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. Rudyard and Janice open the show unpacking the effect America's pause on military shipments will have on Ukraine's war effort. Putin has managed to drive ...
Jul 04, 2025•23 min
Mark Carney is learning quickly - as the digital services tax debacle proved - that attempting good faith negotiations with the US President does guarantee a positive or lasting agreement. What is the point of making concessions of any kind when the goal posts keep moving? Rudyard and Andrew then turn to America's decision to pause weapon shipments to Ukraine on the heels of easing sanctions against Russia. Andrew believes that Trump has done everything in his power to enhance the Russian positi...
Jul 03, 2025•34 min
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. Rudyard and Janice start today's show unpacking the intelligence information about the effectiveness of America's attack on Iran's nuclear sites. While ce...
Jun 27, 2025•19 min
The full version of today's Friday Focus is available to all members. Rudyard and Janice begin today's special Friday Focus episode with the Trump initiated ceasefire that allows both Israel and Iran to claim some measure of victory. But does Trump have the power to make the truce hold? Bibi is learning that American help comes with a price, and the Israeli PM is no longer in the driver's seat. Pulling back to look at the bigger picture, Rudyard and Janice explain how America's involvement in th...
Jun 24, 2025•26 min
The full version of today's Friday Focus is available to all members. In this emergency Friday Focus episode, Rudyard and Janice assess what the US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities mean for the future of the Middle East. What are the big takeaways from this game changing moment in the region? Has Iran's capacity to enrich uranium been permanently disabled? And finally, and perhaps most importantly, how will Iran respond? Iranians are a proud people with a culture of resistance. Its leaders be...
Jun 22, 2025•32 min
The full version of today's Friday Focus is available to all members. Rudyard and Janice start today's show talking about the long term prospects of this war: while Israel has had amazing military successes in the first week, their ability to intercept Iran's ballistic missiles will diminish as this war drags on. Is there a diplomatic opportunity to bring this conflict to an end? And if this is a matter of survival for Iran's top brass, will they finally concede to US demands and dismantle their...
Jun 20, 2025•37 min
Rudyard is joined by celebrated American-Israeli author and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi to talk about the ongoing war between Iran and Israel. Yossi explains why this attack has almost unanimous support within Israel and how everything changed after October 7th: a collapse in the illusion that they could live next to a genocidal regime whose stated goal is to eradicate them. Israelis, he says, will not make the same mistake twice. Furthermore, Jews have learned from the past that when your ene...
Jun 16, 2025•29 min
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. Rudyard and Janice start the show with Israel's spectacular strike on Iran that targeted ballistic missiles, nuclear sites, and top military leaders. Jani...
Jun 13, 2025•15 min
On this special podcast episode we are sharing the opening statements from the Munk Debate on Trump’s America , which took place on May 29th in front of a sold out crowd of 3,000 people at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. The debate resolution was: Be it resolved, this is America’s golden age Arguing in favour of the motion was the political consultant, pollster and senior counselor to President Trump during his first term in office, Kellyanne Conway. Her debate partner was the President of the right...
Jun 09, 2025•29 min
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. Rudyard and Janice start the show talking about the blowup of the bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk which took place in spectacular fashion over...
Jun 06, 2025•19 min
Rudyard welcomes back Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne to talk about Mark Carney's early economic plan for Canada. Andrew suggests that the PM's vision is a mixture of centre right and centre left politics and mimics the language of Stephen Harper. Rudyard and Andrew then try to break down the reasons for Canada's stagnant growth and agree that we need more labour, more investment, and more innovation driven by competition. Talk then turns to this week's meeting between Canada's premiers wh...
Jun 03, 2025•30 min
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. Rudyard and Janice begin today's show by unpacking last night's sold out Munk Debate where Ezra Klein and Ben Rhodes debated Kevin Roberts and Kellyanne C...
May 30, 2025•16 min
Rudyard is joined once again by The Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne to reflect on Mark Carney's bumpy first few weeks in office: delaying the spring budget, a chief of staff search coming up empty, and cabinet ministers going off message all point to a challenging start for Canada's newest Prime Minister. Rudyard and Andrew then turn to Canada's relationship with the US. Are we still in the crisis of our lifetime, as claimed by our political leaders during the election? Andrew argues that ...
May 26, 2025•27 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show with Donald Trump's Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, where the US President accused his ...
May 23, 2025•22 min
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. On this week's Friday Focus episode Janice joins Rudyard from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Trump made his first state visit since taking office in January....
May 16, 2025•22 min
We are a long way from a fully functioning democracy, according to Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne. That's the main argument in his new book, The Crisis of Canadian Democracy , in which Andrew points to the many ways our political system is broken: a dysfunctional parliament, MPs whose party loyalty is valued more than their constituents' concerns, and elections that reward regional interests at the expense of national unity. Andrew offers thoughtful and substantive solutions for how Canad...
May 13, 2025•33 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open today's show with the fast developing and worrying situation between India and Pakistan. What started in the long disputed territo...
May 09, 2025•15 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open today's show with their key takeaway from the Canadian election: Mark Carney's functional minority was delivered to him by the Boo...
May 02, 2025•21 min
Andrew Coyne is a Globe and Mail Columnist and one of Canada’s most trusted commentators. On this Munk Dialogue Andrew and host Rudyard Griffiths unpack Canada's election results and where the parties and provinces go from here: now that they have sidelined the People's Party, can the Conservatives appeal to the centre? Will there be a surge in separatist sentiment in Alberta and Saskatchewan? And after the resounding defeat of the NDP, will Canada become a two-party system? Rudyard and Andrew a...
Apr 30, 2025•37 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show with the Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal put forward by the Trump administration that would recognize Crimea as a Russian t...
Apr 25, 2025•17 min
Andrew Coyne is a Globe and Mail Columnist and one of Canada’s most trusted commentators. He joins host Rudyard Griffiths to discuss how the Conservative Party's anti-Trudeau messaging undermined their ability to provide Canadians with an appealing platform in an election that doesn't include the former PM. Mark Carney, meanwhile, is acting like a grownup in charge when a crisis hits, even though his big spending promises suggest he's not the blue liberal many centre-right Canadians had hoped. R...
Apr 22, 2025•37 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show with last night's Canadian English language leaders' debate. Rudyard thinks that Pierre Poilievre looked prime ministeria...
Apr 18, 2025•19 min
Andrew Coyne is a Globe and Mail Columnist and one of Canada’s most trusted commentators. He joins us for a far reaching conversation about how the Liberal Party went from having no hope in this election to being the frontrunner, and how the widespread anti-elite sentiment in Canada has been affected by erratic policies south of the border. Andrew and Rudyard then turn their attention to the man pushing these disastrous policies: Donald Trump. Are we witnessing a decline in mental health and inc...
Apr 15, 2025•36 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show talking about the escalating trade war between the US and China. The pace and magnitude of this growing dispute is destab...
Apr 11, 2025•20 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show with Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcements and specifically China's response: a punishing 34% countervailing tax ...
Apr 04, 2025•16 min
On this episode we are joined by Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Evelyn Farkas, Executive Director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University, to discuss the likelihood of US military strikes on Iran, America’s Greenland annexation plans, and Chinese military drills off the coast of Taiwan.
Apr 03, 2025•29 min
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. Rudyard and Janice open the show with Trump's announcement of auto tariffs which, coupled with the tariffs on steel and aluminum, could cripple the Canadi...
Mar 28, 2025•18 min
This week we are airing a special edition of the Munk Debates Podcast—a rebroadcast of a classic debate that launched our series on the world stage. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and the late Christopher Hitchens - an avowed atheist - debating the motion Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world. 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 15+ year l...
Mar 27, 2025•39 min
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. With a Canadian election just around the corner, Rudyard and Janice agree that the most important question on the ballot is who is the best candidate to s...
Mar 21, 2025•28 min
On this episode we're joined by Bernie Sanders's former presidential campaign manager Jeff Weaver and Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel to debate the biggest news stories of the week. The host of this episode is Ricki Gurwitz 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 15+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, and ticketing...
Mar 18, 2025•34 min
