When is the last time that a Canadian and an American had a publicly candid conversation about their respective countries together? Whomever held that record prior to last week, and I’m going to guess that it goes back at least a decade, it’s now held by comedian Marc Maron and Canadaland’s Jesse Brown (“WTF, Marc Maron is Moving to Canada?”). The two lucked in to an accidental discussion, amid joint podcast promotion, instigated by Maron’s interest in moving to Canada.

It succeed, at least for me, in underscoring the fact that, for all of our world’s longest undefended border and general neighbourliness, we really do not talk to one another. Even France and Germany make time for a regular hang. I mean, we are obviously doing something right if our relationship doesn’t require formal maintenance but coasting fuels assumptions and that could lead to a major misunderstanding, especially in a crisis.

Speaking of things that we should talk about, let’s consider Nobel laureate Maria Ressa’s book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator (2022), the closing argument in the case against present social media practice. What’s more: Facebook not only ignored Ressa’s repeated warnings about the misuse of their platform but, to my mind, they missed the opportunity to hire her to lead that charge. She understands the product, the audience, and how to achieve a balance. Effectively, they could have defended democracy while padding their own pockets.