This episode is a little different. It's an interview with an A.I. of Sir John A. Macdonald.

So what does that mean? Well, it means that I gathered up the transcripts for all the House of Commons Debates for every year that Macdonald was Prime Minister, and threw in a few other historical resources as well. I processed those and made them available to a large language model, similar to the one that powers ChatGPT. Then I instructed that large language model to answer all of my questions as though it were Sir John A. Macdonald, using those historical resources I provided for reference.

The result is this interview you're about to hear.

If you want to ask John A. Macdonald some questions of your own, you can do so here: sirjohnai.longformnorth.com

All the historical resources I used are listed there as well.

(Note: The idea for this episode was partly inspired by Tyler Cowen who used ChatGPT to record an interview with Jonathan Swift. You can check out that interview here.)

For more about the podcast, check out the website: longformnorth.com

Music by Aaron Barth

Hosted and produced by Ian Van Harten

Here in Canada, you can get clean drinking water simply by turning on a tap. Unless you live in one of the many First Nations communities that are subject to long-term drinking water advisories. In which case, you have to boil the water first before you can use it. Or you have to use bottled water for everything, including brushing your teeth or cooking with.

How is it that in a first-world country like Canada, we still have communities of people who don't have access to clean drinking water?

Joining me to help better understand what's going on here, is Ken Coates. He is a man with many titles, but one of them is that he is a distinguished fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute where he co-authored a paper called The Water Conundrum and Indigenous Communities in Canada.

Links:

• The Water Conundrum and Indigenous Communities in Canada
• Ken Coates

For more about the podcast, check out the website: longformnorth.com

Sign up for the Longform North Newsletter: longformnorth.com/newsletter/

Music by Aaron Barth

Hosted and produced by Ian Van Harten

A little over 25 years ago, a book by the historian Jack Granatstein came out, called Who Killed Canadian History? It sparked some controversy back then about how ignorant most Canadians are about Canadian history, and how riddled it is with politics and bureaucracy. And, Granatstein said, if you don't have any memory of your history, then you don't really know who you are, other than maybe 'not being American.'

But that was 25 years ago. What about today?

Joining me for a discussion about Who Killed Canadian History? is J.D.M. Stewart. He was a high school history teacher for 30 years. Now he's a writer, historian and author, most recently of a book called Being Prime Minister, and he has another one coming out later this year.

Links:

• J.D.M. Stewart at the Hub
• Christopher Dummitt at the Hub: We Are Telling the Wrong Story About Canada
• Who Killed Canadian History? by Jack Granatstein

For more about the podcast, check out the website: longformnorth.com

Sign up for the Longform North Newsletter: longformnorth.com/newsletter/

Music by Aaron Barth

Hosted and produced by Ian Van Harten