Big Shiny Takes

The Big Shiny Takes Institute is back with a great episode with the incredible Aaron Giovannone. We read a lot of terrible columns, but we rarely get to take a deep dive into the psyche of one of the country's more established columnists. Aaron brought an essay Rosie Dimanno wrote in the late 90's about growing up in Little Italy in Toronto. We go into it, and talk about the points she fixates on, and the points she may have missed. This is a super fun episode and you shouldn't miss it! Plugs and RecsThe Breach - Aaron Giovannone - Leonard Cohen, Cold War Troubadour Green Majority Radio - The Substance and Spectacle of Climate TalksCBC - WE Charity misled donors about building schools in Kenya, records showKino Lefter - Mayor Pete: Liberal ASMR with Alex from Haus of DeclineBig Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

This week we've got Rob Rousseau (@robrousseau) on the show to talk about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after taking a detour through volunteer scabs, Calgary Herald ace Licia Corbella and who Rob thinks will take home the gold in our Worst Pundit contest. Former British soldier David Mack writes in the Globe and Mail that the U.S. must stay in Afghanistan for at least another 20-30 years, crying crocodile tears for all the Afghans who will now be under Taliban rule. We've let down Afghans, he says, ignoring completely everything that's happened in the past 50 years that contributed to the Taliban's rise. If you'd like to hear part two, where we discuss automation by way of a piece in Rob's hometown paper and decide which is worse, sign up for our Patreon to have it in your feed next week. Plugs and RecsMarino joins Haus of DeclineThe Rob Rousseau ShowEduardo Galeano: Open Veins of Latin AmericaJeremy: Can Systemic Racism In Policing Be Fixed?Kim Stanley Robinson: a climate plan for a world in flamesImperial Newz on Twitch Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!  If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Erica Ifill (@wickdchiq) of the Bad + Bitchy podcast joins us to talk about ex-CBC host Wendy Mesley's woe-is-me shtick in the Globe and Mail after she got canned for getting caught saying the n-word repeatedly over two years. How many times over her 40-year career did she say it without getting caught?Melsey argues that firing her alone won't solve systemic racism at our state broadcaster. True, but it's not like it would it would hurt either.  To hear part two, where we talk about dog shampoo enthusiast Jon Kay, sign up for our Patreon to have it in your feed next week.  Plugs and RecsBad + BitchyBarney Ronay: England the country — not the football team — needs to take a look at itselfErin Anderssen: Can racism cause schizophrenia? Jeremy interviews the PMJaclynn Ashly: The Canadian Mining Company Dominicans Call 'Worse Than Columbus'Kevin Metcalf: I Was Fired For Criticizing Israel. Now I Dig Holes For A Living Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!  If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

We're back for hopefully the last time reading one of Rex Murphy's ramblings. Literally the day after a Muslim family was murdered by a white supremacist, Rex is here to tell us about the real scourge of our time — anti-white racism.  While he denied last year that there was systemic racism in Canada, he appears to have changed his mind. We also talk about Postmedia's role in fomenting the hatred that continuously leads to Islamophobic murder.Plugs and RecsFrank Magazine - Portapique 911 calls reveal what RCMP knewRobert Hiltz - Frank Magazine Was Right To Publish Portapique 911 CallsAbeer Khan - Racist jokes, fear of my hijab being ripped: As a young Muslim, I know Islamophobia in Canada is nothing new Jeremy - Are Calgary police favouring some protests over others? Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!   If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Canadian media does a lot of things poorly. Its cowardice when it comes to talking about Palestine is right at the top of the list. We’re joined by our Palestinian friend Hammam Farah (@HumHum83) and our Israeli friend Eytan Tobin (@RabbiDieHardman) to talk about how Israel, like Canada, is a fake ass genocidal settler state.For those who haven’t been paying attention, Israel attacked Gaza recently, killing about 250 people, including dozens of children, after provoking violence at al-Aqsa Mosque. This time something feels different. People are actually taking Palestinian perspectives seriously.But over at Postmedia, of course, it’s business as usual. We talk about two Sun columns that regurgitate the usual Hasbara talking points about how Israel is never wrong and you’re all a bunch of anti-Semites.It is our hope that "it's complicated" begins to be seen as an unnacceptable response for news organizations that are supposed to be informing the population about what is going on in the world. Plugs and RecsBDS Movement Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief FundDonate to UNRWAPetition for Javier DavilaOff CourtDrum Circle JerkThe Onion - AP fires journalist at Palestinian civilians Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content! If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Abdul Malik (@socialistraptor) makes his triumphant return to the Big Shiny Takes Institute to talk about two simpletons writing in newspapers to let the public know that diversity is bad, actually.One columnist is Intellectual Dark Web C-lister, furry enthusiast and Jon Kay podcast co-host Dr. Debra Soh, who's writing in the Globe and Mail to warn us of white genocide, coming to a university campus near you. The other is Lawrie Macfarlane in the  Victoria Times-Colonist. We're not sure he actually exists, but if he does, man is he stupid. Macfarlane is very concerned  Throughout it, we also name doctors, both real and fake, like Soh. Plugs and Rec(ommendation)sOff CourtThe Hoser: Why We WriteJames Harkin - Sign of the Times: Caliphate and the perils of reporting onlineTaylor Lambert - The Human Cost of Climate ChangeBig Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content! If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

