The Line Podcast

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: a real grab bag of stuff, including lots on guns, a lot on Alberta, a lot on Poilievre’s naughty metadata, and pondering whether Anita Anand is absolutely astonishing … or just generally competent amid a group of failures. Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun with these, even if thi...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: mostly nukes, to be honest. What the scenarios are, whether we’re prepared (ha!) and why we are getting more concerned. We also talk some media stuff and some federal politics stuff, but mostly nukes. Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun with these, even if this episode doesn’t soun...

Hello, friends and family of The Line . We had ourselves a bit of a week. Matt Gurney was planning on being off for a few days, trying to finish up the home renovation that has eaten his life (and his money — please subscribe today, really, please). Jen Gerson was going to run the shop but she came down with what she thought was a bit of a cold. Oops! Nope. It’s a strep infection. And it turns out...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: more thoughts on the royals, including King Charles III as the ultimate boomer. Plus some Ukraine, quite a bit on Poilievre vs. the media, and why Matt once thought he’d had his eyebrow shaved off by a rogue barber. Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun with these. If you like what y...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: the Queen is dead. God Save the King. And God help us — the avalanche of hot takes will soon be upon us. Also: CPC leadership race, the RCMP has a problem (or two), but the Russians … they’ve really got problems. Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun with these. If you like what you...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: Matt’s theory of nastiness, weirdness in the CPC leadership race, how Poilievre is going to completely steamroller most Canadian journalists, commentators and analysts with his deliberate strategy of confrontation, replacing “Jumping the shark” with “Wendy turning grey,” Brenda Lucki is bad at her...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: Lisa LaFlamme takes on Bell, and so far, seems to be winning. Related: what we think the real story is (it’s not sexism, but we agree sexism is a part of it). Also: the latest from Ottawa and Alberta. Fun times! Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun with these. If you like what you h...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: Trump eats another news cycle, why nuclear policy documents make for poor bathroom reading, what Danielle Smith is really talking about, and how right-wingers are turning into the most annoying kind of left-winger, leaving us all stupider for it. Thank you for listening. We are having a lot of fun...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the continuing (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: the pandemic broke our health-care systems (and a few brains), the RCMP commissioner’s explanation is weird, and so is our federal cabinet, Jen vs. Listicles, and much, much more. Including guns. Lots of guns. These experimental podcasts are going well so far. Thank you for listening, and if you l...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the 12th (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: Toronto is too damn hot, Alberta conservatives are nuts (but it ain’t just an Alberta thing), the meaning and challenge of a papal apology, or any apology, the incredible missing federal customer service task force … and more! These experimental podcasts are going well so far. Thank you for listening, a...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the 11th (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: an update on the RCMP commissioner’s wee problem. An analysis of Pierre Poilievre’s little stroll. More on Alberta and abortion. And a big, light-hearted blast of sci-fi TV recommendations. These experimental podcasts are going well so far. Thank you for listening, and if you like what you hear and have...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the 10th (not really) experimental Line podcast. In this episode: it had been a slow week, until things went nuts. We so take on the controversy surrounding RCMP Commissioner Brendi Lucki (she needs to resign, we conclude), analyze the dissent from the three U.S. Supreme Court justices that voted against repealing Roe v. Wade, discuss the collapse of the CPC into some...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the ninth experimental Line podcast. In this episode: the things a time traveller from 2019 would be most weirded out about, whether the Liberals have hit the point of no return, whether Alberta can play by Quebec’s rules, and Jen gets super dark about why you ought to enjoy this summer — it’ll be the last good one. These experimental podcasts are going well so far. T...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the eighth experimental Line podcast. We mostly avoid the Ontario election, and talk about other things. Like: did the Liberals screw up their recent gun-control announcement and commit themselves to a gun grab they never intended? Is there a cynical reason the government doesn’t want people flying? Is Quebec going totally nuts? And much, much more. These experimental...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the seventh experimental Line podcast. This week was honestly kind of grim. It’s hard to be cheerful after what happened in Texas this week. So be warned. We did also talk some Canadian politics, though. Because, well, that’s what we do, right? These experimental podcasts are going well so far. Thank you for listening, and if you like what you hear and haven’t yet sig...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the sixth experimental Line podcast. This week: a long chat about Kenney and Alberta, Matt gets angry dealing with government communication flaks, a bit about Huawei, and a lot about how great Jen’s hair looks. These experimental podcasts are going well so far. We are having fun. We even got Jen a new microphone, which makes its debut in this episode (and it sounds gr...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the fifth experimental Line podcast. We missed a week due to travel conflicts in our schedule but it’s good to be back. This week: baby formula nightmare scenario (literally), Jagmeet Singh activates his cloaking device, and why Toronto City Council needs to be disbanded. These experimental podcasts are going well so far. We are having fun. We even got Jen a new micro...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the fourth experimental Line podcast. This one is a bit of a slice-and-dice because, unfortunately, our weekly recorded Zoom meeting had a corrupted file. We couldn’t salvage the video at all (so no YouTube this week!) and we could only salvage some of the audio. Whole sections were missing or garbled beyond use. But we still pulled together what was workable and stit...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the third, and not quite so verbose, experimental Line podcast. We cover the CNN Plus flop, and some Canadian companies that had similar problems (though not in scale — yeesh, CNN). We also chat a crisis among Canadian experts (who keep getting stuff wrong) and how the federal government has suddenly realized that regulating the internet might be hard. Who knew?! Thes...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson in the second, and we think improved, experimental Line podcast. It’s too long. We know. But we like gabbing. As before, we’re still working out some bugs and learning the ropes, but this should be much smoother this time. With fewer (but not zero) toddler interruptions! This is an edited version of our first attempt at this second episode, for reasons explained in the p...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson try out one of these newfangled “pod casts.” (Seriously, folks — it’s the audio from our weekly dispatch meeting. We’re just trying to get a sense of how we might do this, and whether there’s any appetite for something like this. Enjoy! Or don’t!) The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider...