Episodes
Campus protests have migrated to Canada and McGill is asking the cops for help. Why calling in the cops is the wrong approach, despite what’s being said (and chanted) at these protests. Justin Trudeau seems to be popping up on podcasts everywhere these days. What to make of Trudeau’s podcast populism (and why it won’t work in 2024.) Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), André Proolx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese...
Published 05/02/24
Published 05/02/24
Canadian media coverage of the war in the Middle East has, unsurprisingly, focused on the impact on diaspora communities here in Canada. We have heard about Jewish Canadians, Palestinian Canadians, and we have heard in general terms about the many Muslim communities across Canada and how this is affecting them. But there's one diaspora community that is increasingly at the center of this conflict, who we have heard very little about. And that is the Iranian community. Today on the show, three...
Published 04/29/24
Alors que l’année 2024 sera la plus chaude jamais enregistrée, on voit le public, épuisé par l'éco anxiété et une certaine fatigue informationnelle, se détourner des médias. Emilie Nicolas reçoit Étienne Leblanc, journaliste environnement et climat à Radio-Canada, pour échanger sur l’évolution de la couverture médiatique des changements climatiques depuis une vingtaine d’années et sur les solutions possibles afin de mieux communiquer sur le sujet.  Even if 2024 is projected to be the warmest...
Published 04/27/24
As the hit Netflix documentary What Jennifer Did draws criticism for manipulating source materials, we talk to Karen K. Ho about the differences between True Crime and journalism.  Umar Zameer is acquitted of murdering a Toronto police officer, but the way his case was handled by the media and politicians raises questions about the impact of public narratives in high-profile legal cases. Plus, Goldsbie sits court-side, and why Connie Walker deserves an apology. Want your audio story on...
Published 04/25/24
On April 12, 2024, news broke that Sylvie Hauth, the former police chief of Thunder Bay, was arrested and charged with a series of criminal offenses.  But none of the news reports explained much about just what the hell was happening this time. Most of this story is still unknown, but this week, Karyn Pugliese, Ryan McMahon, and Jon Thompson will tell you what they can, what they have verified so far, and they will give you their best sense — let's call it a theory — of what the big-picture...
Published 04/22/24
Did we just dodge WW3? As Iran retaliated against Israel with an unprecedented barrage of drones and missiles, deciphering facts from fakes and misinformation seemed trickier than ever. Is this the new digital fog of war? Bill Maher somehow still exists, and now he’s roasting Canada for all the wrong reasons. What Bill Maher gets wrong about Canadian “Zombie Lies”? Plus, is Rick Ross an anti-semite? Jesse weighs in on the Drake beef.  Want your audio story on CANADALAND? Submissions for the...
Published 04/18/24
We’ve long heard about how the news business is failing - layoff after layoff, media execs have claimed that they have had no choice but to make cutbacks. In Bell’s latest round of 4800 layoffs, CEO Mirko Babic defended his decision to a parliamentary committee, claiming the company was struggling in a tough economic environment - and that news was part of what was bringing them down. But is that the full story?  Because before Google and Facebook ate up advertising dollars, the Canadian...
Published 04/15/24
Etienne Côté-Paluck, rédacteur en chef d’HAÏTI MAGAZINE et HAITI WEEKLY, des publications du collectif haïtien DÈYÈ MÒN ENFO, rejoint Emilie pour une discussion sur l’actualité de la crise qui se passe dans la ville et dans le pays. Etienne Côté-Paluck, editor-in-chief of HAÏTI MAGAZINE and HAITI WEEKLY, publications of the Haitian collective DÈYÈ MÒN ENFO, joins Emilie for a discussion about what’s actually going on in the country. Animation : Emilie Nicolas Générique : Tristan Capacchione...
Published 04/13/24
A spectre is haunting Canada — the spectre of Communist China. Finally, a proper inquiry into election interference by China featuring testimony from Trudeau and his top aides, but, at this point, will anyone even care?  Rebel News personality David “The Menzoid” Menzies is arrested yet again at a protest in Toronto, which raises larger questions about how police are selectively enforcing the law at contentious public rallies.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Tristan...
Published 04/11/24
Canadians have long thought of themselves as peacekeepers. But can we still make that claim today? Amid all of the the outrage towards our government over its relationship with Israel, are any protesters calling on Trudeau to send peacekeeping troops over there to intervene? When the guns finally fall silent there will likely be a call for some sort of peacekeeping force. But will Canada still be ready, or even willing, to resume our traditional role? There's really just one statistic worth...
Published 04/08/24
As Canadians prepare for a rare celestial event–a total solar eclipse–Jesse has one message: don’t look up! On Monday, the price of carbon increased, and so did prices at the pumps. Carbon Tax savant Max Fawcett explains why it’s terrible politics, but still a great policy   Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), André Proolx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Guest: Max Fawcett   Further...
Published 04/04/24
Question: what is Canada's greatest contribution to the world of comedy? Is it Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live, which launched the careers of comedians like Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, and Norm MacDonald? What about Samantha Bee, who broke into the boys club of late night political satire? Nathan Fielder who may have redrawn the lines of reality itself, exposing the absurdity of modern life with his bizarre, intricate pranks? Professor Stephen Leacock, the Mark Twain of Canada? Or is it a...