The Big Shiny Guests keep on coming. This time we’ve got famed musician, podcaster and poster Dan Boeckner, joining us to talk about a little country called China, specifically Canadian pundits’ obsession with it.First up is a piece in the Globe and Mail from Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, who’s very not mad about China sanctioning him.Next up is J. Cole, not that rapper, unfortunately, but a Macdonald-Laurier Institute spook who writes about China like it’s his ex-wife trying to get full custody of the kids. Plugs and Rec(ommendations)Support Dan Boeckner:Operators The BottlemenJeremy: The definitive guide to W. Brett Wilson’s orphan wellsJohn Boyko: Canada is making the same mistakes in Yemen that it did in VietnamVicky Mochama: Goodbye to Prince Phillip, Insult ComicBig Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon! If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

PULL THE EMERGENCY BRAKE, IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER EPISODE OF BIG SHINY TAKES!  Marino, Eric and Jeremy are joined by the great Nora Loreto to review columns by two incredibly talentless hacks: Konrad Yakabuski and Kelly McParland. Yakabuski covers Quebec in a completely addled column which is both infuriating and disorienting. He manages to jam in references to Mordecai Richler, Matt Green, Amir Attaran, The University of Ottawa, The Bosnian War, and a specific word that he seems particularly annoyed about not being allowed to say, but he doesn't seem to know what point he's trying to make in this column. It's truly terrible and possibly the only memorable thing Konrad has ever managed to do in his whole life.  Meanwhile McParland tries to use this pandemic as a vehicle to advocate for all us young people to rely less on the government because someone was sent to the wrong address for a vaccination. It's really stupid and the whole thing really just doesn't go over well.We take the time to talk about Brian Lilley's romantic life (yuck), professional life (also yuck) and where they overlap, We also discuss Dan Marino (no, not that Dan Marino) and how much responsibility he should take for the latest COVID wave hitting Quebec City.Plugs and Rec(ommendations)Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital AgeBy Nora LoretoSandy and Nora Talk PoliticsEmma Jackson: the Supreme Court's Carbon Tax Ruling Is Hardly A Climate VictoryDavide Mastracci: Doug Ford has Turned The Pandemic Into A Game Show We All Lose Evan Millar: Get Acquainted with a Scarily Underrated Gaming Handheld In "Neogeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1"Unrelated but still important: To the CBC Radio guy I met in the park on my walk who patiently listened to me talk about my podcast for much longer than I answered his COVID-related streeters: you better give this a listen Jason, I told you it would be a good episode.  If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Head to patreon.com/bigshinytakes to unlock this and all of our other bonus episodes for as little as $3 a month! We decided to unlock this bonus episode, because everyone deserves to celebrate Rush Limbaugh's death. Finally, a representative of a modern organization (the Catholic Church) we can trust to cover current events weighs in with a terrible, terrible column. Of course last week you may have heard that notable right-wing crank and tobacco enjoyer Rush Limbaugh died of lung cancer. Relive that moment as the boys read from Raymond De Souza's treatise/attempt to rehabilitate an awful person's reputation in the National Post.He never really listened to Rush, and he definitely doesn't bring up any of the content from Rush's show, but he does not fail to mention that the show existed and was very popular. He doesn't say who the show was popular with.De Souza isn't a details guy, he's more of a big picture, don't ask questions kind of guy.If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

The boys are back with two trash columns. One is written by a pretentious hack desperately shoehorning disjointed allusions to ephemera rattling around his decaying brain in yet another unfocused rant ending with him shouting about climate change not being real. The other is written by an unpretentious hack who actually thinks that COVID quarantine hotels are an attack on civil liberties. Of course we are talking about Rex Murphy and Joe Warmington - truly two of the dimmest bulbs in the malfunctioning highway diner sign that is the Canadian media landscape.Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.If you like our show, give us a follow on social media @bigshinytakes, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money on Patreon! We love doing this show, and we do it for free, but a little bit of help could really go a long way for us.Become a Patron today!Follow us on TwitterRecommended Reads Roberta Lexier - Canada's NDP Should Stop Making Excuses and Find Ways to Winhttps://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/02/canada-ndp-strategyJeremy Appel - Canada's Largest Meatpacking Facility is on Trial for Endangering its Workers During the Pandemichttps://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/02/canada-alberta-meatpacking-covidAbdul Malik - Canada Should not host the Olympics, Everhttps://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/canada-should-not-host-the-olympics-everBruce Livesy - The fall of Jason Kenneyhttps://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/02/08/opinion/fall-of-jason-kenneyIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

New year, new theme music, new BST!We've got a couple 2020 in review pieces that suggest maybe the hell year we're all traumatized from wasn't so bad after all.  We start off with Never Trumper-turned-Trumper Hugh Hewitt's piece in the Washington Post, which contends that, sure, there was the whole pandemic thing, but there were also some bright spots, such as the amazing work Trump has done combatting the virus. We challenge you to name a U.S. president who has handled COVID-19 better.Next, we go for some Canadian content from washed up Liberal partisan hack turned Conservative hack Warren Kinsella, who gives us his 10 winners and losers from the year that was. To give a preview of the list's coherence, his top 3 were the country's premiers, Doug Ford (a premier) and Brian Pallister (a premier).  LinksCharlie Angus defends himself from the smearsOliver Holmes and Hazem Balousha - Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlersValerie Hopkins - Old tensions still alive in Bosnia 25 years after DaytonNora Loreto - Canada Is Robbing the Global South of a Pandemic RecoveryLike what you hear?Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show.Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesTheme music courtesy of Jack Dump. If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

It's a Christmas miracle — a new BST episode right on schedule!We start off with a little apertif in the form of BST favourite Barbara Kay and her review of the Queen's Gambit. It turns out, a fictional show isn't entirely accurate. But Babs says this is because women can't play chess. Then,  special guest Clinton Hallahan (@StoicRomance) of Alberta Advantage fame tells us about right-wing Canadian YouTuber and Washington Post columnist.  J.J. McCullough, who happens to be a close friend and former roommate of his. In his WaPo piece, J.J. tells Americans how Justin Trudeau may refuse to leave office, a la Trump, based on a lazy conflation of the Electoral College and Canadian parliamentary procedure. LinksEmily McCullar - Texas Wedding Photographers Have Seen Some ShitMike Isaac & Kellen Browning - Cyberpunk 2077 Was Supposed to Be the Biggest Video Game of the Year. What Happened?Jeremy - The Alberta Model: Who Benefits from the Alberta Government's Shift Away from Harm Reduction to Abstinence-Only RecoveryJeremy on Alberta Advantage with Garth Mullins of Crackdown Like what you hear?Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show.Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Podfather Andre Goulet (@andremarrgoulet) of Harbinger Media Network (@harbingertweets) returns to BST to talk about anti-China neo-McCarthyism, as exemplified by John Ivison, whom you may remember from an earlier episode when he wrote a column about how CERB recipients are lazy parasites, for which he was rightfully dubbed the "worst person on the internet".Ivison is mad that two Canadian MPs (Niki Ashton and Paul Manly) supported a rally calling for the release Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested by Canadian police at the request of the Trump administration. Ivison invokes Lenin (or was it Stalin?) to declare the two MPs "useful idiots". If that's the case, the only difference between them and Ivison is their usefulness. LinksBianca Mugyenyi - Backlash over 'Free Meng Wanzhou' event reflects growing anti-China sentimentSupport Harbinger Media Tech Won't Save Us - Fighting for Gig Workers' Rights after Prop 22Forgotten Corner Hanukah SpecialJeremy - The hidden costs of food delivery appsBen Shapiro Pulls Pants Down to Ankles Before Peeing in UrinalSocialism Success Stories in PassageLike what you hear?Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show.Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Senior Big Shiny Takes Institute legal analyst Alex (@NaomiDecline) from Haus of Decline — America's foremost Calvinist pod — joins us to take on two NPCs (National Post Columnists) who are lawyers. First off, we've got Howard Levitt, whom you may know as Jordan Peterson's libel lawyer and the guy who abandoned his Ferrari in a puddle. He's here to tell you that you're not working hard enough from home, you filthy time thief!Then we talk about another Jordan Peterson-affiliated lawyer, Bruce Pardy, who, according to a review on Rate My Professors, opens his class at Queen's University with a declaration that his classroom "will never be a safe space." However, he's quite triggered by Queen's' decision to renamed the Sir John A. Macdonald building. Links That time Howard Levitt abandoned his $200K car in a puddleSign up for City Hall Sprawl to read Jeremy's hot takes on the upcoming Calgary municipal electionEric - It's Time for a Postmedia Sunshine ListPatrick Blanchfield - The Town That Went FeralDavide Mastracci - TV Journalists Should Be Banned from Wearing the Poppy on AirAlso, sign up for Passage DailyLike what you hear?Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show.Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakes If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

