The Breach Show

Matthew Green is no longer an NDP MP, but he hasn’t stopped trying to transform the party. He talks to Desmond Cole about a campaign to renew the NDP—and what it will take to pry control from consultants, and put it in the hands of the grassroots. The Breach Show is our podcast featuring sharp analysis on politics and social movements in Canada. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple , Spotify, Iheartr...

2025 started with Justin Trudeau in power and ended with a more mask-off variant of Liberalism. In between there were Trump’s tariff wars, genocide, and some small hard-won victories for the left. El Jones joins Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs to take a look in the rearview mirror and reflect on one year in Canadian politics and social movements. The Breach Show is our podcast featuring sharp analy...

Mark Carney’s deal with Alberta’s Danielle Smith is the climate sell-out of the century. Author and analyst Seth Klein joins Desmond Cole to break down everything it contains—from pipelines, to AI data centres, to dirty electricity, to a rollback of almost every Trudeau-era climate policy. The Breach Show is our podcast featuring sharp analysis on politics and social movements in Canada. Subscribe...

For two years, a Sudanese paramilitary force has been massacring civilians—with Canadian-made weapons. Professor Nisrin Elamin and activist Ismail Adam join Desmond Cole to discuss Canada’s long-term complicity in destabilizing Sudan, and recent efforts to close the loophole that allows for Canadian weapons to be brought into Sudan via the UAE.  Read their article co-authored with Robyn Maynard: h...

Despite promising a “generational” and “transformational” budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney is doubling down on resource extraction, militarism, and corporate handouts—appeasing Donald Trump and Canada’s corporate class, but doing little for working people. Martin Lukacs and Desmond Cole break down the Liberal government’s Stephen Harper-esque spending cuts to the public service and their failure...

Doug Ford and Mark Carney are making big moves on housing — but tenant groups and housing experts are raising an alarm. Economist Ricardo Tranjan joins Desmond Cole to discuss how the emerging policy heavily favours corporate landlords. The Breach Show is our podcast featuring sharp analysis on politics and social movements in Canada. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Iheartradio, Google...

The NDP leadership race could turn the party into a vehicle for bold left politics—or cement its decline. Martin Lukacs and Desmond Cole analyze the various campaigns and some of the emerging themes, from “purity tests,” proclamations of class war, and candidates who are flouting race rules. 

Mark Carney is out to dismantle Canada Post. What interests does that stand to benefit? And what could a revitalized public postal service look like? Dru Oja Jay, a long-time collaborator of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, joins Martin Lukacs to discuss how the post office could be a “genuinely positive nation building project.” Read the article: https://breachmedia.ca/canada-post-faces-two-...

With the Liberal government passing harsher immigration policies and anti-immigration rhetoric on the rise, what does this mean for migrant workers?  Deena Ladd from the Workers’ Action Centre joins Desmond Cole to discuss how to build solid solidarity between all workers, regardless of status. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts lik...

After a historic loss in this year’s federal election, the NDP faces a pivotal leadership race—and a crossroads in its identity. Historian Ian McKay joins Martin Lukacs to discuss the party’s challenge in confronting Canadian liberalism and its own centrist slide, and what it could do to seize its transformative potential. _________________________________________________________________________ W...

Mark Carney is embarking on the largest military spending hike in Canada since World War 2. Policy analyst and peace activist Steve Staples joins Desmond Cole to explain why the biggest winner is the weapons lobby—at the expense of Canadians‘ social programs and standard of life. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become...

As it becomes harder to ignore Israel’s genocide, the political and media class is changing their tune. But El Jones and Desmond Cole discuss how Mark Carney and the establishment media’s complicity continues unabated. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedia.ca/support-us/ ⁠...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has introduced legislation that would let police run programs in public schools—even over the objections of local school boards. On this week’s Breach Show, we’re airing a conversation hosted by Desmond Cole with organizers in Ontario and across Canada about their fights to get cops out of schools—and the alternatives to policing they’re working to put in place. _________...

Canada’s establishment media hasn’t covered the genocide in Gaza—they’ve covered it up. A new book published by The Breach, When Genocide Wasn’t News, lays bare the media’s complicity. At the Toronto launch, Desmond Cole spoke to two of the book’s editors, lawyer Dania Majid and Breach managing editor Martin Lukacs. Buy the book: https://breachmedia.ca/when-genocide-wasnt-news/ ___________________...

What can water and the natural world teach us about power, resistance, and survival? Leanne Betasamosake Simpson joins Desmond Cole to discuss her new book “Theory of Water” and explores how Indigenous knowledge can guide us through the political and ecological crises we face today. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Bec...

As anti-trans laws pass in the U.S. and around the world, Canada is often cast as a safe haven for queer and trans people. But the reality is more complicated, says activist Celeste Trianon, in conversation with Katia Lo Innes on this week’s Breach Show podcast. Trianon unpacks how well-funded right-wing groups and some Canadian politicians are fueling a creeping backlash, how strict immigration p...

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo to clinch New York City’s mayoral primary.  Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs break down why Mamdani’s campaign won, and what Canadian progressives can learn from it. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedi...

Since last week, Israeli missiles have flattened homes and killed hundreds of civilians in Iran, and there are fears the United States could soon join the attacks. On this week’s Breach Show Podcast, Donya Ziaee and Desmond Cole discuss why the bombs won’t bring liberation for the Iranian people—and why Canada must stop backing Israeli aggression in the name of the ‘right to self-defence.’ _______...

From coast to coast, Indigenous peoples in Canada are seeing governments bulldoze their rights and sovereignty to speed up resource extraction projects—all in the name of fighting Trump’s trade war.  Lawyer Pam Palmater joins Desmond Cole on the Breach Show podcast to discuss the current resource push, Canada’s legal obligations to Indigenous peoples under domestic and international law, and the n...

Lawyer Christine Van Geyn and activist Dalia Awwad join Desmond Cole to discuss the implications of new bubble zone bylaws for the right to protest and the future of policing in Canada. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedia.ca/support-us/ ⁠ An hour of your wages each month...

The New Democratic Party needs a bold, democratic renewal—but insiders appear to want a short, rigged race to lock in the status quo. Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs discuss the consultant class’s grip on the party, and what a different kind of NDP might look like. 

Mark Carney has defeated Pierre Poilievre, but Conservatives did a lot better than expected. Martin Lukacs and Desmond Cole reflect on the gains and setbacks for the various parties, and explore how progressive forces can rally amidst a rightward-moving political consensus. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sus...

For three decades, Pierre Poilievre’s analysis and vision has been shaped by one thinker: Milton Friedman, the godfather of neoliberalism. Political scholar Ryan Kelpin sits down with Martin Lukacs to discuss the radical economist’s influence on Poilievre.  _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at...

Nearing the end of the 2025 federal election, the party leaders locked horns in back to back debates. Desmond Cole, El Jones, and Martin Lukacs debrief who came out well—and if it will have an impact on the polls. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedia.ca/support-us/ ⁠ An ho...

With the federal election just a couple of weeks away, what will become of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples? Lawyer and professor Pam Palmater of the Eel River Bar First Nation joins Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs on The Breach Show to discuss campaign promises and the future of reconciliation. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more...