Unpacking the News

On episode 122 it's picnics, panics and positive energy as Vancouver comics Charlie Demers and David Harris join host Andre Goulet to talk rent freeze, economic collapse and what the coronavirus crisis looks like from a Pacific Rim perspective. Hear multi-diagnosed comedian buds Charlie & David open up weekly (and weakly!) about mental illness and mental wellness with a range of guests on 'Fight o...

On episode 121 pundit and podcaster Rob Rousseau (49th Parahell, The Insurgents) and friend of the show Marla Williams join host Andre Goulet to discuss the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, to flag the threat of increased surveillance and government overreach during the crisis and to provide some solace, support and solidarity in the midst of troubled times. Plus: why it's more impor...

On episode 120 of Unpacking the News, host Andre Goulet welcomes comedian John Hanchar back to the show after a year abroad in China to try to make sense of a frightening and confusing week as Canada enters a new era of global health crisis. Audio on this episode includes an excerpt from Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove' and this Tuesday's Justin Trudeau press conference. This conversation was r...

On episode 119, it's a trip down the memory hole to those heady, halcyon days of late February when occupations and blockades were sweeping the country. Join activist Ethan Dennett and host Andre Goulet for a conversation on the solidarity and celebration of the BC Legislature occupation. Plus: hear Ethan and Andre explore why Canadian liberals and the Edmonton Eskimos both suck ass. This conversa...

On episode 118 of Unpacking the News ex-journalist and Comms Director at the BC-based public interest group Dogwood Kai Nagata joins host Andre Goulet to discuss the political fallout from the blockades and occupations, a federal government confused by its own hypocrisy and the RCMP’s historical pattern of violence against Indigenous communities. This conversation was recorded on March 11th, 2020....

On episode 117 guests Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours and Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry help host Andre Goulet navigate life in the quiet dystopia of la Belle Province as the panel discuss the new values test for Quebec immigrants, Premier Francois Legault's weird allegations aimed at the Kahnawake blockade and the latest on the state-sanctioned second class citizenship of Law 21. Hear Gabrielle, Ludvic and in...

As the climate justice movement grows and the demand for immediate action intensifies, how can we move beyond broad demands and begin implementing the ambitious changes necessary to stop climate change and improve Canadian society? On a special presentation of last week's 'Transform Your Workplace, Save the Planet' conference, a posse of prestigious panelists including representatives from the CUP...

On a media double feature episode of Unpacking the News, host Andre Goulet welcomes Geoff Sharpe, co-founder of online advocacy org North99, to explore the rise of left/socialist media in Canada and the United States and why professionalizing indie media in this country is more important than ever. Plus: why Arnold Viesen can't rap, how John Baird's Conservative leadership run is bound for failure...

On a Labour double feature episode of Unpacking the News, host Andre Goulet welcomes Winnipeg-based organizer and broadcaster Emily Leedham (Rank & File: Prairie Edition) to discuss her experience on the frontlines of the Unifor Local 594 blockade at Regina's Co-op oil refinery. Then, Montreal journalist Jon Milton discusses Concordia University's February 11th 'Transform Your Workplace, Save the...

On a new episode of Housing Party, Faiz Abhuani of Brick by Brick joins host David DesBaillets to explore his organization’s work in financially sustainable, market-based community housing initiatives, green and racialized gentrification, the hidden conflict of Montreal's city government vs. the civil service and much more. Join DesBaillets every two months for a new conversation on housing in Can...

On a 'short and tweet' mini episode of Unpacking the News, host Andre Goulet serves up a selection of decadent hot takes exploring all sides of this week's dumb donut discourse. Plus: live video from the Wet’suwet’en pipeline standoff in northern B.C. and information on how you can help support journalist Jerome Turner's important work inside the Unist’ot’en camp. For the full video go to https://...

On the first episode of 2020, host Andre Goulet greets a new decade with SFU/UBC polisci academic and politics pundit Stewart Prest to investigate the Liberal government's frustrating foreign policy record, including an update on Huawei scion Meng Wanzhou's extradition case and Canada/China relations and exploring why ex-foreign minister Chrystia Freeland's support for the South American far-right...

In a year-end retrospective, host Andre Goulet and associate producer Savanna Craig explore the very weird memory palace of the year 2019 with selected audio curated from a few of this year's 39 episodes including: * ep79 'Falling in Love With Andrew Scheer' (2/14) * ep86 'Welcome to Hellberta' (4/23) * ep93 'Early Summer Fall Election Preview' (6/19) * ep98 'Why the Globe and Mail is Wrong About...

