{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6086d520cfb9e813fa7a63a9/68198bddeb737caf8cdeffb2?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Why Vigilance Matters  - Carol Off's At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6086d520cfb9e813fa7a63a9/1746502695996-3ab24272-d76c-4488-8ab4-7d5c1517d241.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>In this episode, Linda speaks with the award-winning CBC journalist of <a href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>As it Happens</em>,</a> Carol Off, about her new (and fifth!) book, <a href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/729716/at-a-loss-for-words-by-carol-off/9781039008434\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage</em></a> (Listeners, keep your eye out: A new edition of Off's book will be available in the fall!).<em> </em>Published in 2024, Off wrote the book as a \"cautionary tale,\" as she observes in this interview - and, since then, some important political moments have evolved across the American and Canadian border. The book examines how key words, including freedom, democracy and truth, are being hijacked and weaponized in order to diminish liberal democracy. Linda and Carol speak about <a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/event/Roe-v-Wade\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Roe v. Wade</a>, the <a href=\"https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-feature-bathhouse-raids\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Bathhouse Raids</a>, the <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/museum/online/story-of-cdc/aids/index.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">outbreak of AIDS</a>, women's rights, <a href=\"https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/judith-butler\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Judith Butler</a>, the 2024 American election, <a href=\"https://canadastrongandfree.network/about/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Christopher Ruso and the \"Strong and Free\" organization</a>, <a href=\"https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Hannah Arendt</a> (25:20), <a href=\"https://slate.com/culture/2016/11/watch-stephen-colbert-hit-oxford-dictionaries-for-ripping-off-truthiness-video.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Colbert's \"Truthiness,</a>\" the results of <a href=\"https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/federal/2025/results/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the 2025 Canadian election</a>, and Margaret Atwood's <a href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/6125/the-handmaids-tale-by-margaret-atwood/9780771008795\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Handmaid's Tale</em></a> (29.09).</p><p><br></p><p>Carol Off reminds us - <strong><em>we are not entitled to our own facts</em></strong> (34:24), and <strong><em>we need to</em> <em>question everything</em></strong> (31:20).</p>","author_name":"Linda Morra"}