The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- Your Solutions To Polarization

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

This week's question was this: If you could name one thing to make us better communicate with each other, what would that change be? Do you have the answer to polarization? You sure offered a lot of possibilities and today we air them out. Plus the Random Ranter in a way you've never heard him before. Literally.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday, that means your turn, and wow, do you have a lot to say this week on our question of the week. All that, plus the random ranter, coming right up. And hello there. Peter Mansbridge here in Toronto for this day, this Thursday. Your turn. In this new format that we started a couple of weeks ago, I don't know how long it's going to last, but it's really worked out well so far. Get lots of mail.

Lots of mail. On the question of the week, and this week's question is if you could change one thing about the way we communicate with each other, how we acknowledge each other, how we respect each other, what would that be? This in an era of polarization on issues in different parts of the country. So what is that one thing? And the request came in, keep those letters short, sweet, remember to tell us where you're writing from,

and at the end of the program we'll pick one letter as a winner. It doesn't mean I agree with whatever is suggested. It just means that it's a really good letter. And that winner will get a signed copy of one of my books. So those are the stakes. Let's get at it, because there's lots here. Starting off, you know, there are a lot of different ideas, none really dominating,

but this is the one we got most often. Listen to each other. Here's Baxter Houston in Terrace, B.C. I try to convince everyone to begin every conversation with the awareness that the world doesn't need one more raised fist, foaming at the mouth, dogmatic opinion to be expressed. The world has lots of those already. What would be more helpful would be to express considered opinions

with the wish to actually listen to the opposing considered opinions. Agreement is not necessary, but a sincere desire for understanding and tolerance is the goal. Gail Rowden from Beaumont, Alberta. I think we all need to really listen without prejudice. You might have some common ground that you can move forward with. Don Dufour in Ottawa. In order to improve how we communicate with and understand each other, the key is to live by the golden rule taught to me by my mother as a young child, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Take some time to learn the history of the other side. What makes them tick? What has shaped their reality? And take this into consideration when engaging. What it's like to walk in their shoes. This may be a tall order for some, but it hasn't steered me wrong. Shana Evans in Abbotsford, BC. I believe that we tend to overestimate the value of our own opinion while we underestimate the value of other opinions.

If we enter conversations with humility, we're more likely to be able to be creative and find solutions that bring people together. Randall McGillis from Metro Carp area of Ontario. I find these days that everything very quickly gets labeled. That's a liberal idea. That's a conservative idea. That's a woke idea, et cetera, et cetera.

If we could only take the time to listen and think about the merits or drawbacks of the idea rather than immediately heading to where the label is intended to take us, I think we would be far better off. Just listen and think about it for yourself. Percy Phillips from Portage to Perry. Percy won the contest last week, so I guess he figured, two-time winner, I'll enter two weeks in a row. Well, let's see what Percy has to say. When I was about 10 years old, I was playing with some kids down the street. They were indigenous kids.

Cree from a nearby reserve that was getting close to supper time, and my friend's mom stood with a cup of macaroni, poised over a boiling pot of water, and hollered, Percy, are you staying for supper? I was welcome, and if I was staying, she would put more macaroni in the boiling pot. The thought went through my head that she was just like my mother. No one had to ever again remind me that my Cree friends and neighbors were just the same as I was. It's a simple exchange from early in my life, but we need to be with each other. Be curious about them as people.

Hear their story and why they believe what they do, and while with them, give them some room as people to express themselves over coffee. That means you'll be listening. It's tough to drink coffee and talk at the same time. Rick Draper from Port Howe, Nova Scotia. This has been a pet peeve of mine forever. People just don't listen. Active listening is key to any discussion

and should lead one to ask appropriate questions. Good listening skills will improve the way we understand each other. Good listening skills will build trust and enhance communication, and hopefully it will build respect and contribute to stronger relationships. Many politicians start their responses to a question with, Listen, if only they did. Carolyn Black, Waterloo, Ontario. Aside from the obvious answer of actually listening to the

other party, a few years ago I heard the following related to interactions on social media, but I think it's applicable to all interactions and can vastly improve communication. Before responding, think. T-H-I-N-K. Ask yourself if your response is T, truthful, H, helpful, I, important, N, necessary, K, kind. Christina Marshall from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where on the day she wrote this, she reported it was 24 degrees Celsius. Thank you very much. I think we would better communicate by truly learning how to listen, as well as how to present our experiences clearly, without accusation. It isn't always about right or wrong. Depending on our perspective, we can argue about whether a number written on a sheet of paper is a six or a nine. And until some other factor shows us which is correct, they can both be just as valid.