Accidental babysitting for John Lennon and Yoko Ono, nostalgia and geography on Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal and why Stephen Harper is a terrible dinner guest. Plus: how the origins of the ‘Canada is Fake’ movement may lie in the 1995 Referendum. All this and more with political commentator, talk radio legend and author of the new memoir 'Make-up Tips From Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother's...

Political commentator and talk radio legend Tommy Scbnurmacher is the author of ‘Canada’s Not a Real Country’ and a new memoir ‘Make-up Tips From Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life'. On a preview conversation of episode 110, Schnurmacher and host Andre Goulet go deep on a frequently forgotten fixture in an earlier era of Canadian politics to answer the question…...who was Fred Rose? This...

On ep109 journalist Anna Bianca Roach sits down with University of Toronto research and policy analyst Abtin Parnia to explore how the extreme Right's anti-immigration ideology and population control rhetoric co-opts Green politics and the struggle for a sustainable and ecological future. This conversation was recorded on December 2nd, 2019. Articles cited on this episode include: Betsy Hartmann,...

Presenting the first of three special French-language episodes of Spacing Magazine's Future Fix, this is 'Face au Futur' hosted by Katia Gaid and produced by Andre Goulet. How do post-secondary institutions, and specifically their campuses, fit into the smart city landscape? The Université of Montréal's new Campus MIL gives us an idea. Geneviève O'Meara, Université of Montréal spokesperson talks t...

On ep108 Progress Alberta executive director and 'The Progress Report' host Duncan Kinney joins Andre Goulet to explain how Jason Kenney's 2019 budget is an opening salvo in the United Conservative Party's war against Alberta civil society. Plus: in spite of massive media hype and hysteria, does support for Wexit actually hold up? (Short answer: nope) For more from PA go to https://www.progressalb...

On an episode 108 preview, Progress Alberta executive director and host of 'The Progress Report' podcast Duncan Kinney joins the show to ask why Canada's foreign policy establishment is supporting Bolivia's military-led coup against a popularly elected socialist leader. Tune in next week as Duncan and host Andre Goulet unpack Wexit and explore the cruelty of Jason Kenney's 2019 Alberta budget. Thi...

On a new episode of 'Housing Party' housing and human rights scholar David DesBaillets speaks with Projet Montréal city councilor Craig Sauvé on how the city's progressive civic government is making gains for housing access and affordability in its ambitious 20/20/20 agenda. Join DesBaillets every two months for a new conversation on housing in Canada with experts, policy wonks and scholars examin...

On ep106 of Unpacking the News, a cavalcade of comrades and commentators from across the country join host Andre Goulet to explain why, in the aftermath of the demented fever dream of Canada's 43rd federal election, everyone's a loser. This episode includes conversations with activist Hugh Stewart (Dog Island) in Halifax, political science scholar Maike Sondarjee (Le Placher des Vaches) in Quebec...

Depraved debates, a Singh surge and a frustratingly full frontal attack on democratic norms from Maxime Bernier and Rebel Media.... On episode 105, political analyst Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry and attorney Laurence Ricard join host Andre Goulet to explore week 5 of Canada's 43rd Federal Election. Plus: correspondent Savanna Craig and activist Sania Malik discuss Quebec's Law 21 and it's impact on the c...

Singh’s strength in the face of adversity impresses, the BQ tweets the quiet part out loud and American Andrew Scheer is....not actually an accountant? On episode 104 of the podcast journalist Martin Forgues, political analyst Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry and sociologist Julia Posca join host Andre Goulet to explore week 4 of our grim and grotesque 2019 Federal Election psychodrama. Plus: correspondent A...

If televangelist and PPC candidate Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson's claims that Maxime Bernier is the second coming of the biblical king Jehu are accurate, what can we expect from next week's Leadership debates? To explore this hot topic issue and more, journalist Martin Forgues, political analyst Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry, politics scholar Maika Sondarjee and host Andre Goulet sit down to discuss a wild a...

After a week of secrets revealed and hypocrisies exposed journalist Martin Forgues, political analyst Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry, politics scholar Maika Sondarjee and host Andre Goulet discuss the slow-motion implosion of the Liberal campaign, how Canadian media is dramatically unequipped to handle the discourse Trudeau's 'blackface' history demands and why this country's unwillingness to grapple with...