True Patriot Love - How Independent Media Is Changing Canada

00:00:00.240 Today's a big deal for me, because when I open up my email in the morning, the first thing that I open up is my Blender email with a connection to the Substack story for the day.

00:00:08.440 And often there's many of them, including a video, and that's kind of where I start.

00:00:13.220 But you see, here's why I really like Blender.

00:00:15.900 It's my smoke detector, because when there's smoke, I find that a lot of their stories within hours, days, or maybe even a couple of weeks, there's a full burning fire on that topic.

00:00:26.800 And today we're going to talk to Jonathan Harvey.

00:00:30.000 Thank you, sir.

00:00:35.420 I really appreciate this.

00:00:36.820 Yeah, thanks for having me.

00:00:37.960 I wasn't joking.

00:00:38.900 That wasn't hyperbole.

00:00:39.800 The first email I open every day is, okay, let's see what Jonathan and Liam are up to and what kind of stories I should be watching.

00:00:47.840 How long have you guys been doing this now?

00:00:49.460 I appreciate that.

00:00:50.100 Yeah, sending it out at 5.30 a.m., we end up at the top of the box for you, which is good.

00:00:54.600 Okay, there you go.

00:00:55.420 If you're trying to get your content out there and you want to be competitive, let's start at 5.30 in the morning and get it out there.

00:01:01.720 It works.

00:01:02.360 So you've been on it for two and a half years now.

00:01:04.540 So I started it myself.

00:01:06.560 Excuse me.

00:01:07.100 I started in August 2023 on my own.

00:01:11.240 And then Liam jumped on board about four or five months later.

00:01:14.260 And the reason I started it is because through COVID, I started speaking out.

00:01:19.400 I was very frustrated with how the government was handling COVID, how they were handling everything, the lockdowns, you name it. 0.95

00:01:25.300 It was all kind of bullshit, to be honest with you. 0.96

00:01:28.100 And so I was speaking out against it because I owned several restaurants at the time and we were getting absolutely kneecapped. 0.98

00:01:32.820 And you actually made press at the time around those restaurants and your outrage.

00:01:38.340 That's kind of where this began, I think.

00:01:39.900 A hundred percent.

00:01:40.500 Yeah.

00:01:40.640 But the thing is, I maintained objectivity.

00:01:43.740 I maintained a very even temperament.

00:01:46.100 I didn't have any of my videos canceled or removed from any platforms.

00:01:51.460 So, I mean, that to me says a lot given how very credible people were being taken off platforms at scale.

00:01:56.820 So, I managed to have that conversation from the alternative side of things and maintain enough balance that they couldn't cut me off.

00:02:06.720 So, I thought that was good.

00:02:07.960 But it was also interesting.

00:02:09.060 Like, I scaled up to, you know, a hundred thousand or so users.

00:02:12.380 But what I found was everybody I met in public, everybody was super, super kind.

00:02:16.660 No one was outraged.

00:02:17.400 No one was ever mean.

00:02:18.080 I was going to ask you that.

00:02:18.600 Nobody came out.

00:02:19.180 Everyone was amazing.

00:02:20.840 But they all said, you know, they appreciated what I was doing and that I was sort of,

00:02:24.800 I was sort of saying the things they were thinking that they were unable to say in a lot of cases.

00:02:30.680 And that to me meant a lot.

00:02:32.140 I was like, okay, so this is leaving a significant impact in the community and with a lot of the right people.

00:02:36.300 And people were saying, I don't feel alone.

00:02:38.400 Thank you.

00:02:39.200 So, it was okay.

00:02:40.520 The impact was there.

00:02:41.820 So, once COVID sort of ended and I didn't have to continue talking about that anymore, I was like, what do I do with my time?

00:02:47.980 Now, I owned five restaurants at the time, just hanging on for dear life.

00:02:51.940 It was once a great business, became a very poor business quickly.

00:02:54.880 Boy, it really did.

00:02:56.040 It annihilated.

00:02:57.280 They shut us down for over 500 days.

00:02:58.860 Yeah.

00:02:59.660 What are you supposed to do?

00:03:00.520 Well, you're still paying your bills.

00:03:01.460 Good luck.

00:03:02.540 It's fine.

00:03:03.040 It is what it is.

00:03:03.600 A lot of people suffered.

00:03:04.480 We were just one of those people.

00:03:05.840 So, I started thinking, okay, what do I do next?

00:03:08.080 I've been an entrepreneur for the last 15 years.

00:03:10.100 I'm going to continue down this path.

00:03:11.500 Once you really live in the world of entrepreneurship, you don't really change gears.

00:03:14.760 No.

00:03:14.880 You just love so much about having the freedom in it.

00:03:17.040 Anyway, it is what it is.

00:03:17.880 Comes with challenges, more responsibility, but more freedom.

00:03:20.800 So, I was like, okay, what am I going to do here?

00:03:22.320 I've got this audience.

00:03:23.780 It did make an impact, but how do I turn this into something more significant as the

00:03:27.660 entrepreneur?

00:03:28.480 So, that's where I came up with the idea for Blunder News.

