The Line Podcast

This week, The Line Podcast 's Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney go deep. They discuss the $100 million Google deal to Canadian media — a win for Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, or an attempt to salvage a nearly existential catastrophe for Canadian journalism? Or both? You decide.  Then we get into the absolute insanity of trying to justify Hamas hostage taking by parsing the emotions on the faces o...

After offering a brief update on the hostage transfers between Hamas and Israel, The Line Podcast with Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson delves right back into parochial Canadian current events by chatting about the explosion on the Rainbow Bridge. We, too, feared terrorism at first, as did much of the media. Turns out, it was just some dude driving Dukes of Hazzard -style into the border crossing. Phew?...

The Line Podcast is back! This week, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson reluctantly go over the latest from the Israel-Hamas conflict because, good Lord, that's really all there is to talk about. Statements from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about not killing more women and children were met with rebuke by highly problematic Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Then California Governor Gavin Newsom...

In this week's The Line Podcast , Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson describe Canadian foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's baffling and bizarre statement about getting Hamas — a genocidal death cult openly committed to exterminating the Jews in Israel — back to the bargaining table. Then they talk about the escalation of antisemitic violence and graffiti in Canada, and in Montreal in particular. Conco...

In this week's The Line podcast, Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney talk about the increasingly public calls for Justin Trudeau to resign. Facing poor polling numbers, internal caucus division, and an embarrassing walk back of the Liberals' signature carbon tax policy, PEI senator and Liberal stalwart Percy Downe penned a polite op-ed advising Trudeau to step down. The provinces, including Saskatchewan, a...

In The Line ’s weekly Dispatch podcast, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson discuss Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s bizarre decision to lift the carbon tax on heating oil — and only heating oil. Is this a defensible policy, or simply pork barrel politics, and a sign of serious fractures in his caucus? (For clarity: in the podcast, we aren’t explicit that the carbon tax is coming off oil nationally...

In this week's The Line Podcast , Jen Gerson and Matt Gurney discuss claims that Israel blew up a hospital in Gaza — including the part where, as it turns out, that did not happen. Rather, a Palestinian rocket misfired. They talk about the desire to create a moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel, a desire that makes tweeters and news editors alike quick to forget beheaded babies, and even fas...

The Line 's Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson discuss the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel; Israel's response in the Gaza Strip — and North America's progressives, who have left their assess hanging in the wind by applauding and condoning acts of violence that include the murder of children and sexual assault of Israeli women. Progressives are doing incredible damage to their own causes by justify...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson on why the podcast proposals aren't as benign as the government makes them sound (and might believe). On the pending Google disaster. And why Canadians aren't as smart as we think we are (with all due respect to David Dodge). Plus: is the NDP bargaining with the Liberals, or we are seeing the first moves in their conscious uncoupling? Enjoying The Line Podcast ? Want oth...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson on Canada humiliating itself by giving a Nazi a standing O, insulting our allies by promising to spend more on the military right before we announce we are going to spend less on the military, and, oh, God, we guess we’re debating the notwithstanding clause again. And more! Enjoying The Line Podcast ? Want other options for listening? No problem! We’ve got plenty of opti...

Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson bring you the first episode of The Line Podcast . And gosh, this week didn’t go the way we thought it would. Canada finds itself in a major dispute with a global superpower, again. Trudeau and his comms obsession is causing us problems, again. Doug Ford has to make a full retreat, again, this time on the Greenbelt. And Alberta picks a dumb fight with Canada, again, this...

Welcome to what is the final — we think? — edition of The Line ’s experimental podcast. We started these 60 episodes ago just out of curiosity. Would people be interested? Would we enjoy doing it? The answer to both questions is yes — we enjoy doing it, and thousands of you loveable weirdos listen to us every week. We’ve decided it’s time to punch things up a notch here, which is why we’re going t...

