TwinTalk Politics

We had the incredible honor of welcoming back Professor Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University. He is a leading democracy scholar and a profound source of inspiration for us. This episode is a deep dive into his newest book, After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World, available May 5 (today...

We had the privilege of interviewing Senator Andrew Cardozo, Senator for Ontario and recipient of the 2023 DreamKeepers Citation, the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal. Our conversation began with Canada’s economy, from rising youth unemployment to its evolving relationship with the United States. With the new Advisory Committee on Ca...

We had the incredible honor of speaking with Senator Bev Busson, Senator representing British Columbia. She is a Commander of the Order of Merit of Police Forces, a recipient of the Vice Chief of Defence Staff Commendation, the Order of British Columbia, and a Member of the Order of Canada, among countless other awards and distinctions. Our conversation began with her remarkable journey into the R...

We had the honor of a lifetime speaking with Senator Michèle Audette, Senator representing Quebec. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a Commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Women of the Year awardee, and one of, if not the leading voice for Indigenous rights and justice in Canada today. Our discussion began wit...

We had the immense honour of speaking with Senator Dawn Arnold, Senator for New Brunswick. She is a recipient of the Order of New Brunswick, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, and has been named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Our conversation spanned a wide range of issues, beginning with her work on the Senate Committee on Human Rights, examining t...

We had the immense privilege of speaking with the youngest MP in the House of Commons, MP Amandeep Sodhi, Member of Parliament for Brampton Centre. Our conversation began with the current efforts to address the affordability crisis facing young Canadians, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of youth employment programs such as the Student Work Placement Program, before transitioning to MP...

It was an honour speaking with Professor Beth Rubin, Professor of Education and Social Studies Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is one of the leading scholars studying how young people develop civic understanding and identity, and her work has greatly informed our own youth civic campaigns. Our conversation began with Professor Rubin’s leadership in the Civically Engaged Dis...

We had the privilege of an incredible conversation with MP Jake Sawatzky, Member of Parliament for New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville. Our discussion touches on MP Sawatzky’s journey into politics and his remarkable uphill election victory in the 2025 federal election, where he defeated a two decade long incumbent. Drawing on his extensive background in neuroscience and counselling psychology,...

It was an honor speaking with Professor Patrick Heller, Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Sociology, and the newly appointed Director of the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University. He is one of the world’s leading experts on social inequality, democracy, and civil societies, with groundbreaking research spanning India,...

We had the absolute privilege of speaking with Professor Nolan McCarty, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs in the Office of the Dean of the Faculty at Princeton University. He is one of, if not the, leading scholar in polarization, democratic institutions, and political economy. Our conversation began with polarization, analyzing the self-r...

We had the absolute honour of speaking with MLA Rob Botterell, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North and the Islands, whom we first had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform this summer. In this episode, we explored MLA Botterell’s leadership on British Columbia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and how it...

We had the absolute privilege of speaking with Professor Wendy Schiller, Alison S. Ressler Professor of Political Science at Brown University and one of the most prominent voices in American politics. You have likely seen her across major outlets including MSNBC, NPR, CNN, and Bloomberg News, among countless others. Our conversation explored her work on the Senate, beginning with Electing the Sena...

We had the honor of sitting down with Professor Paul Starr, the Stuart Chair in Communications and Public Affairs at Princeton and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. So it comes as no surprise that he is a leading scholar across countless fields, including democracy, healthcare, and media. We began our conversation discussing his new work, American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950...

What a wonderful conversation we had with Minister Jessie Sunner, the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Newton and the Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, whom we first had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reforms this summer.​​ We discussed the affordability crisis, mental health, and the K to 12 Anti-Racism Act...

We had the privilege of speaking with Professor Eric Patashnik, Julis-Rabinowitz Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, described by The New York Times as a leading scholar on why policies succeed or fail. Our conversation explored his work “ Countermobilization: Policy Feedback and Backlash in a Polarized Age ,” examining how policymakers navigate backl...

What an insightful conversation we had with Professor Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. Even before our episode, we had long been his students through the Devane lectures, so it was our immense privilege to speak with him! We began with his book “Politics Against Domination,” discussing the idea that domination is the central problem politics must confront, t...

We had the ultimate privilege of speaking with Professor Donald Green, Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and widely considered the father of randomized field experiments in political science. His work has been the backbone for so much of our campaign work, so it was surreal speaking to him directly! Our conversation spanned a wide range of topics: from the structural s...

We had the privilege of speaking with MLA Anderson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nanaimo–Lantzville and Parliamentary Secretary for Transit. Our conversation covered his leadership in environmental and transit policy, from Nanaimo’s first Transportation Master Plan to his vision for a resilient port strategy that strengthens BC’s economy. We also explored his trailblazing role as one of...

We had the privilege of an incredible conversation with MP Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands and Leader of the Federal Green Party. Our discussion spanned a wide range of topics, including the progress Bill C-226 has made in dismantling environmental racism to her thoughts on the recent passing of C-5 and how Parliament should balance efficiency with accountability. Beyo...

We had the honour of speaking with MP Niki Ashton, Member of Parliament for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski! In this episode, we delve into a wide range of topics, ranging from fairness and transparency in Canada’s tax system, to tackling offshore tax havens and capital gains taxation. We also discuss her private member’s Bill C-245, which proposes redirecting the Canadian Infrastructure Bank’s $35 bil...

We had the absolute honor of speaking with Dr. Jeffrey Green, Director of the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, we explore core ideas from his works The Shadow of Unfairness: A Plebeian Theory of Liberal Democracy , The Eyes of the People: Democracy in an Age of Spectatorship .  In this episode,...

We had the honor of speaking with Dr. Lance Holbert, a long-time inspiration behind the direction of our work. He is the Director of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC) at the University of Pennsylvania, a Research Professor at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and one of the foremost experts in political communication and civic education. In this episode, we explore the role of ed...

We had the incredible opportunity to speak with Director Alyssa Antonian, the director of Penn Leads the Vote —a nationally recognized, student-run, nonpartisan initiative dedicated to increasing civic engagement and voter turnout at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, we explored topics ranging from how to meaningfully engage youth in democracy amidst rising voter apathy, to the impo...

We had the incredible opportunity to speak with Senator Kim Pate in the Senate! In this rapid-fire interview, we explored critical topics, including systemic reforms in Canada’s justice system to prevent wrongful convictions—particularly among Indigenous women—the exoneration of the Quewezance sisters, and Senator Pate’s views on Bill C-48 (specifically, the expansion of reverse onus in bail decis...

We had the privilege of speaking with Senator Yuen Pau Woo in the Senate! In this rapid-fire interview, we tackled key issues, including his advocacy for a basic income program in Canada and the realistic funding models needed to support its implementation—especially amid the ongoing trade war. We explored his experience across every dimension of policymaking, from think tanks to the Senate, as we...