Below the Radar

Welcome to the fourth episode of our Below the Radar Conversations Series. Today we talk with Meaghan Thumath, a clinical scientist at the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity and clinical associate professor at UBC’s School of Nursing. With our host Am Johal, she discusses her previous international work studying and combatting pandemics and how this has informed her current understandings...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Michael Byers, an author and professor of Political Science at UBC, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law. He is also the co-director of the Outer Space Institute, a transdisciplinary international network for space studies. Michael’s work focuses on international law, climate change, the...

In this episode of our Below the Radar Conversations series we speak with ICU physician and writer Dr. Kevin Patterson about what he has learned working in the front lines during COVID-19. He chats with Am Johal about planning for a second wave, what we can learn from past pandemics, the relationship between this outbreak and climate change, and how we can improve our local healthcare systems here...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Tara Mahoney, the Research and Engagement Coordinator of SFU’s Community-Engaged Research initiative team (CERi). Tara holds a PhD from SFU’s School of Communications, is also a research fellow in climate change communications at the David Suzuki Foundation and is the creative director of Gen Why Media. She sits down with Am to tal...

This episode of Below the Radar features two members of SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative, or CERi: co-director Stuart Poyntz and program manager Joanna Habdank. Both Stuart and Joanna bring their own experiences and expertise to CERi with hopes to create more opportunities for research that is respectful, ethical, and collaborates with community members. They discuss with host Am Johal...

This is the second edition of our Below the Radar Conversations. In this episode, Am Johal speaks with Paul Rogers on COVID-19 and how it impacts geopolitics and climate change. Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/pandemic-conversations/46-paul-rogers.html Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engage...

On this episode of Below the Radar, we welcome psychoanalyst Hilda Fernandez and clinical counsellor Fernanda Selayzin Souza who practice in Vancouver. Both Hilda and Fernanda dive into a discussion around urban intimacy and the good life, including how technology impacts intimacy and relationships, the potential mainstreaming of polyamory, and the differences across generations and cultures that...

In this first episode of our Below the Radar conversations series, we hear from Dr. Kelley Lee, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance at Simon Fraser University. In this conversation, she chats with Am Johal about the World Health Organization and COVID-19. Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/pandemic-conversations...

On this episode of Below the Radar, we are joined by SFU President, Andrew Petter. For 10 years, Andrew has led SFU in becoming Canada’s Engaged University. Prior to that, Andrew had extensive teaching experience as a faculty member at the University of Victoria as well as serving the province as an MLA with a variety of cabinet portfolios during his time in office. Am Johal talks to Andrew about...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Barbara Adler, interdisciplinary artist, programmer and SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts’ Professional Development Coordinator. Barbara’s artistic work has been presented at The Vancouver Folk Festival, Ballet BC, the Vienna Literature Festival and many more. She currently produces the weekly performance series Sawdust Collector,...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Scott Bernstein, the Director of Policy at Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, a project based at the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU. He has also done work with Pivot Legal Society in Vancouver and internationally with Open Society Foundations in New York. Together, Am and Scott talk about his work involving harm reduction, decrimin...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal sits down with John Walker, an award-winning Canadian filmmaker widely known for his documentary films, such as Québec My Country Mon Pays (2016) and Arctic Defenders (2013). He is also one of the co-founders of the Documentary Organization of Canada. In this conversation, John talks about his latest film, Assholes: A Theory. The film is based...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal sits down with Svitlana Matviyenko, an Assistant Professor of Critical Media Analysis at SFU’s School of Communication. Her work and research focuses around topics such as political economy of information, digital militarism, social and mobile media, infrastructure studies, history of science, cybernetics and psychoanalysis. In this conversatio...

On this episode of Below the Radar, Am Johal sits down with Ebony Magnus, the head of the Belzberg Library at SFU Vancouver. Ebony came into the role during SFU Vancouver’s 30th Anniversary and has a focus on community involvement for this branch, both within the university and with the wider community. Together, they discuss some core questions related to libraries, including equal access to tech...

Glen Coulthard is Yellowknives Dene and is an associate professor in the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. He is also the author of the acclaimed book Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition from University of Minnesota Press. On this special episode live from the Vancouver Podca...

In Vancouver, discussions surrounding arts and culture are imperative, especially in relation to continued efforts towards decolonization. Indigenous Arts and Culture Planner for the City of Vancouver Kamala Todd tackles this topic with her work, including her contributions to the new cultural plan: Culture | Shift: Blanketing the city in arts and culture. Kamala previously worked as the Aborigina...

When it comes to making decisions about how things happen in our cities, who has the power to make those decisions? Tiffany Muller Myrdahl, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Urban Studies Program, asks this question along with a host of others in her work and research. From her work with Women Transforming Cities to teaching in the classroom, Tif...

The question of ethics should always be front and centre when it comes to doing research of any kind. For Scott Neufeld and Nicolas Crier, they aim to take this question even further. In collaboration with other folks in the Downtown Eastside and Hives for Humanity, they co-authored Research 101: A Manifesto for Ethical Research in the Downtown Eastside to help facilitate a wider conversation on e...

How well do you know the local music scene in Vancouver? On this episode of Below the Radar, we sit down with Jarrett Martineau, a figure who is very well acquainted with the music scene both locally and abroad. On a local level, Jarrett works as the Music Planner for the City of Vancouver, where he works hard to support the Vancouver music scene and all aspects within that. He is also the host of...

When it comes to understanding the world around us, we can look and observe change with our eyes. But what about using our ears to listen to the ways in which our environments change? This is the type of work that Milena Droumeva and Brett Ashleigh do. Milena is an assistant professor of sound studies and Brett is a PhD student. Both of them work and research at SFU’s School of Communication, whic...

In August of 2019, The Binners' Project faced a new change. After 5 years, co-founder Anna Godefroy stepped back and The Binners' Project welcomed Landon Hoyt as their new director. As a follow up to one of the first episodes of Below the Radar, we welcomed Anna back to the studio for a conversation with Landon and our host, Am Johal. Together, we talk about the ways in which The Binners' Project...

On this episode, our Program Assistant Paige Smith sits down with Teresa MacInnes, one of the directors behind the documentary Conviction. Conviction is a powerful documentary that gives an inside look into what life is like for women in a provincial and federal prison in Nova Scotia. This film asks the women what they would have needed to prevent them from getting into prison. The result of this...

In this episode, the founder of the Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Joleen Mitton sits down with host Am Johal to discuss how and why she started the fashion show. They touch upon Joleen’s experiences as a teenage model and Indigenous youth mentor, along with her previous collaborations with critically acclaimed Indigenous artist Beau Dick. This year's Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week runs from...

On this episode of Below the Radar, our Communications Coordinator Rachel Wong sits down with Maria Cecilia Saba to talk about Andean horror films. Maria Cecilia currently is the Teen Programs Coordinator at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, but previously she worked as the Interim Program Coordinator for our office. We talk to Maria Cecilia about what got her interested in researching two Pe...

Seth Klein, adjunct professor at SFU Urban Studies, and former Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in BC, sits down with Below the Radar to discuss what the Canadian government can do to combat the climate emergency. Seth discusses the proposed environmental policies of the major political parties running in the upcoming federal elections. Additionally, he chats about his forth...