The Skeptical Leftist Podcast

I talk with Matthew Remski about his new project Antifascist Dad and the work he has been doing on masculinity, parenting, and the rise of fascist politics. We get into the difference between liberal parenting and antifascist parenting, how family life becomes a political space, and how kids understand power in ways adults often miss. Matthew explains the two competing definitions of fascism, the...

For this episode of Solidarity Across Borders, Owen brings two stories from his week that highlight a recurring theme in political life. He spoke with a conservative teacher who works in an underfunded classroom and still blames parents instead of the system. He also talked with a liberal vegan who sees ethical clarity in individual choices but avoids examining the global forces shaping the food i...

Stafford Taylor joins me to talk about his path from homelessness to writing The Transcendence Manifesto . We get into life in Goa, lessons from community work, and what it means to build something better when the world keeps people isolated. Stafford’s links: https://www.youtube.com/@StaffordGrayman https://www.instagram.com/blueeyedphoenix1991/ https://www.facebook.com/stafford.taylor.18   https...

 We start by reflecting on criticism from a past discussion and what it says about how people hear and respond to political conversations. Then we talk about a stream Owen did with someone who says they’ve left the left and explore why anger and burnout push people toward reactionary thinking. The episode ends with a look at how solidarity can survive in a world that rewards outrage and division....

Graham Culbertson joins me to talk about anarchism as a lived practice, how people already cooperate without coercion, why authority rarely works the way we think it does, and what it means to resist systems of control in everyday life. We also get into the pressures of podcasting in an algorithmic world and how staying authentic can itself be an act of resistance. Guest: Graham Culbertson – https...

From Gaza to Ecuador, governments are cracking down while people fight back. Nick and I talk about global uprisings, the criminalization of protest, and why power always reacts the same way when ordinary people demand justice. We cover Gaza marches, Ecuador’s Indigenous protests, Assata Shakur’s legacy, media capture by billionaires, Apple’s censorship of an anti-ICE app, and the right’s obsession...

 Simon Enoch from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives joins me to talk about how neoliberalism reshaped Canadian policy and what privatization has done to public services. We cover the rise of corporate think tanks, the loss of economic democracy, and why evidence-based policy still matters. Links: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/ https://bsky.app/profile/simonenoch.bsky.social   https:/...

Cory Doctorow joins me to talk about Enshitification , his new book about the long decline of the internet. We go through how platforms start out good for users, turn on them once they’re locked in, and finally become unrecognizable corporate machines. Cory explains how this pattern connects to monopoly power, labor exploitation, and government capture, and why it’s not just a tech problem but a p...

Revolt, propaganda, and border control, in this episode we talk about uprisings in Nepal and Indonesia, Trump’s visa scams, digital IDs in the UK, propaganda around Charlie Kirk, AI pushing people into violence, and an economy rigged for the few. Sources https://people.com/charlie-kirk-martyr-allegedly-threatens-shoot-up-gay-bar-11813937 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/no-evide...

In this episode Owen Macdonald and I talk about capitalism’s gospel of greed. We start with AI’s effect on work, move into how exploitation underpins the global economy, and look at how Christian nationalism keeps people tied to an unjust system. We also discuss the hypocrisy of right-wing religion through Owen’s debate with a Trump supporter and the selective outrage over Charlie Kirk’s death. I&...

This week, Nick Girard joins me to dig into another week of manufactured emergencies and systemic collapse. From Trump’s military occupation of DC, to Romana Didulo’s arrest, to the slow-motion disaster of AI harms and ecological breakdown, it’s all crisis all the time. We also talk about capitalism’s state-capitalist mask slipping and the shifting views on socialism in the U.S. Nick is also sendi...

Drew Adamick walks me through what financial survival looks like when the system is built to exploit us. From RRSPs and pensions to credit traps and estate planning, we talk about how to navigate capitalism while still fighting to change it. Support Drew’s work: https://divergentfp.ca Find all my links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist

Kaytlin Bailey joins me to talk about the panic around sex work and pornography, how stigma shapes our culture, and why sexual freedom is always political. We dig into her work with Old Pros and the fight for decriminalization. Here are the links to follow Kaytlin and Old Pros https://oldprosonline.org/ https://www.instagram.com/oldprosonline/ https://x.com/oldprosonline https://linktr.ee/oldpros...

In this episode I dive into the rising tide of authoritarianism and the corporate overreach fueling it. From Canadian soldiers flashing Nazi salutes, to mass surveillance spreading across the UK, to Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard in Chicago — the pattern is clear. Add in YouTube secretly altering creators’ videos and scraping billions for AI training, and it’s obvious we’re living in...

Borders divide people and enforce cruelty. In this conversation with Owen McDonald, we look at how the far right exploits immigration panic, how liberals reinforce the same narratives, and how austerity and capitalism depend on scapegoating migrants. Owen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@owenmacdonald7428 • Owen on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/owenmacdonald.bsky.social Find all my links h...

Nick Girard came back on the show to talk about everything from Russian genocide rhetoric and Canadian arms exports to Gaza, to AI giving deadly advice, to workers fighting back against unpaid labor. It’s another week of capitalism’s most deranged stories, and why solidarity is the only way through. Nick’s work: In the Beginning Buy Nick’s book in Canada https://a.co/d/bbtJsT4 Buy Nick’s book in t...

 Democrats keep losing the narrative, and it’s costing them real political ground. I talk with writer Osita Nwanevu about why the party struggles to connect, what it would take to inspire voters, and how they could win people back by standing for something. Find Osita here: https://x.com/ositanwanevu   | https://bsky.app/profile/ositanwanevu.com   | ositanwanevu.com Support my work and find all my...

In this episode, I talk with Tori Glass about the rise of Christian fascism in the U.S., how evangelicals laid the groundwork for Trumpism decades ago, and how media manipulation, nationalism, and artificial scarcity all play a role in keeping people compliant. We also get into Canada’s role in this mess, some harsh truths about social media, and why it's not enough to gloat when people start...

Gaza is starving and the aid isn’t getting through. Trump wants to jail the unhoused and pretend it’s compassion. And some tech startup let an AI delete live code, then lied about it with fake test results. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist Follow AnComSciComm: https://twitter.com/AnComSciComm Sources:Israel -  Palestine https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israeli-gunshots-strikes-kill-at-le...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Eric, a blue-collar poet and Indigenous worker living just across the border in North Dakota. He opens up about what it means to struggle under a system that fails working people—from being denied healthcare to watching lawmakers vote against free school lunches. Eric reads his poem Tax Me More for Freedom and shares a heartfelt vision of a better world b...

What if Sam Harris is completely wrong about free will? In this episode, I talk with Damien Marie AtHope about why the hard determinist view doesn’t hold up, and why believing in change is not only possible but necessary. Damien shares his own story of transformation, breaks down the difference between biological pressures and actual control, and gives a crash course in emotional intelligence, axi...

ICE raids in LA are starting to look more like kidnappings, agents in masks, no ID, no accountability. We break down what’s really going on and how it fits into a system in decline. Also: Mamdani wins in NYC, Bezos’s wedding antics, and the WEF’s dystopian wishlist. Co-host: @ancomscicomm.bsky.social Support the show: linktr.ee/skepticalleftist Sources https://thenarwhal.ca/trouble-in-the-headwate...

Graphic artist and leftist content creator Lucretia McEvil joins me for a deep and honest conversation about escaping the corporate grind, building a media practice rooted in storytelling, and rediscovering revolutionary optimism in a system designed to crush it. We talk about what it means to sell your labor but not your soul, how office life shapes our thinking, and why mutual aid and media are...

City buses are hitting 40 °C, gig apps still want their cut, and cops keep buying shiny new toys. I connect the dots between a boiling planet, precarious work, and the prison-industrial cash machine—and ask what it’ll take to snap the circuit. Want the 35-minute after-show? Patrons get it: https://patreon.com/SkepticalLeftist   Links • socials: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist • Owen on YouTube:...

Atlantis wasn’t real—but that hasn’t stopped pseudoarchaeologists from using it to sell myths about lost civilizations and master races. In this episode, Damien Marie AtHope and Marquis join me to explore the true origins of the Atlantis story, the rise of hyperdiffusionism, and why so much of this fantasy is rooted in racism and bad history. Links: – Damien’s site: https://damienmarieathope.com/...