Rudyard and Andrew react to the deployment of U.S. National Guard troops to American cities, specifically guards from red states being sent into blue states. This is a watershed moment, speeding up America's worrying slide into authoritarianism. Is it fair to separate Trump's ego-driven action from his handlers like Stephen Miller and Russell Vought who have more concrete designs on America? And what are the chances there will be free and fair elections in next year's midterms? Rudyard and Andrew then turn to Mark Carney's trip to Washington to meet with Donald Trump. The two leaders seem to have a reasonably good personal relationship. Why does Trump like Carney better than his predecessor? And what kind of trade overtures can Carney come home with that would be acceptable to the Canadian public?

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice begin today's show with Trump's threat to Hamas to accept the terms of his ceasefire deal by Sunday or risk being "quickly extinguished". What are the sticking points for Hamas and surrounding Arab countries like Egypt and Qatar? Why do the Qataris in particular continue to be included in negotiations when they have been unsuccessful thus far at brokering an agreement? And can the Trump administration reasonably expect Hamas to accept this agreement that is so favourable to Israel? Janice is more optimistic that given all the pressure on Hamas and on the Netanyahu government we could finally see a conclusion to this war within the next few weeks. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to 'AI slop', a new term that has come to define substandard products developed by artificial intelligence. How is this AI generated content, which is being churned out at great speed but without much thought, affecting everything from higher education to critical thinking skills to productivity in the workplace?

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

Rudyard and Andrew unpack the speeches made this week by U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth and President Trump to over 800 military generals. Trump indicated he wants to use American cities as training grounds to fight the enemy within. In plain terms, he wants to stick the military on dissenters in the United States. How much more alarming could this get? What purer definition of fascism is there? There has already been a purge in the senior ranks of the military, and it seems we are about to witness more. Do these generals carry out the orders of their commander-in-chief, or disobey unlawful commands? And what are the consequences of disobeying? Rudyard and Andrew then turn to Trump's suggestion - once again - of Canada becoming the 51st American state. Rudyard believes this is part of an attempt to get Canada to contribute financially to the Golden Dome defense shield. Is Trump making this a condition of a new trade agreement? Do Canadians still see Mark Carney as the leader best qualified to stand up to Trump and negotiate a good trade deal? And finally, how do we make Canada an attractive location for investment to withstand uncertainty from the U.S.?

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice start today's show with Trump's address at the UN General Assembly this week where he warned European countries that they are "going to hell" due to mass migration. While citizens rightfully expect their governments to protect their borders, we can't ignore the fact that we in the West need immigrants for economic growth and low skilled labour that is not being filled by native populations. The test for any government is how they manage immigration to benefit their societies instead of destabilizing them. Is Canada better at integrating newcomers than European countries? Rudyard and Janice agree that if we aren't careful about the pace of change in society and manage our ability to welcome large numbers of newcomers we could end up with a hard right populist movement, the kind we are seeing sweep through Europe and parts of the U.S. A sense of shared history, tradition, culture, and community is required to keep people grounded and populist politics at bay.

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

What should we make of Canada's formal recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN? What happened to the conditions the government had originally tied to this recognition? Andrew believes the Carney administration is both trying to send a signal to the ascending Israeli right and join a broader coalition with the other countries - Britain, the UK, and Australia - who lead the way on this initiative. But given the fact that Mahmoud Abbas has presided over a corrupt PA for over 20 years, without elections, is this recognition of statehood simply kabuki theatre? And how is Canada's statement on this issue affecting how activists protest here in Canada? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Andrew turn to the ongoing saga that is the Trump presidency and his public threat this week to go after political enemies. But America's descent into authoritarianism cannot be blamed solely on the US President; there are a number of incredibly powerful companies, individuals, and advisors whose support of Trump has been rewarded with a concentration of wealth and political power that is handicapping the country's ability to function as a healthy democracy.

Click here to purchase Andrew’s new bestselling book, The Crisis of Canadian Democracy.

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice start today's show with the big news story of the week: the capitulation of ABC to the Trump administration, suspending the Jimmy Kimmel Show indefinitely in response to his somewhat innocuous remarks about Charlie Kirk's assasination. Trump is continuing to attack institutions that are integral to the functioning of democracies, and forcing other, smaller organizations to adopt an attitude of anticipatory compliance. This is no longer a question of the US backsliding into authoritarianism; it is already there. In the second half of the show Janice and Rudyard turn to Canada's upcoming federal budget and rumours of a very large projected deficit, coupled with confused messaging about a commitment to austerity and investment. Is the Carney government up to the task of restructuring our economy - and making bold policy changes - to prepare us for the future?

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice discuss the social and political fallout from right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk's assassination. What does the country's online reaction reveal about the state of American culture and democracy? We are living in a climate of heated language which is becoming more and more violent. All signs point to a democracy in trouble. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to Israel's strike this week on Hamas officials in Qatar. Janice argues that the attack was a massive misstep damaging the credibility of Trump who had given his word to Qatar that they would be protected. Netanyahu approved this strike against the advice of his senior military team, knowing it would infuriate his last and most supportive ally, Donald Trump. Rudyard disagrees with Janice's take, making the case that Israel had every right to strike Hamas in Doha. Why is Qatar - one of the largest funders of terrorism in the world, including Hamas - not a legitimate target?  And finally, how does this week's events affect the plight of the remaining Israeli hostages?

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

Donald Trump's AI image to threaten "war" on the city of Chicago is further evidence that he is stuck in a spiral feedback loop with his followers, in which he has to get more outrageous to keep generating shock and attention from his supporters and the media. This will lead to a long term deterioration of the standards of public life, legitimizing corruption and cruelty unbound by constraints. Rudyard and Andrew then turn to the upcoming Canadian federal budget. They both agree bold policy changes are needed, including tax and competition reform, to reverse years of slow growth and address the future cost of caring for aging boomers. Andrew offers some new fiscal policy ideas that could help turn things around. In the final moments of the show Rudyard and Andrew debate the backlash to the Temporary Foreign Workers program. What is the difference between bringing in foreign workers and outsourcing production to developing countries? Are we just replacing local labour with cheap, imported labour? And is this program to blame for high unemployment rates among young Canadians?

This week's SCO summit in China projected a series of powerful images about the rise of China and the cleaving of the world into two power blocs. Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un watching the military parade at Tiananmen Square was a performance of a great power, as was Narendra Modi's public display of friendship with Xi and Putin. Donald Trump's treatment of US allies is turning away in-between countries and offering China a historic opportunity to step up to the plate. The world of the US is becoming a minority compared to the countries circling China's orbit. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to Canada's upcoming federal budget and Mark Carney's bad messaging, as the PM warned of austerity followed by investment. In an economy that is slowing, will Carney wrack up more debt? Will these be investments, or expenditures? And does our Prime Minister have a real plan to get Canada back to a fiscal balance?

Rudyard and Andrew start the show talking about this week's China summit with 20 leaders of non-Western countries, including India, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Narendra Modi's public display of friendship with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin is a searing indictment of the Trump administration and his disastrous tariff policies. Andrew argues that while countries in the global south might not be our allies, they are still willing to work with us. If we lose India, many other countries of consequence will follow. Rudyard and Andrew then turn to Canada's defense priorities in this geopolitical turmoil. We are caught in between a dictatorship across the Arctic Ocean and an emerging dictatorship to the south. Do we need to start arming ourselves and seek out other allies to protect us from these threats? And will Trump become more dangerous abroad to distract from increasing opposition to him at home?