We're joined by Podcast High principal and Mount Royal University historian Roberta Lexier (@rlexier) to discuss Licia Corbella's postponed knee surgery and the only thing a Trudeau has done that she supports, invoking the War Measures Act to militarily occupy Quebec. While hospital workers went on a wildcat strike across Alberta, winning the hearts and minds of working people, Corbella writes in the Calgary Herald that she'd love to support them but was mildly inconvenienced, so alas she cannot. Meanwhile, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves Francois-Blanchet have called for Canada to issue an apology for the October Crisis, in which Pierre Elliot Trudeau suspended civil liberties for all of Quebec in October 1970. In another piece, Corbella says we should never apologize for hardcore militarism against the French Menace.  Roberta, who happens to be teaching a course on the October Crisis this semester, tells us why Corbella is engaging in crude historical revisionism. LinksOur previous episode on Corbella, with the great Elaine PaulsEric - It's Time for a Postmedia Sunshine ListRoberta - The Regina Manifesto and the Origins of Canada's Parliamentary SocialistsJeremy - Alberta Is Closer Than Ever to a General StrikeGreg Shupak - The Weapons Industry Doesn't Care Who's PresidentBetsy Reed - Glenn Greenwald Resigns from the Intercept Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski - People's Republic of Wal MartLike what you hear?Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show.Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

We get a bit tankie in our latest installment, featuring a dearly-departed posting legend, Ray the Red, whom you might also know as the CEO of Antifa.  He got banned from Twitter for saying mean things about J.K. Rowling. The National Post has been on a red-baiting tear recently, more so than usual. We've got two batshit insane op-eds arguing that Justin Trudeau is a socialist mastermind. Huge if true. It would also be a marked improvement from his milquetoast neoliberalism. First up is third-place Conservative party leadership loser, and likely future of the party, Leslyn Lewis, who tickles all those right-wing survivalist funny bones (except Venezuela, conspicuously) — big government, 5G, the COVID tracing app, debt, you name it. She also uses the word 'insidious' a couple of times, just so you know she isn't fucking around. Next is Denis Tsarev, who is the co-founder (and co-member) of Truth in Consequences, a think tank nobody's heard of, warning us about the dangers of left-wing populism in Canada, as represented by the dangerous socialist radical Justin Trudeau. This Rebel Media contributor wants you to know that you too can have a nuanced perspective on the world, if you just listen to him.We'd also like to announce that we're re-branding as the Big Shiny Takes Institute!LinksScott Schmidt - Laying It Out: In all fairness, what a waste of time James Wilt - Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars? Public Transit in the Age of Google, Uber and Elon MuskRonan Burtenshaw - Jeremy Corbyn: 'We Didn't Go Far Enough'Like what you hear? Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. You can also throw us a few bucks on our Patreon to access exclusive content and maybe even appear on the show. Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

