QUB Radio on TV: the beginning of a great adventure

My most attentive readers know that I have been living in Paris since August 2021.

I moved there to become an op-ed writer for CNEWS, and host a program in which each week I bring in intellectuals to explore issues affecting public debate.

Confession: I'm like a fish in water. I am Quebecois, very Quebecois, very Quebecois, and one day I will have my own Quebec passport, but like many Quebeckers, a part of me comes alive when I am immersed in what was once called the motherland.

France is haunted by the culture of debate. Sure, there are crazy laws that limit freedom of expression, but French culture resists these laws that multiply crimes of opinion: the French, deep down, want to question what they are told, presented as self-evident.

Discussions

It's not quite the same in Quebec. We have a culture of consensus. We confuse debate with deception. And Quebeckers don't want any arguments in their cabin.

But things may change a little.

That will certainly change this morning, with the move from QUB Radio to TV.

QUB, as we know, depends on discussion, on confrontation of points of view, on fruitful disagreements between people who do not agree on either the details or the basics, but who know how to talk to each other, and who do not know how to talk to each other. They become enemies.

I know this may seem strange to a lot of people, but it is possible.

The technological revolution supports this openness to debate. The media is becoming less divided, as it must interact in order to survive and grow in a difficult environment.

From Monday to Thursday, I will be hosting a show on QUB Radio.

In the first part, I will have the privilege of looking at current events with a simple goal: to identify their main trends, those that profoundly affect them. I am convinced that ordinary people are more interested in these questions than they say.

In the second part, I will receive a guest. I say up front, there will be a lot of intellectuals. Some I agree with and others I have deep disagreements with. But you'll get the gist: Quebec must make room for its intellectuals to escape the stifling pseudo-pragmatism.

In part three, I will discuss with Emmanuel Latravers, certainly the best political analyst we have.

ideas

When intellectuals work well, they allow us to deepen our understanding of current events, and above all they allow us to see more.

Discussions, ideas, and a civil confrontation between points of view that deserve to be heard, all with the idea of ​​a more informed public debate. And this is at a time when Quebec is getting back on the move.

In that spirit, starting at 8 a.m. Thursday morning, I will be holding the microphone.