In life, perhaps both sides of an argument are ultimately just as correct and just as false. Perhaps that is difficult for us to accept. Senator Marty Deacon. That's right, Senator. Listening is what is missing. Listening for understanding. Listening for clarification.

Listening for learning. Listening and respecting diverse opinions. This cannot happen on social media and or soundbites. Face-to-face communication is critical. Observing verbal and nonverbal cues are also so important these days, in a time when each of us needs to hear and be heard more than ever. And yes, we are listening to the answers and the suggestions in this new bridge segment. Thank you, Senator.

Marilyn Wallace from Fanny Bay, British Columbia. Never heard of that. Fanny Bay, British Columbia. Never heard of that. Fanny Bay, British Columbia. Love it. Before we jump to quick dismissive judgment, we should ask ourselves, why does this person have these beliefs? What circumstances, history, or experiences have led them here? And then, and only then, when we have genuinely searched for the answer and had time to reflect,

should we consider a respectful dialogue. Megan Norris in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We should start each interaction with others with the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can with the information and resources they have. This assumption doesn't mean that we need to assume that others can't change or do better or learn more. But I find for myself beginning interactions, particularly emotionally charged and difficult ones, with this assumption helps me to disarm my own judgments and opens the door for more open conversation based on curiosity.

Lawrence Brawl in Doha, Qatar. Lawrence is from Calgary. He says he's on vacation in Doha. I was having a vigorous discussion on social media with someone when I asked if I knew their mother. I did. It changed the tone, and the conversation became more personal, friendly, and respectful.

Let's try saying something personal about who we are. Why do we care? What do we fear? It will make mutual respect and understanding easier to achieve. We all need respect and understanding. This is our common ground. Richard Knight in Kelowna, BC. When I see a pickup truck driving down the road with two flags flowing in the wind, I become incensed. It doesn't put me in a mind frame of trying to listen. I just say, what an effing idiot. What I really should be doing is trying to understand what exactly is going on here. Why is this person thinking this way?

Why are they doing this? Instead, it just tends to be an emotional issue. Garth Wilson in Bowmanville, Ontario. It would help us to communicate better as a people if we became much better listeners, active listeners. Information today is conveyed by whoever shouts the loudest regardless of the truth, because sound bites get the most clicks. Facts become secondary. Engagement is fleeting. If we would actively listen, we would discount those among us that fill the airways with hyperbole. We need more places like the bridge. Thanks, Gareth.

I wrote a lot of letters on dealing differently with social media, starting with Amadi Aliba in Port Moody, British Columbia. I'm a millennial woman who remembers life before Instagram, and I think social media is hurtling us toward an increasingly polarized society. Algorithms that reward strong emotions like anger and fear lead to the most radical views gaining attention, while nuanced opinions are more likely to go unseen. My advice, we need to spend less time discussing, or should I say shouting about the news

and world events on our screens and more time discussing issues with folks in real life. Save social media for the cute cat videos. Chris Moncada in Toronto. Mandatory identification verification on the internet. The social network that carries the least amount of mudslinging and vitriol is by far LinkedIn. Why? Because you have to use your real name if you want to participate and expand your network. Without the veil of anonymity, the trolling and abuse is down to a dull murmur. We have to show ID to vote, to buy a plane ticket,

to take out a library book. Why not in this space? The idealist in me believes if all the social media outlets required us to verify our identities and therefore stand by what we're posting, the discourse would be far more civil. Ken Pellishock in Listowel, Ontario. I know it's from left field, but I propose a new social media app. Once you sign up, you're assigned one and only one friend who's as equal and opposite on the political spectrum as the algorithm can muster. Michelle Brisbois in Thorold, Ontario. I would love the internet algorithms to make sure we're all seeing at least 20% content on our feeds that is diametrically opposed in perspective to the majority of the content we consume.

