Blueprints of Disruption

We will remember this 5th of November. A bonus Rabble Rants for the Blueprints of Disruption audience in response to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. While some blame voters and activists, our hosts examine how the DNC is to blame and what the results mean for the movements we feature on the show. To be sure you don't miss another Rabble Rants, subscribe here. All of our content is free - made...

This installment of the TENANT POWER series features three members of the Ottawa Neighbourhood Organizing Centre (NOC) and their work supporting tenants in their fight against landlords, and of course, capitalism. The work of the NOC began in the most organic way. By going into their community and talking to as many people as possible. Listening to their neighbours and finding common ground. Overw...

The wealthy bought up the neighbourhood like their own personal game of Monopoly. Now they want to tear down some of the only affordable units in Ottawa - places where some of called home for 40 years. Demovictions, like renovictions are eating away at the bottom of the housing market, targeting low cost rentals and turning them into places most people can not afford. Even with new renoviction byl...

Support Systems Amid State Suppression with Dalia Awwad and Rachelle Friesen, both members of the Toronto Legal Support Committee. Toronto Police have escalated their harassment and surveillance of Palestinian solidarity activists across the City, with arrests nearing 100. Our guests provide firsthand accounts of the oppressive tactics being used and the impact they are having on individuals and t...

Journalist and human rights lawyer, Dimitri Lascaris on Lebanon, the resistance and bringing down an apartheid state. After returning from his fourth trip to Beirut in the past year, Lascaris describes the changes he's seen in Lebanon, laments on the depravity of our politicians and the need to reassert the right to armed resistance for the Palestinian people. All of our content is free - made pos...

Unverified: The Grind Uncovers New Lows in Canadian Media Journalist Dave Gray-Donald from the GrindTO spent months analyzing Canadian media reports and attempting to hold his follow journalists accountable for repeatedly printing unverified claims about October 7th, 2023. His piece, Global News and Postmedia Refuse to Correct Oct. 7 Falsehoods exposes some of the most horrific failures of our leg...

Decades of climate organizing hasn't really produced many victories to feed off of. Why? Climate Justice Toronto took a hard look at the environmentalist movement, studied Labour organizing models and decided to undertake a major shift in their work. One that focused on actually challenging points of power while building their own. Hear how they went from a class-based climate organization to one...

Harm reduction advocates have their work cut out for them in this current political climate that has Provincial governments targeting their services using dehumanization language and legislation. Ola Skudlarska, of the Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition helps myth bust some of the commonly used narratives to criminalize and displace people who use drugs. Safe consumption facilities have been the...

230 Fightback has been battling over a crucial piece of real estate in downtown Toronto for a very long time. A real estate investment company, Kingsett Capital is who owns the building, but their fight has been just as hampered by Toronto City Hall. Hear how the campaign persisted through organizational changes, set backs and discouragement from their own City Councilor. All of our content is fre...

Our hosts get personal with their lived experiences with ADHD. Its a very candid discussion on how ADHD impacts their lives, the accommodations that help them thrive and the politics behind preventing us from realizing more inclusive spaces for neurodivergent folks. The episode was largely left uncut to better demonstrate some of the very characteristics people associate with ADHD, but also to cha...

Hear a story of tenants forming a union to fight back against a slumlord, going on Rent Strike and winning! Bruno, an organizer with York-South Weston Tenants Union is back to share a victory from an unlikely place, the Ontario Landlord Tenant Board. We previously heard from Bruno on one of our favourite episodes, Blueprints of a Rent Strike . We don't just get the story - we get the blueprints of...

Canada's has deep ties to Haiti's current political dilemma, and deep pockets when it comes to meddling in their democracy. Since 2022, that is $300 million and counting. Teacher and writer Travis Ross, of the Canada-Haiti Information Project gets us up to speed on what is happening on the ground in Haiti right now and how we got there. It includes a foreign policy discussion, but also explains fr...