Published 04/01/24
Il y a du pouvoir dans la réappropriation de son propre récit - c'est pourquoi Beata n'a pas seulement écrit un mémoire sur son expérience de fuite du Rwanda, mais aussi un recueil de poésie. Elle a cherché à retrouver des images qu'elle croyait exister, capturées par la BBC, d'un convoi de camions dans lequel elle était cachée pour fuir le pays - ce qui l'a menée à en découvrir davantage. La conversation examine le rôle des médias occidentaux dans le reportage sur le Rwanda à l'époque. Où se...
Published 03/30/24
Why are New Zealand libertarian think-tanks so into Canada’s Indigenous skyscrapers? In the midst of an ongoing housing crisis, is the Squamish Nation’s Sen̓áḵw project the future of Indigenous land development? As Deadspin’s new ownership pivots to gambling referral, we consider how broadcast bingo supports Indigenous radio. Is “Radio Bingo” a replicable model for diversifying media revenue? Host: Jonathan Goldsbie Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), Karyn...
Published 03/28/24
When governments and corporations want to stay on top of the “threats” posed by protest movements — from climate campaigns to animal-rights advocacy — there’s one company that they tend to turn to: Welund. Founded in the UK in 2007, it expanded to North America about a decade later, setting up shop in Calgary (where it’s now called Foresight Reports). So who are they? And what does it mean when public-sector bodies farm out their intelligence gathering to a private firm? To find out, we put...
Published 03/25/24
As Elon Musk rails against content moderation in a disastrous interview with Don Lemon, Jesse and Ivor Shapiro reconsider Canada’s new approach to online speech.  Is the Online Harms Act as Orwellian as Margaret Atwood thinks it is?  Also, immigration is coming up a lot in the news these days. Is the recent media discourse actually….mature? Clarification: When Jesse reads from Bill C-63 Online Harms Act 17 he says "A person may, with the Attorney General's consent, lay an information before a...
Published 03/21/24
Andy Mill’s is the co-creator of The New York Times ground-breaking podcast, The Daily, and before that worked on the equally inventive and critically acknowledged podcast Radiolab. He’s also one of the very few journalists to gain the trust of J.K. Rowling for his series The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Finally, he’s been the subject of critical reporting from Canadaland for his work on the Peabody Award winning series for The New York Times, Caliphate. That series was stripped of the...
Published 03/18/24
Alors que la guerre à Gaza fait rage, Emilie Nicolas et Raed Hammoud font le point sur la couverture de cette guerre dans le cadre de leur travail au sein de l'écosystème médiatique québécois. Raed évoque également le travail documentaire de longue haleine qu'il a réalisé afin de créer des liens entre des personnes de différentes parties du monde, notamment ses séries documentaires T'es où, Youssef ? Immigrants de souche et Demain l'Afrique.  As the war in Gaza wages on, Emilie Nicolas and...
Published 03/16/24
The laughter has stopped at the Just For Laughs festival, as ownership applies for creditor protection and cancels the Montreal and Toronto 2024 festivals. Toronto Comedian Sam Sferrazza explains how the Just For Laughs systems worked (and didn’t work) for Canadian comedy. Is there anything behind the Katespiracy? As a manipulated photo of Princess Catherine and her kids goes viral worldwide, Jesse wonders if any photograph… ever should have ever been trusted.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits:...
Published 03/14/24
Labour used to be a beat. A major beat for any newspaper. Which, you know, makes sense. Because what happens with work, with the world of work, that matters to so many more people than any other section in the newspaper, more than politics or foreign affairs or even business. But the age of the working person's newspaper is just about dead, and along with it, the labour beat. But maybe not to news audiences. We get constant emails from you asking us to take a closer look at work in Canada....
Published 03/11/24
From Winnipeg to Wuhan, Canada is embroiled in an international spy situation, but why does no one seem to care anymore? Recent documents released from the investigation of scientist Dr. Xiangguo Qiu contain bombshells that may point back to the COVID lab leak theory.  As the obituaries and puff pieces roll in, the Canadian media seems to have forgotten that Brian Mulroney was - in fact - divisive. Correcting the record on “Conservative Titan” Brian Mulroney.  Clarification (March 18, 2024):...
Published 03/07/24
Let’s skip two years of horse race punditry and commentary. It's over already. Barring some unforeseeable act of God, Pierre Poilievre is not just going to win, he is going to stomp to victory. The Liberals will likely be rebuilding from close to scratch and this country might be looking at a good long period of right wing rule. What does that look like? What does it mean for housing, crime, and the media landscape? Today on the show, Jesse speaks with prominent journalists, Jen Gerson, Paul...
Published 03/04/24
Dans sa nouvelle autobiograhie, la professeure en droit transféminine Florence Ashley, théorise l’academic smut ou smut therapy comme la thérapie par l'écriture érotique. Gender/F*****g: the Pleasures and Politics of Living in a Gendered Body met en lumière le bordel de l'existence humaine à travers le récit de Florence - ses expériences romantiques, sexuelles, sa transition et des vérités qui sont beaucoup plus grandes qu’ille qui s'étendent à la jeune communauté trans actuelle.  Les...
Published 03/02/24
Vice Media was once valued at 5.7 billion dollars - This week it closed its doors. One final episode of the podcast Cyber was released to give listeners a peek into what was going on at Vice. The staff knew something was amiss when the quality of the snacks began to deteriorate.  The Liberals tabled Bill C-63 to take aim at online hate. If this new bill comes into force it could make some online hate speech punishable by life in prison.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer),...
Published 02/29/24