Gloves Off

If a middle powers alliance could create a third pole of power to offset China and the United States, what would that look like in practical terms? What kind of alliance would enable Canada and other middle powers to thrive in a new world order? Host Stephen Marche catches up on Carney’s latest alliance-building moves with former Canadian Diplomat Colin Robertson, and learns from Anthony Dworkin of the European Council on Foreign Relations about how the EU has leaned on strategies like a trade bazooka and a unified defence strategy in Greenland.

Featuring (in order of appearance): Ukaleq Slettemark, Colin Robertson and Anthony Dworkin

Visit our website—gloves-off.ca—for more research behind the issues including an interactive map outlining the number of international agreements Canada has made since Carney took office and a explanation of variable geometry, both from the Canadian Shield Institute.

Follow us on YouTube where you can watch our aftershow Cross Check that drops each Thursday with Vass Bednar and Jon Shell

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A clear eyed assessment of Mark Carney’s vision of middle powers creating a third pole of power, providing alternatives to a fraying reliance on the United States. Since his famous speech at Davos, he has been travelling the world meeting with likeminded politicians to shore up support. But the reception to his idea has raised doubts in Canada. Host Stephen Marche hears bipartisan caution from former Canadian Foreign Ministers Peter MacKay and John Manley, while former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull echoes a chorus of approval heard among many global leaders.

Subscribe & follow us on YouTube where you can watch our aftershow Cross Check with Vass Bednar and Jon Shell Thursday.

Also visit our website—gloves-off.ca—for more research behind the issues from the Canadian Shield Institute including its Glossary of Trade War Jargon and U.S. Policy Timeline
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Gloves Off is about the threat to Canada’s sovereignty and how the country can thrive in the new world disorder. Because it’s not just about surviving as a nation. It’s about winning. Hosted by journalist and author Stephen Marche.

The Gloves come off Canada Day, 2026. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on YouTube where you can watch our aftershow Cross Check with Vass Bednar and Jon Shell.

Also visit our website—gloves-off.ca —for more research behind the issues from the Canadian Shield Institute.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this extended interview, Margaret Atwood joins Stephen Marche for a wide-ranging, sharp, and often darkly funny conversation on what we can learn from the past when Canadian sovereignty has been threatened by America; how this moment is exceptional; what we might expect in the future. From draft dodgers to free trade, red bonnets to AI servers, Atwood weighs in on where we are—and where we might be headed. Atwood brings sharp insight and surprising optimism to a moment of national reckoning.

A must-listen on sovereignty, survival, and what Canada needs to protect itself from the storm next door.
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Over the past seven episodes, we’ve tracked Canada’s shocking, painful, and necessary awakening. The threat from America is no longer theoretical—it’s here, it’s real, and we’re not ready.

But something else is happening too. Canadians are responding. Travel boycotts. A rise in patriotism. A new spirit of sovereignty. Because our old relationship with America is over. Our final question to close the series: What does the new normal look like?

In this episode, Stephen Marche speaks with two people who have seen the future from different angles: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and autocracy expert, Anne Applebaum, and legendary author, Margaret Atwood. Together, they help us sketch out the “new normal”—a world caught between democracy and authoritarianism, and where Canada fits into this new world order.

This is an episode about what’s at stake, what can be built, and why we can’t go back.

Featuring (in order of appearance): Anne Applebaum, Margaret Atwood

Watch an extended version of Stephen's interview with Margaret Atwood on YouTube August 19th.

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