The Munk Debates Podcast

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 aim to increase opportunities provided to underrepresented members of society - should be based on class, not race. Focusing on the disadvantaged of all races would create a more fair environment that is based on real need. Furthermore, they argue, affirmative action in its current form lowers standards for black students applying to universities, promoting different criterions based on race and therefore perpetuating a system of racism and inequality on campus. Others argue that replacing race-based affirmative action with economic need will hurt black students more as they will now be judged against a much bigger population percentage of poor whites and asians. Affirmative action was introduced in the 1960’s in order to address the country’s history of systemic racism towards black Americans that victims of class-based inequalities did not face. The decision by SCOTUS reverses years of racial progress and ignores the reality of racism in modern America, because, as Justice Ketanji Jackson wrote in her descent, “deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”

Arguing for the motion is John McWhorter, Associate Professor of English at Columbia University, and the author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America

Arguing against the motion is Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law Professor and the author of For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law

SOURCES: Associated Press

The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.

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This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/

Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz

Editor: Kieran Lynch

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 current affairs podcast, Friday Focus.

The free portion of the program sees Janice and Rudyard discuss this week’s financial news, from hot inflation in the US to the Truss government’s humiliating walk back of its economic agenda in the face of crisis in the UK bond market. Now that Britain has demonstrated that borrowing a lot of money at a time of inflation and rising rates is not an option, what does this mean for Canada and our free-spending governments?

The donors-only second half of the show features a discussion of China-US competition and Beijing’s big leadership confab next week that will see Xi appointed to an unprecedented third term as the country’s leader.

To access the full-length editions of the Friday Focus podcast, consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

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 Melanie Mitchelll argued against it. In this episode of the Munk Dialogues, we bring you the pre-interviews our host Rudyard Griffiths conducted with each debater prior to the debate. How did they intend to argue their case? What made them want to take part in this event? And what is it about AI that has them most worried, or alternatively, most excited?

The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.

Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/

To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to [email protected].

To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership

Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/

Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz

Editor: Kieran Lynch

This is a sample of the Munk Members-Only Podcast. The program provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving 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 Munk Members podcast focuses on two big stories in the news. First, Canada declares its very Canadian equivalent of martial law to try and bring the so-called “truckers” protests to an end in the nation’s capital. Is the Emergencies Act an appropriate response to the protests? What does its invocation say about our institutions, politics and the state of Canadian democracy? Second, how should we interpret Putin and Biden’s “war of words” over whether Russia is in fact going to invade Ukraine? What in fact are competing strategies playing out behind the screaming headlines?

To access the full length episode consider becoming a Munk Member. Membership is free. Simply log on to www.munkdebates.com/membership to register. Under your membership profile page you will find a link to listen to the full length editions of Munk Members Podcast.

If you like what the Munk Debates is all about consider becoming a Supporting Member.

For as little as $9.99 monthly you receive unlimited access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, monthly newsletter, ticketing privileges at our live and online events and a charitable tax receipt (for Canadian residents).

To explore you Munk Membership options visit www.munkdebates.com/membership.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

The United States has long been admired as the world’s most stable and enduring democracy. However, many experts now believe there is a growing and real risk the country could plunge into civil war. Deep political divisions, weakened institutions, racial unrest, allegations of voter fraud, and partisan news coverage are eviscerating social cohesion and political compromise. Red and Blue America are separated by more than ideology; their disagreements are about basic fundamental values that are in irresolvable conflict. The key pillars of a functioning democracy have been destroyed, and the country is courting a period of sustained violent unrest. Others argue that predictions of widespread civil conflict are overblown. Civil Wars require cohesive and large geographical fighting blocs. So called “red” and “blue” states like Texas and California are not nearly as homogenous as pundits claims (46.5% of Texans voted for Joe Biden). Protests, battles, and blockades are a much more likely scenario than a descent into full scale civil war. And finally, the widespread belief that an overwhelming number of Americans support political violence is factually incorrect, and promoting this narrative is dangerous. Those who prophesize the demise of US democracy must remember that conflict can escalate from misperceptions of the intentions of rival groups and stoking fear can lead to actual violence.

Arguing for the motion is David Blight, award-winning civil war historian and the Sterling Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University.

Arguing against the motion is Akhil Reed Amar, American constitutional and legal scholar and the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University

QUOTES:

DAVID BLIGHT

“Until we find a way out of the straight jacket that the undemocratic Senate and the electoral college holds over us, we are on a collision course with more and more elections like 2020.”

AKHIL REED AMAR

“While we are deeply divided, in every state there are shades of purple. And that means there is less likely to be the sharp geographic divide of the sort that characterized the 1850s”

Sources:

CNN, Fox News, CBC, HBO, PBS

The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.

Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/

To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to [email protected].

To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership

Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/

Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz

Editor: Reza Dahya