00:03:30.960 And Blunder News really was like, okay, we're an independent voice for the people of Canada

00:03:34.580 because there's a huge gap in this market.

00:03:36.680 And I was thinking about it economically, but more so impact.

00:03:40.120 You know, I like to use my hand as a tool when I talk about this.

00:03:44.460 Money used to be at the top as an entrepreneur, but then over time, it kind of flips.

00:03:48.620 And then all these other things become more important.

00:03:50.460 And impact for me is now at the top.

00:03:52.300 It is much more important than just making money.

00:03:54.220 So, I thought this would be a great way to positively impact the country.

00:03:59.500 So, my big goal was keep your foot on the gas until the next election.

00:04:04.660 Don't change course.

00:04:05.640 Just go, go, go, go, go.

00:04:06.880 Don't worry about making money.

00:04:08.280 Just make sure that you're leaving a positive impact.

00:04:10.680 And you're telling people what's really going on.

00:04:12.800 So, that was really where it started.

00:04:14.980 And Liam, like I said, jumped on board in December of the same year.

00:04:18.500 We've been a rather dynamic duo, if I do say so myself, since then.

00:04:22.120 It's been great.

00:04:23.080 The dynamic between you guys is really good.

00:04:26.680 And it's credible because you guys, you do your homework.

00:04:29.820 And you do your homework together.

00:04:32.020 You can see that one of you knows something.

00:04:34.580 The other one's informed by.

00:04:36.360 And back and forth.

00:04:37.740 That really lends to credibility because you're not in an echo chamber.

00:04:42.020 That's the one thing I do notice about Blender.

00:04:43.940 You guys do not allow yourselves to be in an echo chamber.

00:04:46.500 I've seen you change your tune on things that were moments of honesty.

00:04:52.020 And I really do appreciate that about you and Liam.

00:04:54.820 No, I appreciate you saying that.

00:04:56.400 You know, ultimately, we're truth seekers, the both of us.

00:04:59.160 And I say this about us all the time.

00:05:01.020 We both ended up in the same room, but we took a completely different door.

00:05:04.460 Yeah.

00:05:04.680 So, that's how we kind of operate.

00:05:06.020 Like, he's more history, philosophy, more like build the individual through learning

00:05:10.240 about these things and learning about himself.

00:05:13.180 For me, I'm a little more of just a logic-based, number-based, objective person.

00:05:18.100 I care more about the truth than anything.

00:05:20.220 And we both kind of fell into this political space because it's what seemed to matter most.

00:05:24.220 So, when you take those two and put them together, it was interesting.

00:05:27.180 When we first met, my concern was, I was like, ah, there's going to be a lot of crossover here.

00:05:30.560 We're going to both be Kobe trying to shoot the ball.

00:05:32.720 And it wasn't what happened.

00:05:33.740 So, it's actually been a really good dynamic.

00:05:35.660 We continued on with it.

00:05:36.920 Then the election came, and then I kind of learned a thing or two there.

00:05:42.680 We, and I don't mean to pump our tires, we had more views the month of the election than CBC News.

00:05:48.820 No, that seemed obvious to me.

00:05:50.560 Like, it was bananas what our traction was like.

00:05:52.900 It seemed to me that CBC wasn't touching on any of the topics that you guys were.

00:05:56.520 By the way, I think that if you've ever sort of had a Blender experience only in passing, you might think that you guys are salacious on a topic or, but that's not the case.

00:06:11.320 You do get an even presentation of what a topic is.

00:06:15.900 But I think what is shocking to people is that they're not getting this news from their traditional media, which is, in a lot of cases, how we're building an audience as well.

00:06:24.320 People are just like, okay, well, I didn't even know that we were talking about that topic, and here it is.

00:06:30.100 Sometimes it's not massive.

00:06:31.900 Sometimes it's just one small key that unlocks several doors.

00:06:36.520 Yeah, I mean, here's what I would say.

00:06:37.960 So, what I learned through the election was our goal was to try to change or at least shift the political, the winds just a little bit, even 1%, 3%, 5%, enough to make a difference.

00:06:50.580 And before, you know, the election, everybody was pointing at Polyev, he's going to be the guy, he's going to be the next prime minister, we're all set.

00:06:58.140 Trump came in, ruffled some feathers, they swapped out Carney, it was a smart move.

00:07:03.240 Carney seemed more centrist, so everybody kind of voted for him.

00:07:06.000 But really what I learned was this.

00:07:07.380 The independent media space really does not have, it does not carry a lot of weight.

00:07:15.680 And I started wondering why.

00:07:17.320 So, one of the big reasons is because federal funding.

00:07:20.460 85% of all mainstream media, 85% of all mainstream media is funded by, at least in part, by the federal government.

00:07:27.740 My guess is about 50% to 60% of all independents are also funded by the federal government.

00:07:32.100 So, you've got the highways and the side streets.

00:07:35.020 90% of all news consumed by a Canadian comes from a subsidized source.

00:07:39.440 90%, that's bananas.

00:07:40.960 Do you know what people forget about it with that number?

00:07:42.960 The biggest spending advertising client on television and traditional media today is also the federal government.

00:07:50.080 So, not only do you get funding, but you get them as a client as well.

00:07:53.540 Of course.

00:07:53.760 Let me ask you something.

00:07:56.460 If Sleeman was a sponsor of True Patriot Love, do you think that, and they were a big spending sponsor,

00:08:04.460 do you think that we might do more articles or more presentations, podcasts, or TV shows that put drinking in a good light

00:08:12.400 and made pot smoking look like a bad thing?

00:08:15.380 Or we might diminish the effects and side effects of alcohol on our healthcare.

00:08:22.040 Of course we would, because we don't want to offend our sponsor.

00:08:25.880 And if anything, you want to get deeper into bed with them.

00:08:28.100 They're the ones paying your bills.

00:08:29.300 Exactly.

00:08:29.860 So, that narrative as the federal government, as that client, that's another layer.

00:08:36.700 It's not just the funding and the grant writing.

00:08:39.220 It's also, they're a client.

00:08:40.520 Yes, it stops you from pushing back.

00:08:41.880 It's the same thing you see with big pharma in the United States, right?

00:08:44.280 Yes, they're buying ad space, but they're also stopping you from writing hit pieces on them, ultimately, right?

00:08:49.680 And so, we sort of unpacked all this after the election, and I was like, look,

00:08:54.440 we can't make as significant an impact as we'd like because there are not enough of us yet.

00:08:58.800 Gotcha.

00:08:59.480 Hopefully, with things like True Patriot Love and other organizations that step up that are,

00:09:03.560 look, you're a little conservative, but you're really more centered than anything.

00:09:06.560 That's really what this is.

00:09:07.860 You and I just had this conversation.

00:09:09.900 I don't have a party anymore.

00:09:11.720 No.

00:09:11.920 No, I'm disillusioned completely with party politics on the federal level, and even at

00:09:17.100 the provincial level.

00:09:18.220 Yeah.

00:09:18.620 Yeah, 100%.

00:09:19.580 And now it's really time to watch.

00:09:21.540 It's time to watch what people are doing.

00:09:23.460 It doesn't matter what party they're with.

00:09:25.040 We need to see what they're actually doing with their time in their position at council,

00:09:29.620 as a premier, as a member of the legislature, whatever they are in there.

00:09:35.280 We need to watch what these people are doing and get them to work.

00:09:39.600 Yes.

00:09:40.020 I mean, so when you kind of look at, if you just jump back into the media space, I totally

00:09:43.840 agree with everything you're saying.

00:09:44.840 The challenge we have is there's no accountability, and our watchdogs, I was doing a piece on this

00:09:48.440 earlier, all the watchdogs are just bought and paid for at a total line, right?

00:09:51.880 We don't have a skeptical enough citizenry to push back, which is kind of where I'm getting

00:09:56.880 with this.

00:09:57.480 So the reason we continue to do the independent media is because there needs to be more of us.

00:10:01.540 It's still a service that Canadians need.

00:10:03.040 Okay, there's not enough of us to shift elections just yet, but I think we get there over time.

00:10:07.180 And we know with the funding coming from the federal government, we have to do something

00:10:10.960 to fight back.

00:10:11.540 And as Canadians, in the world we live in today, we don't use physical violence or kinetic

00:10:15.160 warfare.

00:10:15.660 We use words.

00:10:16.340 We use media.

00:10:16.900 We use this is our weapon right now.

00:10:19.740 So there needs to be more people doing this.

00:10:21.440 So I hope this motivates others to do the same, and that's why we continue doing what we're

00:10:25.740 doing.

00:10:26.120 But ultimately, and to sort of go back to your point, one of the primary reasons we

00:10:31.900 do this is because you need citizens to be skeptical.

00:10:36.180 Not that they have to be skeptical of everything, not that they have to be conspiracy theorists

00:10:39.720 about everything, but you have to distrust your government at one time or another.

00:10:43.460 And I don't care, both parties, all parties, everyone, they're not always doing things

00:10:47.220 for you.

00:10:48.160 In a lot of cases, they're doing things for themselves.

00:10:50.320 Look at Trudeau, scandal after scandal after scandal.

00:10:52.780 The only reason he got away with it is because there was another bigger scandal next week.

00:10:55.700 I thought it was because he was a prince.

00:10:57.220 I thought he was royalty.

00:10:58.060 My bad.

00:10:58.580 More of a princess, but okay.

00:11:01.500 So the other thing that I wanted to kind of, so with traditional media, by the way,

00:11:07.640 they don't do what you and I are doing.

00:11:10.740 Blender does not sit with True Patriot Love.

00:11:13.160 CBC does not sit with CTV.

00:11:16.020 I don't, I can't tell you how many times I've looked at the camera and referenced something

00:11:19.820 that you said or something that I've watched on Juno with Candace.

00:11:23.760 You know, even Ezra is a superstar in Canada now because this non-traditional media is

00:11:30.480 so important to people and we're tired of paying for a state-run media outfit.

00:11:37.920 And that became really apparent in the last election that conservatives and liberals alike

00:11:44.400 don't like to see media so propped up financially.

