The Long Way

Feature Guest: Jonathan Kay, a Toronto-based editor and podcaster for Quillette, a National Post columnist, and a book author. In 2019, he published "Your Move: What Board Games Teach Us about Life," co-authored with Joan Moriarity.

Board games are seeing a surge in popularity as the disruptions of COVID-19 drag on far longer than any of us would like. Games, dice, cards, tokens, and cardboard counters are filling dining room tables (and other tables) as we pass the time with the few people we're actually able to see amidst pandemic restrictions – usually our family. Still, others are turning to online board game sites to connect with their typical board gaming community. Not a board game fan? Don't knock it 'til you've tried it says The Long Way's feature guest, Jonathan Kay.

"One thing I don't like to hear is families will say, 'Oh, we don't like board games because we tried this board game and we didn't like it,'" Kay tells The Long Way host Daniel Proussalidis. "That's like me saying, 'Oh, I don't like sports because I tried tetherball and it was no good.'"

Also in this podcast episode, you'll hear from our field reporter Peter Stockland who has a word-play and game-play-filled conversation with Ray Pennings, executive vice-president of think tank Cardus, about his experience in the world of games.

Listen to the whole episode and you'll hear how board gaming relates to some significant things in all of our lives, including family, social networks, and education. And if you're looking to learn about some of the games mentioned in this episode, here they are. Please, note, this list is for information purposes only and is not an endorsement of any particular game. Neither Cardus nor The Long Way has any financial interest or benefit from any of the products mentioned:

Diplomacy

Here I Stand

Pan Am

Pandemic

Paths of Glory

Pax Renaissance

Robo Rally

Roll for the Galaxy

Twilight Struggle

And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to The Long Way. Thanks for listening!

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Special Guest: Andrew Coyne, Globe & Mail columnist and CBC At Issue panel member.

Media bias, false balance in journalism, free speech, and social media - all these issues touch upon how we communicate, learn about each other, and build social trust. The picture becomes even more complicated when the Edelman Trust Barometer finds that trust in Canadian media is down to its lowest level in a decade. How do we communicate when we so profoundly disagree with each other on so many issues? Or when we don't trust what we get from the media? That's what our special guest Andrew Coyne, Globe & Mail columnist and CBC At Issue panel member, addresses with host Daniel Proussalidis on this episode of The Long Way:

"We live in a very perilous time in this respect because there used to be a broad sense of this idea that reasonable people can differ. And there were two components to that statement," Coyne tells The Long Way. "One is, you can differ - it's OK to have differences of opinion. There's not just one side to every issue. It's OK for people to disagree. But the other component of that was you have to be reasonable. We're not just going to treat people who are plainly out of their minds or arguing in bad faith the same as reasonable, credible individuals. Both sides of that equation right now are in a lot of peril."

Following Daniel's conversation with Andrew Coyne, The Long Way examines one of the proposed solutions to toxic talk – especially in social media: government regulation. How reasonable a solution is that? Field reporter Peter Stockland addresses that question with Peter Menzies, a former vice-chair of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.

Listened to this episode? Have some thoughts on how this all relates to building the common good in Canada? Leave your comments below or write to us at [email protected].

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Have you ever considered the concept of restorative justice? Have you heard stories of reconciliation or restoration of peace between someone who has committed a crime and a victim of crime? The Long Way will bring you some of those stories in this episode along with some information about how to get involved in helping those who are incarcerated in Canada maintain relationships with their families outside of prison. Our special guest in this episode is Stacey Campbell, President and CEO of Prison Fellowship Canada.

For more information on the Angel Tree Christmas program, check out the Prison Fellowship website.

If you're looking for Canadian restorative justice programs, visit the Justice Canada website.

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COVID-19 isn't the only thing that will go down in history as a marked feature of 2020. Racism and the fight against this evil has also made its mark on the year in Canada and the United States. How do we respond to news about systemic racism and what can we do that contributes to the common good and seeks justice? That's what we ask our special guest, Ian Rowe, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Want to know more about the Canadian Marriage Map? Visit cardus.ca/marriagemap to see the data we mention at the end of this episode.

Interested in more from Ian Rowe? Check out his work at AEI as well as the podcast he co-hosts.

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Work lives have changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Working from home has become the norm for many of us. And some are musing again about four-day work weeks. In this episode of The Long Way, we explore the changing nature of work with Dr. Erica Carleton, Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the University of Saskatchewan, and Brian Dijkema, Vice President of External Affairs at Cardus.

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Journalism is about telling the truth, right? Or is it about correcting injustices? Jen Gerson, a Canadian journalist who left regular, paid work in the media to strike out as an independent and outspoken writer and podcaster, has a definite perspective on such questions. She shares her thoughts with The Long Way as we consider the issue of how to do journalism in the unstable and constantly shifting media industry.

If you'd like to read a portion of The Long Way's conversation with Gerson, check out this article in Convivium.

Interested in Gerson's work? Check out The Line for Canadian news commentary and the Oppo podcast.

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Amid pandemic-related job loss and economic worries, new research suggests there is a sector of Canadian society that plays an important, but often unrecognized, economic role: religion.

The Hidden Economy: How Faith Helps Fuel Canada's GDP, a new report from think tank Cardus, finds that religion's annual contribution to Canadian society is worthy an estimated $67.5 billion. In this episode of The Long Way, we'll hear from Dr. Brian Grim, a co-author of the study as well as president and founding for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.

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When the economy falls apart, other aspects of society are sure to follow. So, how do you rebuild an economy shattered by a long shutdown?

Ashley Challinor, vice-president of policy at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, sheds some light on that question. And then she delves into a related issue: The charitable sector. The business community and charity are tied together, after all, so in helping one, can we help the other too?

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Who is falling through the cracks as pandemic lockdowns drag on? Whom have we forgotten?

Jamil Jivani reminds us of those who face extra challenges in life, especially when isolated by a lockdown. With his background as the author of Why Young Men, Ontario's Advocate for Community Opportunities, and managing director of Road Home Research & Analysis, Jamil explains the inequality we'll need to tackle in rebuilding post-pandemic Canada. And field reporter Peter Stockland highlights another aspect of inequality – in education – with Cardus Education Director David Hunt.

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Life is full of ethical dilemmas – something that's only made worse by a pandemic.

Conscience, ethics, and morals all come into play when hospital resources become strained. But it's not just the doctors and nurses making hard calls. Everyone is making ethical judgements about lockdown life: whether self or the common good gets prime consideration.

What does our "moral community" look like? Do we need to rebuild our understanding of ethics? Listen in as Dr. Margaret Somerville, a bioethics professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Notre Dame Australia, joins conversation on The Long Way.

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