Matt Gurney Returns To SiriusXM With Mornings On Canada Talks

Let’s put the most important part first: I’m thrilled to return to SiriusXM and start a new show, Mornings on Canada Talks, coming up this January 13. You can hear it every weekday morning at 7 am Eastern on Canada Talks channel 167.

Like I said, that’s the important part. But if you’ve read this far, I hope you’ll indulge me with just another minute or two of your time.

I’ve always been a newspaper guy. That’s how I got my start in journalism. It’s a long story how I even ended up there, but suffice it to say although it was never my plan, I have never once regretted it. I love the news. I love storytelling. I’ve been incredibly lucky to call the National Post my home for virtually my entire career.

But I’m also a believer in the power of radio. Before I was a journalist I had thought that I might be a historian. I’m still fascinated by history. And one of the things that’s most interesting is how we communicate. It wasn’t all that long ago, historically speaking, that news — even huge news, good or bad — only spread at the speed of the local trade routes. If the king died and your village was a four-day horse ride from then the capital, it took four days for you to find out. Transcontinental news moved at the speed of sailing ships. When we built the first steamships, news sped up. But there have still been entire battles fought by soldiers and sailors who didn’t know that the war was over because the news hadn’t reached them yet.

News has only gotten faster, of course. The telegraph led to the first real daily news services that could reach much further than a single city. Terrestrial radio came along and sped that up, while also increasing the news’ reach, about a hundred years ago. Today, of course, “radio” doesn’t have to mean an energy wave washing over your shortwave set. It’s just as likely to mean a satellite bouncing a signal back to Earth, and you tune in on your smartphone app.

But it’s all the same idea. News and opinion and sports and entertainment are a huge part of what turns a bunch of people into a society — societies linked together at the speed of light by this complicated, intricate mass media industry that I’m so lucky to be a small part of.

Because even though the technology has changed, one thing hasn’t — there’s still stories to tell, and I can’t wait to get back to telling them. Tune in on Monday at 7 am Eastern and join us for the launch of Mornings on Canada Talks on channel 167.