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Watch part one here: Thank you Dave Cournoyer, Clearing a New Path, Alessia Rosanna, Janet Pennington, and many others for tuning into my live video with Nora Loreto! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed has a new book out today, Crossing the Red Line, which takes an inside look at the internal machinations behind President Joe Biden’s support for Israel as it destroyed Gaza. Related Links * Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza (W.W. Norton, 2026) * How Former Biden Officials Defend Their Gaza Policy, New Yorker * ‘Unprecedented In Modern History’: U.S. Aid Experts Warn Gaza Likely Already Experiencing Famine, Huffpost * Exclusive: ‘Mutiny Brewing’ Inside State Department Over Israel-Palestine Policy, Huffpost * Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza ‘De-Escalation’ Talk, Huffpost * Preorder Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith from your local bookstore, Amazon or Indigo. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Scholar of right-wing populism Carmen Celestini recently released a book, God’s Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch Society, which details how the John Birch Society’s paranoid conspiracism influenced the trajectory of right-wing politics in the U.S. Reaching the zenith of its political power during Barry Goldwater’s ill-fated 1964 presidential campaign, there’s a clear parallel with how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith navigates the far-right populists in her midst. Related Links * God’s Angry Men (Bloomsbury Press, 2026) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Featured Stories * Retired judge appointed to electoral boundary panel donated to UCP, Michelle Bellefontaine, CBC News * Former Alberta judge tapped to chair panel redrawing electoral boundaries, Lisa Johnson, Canadian Press * Carney government follows CUSMA letter with proposals to revive U.S. trade talks, Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star * Some Palestinian student visas being expedited after long wait, David Baxter, Canadian Press * Shopify paid Kenneth Law $149K for deadly poison sales to at-risk buyers, court records show, Thomas Daigle, CBC News This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Featured Stories * Guilbeault to resign as an MP over Carney government’s climate policies, Vassy Kapelos and Stephanie Ha, CTV News * Steven Guilbeault expected to quit Liberal caucus as early as Wednesday, sources say, Marieke Walsh and Stephanie Levitz, Globe and Mail * Carney says House of Commons won’t weigh in on Alberta’s referendum question, Darren Major, CBC News * Alberta separatist leader planning to challenge Danielle Smith’s leadership or change referendum question, Jason Markusoff, CBC News * CANSEC Arms Fair Bars Multiple Independent Journalists From Attending, Alex Cosh, The Maple This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

You may know Adam H. Johnson as the co-host of the Citations Needed podcast. He has a new book out, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, which provides a rigorous, data-driven critique of how liberal American media outlets helped facilitate the Gaza genocide. Related Links * How to Sell a Genocide (Pluto Press, 2026) * We Analyzed Thousands of News Articles: Here’s Proof of Pro-Israel Bias in Mainstream Media, The Intercept * How the Media Sold a Genocide, Current Affairs * How the corporate media helped fuel Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Mondoweiss This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Globe and Mail opinion page editor and former National Post Alberta reporter Tyler Dawson charts the rise of Alberta separatist sentiment in his new book, The Republic of Alberta: An Idea That Won’t Go Away. He joins me to discuss how the Alberta independence movement went from fringe to mainstream. Related Links * The Republic of Alberta (Sutherland House, 2026) * Separating from Canada Would Be an Economic Disaster for Alberta, The Walrus * The west wants out, Globe and Mail * Support for Alberta separatism flat, struggling high earners more likely supporters: poll, CBC * Smith Talked about Heading an Independent Alberta, Says Separatist Leader, The Tyee You can make a one-time or recurring donation to The Orchard by buying me a proverbial coffee. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

You may know David Griscom as the co-host of Left Reckoning or host of the Jacobin Show. He’s now also an author, having released The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South. David joins the podcast to discuss the hidden history of Texas socialism. Albertans might recognize some parallels. Related Links * The Myth of Red Texas (O/R Books, 2026) * Unlearning the Myth of Red Texas, Current Affairs * Left Reckoning This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe