The U.S. presidential election season is officially upon us. Donald Trump has won the first two Republican primaries and seems to be coasting to the GOP nomination. That means Trump and Joe Biden are on course for a rematch of the 2020 election.

Does it matter to Canada? I always remember what Pierre Trudeau once told an American audience: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” If he was making that statement today, would he still describe the beast as “friendly and even-tempered?”

There is an endless supply of rhetoric and uninformed speculation when people contemplate a second Trump presidency. But what can we learn from history?

This Tuesday, I will be doing a live online interview with David Dyzenhaus, a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Toronto. He was recently named the gold medal winner of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council’s Impact Awards, which celebrate the achievements of Canada's top leaders, thinkers and researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

I would encourage you to join our discussion. Registration is free. You can sign up here or by clicking on the below image that promotes the event. One of the things David and I will discuss is a topic he wrote about this week: can the history of Germany in the years before the Second World War provide insight about the situation in the United States (and other Western democracies) today?

For your weekend reading, I’ve added some other stories from across the global network of The Conversation that analyze the state of democracy around the world. And we’re also highlighting something new for Canadian readers – a weekly news quiz that’s produced by our colleagues at The Conversation U.S. Test your knowledge and challenge your friends and family.

Have a great weekend and we’ll be back in your Inbox on Monday.