The past few months have not exactly been kind to Canada’s Prime Minister, so maybe he’s anxious to change the narrative heading into what should be a lively fall parliamentary session. Or maybe he just wants to chat. Either way, tonight, Justin Trudeau sits down for an hour of live, unfiltered conversation with Maclean’s journalist Paul Wells. And we have a lot of questions about how it happened and what’s coming when the cameras come on.
There’s a lot to cover here—but what we’re most interested in is how these rare sit-downs work. Why would Trudeau agree to it when it seems he has way more to lose than gain? How do the pre-interview negotiations go? How do you get a world leader off his scripted answers and hold him to account on real issues? And what do you do if the interview goes sideways?
If you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of journalists’ attempts to get honest answers from world leaders who may do their damnedest to avoid giving them, you probably want to listen to Wells talk you through the prep work before you watch what happens when the two meet on the stage.