Your Line editors talk about the news that was, and will be, as the CPC convention gets underway in Quebec City. And also: the Ford government just needs to zip it. STOP TALKING. The Line is entirely reader funded. If you value our work and worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, please make a donation today. The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for irreveren...

Your Line editors generally avoid culture war issues. There’s two big reasons for this. There are media personalities and entire outlets that devote their whole careers and output to rage-farming, and we decided early that those waters were being fished enough already. We wanted to do something different. But also, to be blunt, we think culture wars are traps. They’re like nuclear wars — no one wi...

We really run through a lot of topics this time — bad Liberal polls, Jordan Peterson, where and how we think the LPC will try to wedge the CPC, why we think it might work, and lots, lots more. Have you been humming and hawwing about subscribing? Well, we’re raising our rates in a few weeks. Lock in now, or else! (Or else just like pay the higher rate later. Not that big a deal. But still.) The Lin...

Gee, wonder what we’re going to talk about — extremely carefully — this week, eh? Don’t worry, we talk about a lot of other stuff. It’s guaranteed to lift your spirits. (No, no, it’s not.) The Line is entirely reader funded. If you value our work and worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, please make a donation today. The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for...

Hello, Line podcast listeners! A quiet week in the news, but still looks to talk about. How the media handled COVID, how the PM handles protesters, how all of us handle the genuine tension between the rights of different minority groups in our society, and — in a very brief segment — how the media is handling Big Tech being mad about C-18. Would it surprise you to learn that in every case, we are...

Well, happy Friday, we guess. We sat down to record our first podcast in two weeks, spent 45 minutes on it, and then …. crash. The file was corrupted. Rather than waste all our brilliance and leave you all hanging, we decided to do a speed-version of the podcast. All the same topics! Most of the same wisdom! Half the time! Is that dedication or what?! So, behold: our experimental podcast episode #...

Yes, that’s a Cuban Missile Crisis allusion. That’s the state of our mood at present. But hey. Happy Canada Day, everyone! We’ll be back after a week off! The Line is entirely reader funded, which has suddenly become extremely fricking important for us to highlight. If you value our work and worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, potentially sometime next wee...

It was great while it lasted, and we’re more sad than you’ll never know that we arrived just a bit too late to ever really enjoy it at its best. But journalism as we’ve all known it is dying now, and as much as that sucks, the worst thing we could do would be to ignore the obvious and undeniable evidence before our eyes. Someone has to go find a way to save what’s left and then, maybe one day, bui...

Well, shit, here we go again, we guess. Who came in second in the eminent Canadian rankings? Do we have any astronauts kicking around? Or do we just give it to the Trudeau Foundation? Subscribe. We deserve it after all this nonsense. It’s not our best sales pitch ever, but come on. You gonna tell us we don’t deserve it? We wanted to talk about aliens, guys. And instead we get this. The Line  is Ca...

Well, a typically upbeat podcast from us. Sigh. Sorry it was late. Had a hard time getting the schedules aligned tonight. Enjoy! The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Follow us on Twitter  @the_lineca . Fight with us on  Facebook . Pitch us something:  lineeditor@protonmail.com   Ge...

What else this week? The Johnston report, and more-so the fallout. A set up for the Alberta election. And an appeal for money! But seriously, actually listen to that part. Because we make an announcement! The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Follow us on Twitter  @the_lineca . Figh...

Pardon us for having this land late — long-weekend related schedule issues. We cover the wildfires, the Alberta debate, a bad ethics report for Danielle Smith, Bill Blair vs. The Globe and Mail, Trudeau vs. the Italians, and why public safety and law and order are making a comeback as political issues. Happy Victoria Day, everyone! Written dispatch will land Monday. The Line  is Canada’s last, bes...

Hey folks, nice to be back after a week off, while Matt travelled abroad and Jen got strep throat again. This podcast covers a lot of ground, but it’s more serious than the title suggests. Matt and Jen worry that our post-COVID societal crises aren’t getting better. And may actually be getting worse. Fun! Subscribe, we guess? The Line  is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reje...