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. Thank you Munk Members for the hundreds of suggestions for a new name for our weekly podcast exploring current events with Janice Stein and Rudyard Griffiths. And, we have a winner! Friday Focus is our new show title. Kudos to Mary M. who was the first to come up with this punchy new name. On this week’s installment of Friday Focus, Janice and Rudyard explore how the War in Ukraine escalated this week, but not how many people expected. With Putin’s decision to stop all natural gas shipments to Europe, what was up to now a kinetic conflict in Eastern Europe has become a continent-wide energy and financial war between Russia and the EU. How is this conflict likely to play out? What are its likely impacts on inflation, the global economy and Canada’s national security? 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.

Episode summary Technology has quietly taken over our everyday lives and the idea of living with less, not more, technology is almost unimaginable. As a result, its growth and impacts are being felt well beyond the realms of work and play and it reshapes our politics, culture and ethics. The rapid and pervasive influence of technology over human society today raises important questions: are we still in control of technology, or are we letting it control us? How has Big Tech’s focus on the “optimization of everything” impacted our own sense of ourselves as agents of our future? Is there any merit in the fear of robots replacing workers, the erosion of privacy and disinformation? Just how worried should we be?  And maybe most important of all, what could, or should, be done to reform technology in society today? QUOTES: Technology in my view, in its worst aspects, flattens the radical diversity and pluralism of humans to our great detriment. Inefficient solutions to problems sometimes are better because they reflect the grand diversity of ends that human beings have long had. The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.   To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ Senior Producer: Marissa Ramnanan Editor: Adam Karch  

Munk Members Podcast 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. This week’s Munk Members podcast starts with a discussion of Canada’s stalled out effort to “return to work” two years into the pandemic as the risks of severe illness and death from COVID-19 plummet. What are the costs to companies, community and social equity if broad swaths of Canada’s professional class permanently turn their backs on the office? Second, Janice and Rudyard introduce a new feature for the show in the form of occasional deep dives into an idea or expression we use to explain geopolitics, society or the economy, but don’t necessarily agree with or understand what it actually means. This week’s phrase: the liberal international order. 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.

China is one of the oldest states in the world, with a complicated history and rich culture. Now, as the political relationship between China and the United States, and arguably the rest of the Western world, is at its most tumultuous yet, we need a deeper understanding of this ancient country, to see where we could possibly go from here. To give us a glimpse into its history and its dealings with other societies, we speak with Professor Timothy Brook, a historian of China, whose studies span back to the 13th century. Timothy Brook is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of History of the University of British Columbia. He writes on a broad range of political, social, and cultural topics, with a focus on China’s engagements with the world. Brook has published thirteen books, which have been translated into several Asian and European languages. A graduate of Harvard University, he has taught at Toronto, Stanford, and Oxford, and has held the Republic of China Chair at the University of British Columbia since 2004, until this year.  QUOTES: President Xi  Jinping is in this awkward position. He has inherited the Great State modality, but he doesn't think like a Mongol. He thinks like a Chinese who wants to go back to the way the world might have been before the Mongols ever invaded China. This has produced China's greatest foreign policy problems, Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, all of these areas. China has perhaps the most unstable set of borders of any country in the world, and it's precisely because of this historical heritage that they can't think their way out of.   The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.     Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/   To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.     To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/   Producer: Marissa Ramnanan  Editor: Adam Karch  

Munk Members Podcast 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. This week’s Munk Members’ podcast focuses on two stories in the news this week. First, President Emmanuel Macron gave a fascinating speech this week warning of the end of an era of ecological, technological and economic abundance. What would this actually mean? Is it a plausible description of future-facing France and other post-industrial nations? Second, the last few weeks have seen a slew of media reporting on antisemitic and white supremacy in Canadian politics, from the campaign trail of the Conservative Party leadership to the department of Canadian Heritage in Ottawa. Are Canadian norms changing? Why are we seeing more hate in our culture?   Rudyard’s Hub article on World Economic Forum and antisemitic conspiracies https://thehub.ca/2022-08-25/rudyard-griffiths-wef-conspiracies-are-antisemitic-and-a-moral-stain-on-conservative-politics/   Macron speech on the end of abundance (French) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AyYQRneG_I&feature=emb_imp_woyt   Joseph Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Civilizations https://www.amazon.ca/Collapse-Complex-Societies-Joseph-Tainter/dp/052138673X   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.

