The Munk Debates Podcast

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

On this Munk Debate podcast, we're talking about the clash of generations: Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.  How are these age groups - with vastly different life experiences and upbringings - interacting and competing with each other at home, at school, and in the workforce? Author and psychologist Jean Twenge, often referred to as the “reigning expert on generational change”, argues that...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

In a landmark ruling, The United States Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at US colleges, determining that race should not be a factor in achieving educational diversity. The controversial decision is expected to lower the admission rates of black and hispanic students at elite universities. Many supporters of the court's decision believe that affirmative action - that is, policies that ai...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

On June 22nd we gathered at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall for a live, sold out debate on Artificial Intelligence. We were joined on stage by four AI experts and pioneers to debate the resolution Be it Resolved, AI research and development poses an existential threat . MIT’s Max Tegmark and Mila’s Yoshua Bengion argued in favour of the resolution, while Meta’s Yann Lecun and the Santa Fe Institute's M...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

With the debut of ChatGPT, the AI once promised in some distant future seems to have suddenly arrived with the potential to reshape our working lives, culture, politics and society. For proponents of AI, we are entering a period of unprecedented technological change that will boost productivity, unleash human creativity and empower billions in ways we have only begun to fathom. Others think we sho...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

Some experts believe that over 300 million jobs worldwide will be automated by AI, with white collar professions in advanced economies being most affected by AI bots like ChatGPT. Radiologists, lawyers, coders, you name it - if you sit at a computer for work, you can expect to have some of your tasks completed by artificial intelligence. To get a closer look at just exactly how AI will transform t...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

Over the past few months we’ve heard many warnings about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence. But are there some positive aspects about this emerging technology that are being overlooked? On this episode, we’re joined by internationally renowned security technologist Bruce Schneier who argues that dangers associated with Artificial Intelligence are being overblown, and that chatbots like ChatGP...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

It’s a debate as old as time: when it comes to a household pet, which four legged furball makes the best companion? On one side, we have the independent, low maintenance feline, she who is quiet and clean. The cat isn’t needy; she gives her humans personal space and can walk herself, thank you very much. Unlike the too-eager dog, winning a cat’s affection takes time, patience, and trust. It’s a ha...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. On this week’s edition of the Friday Focus podcast, Ja...

In November 2022, substack journalist Matt Taibbi joined us on stage for our Munk Debate on Mainstream Media. Matt and his debate partner, political commentator Douglas Murray, argued in favour of the resolution, Be it resolved, don’t trust mainstream media , against best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg (Matt and Douglas won a decisive victory, it was...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.   This week’s edition of Friday Focus is dedicated to...

It’s no secret that both China and the US are preparing for war. Some American military experts think that an armed conflict between the two superpowers is inevitable and could begin as early as 2025. And while there is a general consensus among Americans that the US should defend Taiwan from Chinese aggression, there is also widespread disagreement about whether the US government should make a pu...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.  The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Cold War marked a new era in world politics.  For many geopolitical experts, it was championed as the ascendancy of the western liberal world order over competing political ideologies. It was, as American political scientist Francis Fukuyama famously declared, “the end of history”  and the beginning of long term peace and prosperity. But that...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.  The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

It’s a debate being argued across school boards, politics, and family dinner tables: whether educators should be including gender identity and sexual orientation in their k-5 curriculums. At least 5 Canadian provinces and seven US states now require the inclusion of LGBTQ topics, while more conservative states like Florida have banned any mention of such language altogether. Conservative lawmakers...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.  The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...

60 years ago, university students were leading the protest in defense of free speech. The 1960’s Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley has been credited with paving the way for the civil liberties movement of the 1960’s and widespread social and political change. These days, however, free speech has taken on a new meaning. University students are being criticized for shu...

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.  The following is a sample of the Munk Debates’ weekly...