rabble radio

Joey "Shithead" Keithley is one of the founders of the legendary Vancouver punk band DOA.  For him punk music was a natural progression from the music of the hippies and the sounds of protests from the sixties.  Here he speaks with David Swanson about the evolution of punk, and the music of political activism. Doug Karr has been creating original independent films since 1997. Karr's credits includ...

Nova Scotia's potential fracking game changer. We get the scoop on the Northern Gateway pipeline ruling, supporting trans and queer prisoners, and a movie review. Pressure is building in many communities to stop hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" as a method to extract natural gas.  We will hear about a proposed law in Nova Scotia that could be a fracking game changer.  Hear the whole episode of "...

Ariel Sharon died on Saturday, January 11, 2014. When Ariel Sharon fell into a coma in 2006, rabble.ca's Redeye podcast spoke about Sharon's legacy with Palestinian-American journalist and co-founder of electronicintifada.net Ali Abunimah.

As 2013 was coming to an end the world saw the passing of South African revolutionary and president Nelson Mandela. During this, our last show of the year, we dedicate the show to reflections on the life and work of Mandela.  We are airing excerpts from a special episode of Amandla – a weekly African current affairs program produced in English and French on CKUT 90.3 in Montreal.  You can hear the...

Halloween is a time where we can, with good friends around, face some of our fears. In this episode we will hear some scary stuff. Don't worry though, we haven't forgotten the treat. We start with the terrifying world of water. Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and activist and an author.  Recently she launched the final installment of her trilogy on water, the...

Historian Howard Zinn once said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism.  In this episode we will hear from a number of dissenters.  First, sign of the times. We'll hear how a placard holding woman near parliament hill drew an unwelcome visit from the RCMP.  And, a group of folks in Regina, Saskatchewan are resisting private control over their water.  Then, an announcement of a different ki...

Dateline: Vancouver. 2011. The city's landscape and skyline is rapidly changing.  Height restrictions have been removed from Vancouver's historic Chinatown. This change is affecting, among other things, the Night Market., where Chinatown businesses and vendors take their work outdoors and sell their wares every weekend. Fast forward to 2013, and Vancouver's Night Market is 18 years old. It is the...

We hear from Onur Bakiner on the situation in Turkey, Chris Hedges on a pending revolution, Henry Giroux on social movements and youth, plus a comic book and the live in care giver program, and troubles with an important psychology book. The world watched this month as protestors in Turkey were met with extremely strong police crackdowns.  There were plenty of images of police brutality, but not a...

We began with an excerpt of an interview with Judy Rebick about Dr. Henry Morgentaler and the impact he had on her and on the pro-choice movement. Franke James is an artist.  Her art often focuses on environmental issues, including her concerns about the Tar Sands.  Her work got to the attention of the Harper government who pulled her tour funding.  We hear her story. It has still got a way to go,...

The hockey playoffs are here and that means it is serious hockey time for a lot of fans across Canada.  This episode, we skate past the hockey headlines and instead hear about a women's league in Toronto. Putting a microscope on this question: do you have to be a scientist to do science?  Citizen scientists don't think so. If you filed your taxes on time, you'll have time to think about this:  A n...

First we turn to a journey –  the journey of Nishiyuu.  Aboriginal youth recently trekked over 1,500 kilometers on foot through extreme conditions to promote solidarity and action around the issues facing indigenous peoples. We hear words from Isaac Kawapit also known as the "The White Wizard" and an interview by Lorraine Chisholm from RedEye Radio with Matthew Mukash. So, are you a feminist? What...

More than 20 years ago the Tsilhqot'in Nation used blockades and court action to halt plans for clear-cut logging in the heart of their territories. B.C. Justice David Vickers ruled on that case in 2007. His ruling had widespread implications for future consultation, land title, and compensation in land claims cases across Canada. The federal government did not agree with the ruling, and appealed...

Judy Rebick is a long-time activist, writer, broadcaster and founding publisher of rabble.ca. Not only has she been part of social movements for years, she has written and taught extensively on the topic. She's been an avid participant and analyst of the Idle No More movement in Canada. And she recently joined rabble.ca editor Derrick O'Keefe, who hosts a program called W2 Media Mornings on Coop R...

Clayton Thomas-Muller and Keira-Dawn Kolson on climate change and climate justice, Joanne Dallaire discusses Attawapiskat, and Deb Singh on resisting violence against women. Please support  rabble.ca  during our donation drive!  You can support right here! Idle No More. That's the slogan under which Aboriginal groups across Canada are rallying for social justice and indigenous sovereignity. As tho...

Ali Abunimah is a journalist and the founder of the electronic intifada. That's an independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine, its people, politics, culture and its place in the world. In the days after the recent ceasefire in Gaza,  he joined  rabble.ca' s Redeye  podcast to share his viewpoint on the conflict and the ceasefire. Host Mordecai Briemberg bega...

On September 29th, Omar Khadr was brought back to Canada from the U.S. military prison where he'd been held for a decade. A new book of writing called Omar Khadr, Oh Canada examines his story and the political and legal issues it reveals. Ten days before Khadr's return, contributors to the book held a launch in Vancouver. They debated and discussed the importance of Khadr's story, and what it mean...

June is pride month and while Pride Celebrations have become a party in lots of places,  the event got its start in June of 1969, when queens and dykes at New York's stonewall tavern had finally had enough of police harassment and started to riot. Well, a new book celebrates another piece of queer activism, this time in Canada's heartland. The Loud and Queer Cabaret  is an annual event that has be...

Happy May Day. Across Canada and the world social justice and progressive activists are readying themselves to celebrate solidarity in art, music, words, ideas, and actions. Over the last year or so, the Occupy movement has been one of the largest and most visible actions for solidarity across the globe. In this episode of rabble radio, we thought we'd bring together art and activism by turning th...

The Conservative Party of Canada is denying that it knew about a scheme to misdirect voters to non-existent polling stations in the last election. Here's one of the so-called robocalls, misdirecting voters to non-existent polling stations. Dave  Hudson lives in Guelph, and he received that call the morning of election day.  He quickly realized that something was amiss, and recorded the call. That...

We'll start with our newest columnist. Thomas Ponniah is an affiliate of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. In his first audio column for rabble radio, he takes us on a journey from war into love. If you're a person who spends time online, you've almost certainly thought about the possibility of cyberattacks. But creating fear of cyber attacks may just s...

2011 has been a very eventful year for activists, community organizers, and progressives. First we had the Arab Spring, Canada's NDP leader Jack Layton died after a long battle with cancer, then the Occupy movement grew into a global phenomenon. Japan faced an earthquake, tsunami, and a disabled and damaged nuclear plant. Abousfian Abdelrazik was finally taken off the United Nations list of terror...

Before we start these notes, a reminder: rabble.ca is kicking off our fundraising drive this month and so I'd like to issue you a little challenge. We know that most of you listeners consume all kinds of media — mainstream and independent. What rabble.ca wants you to do this year is match your spending on mainstream media: newspapers, cable, whatever you get, and send that amount rabble.ca's way....

In this episode, intrepid rabble reporters talk to the people who chose to #occupy. Michael Stewart heads to Vancouver, while Matthew Adams and Meagan Perry take on Toronto. 

This month marked the 10-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City. The event, and the wars that followed have affected lives around the world. In this episode of rabble radio, an interview about how the effects of 9/11 have been felt by Muslim women. As part of Aboriginal awareness week, Clifton Nicholas speaks about the portrayal of aboriginal peop...

On August 22, 2011, Jack Layton tragically died of cancer. His friends, family, and compatriots remember his courage. In his final words released in a letter penned two days before his death, he reminded us all of the values he held dear. He wrote, "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'...