The Sunday Magazine for June 22, 2025
This week on The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay:
What may come next following U.S. strikes on Iran
The Israel-Iran war significantly escalated on Saturday, after the United States carried out military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Chattopadhyay speaks with historian Arash Azizi and foreign policy expert Barbara Slavin about what may happen next, what's at stake for the region, and the implications for the world at large.
A reality check on future visions floated by Silicon Valley leaders
Tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have outsized influence in our culture, society and politics. But do we really know what makes them tick? Adam Becker has gone looking for clues in some of the loftier visions of the future that they and other tech titans tout… and used science to put them to the test. The astrophysicist and science journalist joins Chattopadhyay to talk about his book More Everything Forever, and why he thinks we need to interrogate such moguls' designs on artificial intelligence, space colonization, and more.
House of Commons hits pause, but priorities for PM press on
Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to Brussels this weekend for a NATO leader's summit, while MPs return home after the House of Commons rises for the summer. The Economist's Rob Russo and Ottawa-based journalist and author Paul Wells join Chattopadhyay to offer their report card on the new government's progress two months in, and break down the challenges ahead for Carney and Canada on the domestic and global stages.
Actor Ed Helms finds laughs and lessons in history's greatest 'screw-ups'
You may know Ed Helms from The Daily Show, The Office and The Hangover movies. But the actor and comedian is also a history buff. And he thinks there's a lot we can learn – and laugh about – by delving into history's greatest, zaniest and funniest screw-ups. Helms explores those stories in his podcast and book SNAFU. He joins Chattopadhyay to share some of his favourites – from a CIA plot to make Fidel Castro's beard fall out, to a nuclear scare in Canada where a 20-something future-U.S. president named Jimmy Carter saved the day.