Shows
The Functional Government PodcastIs it Canada's Estonia moment?If you spend more than five minutes talking to governments about modernization, someone will inevitably mention Estonia. The country's vast sprawl and relatively small population made it a natural fit for digital government, because it was prohibitively expensive to deliver services to tiny towns and far-off citizens. Now you can complete virtually any government task, from paying taxes to registering a business to filing for divorce, via an app or a website. Estonians trust their government's services, and the country estimates that it saves 2% of GDP every year because of them.Ironically, this happened because of a...
2025-12-2244 min
Matt Horn MeetsEpisode 44 - Rebecca Croll - (Red 2 - 2013).'Matt Horn Meets' - Episode 44.Matt Horn talks to Rebecca Croll about her role in 'Red 2' and about her acting career.Edited by David Murphy.
2025-12-2011 minThe Functional Government PodcastCanada tried to fix passports a decade ago. Here's what happened.Canada's been trying to fix the passport system for a long time. Back in 2013, a small team of designers, developers, and policy experts got together to modernize the application process. They took a lean, iterative approach, focusing on the simplest fixes to the biggest problems first. This meant addressing boring things that offered huge improvements: they spent six months tweaking and testing the application form—which is where most applicants got stuck.And then the government shut down the program, and rolled it into IRCC's massive Global Case Management System, where it ran into multi-year delays and hu...
2025-12-1545 minThe Functional Government PodcastHow Ireland reformed passport applicationsA decade ago, Ireland's passport service was in the same place as Canada: long queues, paper processes, and spiking delays. And then they decided to fix it.The country started small: a reservation tool to book time in the office freed up workers, letting them tackle the backlog. Then online renewals for adults, then children. Eventually, online applications with your identity certified by your local police station.It wasn't easy. It took political support, a willingness to experiment, careful design—and a willingness to rewrite outdated laws for the modern world. In the second of our se...
2025-12-0842 min
Natalie Portman - Biography FlashBiography Flash: Natalie Portman's Arco Wins Big While She Champions Vegan Fashion and Global EducationNatalie Portman Biography Flash a weekly Biography.In the past few days Natalie Portman has been everywhere, and not just on red carpets. The fan site NataliePortman.com, which closely tracks her schedule and press, reports that her animated passion project Arco just picked up a major nomination from the Critics Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature, adding yet another trophy chance to a film she produced and voiced. That same site notes that Arco has also been named Best Animated Film of the Year by the prestigious National Board of Review, a key early awards‑season bellwether th...
2025-12-0703 minThe Functional Government PodcastBreaking our own rules with Senator Colin DeaconIn Canada, there are 134 ways to apply for federal grants and loans. They aren't connected, so a Canadian has to try them all, like whack-a-mole. If you don't qualify for one, you have no idea why another might be perfect. Using a service like this isn't easy, either. The Federal government has 270 separate online services, which you sign into with 60 unique usernames and passwords you have to keep track of, administered by 33 federal departments. When we decided to launch Functional, there was one person we knew we needed to speak with. He's an independent Senator from Nova S...
2025-11-1744 minThe Functional Government PodcastWe can have nice things: Coding Canada's Services with Dorothy EngIf you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire—Code for Canada? Launched in 2017, this nonprofit works alongside government to build better services. We sit down with CEO Dorothy Eng to understand the structural and cultural challenges that stop government from delivering. Despite antiquated systems, "that's not how we do it" attitudes, and the challenges of hiring and retaining talent, Dorothy still believes that we can have nice things. All it takes is political will, an understanding of technology, and senior managers who take the risk of do...
2025-11-1035 minThe Functional Government PodcastHow the rest of the world does its taxes with Dr. Fabrizio SantoroAfter learning about Canada's attempts to modernize the tax system, it was time to see how the rest of the world does it. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Fabrizio Santoro, an expert on taxation who helps countries around the world design and implement taxation. We dive into a number of countries' systems, including Uganda's complete overhaul of registration, data collection, and filing. The conclusion? Nobody would do it the way Canada does.You can learn more about Fabrizio’s work at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/
2025-10-3136 minThe Functional Government PodcastWhy Canadian Income Tax is complicated with Alex MacEachern and Paul CraigThere's no government service that touches every citizen the way taxes do. Every April, millions of Canadians lose a weekend preparing their taxes, often with the help of paid software tools. Yet elsewhere in the world, there's no tax season—or you simply approve the pre-filled return the government sends you.There are plenty of reasons why it is this way. Taxes are the easiest way for the government to turn policy into outcomes through credits and fees. The tax code is complex, and confederation means citizens file taxes with the province and the nation. And for ma...
2025-10-2748 minThe Functional Government PodcastMaking Digital Functional with Ryan AndrosoffIt's easy to criticize government, but making public services functional is hard. Nobody set out to build cumbersome, confusing processes. Bureaucracy happened for what were, at the time, good reasons. But they became gradually, inexorably complex. Why haven't other countries fallen into this trap? To help me understand how we got here—and how to move forward—I sit down with Ryan Androsoff. His Think Digital podcast has chronicled Canada's service modernization for years. A founding member of the Canadian Digital Service and graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School, Ryan knows that building functional government is hard, not because of tech...
2025-10-2444 min
Let's Think DigitalSpeakers' Corner at FWD50 (with Alistair Croll and Rebecca Croll)If you haven’t heard of FWD50, you should! It’s one of the premiere conferences on digital modernization in government and exists to help answer one vital question: How do we use technology to make society better for all? Many of this season’s podcast conversations were recorded on location at the conference in Ottawa last November.On this episode of Let’s Think Digital you are going to get an opportunity to hear directly from some of the participants in last year’s conference. We had set-up a Speakers’ Corner booth where we invited anyone at FWD50 who...
2024-03-1542 min
THE LAUNCH a Podcast by TandemLaunchSeason 2 Episode 4 - Get paid more with CandorGet paid more! That is the mission of Candor
If you want to learn the INSIDE SCOOP on recruiting top talent and negotiating salaries then you best be tuning in to hear.
Niya D., co-founder of Candor, where equitable salaries with a focus on diversity groups, is her jam.
To add the cherry on this cake, we are co-hosting again with Rebecca Croll from Startupfest.
2021-03-3138 minTHE LAUNCH a Podcast by TandemLaunchSeason 2 Episode 3: Startup Shenanigans and other entrepreneurial stories!Do Not Miss this podcast – featuring founders of EnjoyTheWork Jonathan Lowenhar and Leslie Fine.
Joining forces with @startupfest, @Bobbi Bidochka co-hosts our podcast with @Rebecca Croll Director of Content for @startupfest
Get the uncut story on THE LAUNCH podcast
And
Register now for StartupFest April 12th to 14th 2021 where Leslie and Jonathan are also speaking at SCALEUPFEST:
https://startupfestival.com/register-for-growth-week/
2021-03-1736 min