Front Burner

After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, historian and professor Timothy Snyder wrote a long post on Facebook. Here's how it started: "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience."Snyder went on to share twenty lessons about authoritarianism from the 20th century. They would lay the groundwork for his 2017 book On Tyranny. Fast forward to 2024, and Snyder's warnings about authoritarianism are being amplified once again. He joins the show to look ahead to the next four years of the Trump presidency, through the lens of his latest books: the just-released On Freedom and On Tyranny.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The fallout from Chrystia Freeland’s resignation is far from over. As more people demand Justin Trudeau’s resignation he appears to be in no hurry to heed the calls.Meanwhile, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump pokes fun at Canada’s ongoing chaos, reprising his jokes about the country becoming the 51st state. What does the drama in Ottawa mean for Canada’s position as it prepares for a potential trade war with Washington?We're joined by J.P. Tasker from CBC's parliamentary bureau and Alex Panetta, a Washington-based CBC News correspondent. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The charge of ethnic cleansing is not, on its own, considered a crime under international law. Experts consider it to be part of the overall charge of genocide. In this episode we take listeners to northern Gaza and examine the words and actions of politicians, academics and settlements organizations in order to better understand whether Israel is perpetrating a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Our guest is Meron Rapoport, a 30-year veteran of the Israeli news industry who formerly worked as the head of news at Israel's Ha’aretz newspaper. Today he’s an editor at the Israeli publication Local Call. He joins the show to discuss whether Israel is guilty of committing a program of ethnic cleansing, and the prospect of a ‘Second Nakba’ in Gaza. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Chrystia Freeland's bombshell resignation as finance minister has thrown Justin Trudeau's fragile government into chaos. The decisions that led to this are raising questions about the Prime Minister's judgment, loyalties, leadership and ability to stay in power.Paul Wells and Stephen Maher are our guests. Paul has a substack under his own name and has written about Canadian politics for decades. Stephen is a longtime federal politics reporter and author of The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts