Below the Radar

Rabia Khedr, an activist, consultant, former Human Rights Commissioner and motivational speaker who ‘wears many hijabs,’ joins Al Etmanski for this Power of Disability conversation. They discuss Rabia’s advocacy and policy work within the disability community and the Muslim community; bringing a disability benefit, or basic income, to Canada; as well as the vital importance of having people disabl...

Glenn Alteen is a writer, curator, and co-founder of grunt gallery. Having retired after 36 years in May 2020, Glenn joins host Am Johal to talk about his tenure as Program Director of grunt gallery, and his work on The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency. In this interview, Glenn recalls the process of founding grunt gallery in 1984, and the dynamic programming of the gallery. He discusses the f...

Non-visual artist Carmen Papalia speaks with Al Etmanski about the rampancy of ableism across institutions — from the art world to healthcare, to the symbol of the white cane. Carmen and Al discuss how institutions can be sites of retraumatization that can often overlook and underappreciate variations in ability. Carmen also explores some key ideas central to disability justice, provides some sugg...

Theorist and author Asad Haider joins Below the Radar to discuss questions he explores in his book, "Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump." Asad discusses how class dynamics cannot be separated from identity-driven movements. As well, he explores ideas of political exhaustion in the tradition of political theorists such as Sylvain Lazarus and Alain Badiou. In this interview, Asad...

Lifelong activist and wheelchair user Judy Heumann joins Al Etmanski for this instalment of The Power of Disability. Judy is a powerful advocate in the disability movement both in the US and globally. She and Al talk about her long history of fighting for the rights of disabled people, a part of which is featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. Judy shares s...

Blackfoot and Sámi writer, actor, producer and director, Elle–Máijá Tailfeathers joins host Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar to talk about her latest film Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy. Together they discussed how Tailfeathers created the feature documentary film, which takes place in her community of Kainai First Nation in Southern Alberta, and look at the impacts of the d...

Al Etmanski interviews Victoria Maxwell, the Bipolar Princess. They discuss the role of art and creativity in the process of change, the dramatic increase in antidepressant prescriptions and the fact that depression is the number one source of disability in the world today. They also speak to the need for universal mental health care. Victoria explains why we need to shift from recovery as a possi...

SFU Mathematics professor Caroline Colijn joins host Am Johal to talk about the role of data modelling in the response to COVID-19. Caroline holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Infection, Evolution and Public Health, and works at the intersection of mathematics and public health, with a particular focus on the spread and evolution of infectious diseases. She has been working alo...

Longtime community organizer and social entrepreneur Al Etmanski talks to Am Johal about where the movement for disability justice is headed — with lived experience leading the way. Al speaks to the urgent need for a basic income for people with disabilities, and how to build up a grassroots political movement to advance social change. Al Etmanski is also the host of an upcoming series of Below th...

Barbara Steenbergen from the International Union of Tenants, European Union office, joins Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar. Together they discuss the role of the tenant unions in Europe as well as their advances in housing policies and protecting tenant rights. Barbara talks about the European housing context, and how tenant social movements in Europe led to the establishment of tenant...

Am Johal is joined by Ethọ́s Lab founder Anthonia Ogundele on this episode of Below the Radar. Anthonia shares about her career in emergency management and sustainability and the origins of Ethọ́s Lab. Anthonia also discusses the inequalities of the education system with respect to STEAM and innovation programs, and the importance of centering the Black experience when creating spaces for youth. E...

Below the Radar invites Harsha Walia to discuss migrant justice, movement practices, and the underlying forces that govern oppressive border practices on a global scale. She is in conversation with host Am Johal about her recently released book, Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (Fernwood Publishing, 2021). In this episode, they discuss Harsha’s inte...

Below the Radar has partnered with the Or Galley to bring you recordings of the Gas Imaginary Conversations series. This is the second of two talks from The Gas Imaginary, presented by the Or Gallery. This event was recorded virtually on Dec. 5, 2020. In this panel, Rachel O’Reilly, Tania Willard and Kanahus Manuel—with moderation by Denise Ryner—discuss the ongoing challenges of asserting land ri...

Claire Williams speaks to the potential of direct cash transfers to help lift people out of poverty. A co-founder and CEO of Foundations for Social Change, Claire joins Am Johal on Below the Radar to share results from the New Leaf Project, a pilot initiative exploring the impact of direct cash transfers on the lives of people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver. Claire and Am talk about issues...

On this episode of Below the Radar, Am Johal is joined by Roxanne Panchasi from SFU’s History Department and Brit Bachmann from UNIT/PITT. Together they discuss their latest collaboration, La Commune 2021, a free online school commemorating the 150 anniversary of the Paris Commune. Roxanne and Brit share how the idea of La Commune 2021 came about. They talk about the historical importance of the P...

With the onset of the pandemic came a pressing need to bring health science information to the public, and fast. SFU researcher Alice Fleerackers joins Below the Radar to discuss the uptake of pre-print, or un-peer reviewed research by news media in the age of COVID-19. She speaks to host Melissa Roach about a recent study she has co-authored that analyzes how media communicate uncertainty in COVI...

Below the Radar has partnered with the Or Galley to bring you recordings of the Gas Imaginary Conversations series. In this first of two talks, Rachel O’Reilly is in conversation with Denise Ferreira da Silva. This event was presented by the Or Gallery and recorded virtually on Nov. 26, 2020. Rachel O’Reilly and Denise Ferreira da Silva have had long-standing exchanges on the many concepts and ref...

SFU librarian Heather De Forest joins our host Am Johal to discuss the Community Scholars Program, a project that provides staff of charitable and non-profit organizations in BC with access to academic research and knowledge. They discuss Heather’s work with the Community Scholars Program and go in-depth about the collective power of academic libraries within the open access movement. Full episode...

Author and educator David Chang of SFU’s Faculty of Education joins Am Johal for a conversation about what it means to live an ethical life during the Anthropocene — an epoch marked by the monumental environmental impact of human activity. David is co-editor of a recently published collection of scholarly and creative essays, A Book of Ecological Virtues: Living Well in the Anthropocene. He and Am...

Russell Wallace is a traditional Líl'wat singer, composer, and producer from Mount Currie. He has been singing and making music his whole life. He talks with host Am Johal about his musical roots — singing traditional songs for his community and beyond, alongside his mother and siblings, as the performance group Tzo’Kam. They discuss Tzo’Kam’s longstanding collaborative relationship with the Japan...

Below the Radar speaks to some of the artists behind New Red Order, a public secret society that invites people to transform their complicity in Indigenous appropriation and performing Indigeneity into support for Indigenous futures and land sovereignty. Am Johal is in conversation with Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil, and Jackson Polys about the formation of, and impetus behind, New Red Order — and how...

Charmaine Lyn joins Below the Radar to share learnings from her career in making social change from within post-secondary institutions. Charmaine is the Director of Changemaker Education for Ashoka Canada and works with different changemaker campuses across the country to advance changemaking for social justice in our institutions and communities through community engagement and reciprocal partner...

SFU Urban Studies professor Anthony Perl joins host Am Johal in conversation about urban mobility and the policy challenges and opportunities that shape the way people move through Canada’s largest urban centres: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. They discuss findings from Anthony’s new book, Big Moves: Global Agendas, Local Aspirations, and Urban Mobility in Canada, co-authored with Matt Hern and...

Host Am Johal catches up with author, activist, voice actor and Juno-nominated comedian Charlie Demers about his pandemic year, and how he reads this turbulent moment in politics. They talk about everything from the life of civil rights figure Jack O’Dell, to a strange year for stand-up comedy, to Charlie’s studies in theology. In the episode, Charlie and Am think through some of the mechanisms of...

BC’s Attorney General and Minister of Housing David Eby joins Am Johal for this episode of Below the Radar, discussing policy solutions to BC’s housing crisis — from protecting tenants’ rights and serving those who are under-housed to curbing speculation and quashing renovictions, to addressing issues of supply and an aging rental stock. David also looks back on getting his start as a lawyer and h...