For every eight articles I read about a certain position, show me two articles that oppose that perspective. Neil Rankin in Yuma, Arizona. Eliminate social media, at least as we know it today. Social media in concept is a great idea, but sadly it's become weaponized and therefore has no inherent value. Wade Giffen in Vernon, B.C. Let's think of ourselves as Canadian first, regardless of heritage, religious denomination, gender, sexual preference, or political affiliation. We're Canadian first and foremost.

We're not French-Canadian, Ukrainian-Canadian, British-Canadian, East Indian-Canadian, etc., etc. We're Canadian first and foremost. We're not French-Canadian, Ukrainian-Canadian, British-Canadian, East Indian-Canadian, etc., etc. We're simply Canadian. We're not Albertan or Newfoundlanders. We're Canadian. Let's be Canadian first in all matters of discussion. Julie Smith-Allen in Lethbridge, Alberta. You know how when you were a kid, you and your siblings could fight and bicker and treat each other badly, but if someone from outside the family came after one

of you, you became a united front against them. What we need, unfortunately, is a threat against Canada to shock us out of our complacency and remind us that we are all on the same side. We've had the luxury of being able to form sides in this country and pick at every little thing our fellow Canadians of different political stripes do, but the truth is we're all Canadians. We all want the same basic things, but we've forgotten this in the political games that we play. Andrew Zettel from Waterloo, Ontario, takes us on a different direction. The idea of national service for young Canadian adults was the first thing that popped into my head when I heard this week's question. Seems to me that a shared experience like national

service, either in the military or organizations like the Red Cross, has a way of bringing citizens together in pursuit of common goals and ideals. Tim Logan in Ottawa. The one thing I'd change to improve how we connect with each other is implementing a one to two years of mandatory national service at age 18. And you have to leave your hometown. Expenses covered and perhaps a scholarship towards trade school, college, or university. This would be expensive, but would go a long way

towards bringing regional divides, bridging regional divides, and highlighting the bonds Canadians share. I haven't figured out how to work the French-English issue out, but I'll let you know when I do. Don Mitchell in Ottawa. Canadian share. I haven't figured out how to work the French-English issue out, but I'll let you know when I do. Don Mitchell in Ottawa. Some sort of national service, and I don't mean conscription. Use the gap year to get high school grads to see their country. Do conservation projects, elderly support, First Nations work, small towns, rehabilitation.

The main goal is to get kids out of their bubbles. Toronto kids to the prairies, Quebec kids to rural English Canada, rural English kids to urban centres. Anything to show kids that other people are not the monsters their social media feeds make them out to be. My career in the Navy exposed a kid from rural western Manitoba to a world that I would never have been able to fathom when I was 18. This is kind of similar travel. Maggie Bear in Ottawa. Canada is a vast diverse country that's challenging for any of us to know. West and east, north and south, urban and rural, English and French,

indigenous and settler, white majority and racialized minorities. We need to do a better job of weaving all of these dividing lines together into a fabric of shared experience and understanding. So let's ramp up federal funding for widespread high school student exchanges to expand perspectives from coast to coast to coast. I like that. Sanai Iman in Toronto. I grew up in Montreal to immigrant parents

and knew nothing about the Canada that existed outside of our bubble. We were never wealthy, but at the age of 12, I joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. And for a period of six years, I got to travel for free to places like Coal Lake, Alberta, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Bagotville, Quebec, and Comox, B.C. During our summer camps, I would find myself housed in barracks with kids from different parts of the country, English, French, native-born, and new Canadians. I have no preconceived ideas about what this country is because my experience has taught me tolerance and a sense of curiosity about others. Michael Humer, Kelowna, BC. Travel across Canada by car and camp at provincial

