The Paikin Podcast

Gary Marcus joins Steve to discuss calls to slow down AI development, Anthropic’s IPO and mounting debt, Trump’s self-policing approach, the Hugging Face incident, rogue AI agents, anthropomorphizing AI, and whether LLMs, at their core, are incapable of ever truly aligning with human values. They also discuss whether AI is better than we are at writing literature or doing math (and if so, whether we should let it be), mathematician Tristan Buckmaster’s accusation that OpenAI stole from his unpublished work, how to regulate AI, and whether politicians who barely understand how it works are up to the task.

Andrew Cohen joins Janice Stein on World on Edge to discuss Canada’s foreign policy, whether Canada is now “awake,” the peacekeeping era, Carney the statesman, whether his “middle powers” coalition is more than just speeches, Canada’s defence spending, and whether “soft power” still matters in the world today. They also discuss Arctic sovereignty, Canada becoming an “associate member” of the EU, to what extent we can go our own way without America, and Quebec’s recent election.

Bob Rae and former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella join Steve for a live taping of the podcast in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. They discuss the great "rupture" in Canada-U.S. relations, the day the world turned upside down, the "arsonist" in the White House, why Abella thinks we have been tolerating intolerance for too long, Trump's tariffs and threats of annexation, how Rae thinks Trump could try to divert fresh water from Canada, the ideological nature of the U.S. Supreme Court, rights being systematically rolled back in America, and Rae's new book, Reclaiming Canadian Sovereignty in a Ruptured World.

Dimitri Soudas joins Everything Political with Martha Hall Findlay to discuss the state of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre’s leadership, Conservative MP Scott Aitchison announcing his retirement, the upcoming referendum in Alberta, elections in Quebec and BC, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Trudeau’s record on Indigenous issues.

Martha Hall Findlay joins Steve to discuss the University of Calgary’s new study on the economics of Alberta’s separation, how much it would cost Alberta to separate, estimates of up to $170 billion in the first five years, the difficulty of negotiating pipelines if you’re not part of Canada, and the smoother versus more “turbulent” fiscal possibilities. They also discuss Indigenous treaty complications, hiring 60k people into a new Albertan civil service, the possibility of Alberta becoming the 51st state, why Alberta would end up more like Puerto Rico than Texas, and the comparisons of the upcoming referendum to Brexit.

Janice Stein joins Steve on World on Edge to discuss the geopolitics of AI, whether growing fears that AI could annihilate humanity are overblown, the AI arms race with China, and Trump's threats to "destroy" Iran. Then Sandy White joins to discuss Canada's dual separatisms and whether the huge national focus on Alberta's upcoming referendum may leave us vulnerable to separatists in Quebec.

Kristina Kallas joins Steve for a live taping of the podcast to discuss her mission as Estonia’s Minister of Education, the role education plays in national security, declining trust in governments, AI as a mass misinformation machine, and the challenge of processing the sheer volume of information coming at us. They also discuss Estonia's experience living next to a belligerent neighbour in Russia, this era of information warfare, the war in Ukraine, Putin's aspirations in the Baltics, why education systems need to train us to be in a constant state of learning, and bringing AI into classrooms.

The Everything Political panel, with former MPs Martha Hall Findlay and Tony Clement, discusses the prospect of Canada joining the EU, what exactly an "associate" membership entails, growing concerns over AI, the AI arms race with China, calls from the heads of Anthropic and other major AI companies to slow down, and whether Canada is prepared. They also discuss Carney's investment summit, privatizing Canada's major airports, and the usual round of "Good on Yas."

Carol Off joins Steve to discuss her book, True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Frontlines of Canadian Sovereignty, how Canada has become a beacon for liberal democracy, the rising threat to our sovereignty, how we can find our own way beyond American dependence, and the free trade debate of the 1980s. They also discuss her childhood, Pierre Trudeau's decision to move ahead with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms without Quebec's signature, the Meech Lake Accord, the CBC's role in Canadian identity, criticisms of left-wing bias at the CBC, and her experiences reporting in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Canada's foreign minister during 9/11, John Manley, joins Janice Stein on World on Edge to look back on the attacks, whether they were the most significant event of the 21st century, how they reshaped the global order, the war on terror, the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and PM Jean Chrétien's decision not to join the coalition that attacked Iraq. They also discuss Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, the Canadian relationship with the United States in the early 2000s, the revival of George W. Bush's legacy, Canada's role in the post-9/11 world, and how the world saw America in 2001 versus how it sees it today.