00:11:48.020 Yeah, I mean, you don't want to spend $1.5 billion on CBC every year.

00:11:52.320 Yeah.

00:11:52.660 Yeah.

00:11:52.980 And we, like I said, we outpaced them during election month.

00:11:56.400 So for me, it's like you're just lighting your money on fire and paying for a propaganda

00:11:59.540 machine. 0.81

00:12:00.000 It's nonsense.

00:12:00.700 The system is very, very broken, which is why we jumped into the space.

00:12:04.040 Ultimately, we couldn't move the needle as much as we wanted to, but we still see the

00:12:06.780 value and the service that it provides.

00:12:08.460 So we continue to do it.

00:12:09.640 And I'm glad people like you are jumping in and helping scale the independent space,

00:12:13.760 because I think this is the only way we start taking our country back.

00:12:17.480 And when people hear that, I just want to finish with something.

00:12:19.820 When people hear that, they think it means voting for the other side.

00:12:22.680 That's not what it means.

00:12:24.300 It means dropping all of the ideology.

00:12:27.020 Stop operating through a lens of over-identification and ideology and believing everything you hear

00:12:32.420 and start living in a world of logic and reason again.

00:12:35.540 Then make your decision from there.

00:12:36.920 I just want you to have all the information and to make a logical decision.

00:12:41.120 I don't care what it is.

00:12:42.260 That's your opinion, not mine.

00:12:43.560 But if you don't have all that information and you're not willing to address it in that

00:12:46.820 manner, Canada can't fix itself.

00:12:49.140 If you do put a, if you put a political party bag over your head, you will never see or hear

00:12:53.900 everything that you need to hear.

00:12:55.120 That's correct.

00:12:55.660 And, and I, it's so funny.

00:12:57.020 We were talking about this before the show.

00:12:58.360 I have family members and friends that are so conservative or so liberal that they can't

00:13:04.780 hear that they're saying the same things often.

00:13:06.820 Yes.

00:13:07.300 Agreed.

00:13:07.840 Yeah.

00:13:08.120 It's interesting.

00:13:08.940 They won't, again, when you live in this emotional space, you give way to emotion over

00:13:13.640 reason.

00:13:14.020 You just, just what you do.

00:13:14.800 It's just like, it's physiological.

00:13:16.260 You know, I look at the brain and it's like logic and reason, emotion, then there's function.

00:13:20.200 Like, um, you breathing and your lungs moving.

00:13:21.940 Like, I can't stop that by telling you it just happens.

00:13:24.620 And, and, and it kind of works in this hierarchy when you are overtaken with emotion.

00:13:28.900 When everything around you is politicized, everything, you become identified with it.

00:13:33.680 When it's part of your identity, you're emotional about it.

00:13:35.960 A good example is Apple. 0.99

00:13:37.460 I'm an Apple whore. 0.86

00:13:38.720 All my stuff is Apple, but I, I, I understand what I'm doing. 0.94

00:13:42.480 You don't understand.

00:13:43.100 That's the man, Jonathan.

00:13:44.040 That's the man.

00:13:44.940 Don't you understand?

00:13:45.700 They've got all your data, man.

00:13:46.880 And they've got you addicted, man.

00:13:48.860 Someone's going to have it one way or another, but I know that I'm emotionally tied to the

00:13:52.780 brand.

00:13:53.060 Like I know what's happening. 0.51

00:13:54.060 I know it's silly.

00:13:54.720 And I know that there are superior products now. 0.95

00:13:56.540 I'm not stupid.

00:13:57.240 I get it. 0.78

00:13:57.740 But this is happening at scale with politics.

00:13:59.740 And when you put this umbrella, now imagine we're just talking about tech and Apple.

00:14:04.320 If you throw a political umbrella over everything, because everything is politicized now, whether

00:14:08.980 it's the education system and what we're teaching kids to the economy, to you, you name it, travel,

00:14:14.140 everything.

00:14:14.420 Like you saw what happened through COVID.

00:14:15.720 Yeah.

00:14:15.960 It doesn't matter.

00:14:16.840 Some, there, there is some government department overseeing everything because they're expanding

00:14:20.460 their control and this is what they want.

00:14:21.780 Okay.

00:14:22.040 So that means everything you're looking at has got this political umbrella over it.

00:14:26.400 Of course.

00:14:26.740 So everything is now emotional.

00:14:27.860 And it's politicized because it's often, and we have it right now in Canada, even just

00:14:32.880 not with the majority, there is a political party in charge of that fuel in the tank.

00:14:39.560 Well, it's how they maintain power.

00:14:40.800 If I can get you to vote with your emotion, then I always win.

00:14:44.800 And the more people I can convince to vote with emotion, the more people I will continue

00:14:48.020 to keep on my side.

00:14:48.980 Because if anybody was using logic or reason during the last election, they would have

00:14:52.960 voted conservative.

00:14:53.760 And I'm being, I'm being a hundred percent honest.

00:14:55.020 Like that is objective.

00:14:56.320 Again, I don't support the conservative party at all times during the last election.

00:15:00.040 It was pretty much a necessity.

