The constitutional melodrama that gripped Canada for much of the last half of the 20th century was mostly scripted and performed by Laurentian elites in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa seeking to appease Quebec nationalism. Among the westerners who took to the national stage to assert the constitutional primacy of “ten equal provinces” over “two founding nations”, few were louder or more influential than former B.C. cabinet minister and beloved talk radio host Rafe Mair. To mark Mair’s passing this month at 85, J.J. McCullough reviews the great talk jock’s career with admiration and affection.

Out on the fringes of American democratic discourse, where some of the most reptilian Donald Trump supporters are basking in the rhetorical heat of his political incorrectness, lies the “alt-right” movement of young, angry, white males. They’re a pathetic lot, writes J.J. McCullough, but their socio-economic isolation and alienation is real, and they may be the vanguard of America’s next big radical – and dangerous – political movement.