be a culture that builds things, grows, and prospers has been sublimated by a culture that prizes symbolic action and good intentions over good outcomes. 

They talk about the curious case of B.C. passing laws that then have an effect on laws. Seven years ago, the province implemented DRIPA, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People drafted by the U.N. -- despite concerns that the law would be used to undermine B.C.'s own legislation. The law was essentially null in force, a symbolic gesture, the province's NDP government assured at the time. Until, of course, it wasn't. Oops. 

Lastly, they discuss the future of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who just lost another MP to floor crossing. Will the leader be able to survive if the Liberals chip away at enough of the Conservative caucus to form a majority? And, perhaps more importantly, is Pierre Poilievre a winner?

In this episode of On The Line, host Matt Gurney is joined by Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs. Darrell and Matt have both just returned from the Halifax International Security Forum, where Darrell presented a major new global survey to policymakers, military leaders, and security experts from around the world. Matt and Darrell walk through the findings and what they reveal about how people are thinking about security in 2025.

The survey spans tens of thousands of respondents across dozens of countries, capturing public attitudes on personal safety, geopolitical risk, great-power tensions, cyber threats, and the fragility of the international order. Darrell explains which fears are rising, which regions are most anxious, and why public confidence in institutions continues to erode. He and Matt also discuss where the public is ahead of political leaders, where it may be misinformed, and what this means for democracies trying to navigate an increasingly unstable world.

The conversation turns to why global anxiety is becoming a kind of background condition, what the survey suggests about Canada’s place in the world, and how governments should respond when citizens see danger everywhere but trust almost no one to handle it. They also talk about the challenge Donald Trump poses to Canada — especially because he's asked some fair questions for which we don't have good answers.

Oh, and also — if you enjoy this, you'll enjoy Darrell's new book. Check it out!

New episodes of On The Line drop every Tuesday. Subscribe at ReadTheLine.ca, follow us on your favourite podcast app, and don’t forget to leave us a nice review. Audio drops every Tuesday morning, with video rolling out Tuesday evening on YouTube and our social channels. Catch it wherever you listen or watch.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on December 5th, 2025, hosts Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson open with the newly released U.S. foreign policy document, and they’re not exactly thrilled. 

They agree it’s an accurate  reflection of how the White House sees the world — uncomfortably accurate, in fact. They’ve been flagging many of these issues for months, hoping Canadians and Canadian policymakers would start paying attention. Now the White House has packaged all of it into one tidy, unsettling summary.

Some of what the document lays out is simply true, and Canadian and other allied politicians, especially on the left, have ignored those realities at their peril. Some of it is debatable, or at least worth taking seriously. And some of it is outright nuts, pulled straight from the conspiratorial anxieties of America’s far-right social media ecosystem. But whether reasonable, arguable, or deranged, it is now official White House policy — and the rest of us are going to have to learn to live with it.

From there, the conversation turns to how Canadians are, or aren’t, learning to live with it. There is still very little evidence that anyone here grasps the scale of the threat or the urgency involved. Jen introduces a new theory: Canada as a nation is increasingly resembling the federal New Democrats — and that’s not good news for anyone. She also says that at a moment we desperately need to be pulling together, we're instead getting set to fight another series of sovereignty referendums and a fresh pipeline war. She has concerns, is all. 

Oh, and also. Katy Perry!

All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. Visit our main site at ReadTheLine.ca.

Today On The Line, host Jen Gerson sits down with Toronto writer Phoebe Maltz Bovy, who has recently completed her book The Last Straight Woman. They dig into "the Discourse," the absolute state of heterosexuality in a post MeToo, post online dating app era. Sexual harassment, cosplay oppression, age gaps in relationships, marriage, the romanticization of the single mother, and why it's almost embarrassing for straight women to just be straight women. There is no subject made taboo today! 

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on November 28th, 2025, your hosts start with the biggest story of the week before veering off into a surprisingly long but very entertaining tangent about seafood and the possible unsustainability of our entire civilization. Trust us, it’s a good one.

They do eventually get to the Memorandum of Understanding signed this week between Ottawa and Alberta. Both hosts agree it ended up being a solid week for Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. They also wonder whether it somehow turned into a good week for Steven Guilbeault, who is now out of Carney’s cabinet. Did Guilbeault’s decision to walk away mark the moment more Liberals finally realized the Trudeau era is really, truly over? Matt also notes that Carney can't keep offering everyone carrots; sooner or later, someone is going to need to get the stick. And he names the province he thinks should be made example of ... to encourage the others, of course.

From there, the conversation shifts to Matt’s recent trip to the Halifax International Security Forum. He’s working on a series of columns about it that will begin rolling out soon, but he shares a few early stories — all circling the theme of America having ghosted the world, and how some Americans, bless them, still think this is something they can fix quickly after a midterm or the next election. Matt isn’t convinced. 

He also has a few thoughts about the relative cleanliness of some Canadian cities he has visited lately. Halifax, you’re looking good.

All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast.