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 ri...
Sep 02, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 37
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 ba...
Aug 31, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 93
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 we...
Aug 26, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 36
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 I...
Aug 24, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 92
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 gl...
Aug 17, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 91
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 confisc...
Aug 12, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 34
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 currentl...
Aug 11, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 90
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 Represe...
Aug 05, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 33
At the beginning of the year, a group of Canadian truckers took their frustrations of government mandated vaccines to Ottawa, which quickly grew into what became known as the Freedom Convoy. For about a month, the convoy shut down the nation’s capital as thousands of people pushed for an end to covid restrictions and vaccine mandates for cross-border essential workers. This was just another example of a populist swell in Canada that has pushed Conservative party candidate Pierre Poilievre to the...
Aug 03, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 89
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 this week. First, Italy is gearing up for a national election in September. Not ...
Jul 29, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 32
The January 6 commission is a reminder that a peaceful transfer of power is not guaranteed and that democracy is in trouble. But do many understand what democracy really is? In his book Democracy Rules , German historian and political scientist argues three things are crucial for its survival: political parties over populism, a free media and a healthy level of uncertainty. QUOTES: “I think what's paradoxical about the situation in the U.S., but to some degree it's also true of other democracies...
Jul 26, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 88
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-only podcast focuses on Europe’s looming energy crisis and how the debate over Canada’s return of a critical piece of mac...
Jul 22, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 31
The demand for electricity in the world is increasing rapidly and nuclear power is seen by many as a great option to meet those needs sustainably and safely. Building nuclear reactors is capital-intensive but a large project provides jobs for thousands of people and the reactors can last for more than 30 years. Many argue nuclear energy is safe, efficient and reliable and it will be much harder to fight climate change without it. Still, nuclear energy accounts for only 10 percent of global elect...
Jul 21, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 87
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 Member’s podcast focuses on two stories in the news this week. First, what did the nation-wide Rogers blackout tell us about the ...
Jul 15, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 30
The economic powerhouses in today’s economy are middlemen like Amazon and Walmart, a reality that has been exacerbated in the pandemic. So argues Kathryn Judge, author of the new book, DIRECT: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of going to the Source. In it, Judge says that we are trading convenience for long (and fragile) supply chains with often unethical sources. She argues a more just and fair economy is within our grasp, if we take small actions to be conscious consumers and go...
Jul 13, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 86
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 edition of the Munk Members Podcast features Janice and Rudyard’s recommendations for great summer reads. What are the books you should be in...
Jul 08, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Life is full of decisions, big and small. What to eat for breakfast, what to wear to work, who to ask for advice, where to send your kids to school. But are any of these decisions truly our own? A growing movement of psychologists, philosophers, and neuroscientists believe that these decisions may feel like a tossup, but in reality are predetermined, merely the firing of neural pathways forged over time that lead to predictable conclusions. Despite how we feel, free will is an illusion. Supporte...
Jul 05, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 85
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 edition of the Munk members podcast marks the half way point of the 2022 calendar year with Janice and Rudyard making their predictions on th...
Jul 01, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Episode summary Joseph Nye has been listed as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy and is widely thought of as one of the leading global thinkers of our time. Extremely well-versed in nuclear weapons and nonproliferation, Nye, a former deputy Undersecretary of State and National Security Council Chair, will join us to talk about what role the threat of nuclear weapons has played in the war in Ukraine and what this war might tell us about future conflicts. QUOTES: “ That Putin ...
Jun 29, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 84
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 edition of the Munk members podcast features two stories in the news. First, with Russian troops set to capture the strategic city of Severod...
Jun 24, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Should billionaires exist? On this episode of the Munk Debates Podcast, the editor of Jacobin Magazine, Bhaskar Sunkara, debates American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis on the motion Be it resolved, a society that allows billionaires to exist is immoral. SOURCES: NBC, CNBC, SXSW, CBS NEWS
Jun 21, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 83
This program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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 a wild week in financial markets brought on by central banks around the world aggressively raising interest rates to...
Jun 17, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 26
In 2016, the UK stunned the rest of Europe by voting to leave the European Union. The split was close, 48 per cent of people voted to stay but 52 per cent voted to leave the geopolitical and trade alliance. In his book, Geography is Destiny , Ian Morris argues Brexit should not have come as a surprise. Instead he says, this has been playing out for 10,000 years, when the landmass now known as Britain first became an island. Morris argues that Britain is uniquely positioned due to its proximity t...
Jun 16, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 82
This program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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. First, what should we take away from the public debut of the findings of the U.S. congres...
Jun 10, 2022•15 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Is university a waste of time and money? On this episode of the Munk Debates Podcast, Bryan Caplan, author of The Case Against Education, debates Professor Nicholas Dirks, the former Chancellor of UC Berkeley, on the motion Be it resolved, cut public spending for universities. It's a waste of time and money. SOURCES: CNN, Newsweek, EWTN, Global News.
Jun 07, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 81
This program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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 only podcast focuses on two stories in the news. First, the Russia-Ukraine War marks its 100th day of fighting. Where is this confl...
Jun 03, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 24
While many people are now happily returning to restaurants and concert halls after two years of COVID isolation, most workers are not as eager to return to the office. Office occupancy rates in the US are only at 40%, with as many as 15% of people say they plan never to return. Some economists argue that workers must be at the office for at least part of the week to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Specifically, young workers have a lot to learn from their senior colleagues,...
May 31, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 80
This program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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 analyses two stories in the news. First, something feels different about the latest school shooting incident in America. Th...
May 27, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 23
By any measure, the Russian invasion of Ukraine represents a profound security risk for the world. It raises fundamental issues about the basic principles that underwrite the current international order and it threatens the specter of an entrenched, high-risk Great Power conflict. How is this fast-evolving crisis best addressed? Does it demand a resolute and relentless push by the West to punish, isolate and degrade Putin’s Russia economically, politically and militarily? Or is a solution to be ...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 2Ep. 79
This program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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 focus on two stories in the news this week. First, there is a growing food shortage in the world. It looks likely to worsen...
May 20, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 22
