Very Serious
Very Serious with Josh Barro
Worthwhile Canadian Invective
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Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -48:31
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Worthwhile Canadian Invective

Megan McArdle, Ben Dreyfuss and I discuss the president's address, his apparently-now-actually-for-real North American tariffs, and why the Commerce Secretary wants the Premier of Ontario to shut it.

Dear listeners,

I’m back with Megan and Ben for another podcast — today, we react to Donald Trump’s very long address to Congress, the topic he did not want to talk about for very long (inflation), the tariffs he seems to realize people are skeptical about, and his emerging feud with the Premier of Ontario. Personally, I’m coming to resent how much Donald Trump is causing me to know and discuss about the internal politics of Canada — I hope this is the only podcast episode on which I ever have to discuss the Liquor Control Board of Ontario — but paying too much attention to how Canada works is better than what this administration does: pretend that other countries do not have internal politics at all.

Megan also discusses what she hated most about the speech (it had to do with RFK Jr.) and Ben identifies an emerging vibe shift — Trump, he says, is no longer riding high upon the vibes like he was a few weeks ago. Democrats of course are perpetually uncool — nobody was impressed with their Sotheby’s auction bit during the speech — but that may not matter if all they have to do is point and complain about all the stuff Trump is making expensive. Plus, Ben offers tips on how not to alienate your in-laws,1 and we take listener questions about better ways to resist than those auction paddles, and about why the DOGE firings are not just indiscriminate but so insistently rude.

We hope you enjoy the episode,

Josh

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