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The Munk Debates Podcast

The Munk Debates Podcast

Munk Foundation / iHeartRadio

The Munk Debates podcast is an extension of the main stage events - in subject, speaker selection, tone and format. It will introduce the iconic brand - and its engaging debates about significant issues of our time. Audiences will hear strong and passionate arguments from both sides of an issue so they will have enough information to make up their own minds about where they stand.

427 - Friday Focus: Trump takes a wrecking ball to America's governing institutions
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  • 427 - Friday Focus: Trump takes a wrecking ball to America's governing institutions

    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.

    The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly current affairs podcast, Friday Focus.

    Rudyard and Janice open the show reflecting on Trump's eye-popping appointments to key positions in government. What happened to the importance of competence, merit, and experience when assigning the most important roles within the federal government?  Rudyard and Janice then turn to Elon Musk, who this week was taking calls with the Ukrainian president and meeting with senior Iranian officials. How can we make sense of Elon's role in the Trump administration, given that he is the largest single contractor to the US government? And finally, can other institutions outside of Washington hold the line as the Trump team takes a wrecking ball to everything in their path?

    To access full-length editions of 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.

    Thu, 21 Nov 2024
  • 426 - Be it Resolved, Be it Resolved, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of JFK

    It’s America’s greatest unsolved murder. Who shot JFK? On the 60th anniversary of the Warren Commission, we debate who was really behind the assassination of the 35th President of the United States. One one side of this debate is the lone gunman theory, the U.S. government’s official statement supported by the Warren Commission's findings. Proponents of this theory argue that shooter Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, without any assistance or interference from outside actors. On the other side are the impassioned theorists who point to doctored evidence and eyewitness accounts as proof that there is more to the story. Whether it was a second gunman on the "grassy knoll," the mob avenging an unsuccessful coup in Cuba, or an inside job by the CIA, too many suspicious coincidences lead to only one conclusion: Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone on that fateful day.

    Arguing in favour of the resolution is Gerald Posner. He’s an investigative journalist and the author of Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK.

    Arguing against the resolution is Dick Russell, author of On the Trail of the JFK Assassins: A Groundbreaking Look at America's Most Infamous Conspiracy.

    You can vote on who you think won this debate. Go to our website www.munkdebates.com to become a free member and cast your vote.

    The host of this podcast episode is Ricki Gurwitz.

    To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a paid Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership

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

    Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz

    Editor: Kieran Lynch

     

     

    Thu, 21 Nov 2024
  • 425 - Munk Dialogue with Jeff Weaver: a sober wake-up call for the Democrats

    As Democrats are left wondering how their candidate could lose so badly, so decisively, to a man who is not only loathed by half the country but denounced by many of his former aides and cabinet members, there is one democratic strategist who predicted this long before Kamala was anointed as the party's nominee.

    Jeff Weaver was Bernie Sanders’s campaign manager in 2016 and a senior advisor to Senator Dean Phillips’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nominee just earlier this year. Jeff argues that the Harris campaign’s rallying cry - the idea Democracy itself was on the ballot this election - was a losing strategy, and they ignored the bread and butter issues that would have spoken to the electorate and helped propel Kamala Harris to victory. If Democrats don’t make serious changes to their policies and their messaging, they will face similar outcomes in the future.




    The host of this Munk Dialogue is Rudyard Griffiths

    To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership

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

    Executive Producer: Ricki Gurwitz

    Editor: Kieran Lynch

    Mon, 11 Nov 2024
  • 424 - Friday Focus: Democrats point fingers and Iran threats another strike on Israel

    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.

    The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly current affairs podcast, Friday Focus.

    On this week's edition of the Friday Focus podcast, Rudyard and Janice try to make sense of the events of this week as Democrats begin pointing fingers and blaming each other for their stunning defeat. How did they fail to recognize that people vote for issues like the economy and immigration, and not for democracy? This election was about the working class telling the bicoastal, white collar educated elites to take a hike. In the second half of the show, Rudyard and Janice turn their attention to the Middle East, where the Iranian government has threatened to attack Israel for a third time in twelve months, marking a serious escalation between the two countries. How will the Iranians exploit the lame duck period before Donald Trump takes over on January 20th?

    To access full-length editions of 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.

    Fri, 08 Nov 2024
  • 423 - Friday Focus: special US election episode

    On this special edition of the Friday Focus podcast, Rudyard and Janice react to the election of Donald Trump. Voters this time around knew who Trump was and voted for him anyway. Rudyard sees this as significant a vote as Brexit: voters are fed up with the elite and showing their discontent at the ballot box. The Democratic Party needs to figure out how to reconnect with the working class, Hispanic, and Black communities, all of which they lost in droves last night.

    And which countries and world leaders stand to benefit and lose from last night's election outcome? Rudyard and Janice asses the upcoming fortunes and misfortunes of Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China, and Israel. And finally, in Canada: how will Trump's victory affect the political aspirations of Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau?

    Wed, 06 Nov 2024
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