York University humanities professor Shama Rangwala joins us to dissect and discuss copaganda—everything from Adorno and Althusser to Brooklyn 99 and Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well as some examples from the local media and the local cops. And while we're bringing a critical and educational lens to this pod we need to be clear, this is a no-scold zone. You can still listen to this podcast and enjoy your shows. 

Alberta’s legislative assembly is back in session and the UCP’s brief break from scrutiny in the house is over. One file in particular they’re taking a beating on this week: their plan to scrap and replace Alberta’s school curriculum.

We have the originator of the term maplewashing, podcaster and Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage, on the pod to discuss the way politicians, corporations and the media sanitize and conceal Canada's violent, genocidal past and present by perpetuating the notion that Canada is somehow morally superior to other countries. 

One nice consequence of Jason Kenney losing the anti-masker constituency: at least now he doesn’t have any reason to keep appeasing them.

You could hear a touch of derision in his voice as he held an unusual ‘myth-busting’ variation of the usual COVID update on Monday. No, he said, COVID isn’t just in the cities, almost seeming to strain to not add you idiots at the end. No, he said, PCR tests actually work and are not a scam. No, it isn’t safe for young people to get COVID. Yes, there is an actual risk of ICUs being overwhelmed (as I’m writing this, there are only four available ICU beds in the entire province.)

You’ve seen the car, whether it’s in person or on the net. It’s hard to miss. The massive wheels, bright paint job, and the words “Free Palestine” in giant text on the side of it. It’s one of the most viral and talked about vehicles on Earth and so we tracked down Ayman Rayan, the creator of the “Free Palestine” car.

Enforcement against the anti-maskers seems to have finally kicked off, as over the past week several prominent figures in the movement have successfully taunted authorities into taking action. 

Two organizers of the Bowden ‘anti-lockdown’ rally, which drew hundreds the weekend of May 1, have been charged with breaking the Health Act. Chris Scott, the owner of the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror, was arrested after his latest anti-mask protest event, and many attendees were ticked. Down in Calgary, street preacher and far-right organizer Artur Pawlowski and his brother were arrested on Sunday.

Every day for the past 14 months independent journalist Nora Loreto has tallied up COVID deaths in residential care. We chat with Nora about her incredibly valuable but unpaid journalism, the long-term care disaster and the state of Canadian media. Don't miss it. 

Will the Alberta government bring in stricter pandemic measures today? That was the assurance of Premier Jason Kenney yesterday, in a long, rambling, confusing afternoon press conference.

Minnesota is often called the most Canadian state in the U.S. and given the fact a pipeline corporation is working closely with the police to arrest and harass their political opponents we're inclined to agree. Alleen Brown of the Intercept joins us to discuss how Alberta based pipeline corporation Enbridge is funding and supplying police in Minnesota in order to quash Indigenous-led resistance to the Line 3 pipeline.  

Marshall Smith, the chief of staff to Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan and a key architect of the “Alberta Model” of abstinence-only addictions treatment, reportedly forced people in recovery to phone bank for his political candidate of choice in one of his previous roles.