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Movie stars used to seem so cool. But when Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Academy Awards over a joke, and then later got a standing ovation for his Oscar win, people in the real world were appalled. Somehow today’s cossetted movie millionaires seem much more cringe than classy, as celebrity watcher, talk-show host and media personality Shaun Proulx discusses with Anthony in this week’s episode. Proulx explains how thin-skinned celebrities and Hollywood cancel culture are losing in a competition against a new breed of stars who are being born every day on TikTok and YouTube. (Recorded March 31, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Things in Russia have usually gone Vladimir Putin’s way. He has consolidated power, eliminated rivals, stamped out independent media and remains popular despite immense corruption and an economy in shambles. Marcus Kolga — who was recently ordered banned from Russia over his connections to Putin’s democratic opponents — joins Anthony this week to explain how things have suddenly gone seriously awry for the Russian president with his ill-conceived attack on Ukraine. As the war drags on, even Russians themselves could be losing faith in their supposedly great leader, says Kolga, a senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute. And Putin’s iron grip on power may already be slipping (Recorded March 31, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Liberal-NDP "supply and confidence" agreement will have longstanding ramifications for Canada beyond just the policies these two parties plan to enact. Yes, we may get free dental care -- but it could also come with the effective end of what's known as responsible government, as Howard Anglin explains to the Anthony Furey in this week's episode. Anglin, a lawyer who worked in the offices of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, breaks down how Canadians may no longer get the effective scrutiny and opposition that is supposed to be a hallmark of our system of governance. It could also mean the normalization of coalition governments in the years forward. (Recorded March 24, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few things have changed since Leslyn Lewis ran for federal Conservative leader in 2020 with an unexpectedly strong campaign. While government spending, debt and hostility to the West and Canada’s resources have only gotten worse she says, the Liberal government’s questionable use of the Emergencies Act, the undermining of democratic institutions, and the threat to freedoms have since become key issues for her. Lewis joins Anthony this week to explain why she thinks her socially conservative positions will appeal to a broader base of Canadians than many people expect and why she believes she stands an even better chance at winning the leadership this time around. (Recorded March 17, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 20 years of housing bubble-blowing, the thought of ever owning a home now seems virtually impossible for legions of younger Canadians. But there are reasons to take heart, as Garry Marr tells Anthony in this week’s episode. Marr, a journalist who has covered Canadian real estate for decades, details how government policies have continued to inflate housing prices in Canada’s biggest cities, frustrating the ownership dreams of younger generations while older generations gut their retirement savings to help out their kids. It can’t go on like this. Marr explains how markets and mentalities are finally starting to shift in ways that could make home ownership for young families realistic again. (Recorded March 4, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canadian journalist Neil Hauer is on the ground in Ukraine living through a Russian invasion. He was in Kyiv as cruise missiles rained down and heard the gunfire as special forces advanced on the city. He joins Anthony from Lviv, Ukraine to describe what it’s really like on the ground in a country in the midst of an invasion, how Ukrainians have been trying to fight back, and some of the unexpected problems that have hampered Moscow’s plans so far. Hauer, who specializes in reporting on Eastern Europe, also discusses the harrowing nuclear threat and the dangerous possibilities of what could happen if Vladimir Putin starts to feel cornered. (Recorded March 3, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada’s former chief of the defence staff Tom Lawson joins Anthony this week to discuss why NATO countries are watching Russia’s ruthless invasion of Ukraine with caution, and why a confrontation between western troops and Russian forces is a serious escalation that neither side should want. Lawson, who was also formerly deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, also talks about why this is an important moment for Canada to take stock of its own military capabilities as we contemplate what could be “the end of a remarkable period of peace.” (Recorded February 24, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Emergencies Act invoked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has never been used before — and for good reason. The law that replaced the War Measures Act is so powerful, it was essentially designed to be unusable, as constitutional lawyer Ryan Alford discusses with Anthony in this week’s episode. Alford, author of the book Permanent State of Emergency, details the alarming breadth of the act’s powers, its incompatibility with the constitution, its use to target certain political viewpoints, and why its use could foreshadow an even graver expansion of state authority. (Recorded February 17, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As other federal Conservatives distance themselves from the Freedom Convoy they once backed, Pierre Poilievre joins Anthony to declare his continued support for the movement. The first declared candidate for the federal Conservative leadership race explains why he thinks government overreach during the pandemic, and too much government meddling everywhere else, has made life harder, less affordable and less promising for Canadians. And he discusses how, if he becomes prime minister, he intends to fix it with more freedom. (Recorded February 10, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First they were portrayed as a small, ignorable fringe. Then they were portrayed as dangerous hooligans with “unacceptable” views. But once the trucker convoy rolled into Ottawa it defied expectations about the size and scope of Canadians fed up with government pandemic overreach. Rupa Subramanya, a columnist for the National Post, lives in downtown Ottawa and has been walking the city’s streets and talking with protestors. She joins Anthony this week to discuss what’s really happening on the ground in the nation’s capital, why it doesn’t fit the predictable narratives, and why so many Canadians see in the protests a version of their own ordinary frustrations. (Recorded February 3, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices