The Line Podcast

Hello, viewers and listeners of The Line Podcast . Your hosts cover a ton of issues this week, including one that leaves Jen in literal tears of outrage and indignation. Or something like that. This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers...

In the latest episode of  The Line Podcast , recorded on Nov. 15, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson take in a week that was incredibly busy, but also felt shockingly quiet. Maybe it's because we're all still deafened by all the news from last week? This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it req...

In the latest episode of  The Line Podcast , recorded on Nov. 8, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson provided viewers and listeners with the scintillating experience of a sustained bout of silence, because they have no idea what to say. Like, they also talk and stuff, but, like, wow. Right? This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reduci...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded during the week of Oct. 28, 2024, Matt Gurney finds a way to make a podcast without Jen Gerson. And, it turns out, it involves bringing in Jen Gerson. Okay, okay, let us explain: this episode of the podcast is different than normal since Jen is in Israel. So for the first segment, she joins Matt from her hotel room in Jerusalem for a talk about...

In the latest episode of  The Line Podcast , recorded on Oct. 24, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.(This is now the seventh episode in a row where we've used that intro. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.) This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke C...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on Oct. 18, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.(This is now the sixth episode in a row where we've used that intro. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.) This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Cana...

Programming Note: There will be no written dispatch this weekend, as we will be travelling for family events for the holiday. To all of our readers, happy Thanksgiving! In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on Oct. 11, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.(This is now the fifth episode in a row...

In the latest episode of  The Line Podcast , recorded on Oct. 4, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.  (This is now the fourth episode in a row where we've used that intro. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.) This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke C...

In the latest episode of  The Line Podcast , recorded on Sept. 26, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.  (This is now the third episode in a row where we've used that intro. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.) This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on Sept. 20, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.  (Except for the date, the above was copy and pasted directly from last week's episode summary. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.) This episode of The Line Podcast is bro...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on Sept. 13, 2024 — Friday the 13th, spooky! — your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard. This episode of The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, inc...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on Sept. 6, 2024, your hosts lament that the first week back to the grind was, in fact, extremely grindy. Lots of breaking news on the federal political front, both with CASA collapsing and the PMO losing a major figure. They try and assess what the hell is going to happen next. And they have no easy answers. This episode of  The Line Podcast  i...

In the latest, Labour-Day-weekend edition of The Line Podcast , recorded late on August 29th, 2024, Jen Gerson visibly wilts before Matt Gurney's eyes as the summer-time cold she's battling decisively wins that battle. But before Jen collapses, they start with a quick political round-up from the provinces: chaos in B.C., shock among Ford critics in Ontario, and a controversial announcement in Albe...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded a day earlier than normal on August 22nd, 2024, after Jen Gerson offers up some shockingly TMI stuff, your hosts start by noting, with amusement, that Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal NDP, tried once again to tweet about how mad he was at Justin Trudeau and got zapped by Twitter's crowd-sourced fact-checking service. The Twitter hivemind, in...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on August 16th, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson bring the heat. Actually, Matt's just melting visibly onscreen without air conditioning. (He explains, don't worry. At least his microphone is fixed?)  More seriously, your hosts talk about two damning stories out there right now on the immigration front. The first is the latest on the arrest of t...

Hello, fans of The Line , and welcome to the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on August 9th, 2024, in which your hosts are totally not struggling to find things to talk about during the doldrums of political silly season. They start by chatting about U.S. politics. A new wave of polls has shown that the Biden-Harris switcheroo has ... worked. It hasn't doomed Donald Trump, but it has...

Important correction: During this episode, Line editor Gurney utterly brain cramped and repeatedly referred to Jeff Simpson when he meant Lawrence Martin. No excuses. Just a mortifying flub. Mea culpa. In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on August 2, 2024, your hosts Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney discuss Jen's column this week, but they also discuss the broader problem with Canadian...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on July 19, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson try and wrap up their thoughts on Quite The Week! in U.S. politics. Your Line editors are not Americans, and generally leave American political analysis to those who actually live in that country. But we can't avoid the events in the U.S. They're too big and too important. So, as a compromise, they tr...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on July 12, 2024, Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney discuss the likely fate of Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and minister of finance. For those who remember what happened to her predecessor, Bill Morneau, a certain news story in the Globe this week — wherein sources close to the PMO said they're getting fed up with Freeland's terrible commun...

Hello, The Line Podcast listeners/viewers. We hope you had a great Canada Day weekend and that this podcast, recorded on July 5th, 2024, will help you start this weekend off right. This episode of  The Line Podcast  is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the informat...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson thank the listeners, viewers and sponsors for the new equipment that they're using, which will hopefully punch this podcast up to ever-greater heights. (Once they figure out how to use it!) They also talk about the byelection in St. Paul's. Jen doesn't think the Liberals have enough time to replace Justin Trudeau. Matt says he...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on June 21st, 2024, Matt is delighted to see Jen back at home in Calgary, where she is bathed in glorious bandwidth, if not in actual running water. Jen gives us a quick update on the water situation there, including some positive signs of a fast resolution, but then your hosts launch into a chat about the end of the spring sitting of the House...

In this episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on June 14, 2024, Matt Gurney finds Jen Gerson at an Alternate Location, having abandoned Calgary due to the lack of water. Just kidding! Sort of. Jen is at a family event in B.C., and it looks like a beautiful place and a fun time is being had by all, but be aware! The internet connection was a problem for Jen, so this episode will have some issues,...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on June 7, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson find themselves in an Edmonton Airbnb they are about to be kicked out of, still basking in the warm glow of a successful Edmonton The Line Ahead panel discussion, but also grappling with very alarming news out of Ottawa. One of the committees the government tasked with investigating the threat of forei...

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast , recorded on May 31, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson go out of their way to really broaden their appeal, make as many friends as possible, and generally just avoid all the really icky, controversial things that are going to result in their comment section being a dumpster fire. Well, okay, maybe that's what they should have done.  But we can redeem ourse...