Podcasts · The Munk Debates Podcast

Friday Focus: Trump has no good options in Iran and the NDP leans into left-wing populism

3 Apr 2026 · 31 min

While Trump made public statements this week about bringing the war to an end soon, there is significant troop movement in the Middle East suggesting the opposite. There is no telling what comes next, and there is no path to opening up the Strait of Hormuz without a huge escalation. Iran now has control over the Strait and who passes through, benefiting their allies and America's adversaries. Meanwhile higher energy prices won't go away when the war stops and if we get another dose of inflation - which tends to fuel political radicalization - can the centre hold? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to the NDP and the election of Avi Lewis as the new party leader. He is moving the NDP further left, promising free public grocery stores and transportation. What is the appetite in Canada for this kind of hard-left politics? Can Lewis excite the public with the same energy that propelled Zohran Mamdani to victory in New York City? And are we underestimating the combination of Avi Lewis and his wife Naomi Klein as a powerful political force capable of reworking the NDP into a populist party?

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Become a Munk Donor ($50 annually) to get 72-hour advanced access to the full length editions of Friday Focus and Munk Dialogues. Go to www.munkdebates.com to sign up.

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