00:15:01.400 We decided we weren't going to do that.

00:15:02.960 So that tells me at scale, we voted with emotion.

00:15:06.000 Yeah.

00:15:06.140 I have to tell you that was, that's exactly how I felt and things, the tide turns so

00:15:10.660 quickly that only emotion can do that.

00:15:13.000 Logic can't do that.

00:15:14.760 You know, advertising, marketing can't do that.

00:15:18.060 It's a tide of emotion.

00:15:19.400 And that's what I think what we witnessed there.

00:15:22.180 You know, it's so interesting.

00:15:23.440 Your family's originally from Italy.

00:15:26.120 My mother's side.

00:15:27.200 Yeah.

00:15:27.380 Your mother's side.

00:15:28.040 Yeah.

00:15:28.340 Okay.

00:15:28.580 So when she came here or her family came here, and I know this from my own experience

00:15:34.800 with friends from the neighborhood I grew up in, when their grandparents came here,

00:15:38.800 the first thing they got, they didn't have a phone in Italy.

00:15:41.920 They would go up the hill to the local restaurant that had the phone and somebody called for

00:15:46.040 them and they had to wait and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.

00:15:47.640 And it was a big thing.

00:15:48.400 And they came to Canada and Bell Canada said, here, have a phone.

00:15:52.020 And they said, well, no, no, you have the phone.

00:15:55.480 Those people will not leave Bell Canada.

00:15:58.540 They're with Bell Canada today.

00:16:00.080 I promise you.

00:16:01.000 So by the way, this is not paid for by Bell Canada, trust me, but it's interesting that

00:16:07.760 that brand loyalty, that emotion, I got my very own phone, not a shared phone.

00:16:14.580 When I went to Canada, Bell set me up.

00:16:17.320 It transcends.

00:16:17.980 Yes.

00:16:18.340 So I think that that is part of the problem that we have when emotion goes up against

00:16:24.720 traditional thinking.

00:16:26.060 I vote, normally I vote liberal.

00:16:28.760 Normally I vote this.

00:16:30.200 My family's voted this for years and years.

00:16:32.800 That is another tide that is the undercurrent.

00:16:35.800 Agreed.

00:16:36.240 And you know what?

00:16:36.620 That's Canadian history.

00:16:37.600 So if you look back at all the prime ministers you've had, the majority of them have been

00:16:41.120 liberal.

00:16:41.780 The default vote in Canada is liberal.

00:16:44.140 We're a very socially driven community.

00:16:46.160 This is what we are.

00:16:46.860 This is what we do.

00:16:47.580 We only vote conservative when we have a problem so that we can correct course.

00:16:51.460 And if the problem's not big enough, we don't vote for that person.

00:16:53.760 So what Canada is always looking for at scale, historically, is they're looking for a reason

00:16:58.920 to vote liberal.

00:17:00.140 Perfect.

00:17:00.380 Yes.

00:17:00.480 And that's what they, that's what Carney gave them.

00:17:02.080 That's a perfect description.

00:17:03.080 And he was the exact guy at the right time.

00:17:06.020 Oh, look, he's conservative liberal.

00:17:07.680 He's mature.

00:17:08.960 He's a statesman.

00:17:09.960 A statesman.

00:17:10.780 That's it.

00:17:11.060 He's an economic genius.

00:17:12.640 He says more than I do.

00:17:14.420 It doesn't matter.

00:17:15.480 Having said that, it would behoove me to not let you get out of this room before I ask

00:17:20.780 you some questions about Blender because you're like my hockey hero sitting here in a lot

00:17:29.980 of ways because I do follow you guys and I've admired it for a long time.

00:17:34.660 First question, how do you get your stories?

00:17:40.160 I mean, what are you guys doing over there?

00:17:43.820 So we built, what I did out of the gates was I built a list of resources and it's just

00:17:49.960 something that's evolved over time.

00:17:51.760 And so if you read the newsletter, I actually do all the curation on that still every day

00:17:55.180 myself.

00:17:55.980 Okay.

00:17:56.840 I, other than, so Liam will do a couple of headliners and then I'll do everything else.

00:18:01.360 And I just go through my sources every day and I just kind of find what's hot, what's

00:18:05.260 relevant.

00:18:06.020 One of the things that I found, and I don't need to pump my tires here is people have bought

00:18:10.620 into my perspective.

00:18:11.560 That's kind of what Blender had started.

00:18:13.160 That's what it was.

00:18:13.920 And it's not just always my perspective, but it's my curation of what I think is important

00:18:17.700 or interesting.

00:18:18.600 So if you, as you read through the newsletter, you have your three headline stories.

00:18:21.960 Those are the biggest stories of the day.

00:18:23.240 Like what matters the most?

00:18:24.340 They're here.

00:18:24.800 And then we kind of jostle those around.

00:18:26.480 So, but those aren't just like a recap of what we're hearing.

00:18:28.680 No, they're usually a completely different angle on the stories that we're missing.

00:18:33.460 Right.

00:18:33.880 That we're seeing in the news already.

00:18:35.000 So that's a couple of things.

