Oats for Breakfast

We continue our discussion about Wexit and Western Alienation. This time we also get into chatting a bit about Quebec (and the role that regionalist politics has played there), the failed attempts to push for electoral reform in British Columbia, as well as about Jason Kenney's "energy war room."

Oats sits down to comment on all the recent hubbub about 'Wexit.' Our discussion goes into the roots of Western Alienation and the kind of political culture that reliance on oil extraction seems to create.

We continue chatting about Bong Joon-Ho's 'Parasite' and the travails of working class life. This time we get into discussing the gender dynamics portrayed in the film, how the attempts by the poor to plan their lives is dealt with, and about how 'Parasite' brilliantly captures the bleak reality of life under modern capitalism.

Oats for Breakfast sits down to chat about 'Parasite,' a widely-acclaimed black comedy written and directed by the Korean film-maker Bong Joon-Ho. The film offers a superb depiction of how the struggle for survival under capitalism pits the poor against each other.

We continue the discussion we were having with Justin Podur, author of 'Siegebreakers'. In this segment, we chat about what the process of writing the novel was like, class divisions among Palestinians, and whether leftist fiction-writing can make a comeback.

A novel that seamlessly combines thrilling action sequences, political intrigue, and moving character development, 'Siegebreakers' imagines what it might take to break the Gaza siege. Oats interviews the author, Justin Podur, about why he decided to write the novel, how he went about framing the story he wanted to tell, as well as about the real-life situation and dynamics currently being faced by...

Oats catches up with Martin Lukacs, author of 'The Trudeau Formula,' to chat about the political landscape in post-election Canada.

Oats continues chatting with Monica Mason and Mayuran Sivalinghem. This time the discussion goes into the role rich countries should play in assisting the Global South deal with climate change. We then get into chatting about how the internet and social media can be used to promote Left politics.

Oats chats with Monica Mason and Mayuran Sivalinghem, both members of Climate Justice Toronto—CJTO helped organize (along with a number of other groups) the climate strike that took place in Toronto on September 27. We talk about how the climate strike went, about Greta Thunberg, while also working through some disagreement about whether the environment should be seen as a "political" issue.

Oats interviews Martin Lukacs about his recent book, The Trudeau Formula: Seduction and Betrayal in an Age of Discontent. The discussion goes over the unrivalled capacity of Canada's Liberal Party to maintain hegemony, the way in which Trudeau was able to pose as a progressive while catering to the needs of Canadian elites, as well as the recent blackface revelations. Order a copy of Martin's book...

Oats for Breakfast continues the discussion with Sam Gindin about the ongoing United Auto Workers-GM strike in the US. This time around we broaden the discussion to include trade policy, the role of the state in industrial disputes, and about the fate of GM's vehicle assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario.

Oats for Breakfast interviews Sam Gindin about the United Auto Workers-GM strike, which involves 49,000 workers. We talk about what's at stake for the strikers, the corruption charges that are being brought against the UAW's leadership, and about the kind of approach unions will have to take if they really hope to build working class power.

This episode features highlights from content that we've published over the course of the last year—including excerpts from our interview with Adolph Reed, our first attempt at engaging in cultural critique, and our discussion about the Zizek-Peterson debate.

The Oats podcast interviews Tony Leah and Rebecca Keetch about GM's decision to wind down vehicle assembly at its facility in Oshawa, Ontario. Tony and Rebecca work at GM Oshawa. They are also both members of Green Jobs Oshawa, an initiative calling for GM's facility to come under public ownership and be directed towards producing electric vehicles. Learn more about Green Jobs Oshawa here: http://...

Our discussion about life and politics in Western Canada continues. We talk more about indigenous-settler relations and get into chatting about the oil sands, forest fires, and about whether there's hope for turning the tide.

Oats for Breakfast sits down to discuss life and politics in Western Canada. We get into talking about Alberta's premier Jason Kenney, what public education is like in Alberta and British Columbia, and about indigenous-settler relations in the two provinces.

We continue our discussion about labour standards with sociologist Adam King. This time we get into talking about what it's like to be a temporary employee and also compare labour standards in Canada with standards elsewhere, including Sweden and Australia.

Oats for Breakfast chats with sociologist Adam King about labour standards. Adam recently wrote an article "assessing what a Sanders presidency would mean for labour." We talk to him about the article and about labour policy in the US and Canada more broadly. Adam's article: http://theconversation.com/on-may-day-assessing-what-a-sanders-presidency-would-mean-for-labour-116133

We continue talking with the Toronto-based independent journalist Benjamin Bilgen about public transit. In this segment we compare our experiences using transit in Toronto with transit systems elsewhere. Our discussion travels to cities across the planet—including Antalya (Turkey), Islamabad (Pakistan), London (UK), as well as Montreal and Vancouver. In the latter part of the segment we chat about...

The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) recently unveiled an ad campaign that uses images captured by security cameras to publicly shame those trying to avoid paying the fare. We talk to the independent journalist Benjamin Bilgen about how the campaign violates the TTC's own video recording policy. Plus we get into chatting about transit enforcement more generally. Articles by Benjamin that are refer...

Food delivery couriers working for the app-based company Foodora recently launched a union organizing drive in Toronto. We talk to Brice Sopher, who works as a Foodora courier, about the effort. Check out the Justice for Foodora Couriers website: http://foodstersunited.ca

We continue our discussion of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. In this segment, disagreements arise over whether the series offers a critique of Trumpian populism as well about the nature and limits of liberal-democratic judicial regimes.

Oats takes up the takes up the recent HBO miniseries Chernobyl. We talk about the political commentary the series is trying to offer, the fact that historical inaccuracies were a major part of telling a story whose ostensible purpose was to highlight the importance of the truth, and why liberal centrism is not necessarily an objective standpoint from which to look at the world.

Sadia Khan, Corvin Russell, and Sharmeen Khan continue their discussion on how we can work to build socialism in Canada. They talk about the role of disruptive tactics, the logistics of organizing something on the scale of a general strike, and the need to assess whether the work we're doing is having any impact.

Sadia Khan, Corvin Russell, and Sharmeen Khan have a discussion based on the following question: “How do we work to build socialism?” The discussion touches on the challenges posed by electoralism, the changing nature of the working class, the importance of labour and community organizing, and what it might take to build an enduring socialist organization.