A Cultural History of Canada

In which Patrick talks alone in a microphone as Mack faces a cyclone! The show is going solo this week to talk a little about Japanese-Canadians and how Daphne Marlatt's Steveston interprets their history. --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); recommended reading (https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/)...

In which Patrick sits down with historian Dustin Galer to discuss his new book,  Beryl , which explores the life and times of the famous Canadian disability activist. Find the book   here   or at your local bookstore. --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); the recommended reading page (https://historiacanadiana....

In which we unleash our anti-capitalist sides (again) to discuss how Marxism/communism was brought over into Canada, what it did and how it failed, as well as some lefty writers that sometimes are great and sometimes aren't. Read some commie poems here! --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); recommended reading...

Patrick sits down with playwright Meg Braem to discuss her play Flight Risk , "an empathetic exploration of grief, friendship, and hope, [which] asks what we lose when we ignore the knowledge of our elderly, challenges the way that we think about aging and death, and inspires a brighter, more compassionate future."   Meg Braem is an Alberta-based playwright and dramaturg. Her plays have been nomin...

In which we discuss the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike in relation to Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion (1987). We get unhinged as we discuss strike tactics, modernism/postmodernism, and Christmas. --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books...

In which Patrick talks to Governor General's Award winner katherena vermette to discuss how she brought Métis history to life through her comic series A Girl Called Echo .  Find the omnibus at your local bookstore or here . --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); the recommended reading page (https://historiacana...

In which we bring back Covid-19 pandemic memories by discussing the Spanish Flu in Canada with the help of Kevin Kerr's excellent 2002 play  Unity (1918) .   Sorry for having posted so little in November - it was pure and simple a scheduling mistake. --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading...

In which two tired & sick boys try to talk coherently about Timothy Findley's major literary achievement: a reckoning with the reality of World War One in his seminal 1977 work The Wars . --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact...

There were some audio issues on Phil's end, but I think it's still listenable! Apologies. Patrick sits down with Phil Lind and Robert Brehl to discuss their new book Tales of an Unsung Sourdough: The Extraordinary Klondike Adventures of Johnny Lind.  Phil Lind is a recipient of the Order of Canada, and the vice-chair of Rogers Communications Inc. His co-author, Robert Brehl is an award-winning jou...

In which we discuss Hugh McLennan's pivotal 1941 book Barometer Rising and how it informs our understanding of World War 1 as it was experienced in Canada. --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact:   historiacanadiana@gmail.com...

In which we discuss and rank Canada's first wartime PM, Sir Robert Laird Borden! Find our ranking so far here.   --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact:   historiacanadiana@gmail.com ;  Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/CanL...

Mack is away this week, so enjoy another interview! Patrick sits down with Winnipeg documentarian and writer, Robert Lower ( After the Big One: Nuclear War on the Prairies ; Shameless Propaganda ) to discuss his new book Unsettled: Lord Selkirk's Scottish Colonists. Find the book here  or at your local bookstore. --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www...

In which Patrick has a long discussion with David Austin to discuss the re-release of  Fear of a Black Nation . "Situating Canada within the Black radical tradition and its Caribbean radical counterpart,  Fear of a Black Nation  paints a history of Montreal and the Black activists who lived in, sojourned in, or visited the city and agitated for change. Drawing on Saidiya Hartman's conception of sl...

In which we turn to a cornerstone of Quebec literature and talk about the pastoral! Written during the 1st World War, Maria Chapdelaine has become a must-read for Quebec literature students... but perhaps for the wrong reasons... --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiaca...

In which we discuss a milestone in Canadian realism,  Woodsmen of the West (1908). What does it tell us about the early logging industry, workers' rights, and masculinity? A lot actually! --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact...

In which we discuss legendary long-distance Indigenous runner Tom Longboat and try to simultaneously imagine what kind of cultural items could be made about him and his life! --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact:   historiac...

In which Patrick sits down with Kristin Schwartz to discuss the new book she co-wrote:  We Go Where They Go: The Story of Anti-Racist Action . Kristin grew up with the Toronto chapter of ARA from 1992-2003, contributing to the long struggle against white supremacy. She went on to work in community radio and has produced several audio documentaries including Women: the Oppressed Majority (2016) The...

In which we talk about the idea of the Canadian "Wild West", a contender for the Billy the Kid title of Manitoba, and Dennis Cooley's Bloody Jack - all in one episode! --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact:   historiacanadian...

In which Patrick sits down with Ricardo Tranjan to talk about his new book, The Tenant Class . Ricardo is a political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Previously, Tranjan managed Toronto's Poverty Reduction Strategy and his current research is on the political economy of social policy in Canada. Ricardo holds a PhD from the University of Waterloo, w...

WE'RE BACK! This time, our heroes talk about The Northwest Passage, another Rudy Wiebe novel ( A Discovery of Strangers ), and the meaning of the Canadian North. Your heroes haven't spoken face-to-face in a bit, so bear with the jokes please. --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); recommended reading ( https...

In which Patrick sits down with Jenny Kay Dupuis to talk about her new book, Heart Berry Bling . Jenny is an award-winning, best-selling author, educator, artist, and well-sought after public speaker who focuses on raising awareness about Indigenous realities through literature and art. Find  Heart Berry Bling  here or at your local bookstore! --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/histori...

In which Patrick sits down with acclaimed prairie poet Dennis Cooley to talk about his new work,  body works . Find the book here or at your local bookstore. --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); the recommended reading page ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/ ) --- Contact:   historiacanadiana...

In which we discuss Canada's seventh prime minister and first French-Canadian PM! We look at some caricatures that were made of the man and some of the major decisions that came up during his career! --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana ); Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana ); the recommended reading page ( https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com...

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Note: Patrick had to record in his kitchen, so there's a slight echo, but everything is clear . In which we talk about how the average person in Canada would have seen the Boer War in South Africa (hint: big questions were asked about why). We talk about a Robert Service poem and Stephen Leacock's famous Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town . --- Support: Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/historiaca...