Some are worried that far right parties are poised to make big political gains in advanced democracies as inflation, economic stagnation and elite distrust surge. Of all western countries Italy is fast emerging as a petri dish for populist politics and potential herald of the political dynamics that could grip the larger eurozone and North America. The technocratic government of Mario Draghi has collapsed, and with an early election happening this fall, the potential exists for the Brothers of Italy to lead a coalition of far-right parties taking charge of a major European economy. Other countries are already looking toward the Brothers of Italy as an inspiration: the Vox party in Spain, another far-right party, has steadily risen in the polls to 20 per cent. What started all this? Is there any way to stop this rise of far right populism? And does this signal a new and dangerous challenge to pluralist democracies?   QUOTES:   There's been a collapse in left wing working class electoral turnout. We no longer have the mass parties of the past. So instead you just get this polarization between right wing populist forces or even ones with the fascist past. And then the only alternative is the sort of technocratic pro-European liberal center.    The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.   To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ Producer: Marissa Ramnanan  Editor: Adam Karch  

Tensions between China and America are at a new, dangerous high following Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan in her capacity as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The trip was seen in Beijing as an affront to the longstanding “One China” policy which asserts that Taiwan is part of China operating under its own system of governance. In retaliation, China immediately launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan and halted cooperation with the U.S. on military matters and the global fight against climate change. The American response has been to renew its support for Taiwan’s right of self-defence and signal that more U.S. navy ships will be transiting the Taiwan strait in the months to come. What is the world to make of this crisis? Is it the opening act of a larger conflict between Beijing and Washington that could lead to war? Are there ways to defuse China-US tensions and re-establish relations between the world’s two superpowers to address common issues and concerns from climate change to the global economy to security in South Asia?  For a Chinese perspective on the state and future of Taiwan, China-US relations and the prospects for armed conflict the Munk Dialogues welcomed Professor Victor Gao, Vice President of the Center for China and Globalisation. He is a prominent Chinese lawyer, former investment banker and served as English language translator to the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping. He is the Chair Professor of Soochow University. QUOTES: Taiwan is part of China and the People's Republic of China is the sole legal representative of China. So as far as China is concerned, this is a frontal attack on the one thing that matters the most to China. That is China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.  The host of the Munk Dialogues  is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.   To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ Producer: Marissa Ramnanan  Editor: Adam Karch  

Munk Members Podcast 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. This week’s Munk Members Podcast explores two stories in the news. First, the raid by FBI agents of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to allegedly confiscate highly sensitive government documents, including possible information related to America’s nuclear weapons. Where is this investigation likely to go next? Could Trump be criminally charged? What would this mean for American politics, political culture and citizens’ perceptions of the impartiality of the exercise of the rule of law? Second, as Canada wraps up its “summer of discontent,” how are the major political parties positioning themselves to respond to a souring national mood? What role will inflation and higher interest rates play in exacerbating political divisions and competing visions of how to guide the country through a period of heightened economic uncertainty? Finally, Janice and Rudyard are challenging listeners to help them come up with a new name for this podcast. Send your suggestions to podcast@munkdebates.com. Thank you in advance for your suggestions! 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.

The future course of the pandemic seems anything but resolved. The emergence of new variants have caused a major reassessment of the trajectory of COVID in 2022 and beyond. What is the likely course of pandemic this autumn and winter? What role could the new highly infectious variants play in transmission, illness and death? Are the current public health measures, radically scaled back in much of the developing world over the course of 2022, appropriate to the risks and challenges COVID currently presents? And what is the next phase of this pathogen likely to be? Are we up collectively to the task of living with endemic COVID? To answer these questions we discuss with Dr. Eric Topol, a renowned physician, scientist, and author.  QUOTES: Dr Topol: We haven't put in the effort, the priority, the resources to develop a pan variant vaccine, which would be anticipatory. One thing that's striking in this entire two and a half years-plus of the pandemic is we're always chasing, never getting ahead of the virus. We're smarter than that sucker. [...] It's almost like we're ignoring the potential there to squash this virus once and for all. The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.   To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events.This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ Senior Producer: Kelly Linehan

Munk Members Podcast 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. This week’s Munk Members podcast focuses exclusively on the geopolitics of China, America and Taiwan. Why did Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, choose this moment to travel to Taiwan during a period of heightened tension between China and the U.S. over the future of island democracy? What should we make of the Chinese reaction that now involves firing ballistic missiles over Taiwan, large-scale naval operations and jet plane incursions over the “median line” of the Taiwan Strait? If the Chinese are simulating a naval blockade of Taiwan, how could this be countered and at what potential military and economic cost? And finally, what is the West’s grand strategy when it comes to Taiwan and China? Janice and Rudyard unpack the week’s events in Asia and explore how the current war of words over Taiwan could evolve in the months and years to come. 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.