The Paul Wells Show

Toronto-born James Appathurai is one of the top civilians in the administration of NATO, the Western military alliance. As Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber, he helps the alliance respond to a terrifying range of emerging threats, from new weapons to attacks that can hardly even be detected. In a rare interview from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Appathurai tells Paul Wells about all these threats, and about Canada's fast-changing role in NATO. For more from Paul Wells, read paulwells.substack.com

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 discusses all the ways Trump is undermining democratic norms, and explains why his attempts to stop the Ukraine war are coming up short.

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 Diefenbaker has been unfairly maligned in the historical record. This interview was recorded live at the National Arts Centre. It first aired October 18th, 2023

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. What do those big changes mean for the future of Canada's military? An in-depth conversation.

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 much as the revolutions in France, the United States or Russia. He tells Paul about the failure of two leaders — the Shah and President Jimmy Carter — to understand what was happening in Iran.

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 with a $1.5 billion deficit from COVID. This episode was recorded live at the University of Toronto’s Munk School. It episode originally aired on November 22nd, 2023, a few months after Chow's election.

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 institutions. He wrote a book about it, Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. It was originally published in 2019, but it’s now been updated to take into account everything that’s happened since, right up to the Foreign Interference Commission This episode originally aired May 1st, 2025

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 behind the scenes of a company trying to find its footing after the death of their founder, all while navigating a high-stakes business deal. This episode originally aired on March 20th, 2024

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 summers of reading. It's a feast for bookworms.

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 amplifying the wrong messages; it’s that social networks are designed to bring out the worst in everyone. This episode originally aired on November 2nd, 2022.

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 aired on October 5th, 2022

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, advising George W. Bush on how to think about the European Union, having Victor Orbán as a student, and why these days, his main concern is about the United States. This episode was recorded at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. It originally aired on October 11th, 2023

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 the US. Thank you to Perfect Books in Ottawa for hosting this conversation. This episode was originally published February 8th, 2023.

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 find out how they do it. In his new book, The Work of Art, artists from a wide range of mediums break down the process behind a single piece, sharing sketches, outlines and rejected attempts they worked through along the way. This episode was originally published May 15, 2024

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 dealing with the "cascade of crises" taking place around the world. He also challenges Paul on a column he wrote in 2020, questioning Rae’s appointment to his current job. This episode originally aired on October 26, 2022.

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 Samson from the Institute for Research on Public Policy. This panel was organized by the Max Bell Foundation and the episode was recorded live at McGill University.

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, evidence of a common understanding of what's good for Canada and why we should be grateful Trump isn’t better at his job.

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 Parry Sound-Muskoka.