Happy holidays. We're on a break, but we thought you might enjoy this episode from our friends at CANADALAND. It's a conversation about Substack's role in the future of journalism, featuring Paul Wells, The Line's Jen Gerson and Substack founder Chris Best.

If you like this episode, you can subscribe to CANADALAND for more like it.

CANADALAND credits: Host & Publisher: Jesse Brown Senior Producer: Bruce Thorson Audio Editor & Technical Producer: Tristan Capacchione Production Manager: max collins   We'll be back with a new episode of the Paul Wells Show next week.

Join us for an hour of live music, politics, and self-reflection. Former Premiers Kathleen Wynne and Jason Kenney trade jabs onstage and look back on the year that was. Catharine Vandelinde, executive director of Options Housing, talks about her work getting people off the street and into homes. Jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould performs "It Had To Be You," "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise," "I Haven’t Managed to Forget You" and our theme music. Singer-songwriter Scott Merritt performs his songs "Moving Day" and "Willing Night." And Paul finds the spirit of Christmas... eventually.

Thank you to the National Arts Centre for hosting this event. Thanks to Meta and WestJet for their support.

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

In a conversation that took place less than three hours after Chrystia Freeland resigned from the federal cabinet, Paul Wells is joined by Justin Ling and Jen Gerson to discuss what this astonishing news means for the Liberal Party and the Trudeau government.

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Paul answers questions from readers (and producer Kevin Sexton) about the state of Canadian politics, Trump, journalism, and more!

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

In his book We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbi argues that a new class of liberal elites uses the language of “wokeness” without actually helping the marginalized and disadvantaged. 

He joins Paul to talk about a decades-long trend of the Democrats reorienting themselves towards a constituency of wealthy white people. It’s a message he was sharing well before Kamala Harris lost the election. 

He also talks about how moving from a red state to New York City broke a lot of illusions he had about Democrats. He talks about wealthy Democrats who talk of lifting up marginalized people, while living a lifestyle that's dependent on exploiting their labour. And he talks about periods of “Great Awokening” over the last century, which have had mixed results in terms of creating real gains for marginalized groups. 

Musa al-Gharbi is an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. You can read his Substack, Symbolic Capital(ism) here: https://musaalgharbi.substack.com/

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

What does a Trump presidency mean for trade? Paul is joined by a panel of analysts from the U.S., Canada and Mexico, to talk about what might be in store for North America during the next Trump administration. 

The panellists are Vassy Kapelos, chief political correspondent for CTV news, Doug Palmer,  senior trade reporter at Politico, and Enrique de la Madrid, author, newspaper columnist, and former member of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. 

This panel was recorded at The North American Manufacturing Conference.

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Ontario’s government recently announced that Jane Philpott will lead a team with the goal of connecting every person in the province to primary health care within the next five years. With around 2.5 million people currently without a family doctor in Ontario, the task is enormous. 

So how did a former Liberal health minister get hired on by a conservative government for such an important job? And how exactly does she plan on doing it? Jane Philpott joins Paul to talk about how the job came about, and her vision for getting it done, which involves rethinking the way we deliver primary care.

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

With Trump’s decisive win in the U.S. election, American writer Ross Barkan argues his country has finally reached the end of the "Obama era" of politics.

Barkan talks about what went wrong for Democrats, why he was early to say Harris was the wrong candidate, what he expects to come from Trump’s return to the White House, and why he sees an opportunity for the American left. 

Ross Barkan is a journalist and novelist, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation and many other outlets. His Substack is called Political Currents.

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Canada is full of corporations consolidating market power, from grocery stores to internet providers to movie theatres. And people are starting to notice. 

Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes less so. Paul was surprised, for instance, to find luxury cookware brand Paderno at Canadian Tire – until he realized it’s one of many brands that Canadian Tire owns. 

In their book The Big Fix, Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn talk about how markets in Canada became increasingly dominated by a handful of huge companies, why it harms us, and what to do about it. 

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Aujourd’hui, on vous présente The Paul Wells Show en français!

La chroniqueuse politique Chantal Hébert prend le rôle d'animatrice pour interviewer Paul au sujet de son premier livre en français, Justin Trudeau dans les câbles: Gouverner quand ça va mal.

Chantal et Paul discutent du règne de Trudeau, de sa réputation au Québec, de l’avenir du Parti libéral du Canada, et de l’art de la traduction. 

Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Justin Trudeau dans les câbles est disponible dès maintenant.