00:18:35.900 So one is, you know, I don't take one source and take it as gospel.

00:18:40.280 You look for multiple sources from different angles, different sides.

00:18:42.840 Um, I think the other thing is just how we process, how we think we have a certain way

00:18:47.740 of, of looking at things.

00:18:49.820 And what happens over time is there's this compound effect of the information you consume.

00:18:54.200 When you consume the news every single day around the world, what happens is you start

00:18:58.320 to understand how the whole mechanism works, not just one thing on its own.

00:19:01.640 Right.

00:19:01.940 And I think that would be what you're, what you're saying is that we understand how the

00:19:05.760 whole machine works.

00:19:06.580 So if I see something over here, it's not isolated.

00:19:09.080 I understand how it affects everything else.

00:19:10.960 Liam's sort of in the same boat.

00:19:12.300 He will often take a historical or philosophical angle where I will take more current event,

00:19:17.540 but that's basically how we add more value or perspective to these stories.

00:19:22.520 That's a great description because if the alarm is ringing over here, it's having these four

00:19:27.400 effects, you guys will find one of these we're not thinking about and tie it to all four and

00:19:34.020 bring it back often before the traditional media does.

00:19:38.000 Yeah.

00:19:38.260 I mean, I think the thing with media is I think there's a lot of brilliant people in the space,

00:19:41.860 but they're told to go two or three steps deep, whereas we'll go eight or 10, because that's

00:19:46.740 how you actually get the story.

00:19:47.600 That's how you figure out what's going on.

00:19:48.900 You guys seem to eliminate, uh, three through, uh, nine often and start like, okay, here's where

00:19:55.160 we are and by the way, here's where it ends up.

00:19:58.860 Yeah.

00:19:59.120 Well, I think we, we trust our audience to be the type of person that is, is pretty heavily

00:20:05.000 invested in what's going on around the world and in Canada.

00:20:07.300 So here's where I, how I'd put it.

00:20:09.100 If you want to get more people involved in independent news, you can't go super deep because

00:20:14.820 if you explain some, if, if you have, let's say one of, one of our family members, that's

00:20:18.320 a liberal, let's say they read the news.

00:20:19.940 If they jump into what I'm doing and they, they, they, they sort of have to go down a rabbit

00:20:24.780 hole.

00:20:25.140 So they have to challenge a lot of their beliefs all at once.

00:20:27.940 You almost have to make it impossible for them to go no at the headline.

00:20:31.740 Well, because you don't want, you don't want to create that opposition of thought.

00:20:36.100 That's the covering of their political belief.

00:20:39.000 Well, most often they won't even engage.

00:20:40.920 And if they do engage, if you go too deep, you're sort of asking too much of them.

00:20:45.360 Right.

00:20:45.660 So, you know, with our network, we have an audience where we go pretty deep because they

00:20:50.500 are the people that have invested more time into this and actually want that level of

00:20:54.400 information.

00:20:54.820 They want the depth.

00:20:55.880 They want to understand what's going on.

00:20:57.200 They actually want the truth.

00:20:58.520 The truth is complex.

00:21:00.660 It's layered and it's often dark.

00:21:02.940 Most people don't want reality.

00:21:05.120 They don't.

00:21:05.620 They want a headline.

00:21:06.320 They want a little confirmation bias.

00:21:07.700 They want to move on with their day and get their latte.

00:21:09.340 That's what they want.

00:21:09.880 That's what people want.

00:21:10.500 So we don't really do that.

00:21:11.600 So we are not the best news organization for people to migrate from being centrist or

00:21:17.700 neutral or left wing.

00:21:18.860 We're not.

00:21:19.380 And the thing is, is we're not even right wing.

00:21:20.860 We're just, we just go deep into reality.

00:21:23.560 So I was going to ask you that.

00:21:25.300 Like you guys really are.

00:21:26.540 I read it often.

00:21:27.860 As I point out, I, I don't see you as politically affiliated.

00:21:31.700 Is that true?

00:21:32.440 Yeah.

00:21:32.560 We're not at all.

00:21:33.220 Yeah.

00:21:33.660 Yeah.

00:21:33.820 We're not never taking a dime from anybody on either side of the aisle either.

00:21:36.300 We don't care.

00:21:36.880 It's not our thing.

00:21:37.600 Our shtick is truth.

00:21:38.460 Honestly.

00:21:38.820 No, I think that your shtick is actually health foods.

00:21:41.080 Yeah.

00:21:42.000 That's what I'm gathering.

00:21:43.060 Yeah.

00:21:43.120 So yeah.

00:21:43.420 Like you guys like to live a healthy lifestyle.

00:21:45.260 Yes.

00:21:45.860 If I was to get anything from you guys.

00:21:47.760 That's true.

00:21:48.100 Actually.

00:21:48.500 Yeah.

00:21:48.620 It's funny.

00:21:49.100 That's, that's, that's definitely up my alley.

00:21:50.320 So let me ask you this.

00:21:53.240 I think that I don't think, I don't see blender going away over time, but I do see guys like

00:21:59.720 yourself and Liam evolving into becoming more of the, the, and maybe even some of us here

00:22:05.800 at true Patriot love becoming that mainstream face that people see.