campgrounds. In the fall of 2020, our daughter was leaving Kelowna to enter university in Montreal at McGill. My wife, daughter, and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive our 20-year-old VW camper van slowly across the country, 4,500 kilometers each way, and camp along the way. The provincial campgrounds were spectacular, and we met and talked with many campers and travelers along the way. Canada is a beautiful country. Getting out and experiencing it through travel and meeting Canadians from across Canada is a great way to improve our understanding of each other. Don Campbell in Kelowna. I would propose a travel incentive for every Canadian that visits a different province. $100 per person for every provincial boundary they cross for at least 48 hours

could be paid for 50% by the federal government and 50% by the receiving province, who I'm sure would be happy to have the tourism. Intermingling and meeting each other is the best way I know to develop better understanding and friendships among our fellow Canadians. I'm not quite sure how that would be monitored, Don, but I hear the idea. Mark Hale in Western Ontario. I'd adapt the concept of take your kid to work day. If we were able to shadow and follow someone for a day,

perhaps that might allow us to better understand what they really do, how they live, their background, routines, and biases. Mark, by how Canada works. That's an interesting book on that topic. Melissa Hillman in Sydenham, Ontario. That's just outside Kingston. I describe myself as left of liberal. When we moved to this little village seven and a half years ago,

we became fast friends with our neighbors. They're the most wonderful, kind, giving, funny, energetic, accomplished, smart, euchre-loving people anyone could ask to meet. And they are deeply, deeply conservative. They love Trump. They can't get enough of Ford. Pierre Poliev is their political hero. How are we so close and able to get through weekends of cards and laughs

and watching sports and discussing politics and current events? I guess we just love and respect each other for the people we are. I have zero interest in trying to convince them the things in politics they support are wrong because they aren't wrong for them. They just aren't right for me, and I'm okay with that. Maybe we need to be less worried about being right and pushing others to be wrong, and just be okay with the people rather than the politics.

One more before we take a break.ori linehan in peterborough ontario my idea is that we each have to be willing to change something to bring us closer to the resolution it seems we always think the other side is wrong and needs to change but what if we took a look inside and figured out something that we could change to improve the conflict before expecting the other person to change? Okay. I tell you, I love this stuff. I love hearing from you this way. Everybody being so constructive and thoughtful, trying to get around an issue.

It's terrific. We're going to take a break. We've got lots more letters to come. Be back right after this. And welcome back. You're listening to the Thursday episode of The Bridge. It's your turn, your letters on the question, if you could change one thing,

what would that change be to improve the way we talk to each other, communicate with each other, respect each other, acknowledge each other? What would that change be? And we've been getting letters from across the country, and it's great. You're listening on SiriusXM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. So let's get back at it. Lots more letters to go here.

Tracy Wang from Surrey, B.C. Food has the power to connect people and foster understanding, empathy, and a sense of community. Sharing food or a meal has the magic of bringing people together even when their values or opinions seem worlds apart. When we sit down to eat, we're not just sharing food, we're sharing stories, traditions, cultures, and a bit of our hearts. Food is a universal language that transcends differences,

inviting us to explore and appreciate each other's identities and histories. So the next time you're faced with differing opinions, consider breaking bread together. You might just find that the shared experience of a meal creates unexpected connections you might never have thought possible. Darcy Raynard in Edmonton, Alberta. I'd change the way we planned cities. It used to be that cities were designed around people. People could walk or take public transit to most of their daily destinations. We also had places like bars, libraries, parks, and public squares where we had spontaneous interactions between friends and

neighbors. Our neighbors may have had different opinions than us, but discussing their opinions with them face-to-face allowed us to associate a person we knew with an opinion we might disagree with. Now our cities are planned around cars. We get into our cars in our garages and don't interact with anyone on our way to our destination. We don't walk through our community anymore, so we don't have spontaneous interactions with our neighbors. When we're online, we tend to only interact with other like-minded people. We don't associate a differing opinion with a person, so people who don't think like us are just others who we cannot understand.

I don't know what's happening in Edmonton, Darcy, but a lot of communities down this way, neck of the woods, they're moving cars out and moving bicycles in. Yvonne Clifford in Ottawa. Manitoba is the geographic centre of Canada, so let's build it in Winnipeg. Wait a minute. What am I missing here?

