Culture At A Crossroads

Culture At A Crossroads returns for another season with CTV National News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme.  We discuss what the media has learned in reporting COVID, the value of a good news story, the need for Canadian eyes on international news, and the secret ingredient to conducting an engaging interview. 

Culture At A Crossroads is back. Here's a sneak peek of what to expect in the season ahead, it includes conversations with Canada women's soccer star Janine Beckie, Justin Trudeau biography ghostwriter Jonathan Kay, and CTV Senior Editor and Chief Anchor Lisa LaFlamme.  

Canadian and world businessman Conrad Black joins the show to discuss his career. Black built one of the world's largest newspapers groups in Hollinger International.  He reflects on running the Telegraph, starting the National Post, getting pardoned, and his relationship with President...

Dr. Craig Brannan is a Christian counsellor with a PHD. His knowledge on conflict resolution from the Bible is rich and he has a wealth of experience. Don't miss this resource of a conversation on how to deal with an offence, and why this is so radically different for Christians...

McMaster Divinity College professor and award-winning writer Cynthia Westfall joins the show to discuss the impacts of feminism on culture and the church at large. She shares at length from her ground-breaking book, "Paul and Gender." Westfall grew up as a complementarian, but through her study and personal experience has changed this view. Don't miss her take on why women can teach...

Pastor and Apologist Joe Boot joins the show to offer his take on the vaccine passports amidst the pandemic. His post-millennial views inform his thoughts on the role of church and state...

Don't miss this enlightening conversation with a Catholic Nun as we better process what happened at the residential schools, the Catholic church's role, and why there needs to be truth before reconciliation...

Glendyne Gerrard of Defend Dignity joins the show to discuss their role in challenging the government on prostitution, pornography, and sexual exploitation. 

Amanda Dias joins the show to talk tech, business, and Fettch. The twenty-something has developed an app that rivals that of Uber and Skip the Dishes, but for everyday shopping. She shares the story behind what led her to start this...

Former foreign correspondent Dana Lewis joins the show to share analysis on the state of Afghanistan. Lewis was station in the Middle East for several years, and was one of the first North American journalists to Afghanistan following Nine Eleven...

Fresh off a gold medal in Tokyo, Deanne Rose offers reaction to being part of the world's top women's soccer team! Rose scored the game-tying penalty kick against Sweden in the final, and in 2016 she scored in the Bronze medal game.  Don't miss her thoughts on a professional women's league coming to Canada, women's rights, race, the spiritual notion of celebrities and even...

Ghanaian-Canadian blogger Samuel Sey joins the show to talk Critical Race Theory. Samuel is a harsh critic of CRT who addresses racial, cultural, and political issues with biblical theology.  Together we consider if every action of racism entails intention, and if CRT can be used as a tool to supplement the Bible...

Long-time Globe and Mail Health reporter Andre Picard joins the show for an enlightening conversation on the state of long-term care in Canada.  Picard's recent book "Neglected No More" is explored as  he considers how the pandemic has revealed glaring problems, starting with the number of deaths at long-term homes...

We tackle residential schools and how to reconcile the church's role with Steven Carleton of the Bill Prankard Evangelistic Association. Steven is partially Inuit and leads the Arctic Hope Project,  a community development project for youth on Indigenous reserves in Nunavut.  Steven shares candidly about being abused as a teenager, and explains how his story identifies with so many of the you...

Former Olympic sprinter and Canadian gold medalist Donovan Bailey enlightens us on the Olympics with the Games underway in Tokyo.  This summer marks 25 years since Bailey got double gold (100 metre, and 100 metre relay) in Atlanta. He shares what it was like to be the "fastest man in the world." And he opens up about how his faith...

Quebec's Bill 21 takes centre stage as Don Valley East MPP Michael Coteau joins the show to discuss the implications this has for freedom of religious expression.  Quebec's new legislation banning public officials from wearing religious symbols has been deemed controversial by many, including Coteau who took action...

Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance Brian Stiller is on the show this week to talk about the growth of Christianity in the world in the last half century, and how Evangelicalism has been shaped over this time span too.  Stiller has a wealth of experience as he draws on his years as President of Youth for Christ Canada, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and of Tyndale University...

Clinical psychologist and distinguished professor at Simon Fraser University's Health Sciences Julian Somers joins the show for an enlightening conversation about what it takes to beat addiction, and how to better understand homelessness, and mental health.  Somers helps us to broaden our understanding of addiction beyond just drugs and alcohol, and he challenges us to gain compassion for tho...

In 2017 Laurier University graduate student and teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd was given heat by professors for playing an excerpt of Jordan Peterson in a Communications Class she led.  Lindsay was accused of creating a "toxic climate" for students. She went public, challenging the accusations made against her. Earlier in 2021, she published a book...

Guy Hammond of Strength In Weakness Ministries shares his personal story of church upbringing, to gay lifestyle, and back to the church again. He makes a compelling argument both with his life and with the Bible for upholding the traditional biblical ethic. Guy also speaks to the hurt and misconceptions that so many Christians have of people in the LGBTQ and vice-versa...

Greg (MLA for Yorkston Sask) and Leone Ottenbreit join the show for a candid conversation about grief, overcoming tragedy, and finding hope in Jesus.  The Ottenbreits lost their son Brayden to cancer at the tender age of five. Previously considered cultural Christians, the difficult season brought the couple to a renewed faith...

Culture At A Crossroads returns with Village Church lead pastor Mark Clark. Mark is the author of The Problem of God and, most recently, The Problem of Jesus .  Pastoring arguably Canada's fastest growing church, Mark shares one of his biggest secrets to preparing sermons that speak to Canadians of all different backgrounds. Mark expands on why Jesus used stories to crack open people's w...

Here's a sneak peek of what to expect this season. 

Season 2 concludes with former Conservative Party leader and the Leader of the Opposition (current MP) Andrew Scheer. He joins the show to unpack the 2019 election, and offer his thoughts on the state of Canadian and Conservative politics. Don’t miss his story of how the devout Catholic’s faith became so personal, and why he wasn’t expected to be the leader of the Conservatives in the first place....

Husband-wife duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy join the show to talk about how they've blazed a trail in fiddling and step dancing and what the generational appeal is for this kind of music. From receiving the Order of Canada for MacMaster, to opening for Shania Twain for Leahy both have had their share of accolades.  We'll find out how the farm, their seven kids, and ultimately th...