Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

What is Canadian content? And why does it matter? The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission has been hearing very different answers to that question — as they try to come up with new CanCon rules. Jesse Wente, Vass Bednar and Anthony Q Farrell join Elamin to talk about why getting CanCon right has never been more important. 

For almost 20 years, NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts have given the internet a chance to see some of the biggest artists and promising upcoming talents in an incredibly intimate, live setting that has made for unforgettable moments. At the same time, the series has become a crucial and trusted hub for Black pop music. At the inaugural Departures festival in Toronto, Elamin sat down with Bobby Carter, the...

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by Vulture’s Alison Willmore, Inverse’s Hoai-Tran Bui and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival’s Aram Siu Wai Collier for a group chat about Karate Kid: Legends, and what they're most excited to see in theatres this summer.

Ms. Rachel is one of the biggest children's entertainers right now, and she's been using her social media to talk about how the Israel-Hamas war has affected children. Elamin chats with Jael Richardson and Kathryn VanArendonk about the reaction and criticism Ms. Rachel is getting for wading into conflict and tragedy. 

‘Forever’ is a new Netflix tv series that reimagines Judy Blume’s controversial YA book of the same name, through the lens of the contemporary Black teen experience. Guest host Radheyan Simonpillai is joined by culture critics Kathleen Newman-Bremang and David Dennis Jr. to discuss the new series and its approach to the teen drama genre. Plus, with the second season of HBO’s hit zombie drama...

So many TV shows and movies mine the dramatic potential of those first few days on campus where new students get to re-invent themselves. But despite everything that’s come before it, Benito Skinner’s new show, 'Overcompensating,' treads new ground. Chris Murphy and Jackson Weaver join guest host Rad Simponpillai to talk about why it’s so refreshing. Plus, ‘0-60 Driving Academy’ is a new series th...

Elamin is joined by Leander Schaerlaeckens and Richard Sutcliffe to talk about the new season of Welcome to Wrexham, a docu-series about Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a Welsh football team. Plus, over the course of the past decade, Andy Shauf has emerged as one of Canada's most respected singer-songwriters with multiple Juno nominations and fans like Wilco's Jeff Twe...

For this Friday’s Group Chat, culture critics Teri Hart, Eli Glasner and Rebecca Jennings join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to get into the latest, and possibly final, instalment of Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' franchise. Plus, American newspapers publish AI-generated summer reading lists with books that don't exist.

Elamin is joined by Refinery29 journalist Taryn Finley, who lays out what has happened at music mogul Sean Combs' trial in New York. Plus, film critics Jackson Weaver and Adrian Horton weigh in on A24’s new Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd buddy comedy Friendship, and how it subverts traditional depictions of male companionship on screen.

Elamin is joined by Jeevan Sangha and Joyita Sengupta to discuss the second season of the acclaimed dramedy series ‘Late Bloomer’ — and why season two of this look at the Sikh-Canadian millennial experience is being called its best season yet. Plus, Gloria Malone joins to talk about the release of ‘La Bellaza,’ the new album from Polaris Music Prize winner Lido Pimienta. 

The world’s most prestigious film festival is on right now, and the headlines coming from Cannes include the muted response to the new Mission Impossible movie, and reaction to the new red carpet rules. Film critics Barry Hertz and Rad Simonpillai chat with Elamin Abdelmahmoud about the big stories at Cannes this year.  Plus, the standout stories from Eurovision with Karen Fricker, who talks...

The phrase 'girl power' was coined by Bikini Kill in the early 1990s, but its meaning was watered down later in the decade when angry radical women in music were followed by younger, less opinionated pop stars. Sophie Gilbert dives into 1990s and 2000s pop culture in her new book, Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, to figure out what happened.

Music writers Carl Wilson, Andrea Williams and Sarah Boesveld discuss Morgan Wallen's new album 'I'm The Problem,' Maren Morris’s pivot to pop on 'Dreamsicle' and Lana Del Rey’s honky-tonk makeover.