I'm sorry. I got this mixed up, just like I did on a number of ones yesterday, or last week. Yvonne Clifford in Cambridge, Ontario. Here's Yvonne's letter. Educate, educate, educate. Find out as much as you can about a topic. Listen to experts.

Use the old adage, two ears and one mouth. Podcasts, webinars, local library guest speakers. You don't need a lot of money to listen to experts. And read as much as you can. Make sure you're reading something non-fiction. In the words of Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Donna Wilson in Duncan, B.C. Many schools and post-secondary institutions have debating clubs.

Learning what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in an argument should be a required subject in education starting in the early grades. It would be a good idea, in my opinion, to require people in public office to take a similar course. Mike Fury in Dalmany, Saskatchewan. We should be teaching critical thinking in school. It should be considered as important as math and science and introduced at as early a grade level as possible. Although that may not help today, we would be raising a future generation that takes the time to ask critical questions,

challenge lies and misconceptions, and develop common ground. It would be a better world. All right, here's Sean Aiken in Whitby, Ontario. The country needs a second parliament building west of Ottawa. Manitoba is the geographic center of Canada, so let's build it in Winnipeg. But here's where it gets interesting.

When they travel back and forth, they must travel together by bus. And the MPs have no choice where they sit. A lottery system places them randomly on each bus. MPs who would never usually meet would be forced to sit beside a stranger and actually talk to each other. East sits with West, North with South. Liberals, Conservatives, Bloc and Green, and the NDP, all together like in a giant school field trip to the zoo. Yeah, that would be like a giant field trip to the zoo. It's interesting, but keep in mind, the ride from Winnipeg to Ottawa by bus

is 1,677 kilometers and takes 32 hours and 23 minutes. I'm not sure they'd all be getting along by the time that bus ride ended, but you never know. Brian Roger in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Three words, Nova Scotia. Three words. Tone it down.

Tone down the rhetoric. Tone down the drama. Take a deep breath. Kevin Verberg in Forest, Ontario. One thing I'd do to end division would be to bring back the 2004 CBC special, The Greatest Canadian. I was in high school when it came out, and I remember the conversations at school, at home,

and the earliest online conversations too. Overall, it was an excellent experience, an endeavor that brought the country together, educated us all, encouraged participation, and focused on what we should celebrate. The fact that Tommy Douglas won is something still cited today when considering the value of the Canadian health care system to Canadians. So what do you say for a reboot? Maybe a cameo host appearance.

That was an interesting show. I'll tell you, there were more than a few arguments on that show behind the scenes. Blair Zilke. Blair is from downtown Toronto, lives on Queen Street West. Our sense of community has diminished, and with it, empathy and the desire to really get to know our neighbors well. The way back is to listen and help people as we volunteer in our communities

and thus rebuild our ability to be in relationship with others. Duff Jones is just down the 401 from Toronto in London. Duff writes, I think that we could improve communication by assuming that a person that we disagree with comes from a good place. Too often, particularly online, I hear people accusing someone they disagree with of having malintent.

But often that person just has different life experiences than we do. If we took some time to find out why they believe what they believe, rather than assuming they're horrible people or evil, maybe we could have more civil conversations. Peter, you had Lee McIntyre on your show a little while ago. That's right, we did. Talking about disinformation. I've also heard him talk about his book, How to Talk to a Science Denier. He doesn't say that accusing a science denier of being evil or stupid will make them change their minds.

Asking them why they believe what they believe, and what it would take to change their minds leads to a more fruitful discussion. If we approach all conversations with people assuming that they have good reasons for believing what they believe, even if those reasons may be based on faulty logic or data, perhaps public discourse would include far less discord. Yep, Backer. No, that's a social media handle. His name is John Backer in Eagle Bay, British Columbia. I can just imagine those egos flying over Eagle Bay and B.C.,

having been to some gorgeous spots along the West Coast where the eagles fly. There's nothing like seeing that scene. Here's what John writes. Mutual respect and tolerance when dealing with topics like politics, religion, education, race, sexual orientation, and the like. One learns more from opposing views than, yes, people. No, let me read that again. One learns more from opposing views than, yes, people. It does not mean one has to agree. Bill McVeigh in Calgary.

