The Line Podcast: Canada and America, a (gross) love story

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on June 12th, 2026, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin with an update from Alberta. Jen reviews Pierre Poilievre’s recent speech on why Alberta belongs in Canada. She liked it, with some caveats. Matt was somewhat more encouraged. He also has a few sharp words for Liberals who seem determined to police the boundaries of acceptable federalism. His view is simple: if people are defending Canada, let them defend Canada. Not every argument for national unity needs to come packaged with Liberal talking points. From Toronto, Matt also reflects on a genuine tragedy this week — a police officer killed in the line of duty while confronting a problem that had been allowed to fester for far too long. It’s difficult to discuss without emotion. In his view, it never should have ended this way. But, alas, it was always going to: even if the exact tragedy was unforeseen, a tragedy was inevitable.This episode is brought to you by Cameco. In nuclear energy, timelines and costs matter. Incomplete designs carry real risk of delays and cost overruns. That’s why the AP1000 reactor is the right choice for Canada: it is already operating today and ready now to deliver the power we need, with 100 percent Canadian ownership and strong participation from Canadian suppliers. If we are serious about building Canada and powering it on time and on budget, the choice is clear. The AP1000 reactor is the only option that delivers.To learn more, visit ap1000.cameco.com.The hosts then take a very different turn. In what may be the strangest segment of the year, Jen reimagines 250 years of Canada-U.S. relations as a raunchy romantic comedy full of love, betrayal, heartbreak, and, yes, sex. Video viewers can watch Matt become increasingly horrified as the bit unfolds — not because he disagrees with the analysis, but because he finds himself unable to refute it.This episode is also brought to you by BioCanRx, a federally funded, not-for-profit Canadian research network that specializes in bringing Canadian cancer immunotherapy research from the lab all the way to patients in clinical trials in Canada. Immunotherapy is about assisting your immune system in identifying unhealthy cells — especially cancer — that have found a way to evade detection. One way researchers are doing this is through something called CAR T. They draw your blood, isolate one type of your immune cells — T-Cells — and use a virus to inject genetic instructions that cause them to grow new receptors designed specifically to find and destroy your particular cancer. In one of the 16 trials BioCanRx funds based on Canadian technology, CLIC-01, the median number of months remaining for patients with late-stage leukemia and lymphoma tripled. Some have been cancer free for years.You’ll hear more over the summer. For now, go to BioCanRx.com to learn more.After that, the hosts wrap up with a discussion about children and social media. Both agree that kids probably shouldn’t be spending their lives online. Their concern is that any attempt by the government to solve that problem could easily create several new ones. If recent experience is any guide, they aren’t especially confident Ottawa can regulate this area without making a mess of it.All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As ever, like and subscribe.YouTube:Spotify:Apple:And plenty more options here.Please sign up at those options not just for this episode, or future episodes of The Line Podcast, but so that you can also receive our other podcast series, On the Line, which releases new episodes every Tuesday morning. In case you missed it, here is last Tuesday’s episode, where Matt Gurney interviewed P.J. Fournier of 338Canada.com and 338Canada.ca about the latest federal numbers, plus a bizarre situation in Quebec. Matt also spoke with David Shipley of Beauceron Security about the latest on the AI and social media fronts. Lot going on!The Line is entirely reader and advertiser funded. No federal subsidies, no bailouts. If you value our work, please consider supporting us by subscribing or making a donation. Donations are not subscriptions and do not unlock paywalled content, but they help keep The Line independentTo contact The Line with a general inquiry or comment, please email [email protected]. For other ways to connect with us or to follow us on social media, please see our LinkTree. Get full access to The Line at www.readtheline.ca/subscribe