The Munk Debates Podcast

To listen to the full episode consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $50 annually, or $1.00 per episode. Go to www.munkdebates.com to sign up. Rudyard and Andrew react to the U.S. Justice Department's criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell alleging he lied to congress about renovation construction costs. This administration is using trumped up charges and the instruments of the state to go after people they can't otherwise control. What makes Jerome Powell a more formidable opponent to Trump compared to others who have tried to stand up to the U.S. President in the past? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Andrew turn to Iran and the regime's brutal response to countrywide protests. What should we think of Trump's musings about intervening in this conflict? It has become fashionable to oppose any type of regime change following America's forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but if the West does not intervene, what will be the cost of human life in Iran and the region?

Become a Munk Donor ($50 annually) to watch and listen to full episodes of Friday Focus with Janice Stein. Your donor membership comes with other great perks like access to the videos of our main stage debates and full length episodes of our weekly podcasts with Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne. Rudyard and Janice begin today’s show discussing the ongoing protests in Iran and whether they pose more of a threat to the regime than previous demonstrations. They also discuss the controversial killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota, the Trump administration's gaslighting response, and the subsequent backlash from the American public. Will this tragic incident have an impact on immigration policy more broadly? In the second half of the show, Rudyard and Janice turn to Venezuela and the fallout from the U.S. attack and capture of President Nicolas Maduro. How seriously should we take Trump's imperialist rhetoric regarding Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland? Does this signal a new age of rank colonialism? And is this the end of the international rules-based world order as we know it?

Rudyard and Janice begin today’s show discussing the ongoing protests in Iran and whether they pose more of a threat to the regime than previous demonstrations. They also discuss the controversial killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota, the Trump administration's gaslighting response, and the subsequent backlash from the American public. Will this tragic incident have an impact on immigration policy more broadly? In the second half of the show, Rudyard and Janice turn to Venezuela and the fallout from the U.S. attack and capture of President Nicolás Maduro. How seriously should we take Trump's imperialist rhetoric regarding Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland? Does this signal a new age of rank colonialism? And is this the end of the international rules-based world order as we know it?

To listen to the full episode consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $50 annually, or $1.00 per episode. Go to www.munkdebates.com to sign up. Rudyard and Andrew react to Trump's 2025 national security doctrine being put into action this past weekend with the US military operation in Venezuela and the abduction of its president Nicolas Maduro. Both hosts agree this was not about restoring democracy. Trump's use of hard power while dismantling the country's soft power and sources of genuine American strength is a backward, simplistic and adolescent view of American power. It is a foreign policy that supposes the 19th century great power competition model is most conducive to American interests. Rudyard and Andrew unpack different public reactions to this military raid - specifically from the leaders of Mexico and Denmark - and explain why it is in Canada's interest to draw a line in the sand and stand firmly against our southern neighbour. In the final moments of the show they discuss Pierre Poilievre's political future as he continues to trail in the polls behind Mark Carney. Will his lack of discipline and vocal support of Trump's military raid hurt his leadership aspirations?

The full length edition of this special Friday Focus episode is being made available to all paying and non-paying subscribers. In this special emergency episode Rudyard and Janice unpack the stunning US invasion of Venezuela and abduction and arrest of its President Nicolas Maduro. Trump's statement that the US would "run" Venezuela for some indeterminate period of time gave little to no indication of a planned transition or a commitment to a democratic outcome. Was Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, the country's new leader, part of a deal with the US prior to Maduro's extraction? If so, the US now has a client regime in Venezuela signalling that the world is indeed returning to a system of spheres of influence. Does Putin now own Eastern Europe? Can Xi Jinping do what he wants in Taiwan? This one abduction could be the green light Russia and China have been waiting for and thus has huge global implications. Meanwhile every leader in the western hemisphere who opposes Trump is now worried about the possibility of being taken in the middle of the night.