Demonising Poilievre, handling tough issues, and more

The Reading List for 23 Sep 22

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre with his wife Anaida, and their daughter Valentina before Poilievre’s first caucus meeting.

There was an extra bit in front of the weekly list but it just got too big and had to become an extra free column for the week.

As it is, the list of suggested reading this week is longer than it has been for a while. Each list comprises things I’ve found in the week since the last list. I tend to put them to bed by mid-week so the topics may lag a bit. Still, I select them because they are anything but stuff so current that they get stale within 24 hours. This stuff should have some staying power.

For example, the stuff on Poilievre is relatively new but it will still be relevant next week and into the future. Ditto Lawrence Freedman.

The same goes for the first couple of pieces. We’ve seen plenty of change in the past couple of weeks in Britain. There was a new PM and now a new Sovereign. Both will bring some change. Are we really in a Carolinian age or has speaking of time periods based on the Monarch - we just finished the second Elizabethan period, then - gone the way of the dodo?

There are a couple of pieces about studies and evidence. This might not be for everyone but it goes into one of my favourite topics: how we assess what is going on and then use the assessment to decide. One is on the political management of tough issues, using lessons from Ireland. The other is about meta-analysis. Studies of studies, in this case about homeopathy, which is also something the new King believes in. (Hint: it’s just feckin’ water)

There is a piece on the risk of nuclear war raised by the Russian attack on Ukraine and Russian military failures.

And we round out the reading list with a couple of pieces on the Conservative party of Canada and its new leader, Pierre Poilievre, as Parliament opens.

BTW, it’s no accident Poilievre’s people decided to give his wife a prominent place in the campaign. Anyone who thinks the Liebrals have this in the bag or that Pierre will flame out might want to hold onto their hats until Jenny Byrne and that crowd really get rolling.

So now that the summer’s over, we have a bit of light reading to get you back in the swing of things. Here it is in detail.

• Joshua Rosenberg on the new King and the new British Prime Minister and where the future might go

• Louise Caldwell on what Ireland can teach us about how to handle politically divisive issues like abortion

• Zoe Strimpel on Liz Truss’ stealth campaign to become Prime Minister (the late Queen’s last PM, as it turned out)

• If you study enough studies can you get an answer? Turns out that if garbage goes in, garbage come out.

• Lawrence Freedman ponders the possibility of nuclear war spurred by the war in Ukraine.

• Rahim Mohamed explains why trying to paint Pierre Poilievre as a right-wing racist will likely founder against the reality of his family.

• Paul Wells on the new session of parliament that opened Tuesday.