Romance author Emily Henry is back with one of the most anticipated novels of 2025, and it’s already topping bestseller lists. Elamin speaks with two culture critics, CT Jones and Alicia Foshay, about her latest book 'Great Big Beautiful Life,' and what makes her writing so popular. Plus, Indigenous Studies professor and Winnipeg Press columnist Niigaan James Sinclair discusses the Hudson Bay Comp...

With the Disney+ series ‘Andor’ coming to an end, Elamin is joined by critics Lyvie Scott and Radheyan Simonpillai to discuss the show and why it’s being called the best installment in the Star Wars franchise to date. Plus, culture writer Tabby Kibugi fell in love with K-pop, growing up in Kenya in the 2000s. She chats with Elamin about why two decades later, she decided to step away as a fan afte...

Elamin is joined by culture critics Matt Amha and Joyita Sengupta to look at the rise of 6ixBuzzTV. The popular and controversial Instagram account played a big role during the federal election. Commotion unpacks 6ixBuzzTV's growing relevance in the Canadian media landscape. Plus, Tristan Grant, aka the rapper Wolf Castle, has founded the first Indigenous music label in Atlantic Canada. He joins E...

Last Friday. Montreal indie-rock collective Arcade Fire released ‘Pink Elephant,’ their first album since bandleader Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in 2022. Music journalist Maura Johnston and Montreal Gazette reporter T’Cha Dunlevy discuss how their relationship with the band’s music has changed in recent years, and how the band’s new record is being received by fan...

Culture writer Ellen O’Connell Whittet, film critic Angelo Muredda, and CBC reporter Jackson Weaver discuss how this week's papal conclave played out on social media; the inexplicable popularity of 'Italian brain rot' content among young internet users; and the latest developments in the story surrounding the outfit BLACKPINK singer Lisa was wearing at the Met Gala.  

Bella Ramsey is weighing in on the debate over gendered categories at awards shows – arguing women need their own category, separate from men. But the Last of Us star, who identifies as non-binary, says there’s still a lot of work required to figure out how to make actors like them feel valued and comfortable, if they don’t neatly fit in a gender-specific category. Mel Woods joins guest host...

Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet and essayist, has just won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his writing in The New Yorker . Here's our conversation taped in April 2024. Elamin spoke with Mosab Abu Toha - whose home in Gaza was destroyed - about how he and other artists are able to keep creating in the face of destruction.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100 per cent tariff on films produced outside of the U.S. And despite Trump saying later he would consult the film industry before making any moves, there’s still a lot of uncertainty in Hollywood North. Elamin chats with Kate Ziegler, the president of ACTRA Toronto and Miles Dale, a film producer who won an Oscar for ‘The Shape of Wa...

The annual Met Gala isn’t just about who’s wearing what, it’s when fashion truly becomes art. This year’s theme is a celebration of Black fashion and style – inspired by professor Monica L. Miller’s book 'Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.' The morning after, Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks with J Wortham and Tyler Foggatt about some of the best...

Vancouver’s own Nathan Fielder is making some of the most original, tender and absurd comedy on TV. Amil Niazi, Angelo Muredda and Adam Nayman join Elamin to talk about season two of 'The Rehearsal.'

Culture writer Niko Stratis, rapper/author Rollie Pemberton and music journalist Emilie Hanskamp join the group chat to discuss the new album from high-energy Toronto punks PUP, the renewed cultural relevancy of early 2000s Canadian pop-punk, and the Mark Carney/Down With Webster viral moment.

Elamin is joined by Sarah Kurchak and Glenn Sumi to discuss the popular Netflix series ‘Love On The Spectrum’ and what it can tell us about mainstream television’s perceptions of autistic people. Plus, Down With Webster played the Liberals’ victory party on Monday night, and as it turns out, Mark Carney’s a genuinely big fan of the rap-rock band. Elamin talks with band member Tyler Armes about fre...