Pulitzer-winning historian Anne Applebaum is releasing a paperback edition of her book Autocracy Inc., on the autocrats who are eroding democratic freedoms around the world. Her timing is impeccable: she says Donald Trump is moving the United States closer to autocracy. In this week's episode she di…
The Paul Wells Show
by Antica Productions
Veteran journalist Paul Wells interviews the leaders and thinkers tackling the world's big problems — war and peace, democracy and dictatorship, making governments and communities work. Paul draws on decades of experience as a reporter and columnist at Macleans, the Toronto Star and elsewhere to bring you smart, intimate conversations with newsmakers and people who deserve a higher profile.The Paul Wells Show is produced by Antica. Season 3 is supported by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.
Latest Episodes
Author and Globe and Mail writer John Ibbitson joins Paul to discuss his book, The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada. Ibbitson talks about how the decade-long showdown between these two Prime Ministers set the stage for the world we live in today, and why he believes Diefenb…
The year since Wayne Eyre retired as Chief of Defence Staff has seen unprecedented change in Canada's national-security environment. Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced plans to boost Canada's defence-related spending from less than 2% of GDP to 5%. The United States has become an unsteady ally…
Veteran foreign correspondent Scott Anderson, who's written for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and Esquire, has a new book, King of Kings, about the fall of the Shah of Iran and the rise of the ayatollahs in 1979. He opens with a big claim: that the Iranian revolution changed the world as …
When John Tory resigned as mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow decided to take another shot at the job. Despite much of the establishment lining up against her, she won. She talks to Paul about that campaign, and about trying to implement her vision for the city on a shorter-than-usual term, while dealing…
Was the commission into foreign election interference asking the wrong question about China? That’s what journalist Jonathan Manthorpe thinks. He argues the real issue is that for decades Canada has failed to confront China’s efforts to control Canadians of Chinese heritage and influence Canadian in…
The book Rogers v Rogers takes us into the messy succession drama inside one of Canada’s biggest companies, Rogers Communications. It features family members fighting in public, two competing boards, and even actor Brian Cox from HBO's Succession.
The book’s author, Alexandra Posadzki, takes us beh…
This week Paul Wells and three friends share their summer reading. Globe and Mail reporter Shannon Proudfoot, veteran Liberal strategist Scott Reid, and Juno-winning singer-songwriter Donovan Woods each discuss a book they're reading this summer — and a book they'd recommend from all their earlier s…
New York Times writer Max Fisher talks about his book, The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds And Our World. Relying on international reporting, leaked corporate documents and social science, he lays out the case that the problem with social media is not just about…
Singer-songwriter Sarah Slean talks about Joni Mitchell’s enduring influence on music and women in the arts, as she prepares to perform orchestral versions of Mitchell’s songs with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Audio sources: Glenn Gould, Joni Mitchell, Sarah Slean
This episode originally aire…
Timothy Garton Ash has chronicled some of the biggest moments in European history for over 40 years. In his new book, Homelands: A Personal History of Europe, he offers a history of postwar Europe, told through personal memoir. He talks to Paul about the future of Europe, the war in Ukraine, advisin…
Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger joins Paul to talk about his storied career and his new book, The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II. He also discusses ghostwriting Caitlyn Jenner’s memoir, why he left Twitter, his time at Vanity Fair, and why he’s considering leaving …
How do people like Stephen Sondheim, Sofia Coppola or David Simon create something from nothing? And what are the threads that tie their work together with making a cookbook or a cartoon?
Former New York Magazine and New York Times Magazine editor Adam Moss talked to dozens of creative people to fi…
As Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae is not afraid to speak his mind, even when it’s not clear whether the government stands behind him. In this episode, he talks about the role of the UN in an age of mounting skepticism towards global institutions, his reputation for being outspoken, and deali…
Ben Woodfinden was Pierre Poilievre's communications director from 2022 until the end of April. He's no longer working for the Conservative party, but he defends the election campaign. He has a lot of thoughts about what just happened to Canadian conservatism, and what needs to happen next.
How should people outside government be involved in shaping government policy? Who has the government's ear, and how do they decide which voices to listen to? Those are the questions Paul puts to this week's guests, Taylor Owen from McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, and Rachel Sam…
k.d. lang reflects on her four decade-long musical career, which may have reached its end. “All music tends towards silence and I have to honour the silence,” she tells Paul in an open and wide-ranging conversation in Calgary.
We originally released this episode in March, 2023.
Today, we're sharing an episode from our friends at the podcast WONK, which Paul appeared on this week.
Paul talks to host Amanda Lang about some surprising shifts in the wake of the federal election, including an easing of the 'ever-deepening animosity' that’s become a trademark of politics, evide…
Two top Liberal advisors and one Conservative MP look back at the election.
Andrew Bevan was the national campaign director for the Liberal Party. Gerald Butts was a senior advisor to the Carney campaign and formally acted as Justin Trudeau's principal secretary.
Scott Aitchison is the MP for Pa…
With less than a week left until election day, Paul calls up a few colleagues to talk about what we’ve learned and what will come next. They also talk about how politicians have changed their relationship to the press.
Our panel this week features political journalists Vassy Kapelos, Hélène Buzz…