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In a way, the strategy isn’t new. I recall being slightly annoyed when Trudeau first took power nine years ago and all the interviews he was doing with American media, such as or . But he now does a raft of Canadian interviews, and domestic podcasts, I’m told, will be a big part of this podcast rollout.

Trudeau likes the long format, his advisers say. Podcasts are also easy to do. All the prime minister needs to do is sit down at his desk or wherever he happens to be, and talk for 30 to 50 minutes; no fussing with podiums or TV set-ups. That said, there was a small hiccup in the recording when the PM accidentally unplugged a cord.

All this said, American hosts tend to ask different questions from Canadian interviewers, who (appropriately) focus on news of the day. So these U.S. podcasts are a chance to hear the prime minister veer off into other territory. Trudeau’s interest in what’s going on in the States is well known; especially in the realm of populism and democracy and the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Talking to for instance, Trudeau said that while the U.S. went all in on populism and Trump in 2016, 91ԭ�� went in another direction by electing his Liberals the year before, and this had put the country into better shape to deal with the pandemic.

“We bounced back faster, we had a way lower death rate, the vaccination rates were higher. There was a thoughtfulness and a reasonableness in how we did things.”

That wasn’t the only competitive boast he threw into the podcast mix with Americans when it came to issues on which he believes 91ԭ�� is better than the U.S. A national child care program was one: “By all means, please steal this. It’s good for the economy. It’s good for women, and it’s good for kids to get the right start in life.”

When Trudeau was talking about the wildfires that sent smoke hazes over the U.S. last summer, Dubner interjected: “Thanks for that.” Trudeau shot back: “You guys did enough years on acid rain.” His riffs on U.S. populism also have a domestic consideration, of course, namely Trudeau’s desire to pitch Pierre Poilievre as a Canadian version of Trump.

“Yes, it’s really easy to slap on a bumper sticker and wave a flag and sort of say, everything, everything should be burned down, because the system doesn’t work,” he said on Today, Explained. “I think that for all the appeal of simplicity and simplistic solutions, and clever TikTok videos, I think people understand that government is about being there, to create fairness.”

There it is again, short form versus long form.

The American hosts had done enough research into 91ԭ�� to know that Trudeau is facing an unpopularity problem, and the prime minister’s answers were mostly similar to the replies he gives on that score to Canadian interviewers.

There was one little personal glimpse he offered, though, which was a surprise to me. Trudeau, talking to Dubner about his Jesuit education, said his “personal faith” continues to sustain him.

“I still remain Catholic, and my relationship with God is something that is important to me in a way that is deeply personal. My faith is part of who I am, even though I probably haven’t done as good a job at passing that on to my kids, as a good Catholic should. The world is changing. But for me, it’s part of the moral core of who I am.”

Dubner also called Trudeau “possibly one of the most polite prime ministers in the world.” No doubt, Trudeau’s many non-fans out there will be warming up to write me emails about that. I will say this, however: I don’t recall Trudeau posing for pictures with people holding up flags with F— Poilievre written on them. My colleague Althia Raj wrote compellingly on that this week.

Hearing more from Trudeau, in long form, may be a strange reply to those who argue that his unpopularity is all about people just being tired of him. Clearly the prime minister believes the answer to that problem isn’t a short and snappy one.