00:22:09.780 Uh, I, do you still see that growth pattern?

00:22:13.240 So I do.

00:22:14.160 And I don't, I'll tell you what I see is there's two things to consider here.

00:22:18.780 There's the, there's the, um, individual brand loyalty, and then there's the company brand

00:22:23.840 loyalty.

00:22:24.940 It's becoming harder to build company brand loyalty.

00:22:27.320 People want to buy into an individual more.

00:22:29.240 Yeah.

00:22:29.780 Um, that's just kind of the world we live in.

00:22:31.560 Influencers as individuals are more trustworthy.

00:22:33.600 And I'm cool with that because they actually have a lot on the line.

00:22:36.540 CBC tells you a lot.

00:22:37.640 You don't give the journalists trouble.

00:22:39.140 You just kind of move on to the next journalist.

00:22:40.600 Right.

00:22:40.820 And they just hide that person for a little while.

00:22:42.220 In this world.

00:22:43.460 You can't do that.

00:22:44.380 So as individuals, I see myself and Liam, um, probably growing beyond the national conversation

00:22:50.900 within the next couple of years.

00:22:52.180 Yeah.

00:22:52.560 Um, I still think we'll be a part of it here, but I don't think it'll just be the primary

00:22:56.500 focus.

00:22:57.080 I know both of us have bigger ambitions and it's not a hack against Canada.

00:23:00.600 It's just when you're in this space, there are, there are levels.

00:23:05.000 There's single A, double A, triple A in the majors.

00:23:07.160 You want to get to the majors.

00:23:08.140 Yeah.

00:23:08.280 The majors is international.

00:23:09.440 The majors is Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan.

00:23:12.240 Like, sure.

00:23:12.820 I won't be those guys because they're who they are and I'm who I am.

00:23:14.880 And that's fine.

00:23:15.300 But it's getting into those conversations, you know, the Constantine Kissins, you know,

00:23:19.040 that's where you want to get.

00:23:20.520 Canadians are good at this, by the way, historically, you know, we ship a lot of broadcasters and

00:23:25.200 journalists and thinkers.

00:23:26.500 Right.

00:23:26.780 Two other places in the world, the UK, the US, uh, and English speaking, uh, countries

00:23:31.940 around the world love our commentary, the way that we speak, the way that we, uh, look

00:23:37.460 at things, the calm nature.

00:23:39.080 I can see your brand becoming popular in America or in Britain.

00:23:43.820 Yeah.

00:23:44.140 Covering stories here.

00:23:45.280 Ezra.

00:23:46.360 Uh, I noticed the other day, he's like in Britain covering stuff and I thought to myself, well,

00:23:51.080 that's great because these are the voices that we actually want to see out there representing

00:23:56.300 us.

00:23:56.800 And yeah, it was from his phone and yes, he had his press jacket on and he was doing the

00:24:02.120 very best he could out there.

00:24:03.240 But what I really appreciated about it was he was doing it.

00:24:06.980 Uh, and, and I will say this.

00:24:08.980 I also notice among the, um, non-traditional media groups out there, like yourself or us,

00:24:14.600 uh, there is a certain kindness among us where there we're, we're not chomping at each other's

00:24:20.720 bits.

00:24:21.040 We would rather reference one another.

00:24:23.540 Yes.

00:24:24.200 Uh, and, and I think I, that adds credibility.

00:24:27.920 The other thing that I think adds credibility to you guys is that you, and I'll ask you this

00:24:33.480 afterward, but you tend to follow a story until the end.

00:24:39.320 Yes.

00:24:39.840 Which is interesting.

00:24:40.860 Most media drops a story eight minutes in and we never hear about it again.

00:24:46.120 That's why nobody's held accountable.

00:24:47.780 That's why nobody goes to jail.

00:24:50.240 Right.

00:24:50.540 When, when it's time to hold somebody accountable, often those are the people paying their bills.

00:24:53.700 So they have to back out anyway.

00:24:54.820 They disappear.

00:24:55.520 That's what, that's usually what it is.

00:24:56.800 They'll, they'll once in a while stand up to the government to make it seem like they're

00:24:59.740 nonpartisan, but they just do it to flap their wings and just to, it's basically a

00:25:04.140 smokescreen, right?

00:25:04.980 Yeah.

00:25:05.300 Um, to go back to sort of your question before with Blender, I see Blender continuing to be

00:25:10.460 a strong independent, um, organization in Canada and we're going to add more journalists to it in

00:25:14.520 probably the next six, eight months.

00:25:16.100 Um, I'm actually shifting myself down to the U S to be quite honest with you.

00:25:19.400 Like, I like being an entrepreneur a lot more than I like being a journalist.

00:25:23.120 I kind of fell into journalism.

00:25:24.560 I kind of fell into speaking.

00:25:26.120 Yeah.

00:25:26.320 Um, I enjoy it.

00:25:28.840 Um, I seem to have a knack for it, but it's not my say true passion.

00:25:34.020 Uh, I like doing it as part of what I do.