In this episode, we discuss a guy so anti-imperialist that he unquestioningly supports U.S. imperialism. That's right, we're talking about Macleans contributing editor, National Post columnist and all-around neocon ghoul Terry Glavin (Gladio). The piece in question is a masterful work of concern trolling, where he suggests that if BLM activists want to win him over, they'll have to stop wearing clothes. It's essentially a hornier, unironic version of the classic Matt Bors cartoon. Gladio comes very close to making a valid point about supply chains in the Third World and their dependence on sweatshops, but bookends it with a wildly superficial attack on the moral integrity of BLM. Joining us is long-time friend of the show and recovering podcaster Abdul Malik (@socialistraptor), who bonds with Eric over their Mississauga heritage. LinksA write up of Gladio's hilarious talk at University of Victoria Gladio's sole Rate My Professors review, which was totally not written by himAbdul - Modern Monetary Theory could be the key to unlocking Canada's economic futureJoel Laforest - No More Excuses. It's Time to Fight for a Left Program in CanadaFollow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesLike what you hear? Throw us a few bucks on our Patreon for access to exclusive content.If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

We're joined by our dear j-school pal Mahnoor Yawar (@mahnoorie) to talk about a familiar theme for our listeners — the complete lack of accountability for columnists at Canada's major newspapers. The spark for this discussion was Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno's reply-all meltdown, in which she told the entire staff at the paper what she thought of the Star's new internal ombudsperson position, which was assumed by her far superior colleague, Shree Paradkar. (Hint: it's the name of the episode.) The position gives young, racialized Star employees the opportunity to report concerns about discrimination and bias in the newsroom and paper to Paradkar, who can then bring them up to management, which for some reason DiManno found threatening. We discuss a very bizarre and horny column DiManno wrote post-meltdown, which contains too many dick jokes to count. We also give DiManno her due for the times she has done better. LinksMemo: Shree Paradkar Named 'First Internal Ombud' at the Toronto StarThat time DiManno was charged with assaultA good DiManno column on reparationsPacinthe Mattar - Objectivity Is a Privilege Afforded to White JournalistsTaylor Noakes - To deface a monument is to engage critically with historyJeremy - Blank spot: Why Chrystia Freeland's refusal to acknowledge her grandfather's Nazi collaborator past matters in 2020Follow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesLike what you hear? Throw us a few bucks on our Patreon for access to exclusive content.If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

We need to talk about the sock. Stephen Magusiak (@magusiak) of PressProgress joins us to explain a guy named Steven Kerzner (@EdtheSock) to our American buddy, Stephen from the Haus of Decline podcast in light of Kerzner's recent racist remarks against NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.  Was Kerzner ever actually funny, or are we just nostalgic for a simpler time? We listen to some classic Fromage clips to find out. (Hint: They have not aged well.) We also discuss Kerzner's recent foray into hyperpartisan Liberal politics and efforts to revive the '90s, when he was in a not-so-famous Canadian TV show. In short, we put the sock in the drawer for good. LinksLiberal MPs Denounce "Ed the Sock" After Calls to Disavow "Racist Dog Whistles" Targeting Jagmeet SinghJust Drew's Show - Canada's Host (ft. Ed the Sock)Lori Fox - The life you thought you were going to have is goneAdrianna LaFrance - The Prophecies of Q@mikeymiles160 on InstagramFollow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesLike what you hear? Throw us a few bucks on our Patreon for access to exclusive content.If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

YouTuber Tristan Johnson of Step Back History joins us to talk about how incinerating tens of thousands of Japanese civillians at the close of the Second World War is actually bad.The impetus for this discussion is a chatacteristically long-winded Twitter thread from National Post opinion editor Matt Gurney, where he argues that dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which he concedes were not militarily necessary, were good. That's because it allowed his grandfather to return home early and safely from carrying out British colonialism in India, where he was stationed with the Royal Air Force. Whose lives are more valuable, 150,000 Japanese men, women and children, or Matt Gurney's? Real tough to say. Apparently Gurney's voice was such a valuable addition to the discourse on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that he was invited onto Evan Solomon's iHeartRadio show to talk about it. You may remember Evan Solomon from when he got fired from the CBC for using his position as the host of Power and Politics to sell his guests expensive art. It's a Canadian media failson match made in Hell.LinksStep Back History - Was the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified?Gar Alperovitz - The War Was Won Before Hiroshima — And the Generals Who Dropped the Bomb Knew ItWade Davis - The Unraveling of America Jeremy - AIMCo loaned an oil company $45 million, let that company make millions in payments to shareholders and now it can't make the interest paymentsJeremy - Edmonton Police: Defacement of statue not a hate crimeFollow Big Shiny Takes on Twitter or Instagram!@bigshinytakesLike what you hear? Throw us a few bucks on our Patreon for access to exclusive content.If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram. For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.