Alex Cosh , Managing Editor at The Maple joins us to talk about their work holding the powerful accountable. Their most recent story, ignored by Canadian media, is explosive, as it proves Trudeau has been lying about an arms embargo with Israel. There is lots to learn about the Canadian arms trade if we're going to shut it down. We also talk about the importance of finding the truth and exposing i...

Not only does Unicorn Riot put out impressive, badly needed content that covers our movements - but they do it using a decentralized, non-hierarchal model that we could all learn from. A model that frees their members, pulls in as many people as possible and gets a lot done with little resources. We get to talk to three members of Unicorn Riot about how they work with contributors from all over th...

Despite what they'll tell you, Scotiabank is feeling the heat from No Arms in the Arts, a coalition of cultural sector workers who have deftly weaponized the banks own PR machine to get them to divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers. Aliya Pabani from Canlit Responds and Michael DeForge of Writers Against the War on Gaza (W.A.W.O.G) talk about how they were able to turn Scotiabank's sponsorship...

Groups of White Nationalists took to the streets around the U.K. in a wave of racist, xenophobic violence in early August 2024. Although they attempted to capitalize on a tragedy to target mostly the Muslim Community, their numbers were small and the show of force against them daunting. Our hosts discuss the possibilities of this occurring in Canada, and what our response should be. ______________...

The City of Toronto evicted yet another encampment. When pressed for a reason, City Staff claimed it was at the behest of the organizers for Caribana. Marilyn Bell Park had been the home of several community members for the last year. Listen in as organizers with Voices for Unhoused Liberation tell that story and share what they're doing to fight back - not just against this latest eviction, but a...

Would a coalition, similar to what we saw in France, stop Pierre Poilievre in the next election? This is a scenario independent journalist, political analyst and author Jeremy Appel lays out in his recent piece for the Tyee. Jeremy joins host Jessa McLean to talk about the feasibility of a one-time political coalition to keep the Conservatives out of power, the need for electoral reform and the st...

Their name represents the fact we are the Last Generation with the ability to do something meaningful on climate change. We interviewed their two full time organizers, Laura Sullivan and Gillian Graham, and asked them about what they call their "recipe for civil resistance" and their calls for an international uprising. These determined climate activists provide practical advice for other organize...

Investigative journalist Martin Lukacs from The Breach discusses his investigations into Toronto Police's Project Resolute and the secretive committee in the Ontario Attorney General's office tasked with cracking down on Palestinian solidarity activism. A beefed up hate crimes unit is backed by a committee staffed with former Prosecutors who have openly declared their affinity for Israel and pench...

The University of Toronto student encampment, named the People's Circle for Palestine, dismantled their tents after an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered an injunction against them. Our hosts break down the ruling, what it means for other encampments and bring up lessons learned from the end of just "one tactic in the toolbox" of students demanding their institutions disclose and divest. _______...

Special Guest: Scott Martin With special guest Scott Martin, we unpack the criticism and backlash faced by activists who disrupt and protest against climate change. In this case its Just Stop Oil, orange cornstarch and Stonehenge, but this conversation applies to all that disrupt the status quo. The repetitive and disingenuous arguments used by politicians and media to discredit these actions just...

Virtue Signaling? Subtitle: Red Keffiyehs and White Supremacists Our hosts rant after a seemingly innocuous (yet viral) tweet of Jessa wearing a red keffiyeh triggered both zionists and white supremacists, who felt quite safe to air their anti-Arab racism, misogyny and affinity for violence. As they unpack the response, they discuss individualism and lack of understanding of solidarity among right...

An expert panel of activists and independent journalists talk media strategy when it comes to setting the narratives around our movements. We find out from organizers Fatima Saleh (Edmonton) and Anna Lippman (Toronto) what its been like responding to the ridiculous claims levelled at the Palestinian Solidarity movement, and what they've been doing to make sure our opponents don't decide the talkin...

Two special guests, Kim Crawley and Bothered Boy, join host Jessa McLean to talk about the mask bans being introduced in the United States, the attitudes here in Canada and the recent uptick in activists being charged for wearing COVID protective masks during direct actions. We keep us safe - wear a mask comrades. All of our content is free - made possible by the generous sponsorships of our Patro...