00:25:36.860 So I'll continue to do a podcast and continue speaking out and doing things like that.

00:25:40.620 But I really do like building business.

00:25:42.500 I like scale.

00:25:43.220 That's just the way my mind works.

00:25:44.260 I enjoy that a lot more.

00:25:45.480 And I just jumped into the media space because that was where I thought I could use those tools.

00:25:49.460 And then that was well suited to you, frankly.

00:25:51.520 Yeah, I appreciated it.

00:25:52.980 And then I ended up becoming a little more of a journalist that I had anticipated.

00:25:56.020 Um, which I've enjoyed the journey.

00:25:57.580 I have, I have, but you know, to your question about longevity, I think the international conversation

00:26:01.580 shoot suits me a little better for Blender.

00:26:03.560 I would like to see us expand, like you said, into other markets, scale up with more journalists

00:26:07.320 and become a, uh, at least a steady voice in the nation because we've built enough, enough

00:26:12.200 of a user base and enough trust.

00:26:13.880 And I think that's hard to come by.

00:26:14.940 So it's important that we continue to do that.

00:26:17.120 Um, but yeah, for myself, I'm a little more fluid.

00:26:19.760 We'll see what happens.

00:26:20.660 Yeah.

00:26:20.920 I, I have a feeling whatever happens next will be, uh, equally good.

00:26:24.000 I hope you continue in the media space because, uh, we need leaders doing stuff, uh, that

00:26:30.260 we can all get behind, you know what I mean?

00:26:32.360 Especially in the media.

00:26:33.620 And there's a lot of people out there that are looking for new ways to look at things.

00:26:37.300 Uh, I really appreciate it.

00:26:38.600 Last question. 0.95

00:26:40.160 What have you ever done a story and you were like, oh shit, we were so wrong about that. 0.93

00:26:47.420 So far. 0.88

00:26:48.260 No, so far we've only got two things wrong.

00:26:51.860 And one of them was really funny.

00:26:53.540 Um, the, the, the one, um, and we, we corrected right away.

00:26:57.540 Anytime we're wrong, I get the vibe.

00:26:59.420 I apologize.

00:27:00.320 The only thing that we know we got wrong.

00:27:03.260 When, when the Epstein list thing came out, there was this story about Stephen Hawking

00:27:07.340 and midgets and a chalkboard. 0.96

00:27:10.120 It was everywhere though.

00:27:11.220 That wasn't true.

00:27:12.200 It was everywhere.

00:27:13.820 I have told all of my friends that was true.

00:27:16.100 It was so funny.

00:27:17.240 They did such a good job of embedding that story.

00:27:19.860 Yeah.

00:27:20.120 It was just good for the jokes.

00:27:21.540 Um, and that's obviously not the stuff we usually cover anyway, but yeah, no, no, no.

00:27:26.860 That was when we got wrong.

00:27:28.180 Um, otherwise, yeah, no, like we've had one other thing we got wrong.

00:27:31.280 Um, we've been lucky.

00:27:32.940 We've been lucky.

00:27:33.400 I think that it can happen more often than not.

00:27:35.320 Um, but we've been pretty lucky in that sense.

00:27:36.860 Well, I think that has a lot to do with your research and, and just checking your sources

00:27:39.880 and stuff like that.

00:27:40.980 I don't know who your sources are.

00:27:42.420 You've kept them safe and a lot of stuff has come out that started from Blender.

00:27:46.540 Jonathan, I really appreciate it.

00:27:47.640 Where can people actually get connected with Blender?

00:27:50.300 Yeah, I appreciate that.

00:27:51.040 Thank you.

00:27:51.360 It's good to chat with you.

00:27:52.060 Um, so you can find us at, uh, Blender news on most platforms at Blender dot report on

00:27:58.080 Instagram, because we lost our first one due to bill C 18.

00:28:00.500 Oh, that's okay.

00:28:02.880 Not a big deal.

00:28:04.180 Uh, and then you can find us on Spotify, Blender report.

00:28:06.700 And then if you want to sign up for our daily newsletter, go to Blender news.

00:28:10.020 That's B L E N D R news.com. 1.00

00:28:12.960 It goes up five days a week and that's where you will find us.

00:28:15.840 Thank you for joining us for a conversation with the guy who starts my day every day and

00:28:20.180 freaks me out a little bit.

00:28:21.260 I'm not going to lie to you.

00:28:22.260 Uh, I recommend that you sign up, uh, and join along with me because a lot of the stuff

00:28:26.220 that I talk about comes from this very, uh, this very newsletter, uh, that I receive every

00:28:31.600 day.

00:28:31.920 It's been a buzz.

00:28:32.720 I appreciate it.

00:28:33.440 Thank you.

00:28:33.720 Subscribe, like, tell a friend, hate, whatever you need to do.

00:28:37.080 Please interact with us.

00:28:38.460 If there's something that we said that you don't like or love, uh, we want to know, but

00:28:41.960 it will address it.

00:28:42.720 We'll see you next time.

00:28:43.740 Bye everybody.

True Patriot Love - November 19, 2025

How Independent Media Is Changing Canada

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