I think in the long term the solution is teaching media literacy in school. I know it's being done now, but not sure how effective or consistent it is. But there are just so many information sources that it is hard to combat. I couldn't believe that the major caucus issue in Iowa was immigration. In a state nowhere near the borders, and as far as I know, not subject to an immigrant influx. The caucuses look pretty white. Iowa is pretty white. So who does Bill thank for the major issue in Iowa being immigration?

He says, thank you, Fox News. Keith Good in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia. I believe the way to improve our communication and understanding challenges is through education. Take the long view. Starting from kindergarten and going to grade 12, there would be some sort of moral, religious, region, and people's course or courses. The course would be to set national standards. The moral component would simply aim to teach right from wrong, respectful communication, decorum,

decision-making. The religious component would teach the beliefs, history, and traditions of the various religions common in our society. The region and people's component would focus on the history, challenges, and current events related to Canada's many regions and ethnicities. Heather Sherman. Heather writes about what she sees as one of the ways to break through on this question, and that's one word, kindness. Here's what she writes. Kindness is what inspired my family and I, me, hubby, and two teenage daughters, to start an initiative called 50 Days of Kindness in 2020 as a way to help others in our community end the year on a positive note

by performing random acts of kindness for the last 50 days of the year. In doing this, we learn together as a family about the power of kindness to help, heal, and build resilience. Here's the last letter I'm going to read this week. There have been other letters. There have been lots of letters this week. And, you know, there have been other letters. I read lots of letters this week.

And, you know, I think maybe half of them make it to the program. And rarely do I read the whole letter, right? It's just snippets from the letter. This one comes from Bob Podlasek. Peter, greetings from a retired university professor living in central Illinois, who is a great fan of your program and podcast. I'm not a Canadian citizen, so my thoughts may not have much weight because Canadians should be creating their own cultural path,

independent of your neighbors to the south. It's okay, Bob. We're listening. My response to the polarization question is simple. Canadians should stop paying attention to the U.S. legacy media by turning it off. 70 to 80% of U.S. citizens do not trust the legacy media in the U.S., not accounting for the surveyed non-respondents. The U.S. has a large number of distinct cultural bubbles or tribes who are in the midst of a cultural war and a self-destructive mode. The sale of guns and ammo is escalating.

The oppressed and oppressor binary is popular in academia. Remember the statement by James Bennett, the former editor of the New York Times opinion pages, in the December 14, 2023 Economist. The Times is becoming the publication through which America's progressive elite talks to itself about an America that does not really exist. Interesting. Thanks, Bob. Okay, still to come. interesting thanks Bob

ok still to come still to come will be the letter of the week you've heard it already it was one of the ones I've read and we'll let you know whose letter it is and what they get but first of all it's Thursday, the random ranter. And today it's the random ranter in a way you've never heard him before. Trust me, this is different.

This is a different random ranter. And he's coming to you right now. You might know me as the random ranter, just a guy from somewhere on the prairies. But what if I told you none of that was true? What if I told you this whole time that I've been an AI voice filter? Maybe I'm not even from the prairies. Maybe I'm from Ireland.

Or maybe I'm from Italy. Maybe I'm even Peter Mansbridge. And this whole thing has just been an elaborate two-year prank. And that's the issue. AI has the power to deceive. We need to question what we're hearing and what we're seeing. But the problem is, we're not very good at discerning the truth, especially if we like what the lies are saying.

Now the truth is, I am just a guy, and I am on the prairies. To make this, I've just used an online AI voice generator. It's taken very little effort, and while it may not be the most convincing Peter Mansbridge, it's passable to many. I mean, if AI Mansbridge started talking about his new book, you probably wouldn't even question it. And that's the thing. What can we trust if we can't trust what we're seeing or what we're hearing? Even without AI society is having enough problems discerning reality. I mean, I remember watching live on TV as a jet flew into the World Trade Center. I watched live on TV as they stormed the Capitol building. I watched the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

