The Munk Debates Podcast

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. This week’s edition of Friday Focus begins with a look at the forces and factors driving the current global sell of in financial assets. Currencies, bonds and equities were all pressured by the Bank of England’s surprise move to stabilize the UK’s long-duration government debt market and bail out pension funds that were at the risk of liquidation. Are we starting to see real stresses emerging in international markets as geopolitical risks grow and central banks continue the relentless hike of interest rates? What could this lead to in the weeks to come? The program concludes with Janice’s thoughts on a recent talk given in Toronto by big geopolitical thinker Robert Kaplan. Friday Focus subscribers can access an audio version of Kaplan’s Q&A with Rudyard on the Munk Debates website here. 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.

Most societies commemorate and revere distant ancestors, with portraits, statues, streets, buildings, and holidays. We are fascinated with the pyramids in Egypt, Stonehenge in England and the earliest origins of our species in the savannas of Africa.  Our interest in humankind’s deep past has created a collective blind spot about the prospects of our distant descendants thousand years into the future. For most of us, the deep future is a fantasy world, something you read about in science fiction novels.  But a growing number of thinkers are pushing back against the attitude that the future is a hypothetical we can discount in the favour of the here and now. Instead, they argue it's high time we start thinking seriously about the idea that humanity may only be in its infancy. That as a species we could potentially be around for thousands of years, with trillions of fellow humans to be born, each with vast potential to shape our future evolution, possibly even beyond Earth.  In sum, humankind urgently needs a thousand year plan or it risks losing millennia of human progress to the existential risks that stalk our all too dangerous present.  William MacAskill is a leading global thinker on how humanity could and should think about a common future for itself and the planet. He is an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford and co-founder of Giving What We Can, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and 80,000 Hours, all philosophically inspired projects which together have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousand of life years to support charities working to preserve human kind's potential for the millenia to come. He is the author of the international bestseller, Doing Good Better and What We Owe The Future. QUOTE:  "The future could be very big, indeed, at least if we don't cause humanity's untimely demise in the next few centuries. We could have a very large future ahead of us. And that means that if there is anything that would impact the well-being of, not just the present generation, but all generations to come, that would be of enormous moral importance."  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  

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. This week’s edition of Friday Focus does a deep dive into the latest news out of the Ukraine War. What are we to make of Russia’s mobilization of 300,000 or more former military personnel? How is this escalation of the war likely to play out in the months to come? And possibly more worrying, what are the implications of Putin’s stark language this week with regards to the use of nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory and his assertation that he is “not bluffing”? Are we at heightened risk of violating the seventy-five-year-plus international taboo on the use of nuclear weapons? And, just how important is this taboo to international peace and security in the 21st century? 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 United States has long been admired as the world’s most stable and enduring democracy. However, many experts now believe there is a growing and real risk the country could plunge into civil war. Deep political divisions, weakened institutions, racial unrest, allegations of voter fraud, and partisan news coverage are eviscerating social cohesion and political compromise. Red and Blue America are separated by more than ideology; their disagreements are about basic fundamental values that are in irresolvable conflict. The key pillars of a functioning democracy have been destroyed, and the country is courting a period of sustained violent unrest. Others argue that predictions of widespread civil conflict are overblown. Civil Wars require cohesive and large geographical fighting blocs. So called “red” and “blue” states like Texas and California are not nearly as homogenous as pundits claims (46.5% of Texans voted for Joe Biden). Protests, battles, and blockades are a much more likely scenario than a descent into full scale civil war. And finally, the widespread belief that an overwhelming number of Americans support political violence is factually incorrect, and promoting this narrative is dangerous. Those who prophesize the demise of US democracy must remember that conflict can escalate from misperceptions of the intentions of rival groups and stoking fear can lead to actual violence. Arguing for the  motion is David Blight, award-winning civil war historian and the Sterling Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. Arguing against the motion is Akhil Reed Amar, American constitutional and legal scholar and the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University QUOTES: DAVID BLIGHT “Until we find a way out of the straight jacket that the undemocratic Senate and the electoral college holds over us, we are on a collision course with more and more elections like 2020.” AKHIL REED AMAR “While we are deeply divided, in every state there are shades of purple. And that means there is less likely to be the sharp geographic divide of the sort that characterized the 1850s” Sources:  CNN, Fox News, CBC, HBO, PBS 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: Ricki Gurwitz Editor: Reza Dahya

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. This week’s edition of Friday Focus analyses the sweeping victory of the new leader of Canada’s conservative party in its recent leadership race. What does Pierre Poilievre’s big win say about the future of Canadian politics, especially on the center-right? Has populism now firmly supplanted the older strains of conservatism that made up the conservative party in Canada? Given this trend seems to be happening in almost all western democracies, what does this mean for the future of democracy? Janice and Rudyard dig into it all and share their analysis and insights. 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. 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.