But all that tape, all those witnesses, that hasn't stopped all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories from gaining traction. It was an inside job. It was crisis actors. It was a cabal of democratic pedophiles in a pizza restaurant. There's no nice way to say it. People can be really stupid, willfully stupid, and artificial intelligence in the wrong hands is only making it easier for them. I can't help but feel AI is just another example of humans engineering their own demise. I'm not quite sure how we survived the nuclear age, but at least with nuclear people recognize the risks and try to strictly control the technology. AI by comparison is the wild west. It's willy nilly. It's funny memes. It's revenge porn. It's ransomware. It's a random guy making fake voices on a podcast. It can be anything,

anywhere. And it's only getting stronger. Because the people driving it are enamored with their creation. They're making a fortune. They're not worried about how it will impact society. In fact, they're probably not worried about anything because they've enlisted an AI tool to worry about it for them. It all sounds like a sci-fi plot line. Is Elon Musk creating Skynet? Are we living in a matrix? So let me ask you, am I saying this right now? Am I typing it? Or is it all being completely generated? What's the truth? Well, now that was different. And you know what? That whole voice, all of them in there,

including mine and the Irish guy and the Italian guy and the ranter himself, all created by artificial intelligence, all AI voices. Now listen, nobody's denying there are potential good things that can come and will come from AI. Nobody's denying that. Medical experts say cures of things we never thought were possible could be led by AI.

But there is this dark side, right? And that's what the ranter was ranting about today. Thanks to him. And we always enjoy hearing the ranter. It makes us think. Just like all your letters did today. And your letters were terrific. They really were.

There were many really good ones, thoughtful ones, in the list today. I should just remind you before I tell you this week's winner that there were a number of letters that came in late, so they missed the deadline, so they didn't get on the air, I'm sad to tell you. And there were a number of letters that came in without giving the location they were coming from. That's a prerequisite, okay?

As you know, the number of the letters that came in this week with suggestions, there were more than a couple of them were saying, people got to identify themselves on social media. Why do they get a pass? We don't get a pass anywhere else. We don't get a pass with our driver's license, our passports, our, you know, bank accounts. We have to give a name and a location.

Why shouldn't the same thing happen? Now I know people said, oh, well, you know, bank accounts, we have to give a name and a location. Why shouldn't the same thing happen? Now I know people said, oh, well, you know, you need anonymity or people are going to come after you. That's not, that may be the case in very extreme rare cases. But here at the bridge, you've been sending me your name and where you're writing from for three years now. Sometimes you forget. A lot less forgetful people these days. Now that this is a free book up for grabs.

But nevertheless, appreciate it. Keep remembering on that front. Okay, as I said, there are a lot of great letters. I could have picked from, you know, at least a dozen number one possibilities. But this is the one I'm going for this week. And if this person is listening, drop me another email with your exact coordinates,

your postal address, because I will be sending you a book, one of my books, and I'll sign it for you and send it off to you in the next couple of days. So this week's winner is Sanai Iman in Toronto. First time we've had a Toronto winner. First time we've had an Ontario winner. Sanai, you're the winner for this letter.

I grew up in Montreal to immigrant parents and knew nothing about the Canada that existed outside of our bubble. We were never wealthy. But at the age of 12, I joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. And for a period of six years, I got to travel for free to places like Cold Lake. That's in Alberta, of course. Sydney, Nova Scotia. Bagotville, Quebec.

And Comox, British Columbia. During our summer camps, I would find myself housed in barracks with kids from different parts of the country. English, French, native-born, new Canadians. I have no preconceived ideas about what this country is because my experience has taught me tolerance and a sense of curiosity about others. Great letter. So send me your address.

I'll send you a book. Thank you all. It'll be a new question. We'll have it out on Monday morning for you. A new question along the same kind of theme. If you were able to name one thing about blank, whatever that might be. And well, you know, we've had some great ones here

in the first few weeks of this. We'll try something a little different next week with the same kind of formatted question. And look forward to hearing, once again, your comments. You're all winners as far as I'm concerned. If I had an unlimited supply of books, I'd send one to each of you. But I don't. Anyway, we'll talk again tomorrow, because it's Good Talk Day on Friday. Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson will be here,

and we'll discuss whatever we discuss. Look forward to doing that with you tomorrow on the Bridge. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again in 24 hours.