Needs No Introduction

In episode five, we are pleased to welcome back Henry Giroux, scholar, cultural critic and author, most recently of The Burden of Conscience: Educating Beyond the Veil of Silence. We discuss the rise of authoritarianism in the US and around the world as an updated fascism, its attack on democracy and higher education and the urgent need for solidarity, critical pedagogy and resistance in the face of the unspeakable.  Reflecting on the necessity of higher and critical education in these times, Giroux says: “Education is the glue. Education is the bridge that stands between fascism and hope, between fascism and justice, between fascism and a socialist democracy, a real democracy, a radical democracy. And if we don't grasp the centrality of education here in terms of both its power and its role, both in and outside of schooling, we're in trouble. It's not going to work.” About today’s guest:  Henry A. Giroux currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Pedagogy of Resistance: Against Manufactured Ignorance (Bloomsbury 2022); Insurrections: Education in the Age of Counter-revolutionary politics  (Bloomsbury in 2023), co-authored with Anthony DiMaggio, Fascism on Trial: Education and the Possibility of Democracy (Bloomsbury, 2024), and Burden of Conscience (Bloomsbury, 2025). His website is www.henryagiroux.com Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Henry Giroux  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In episode 4, we focus on the upcoming 25th annual Mental Health Conference at George Brown College in Toronto and this year’s theme, Thriving Together in the Classroom: Creating the Conditions for Student Well-Being.  Author, storyteller, Indigenous academic and conference keynote speaker Carolyn Roberts; dean of the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies, Susan Toews; and director of Student Well-Being and Support, Alex Irwin discuss this year’s conference and its focus on teaching, the mental health and well-being of post-secondary students, decolonizing learning and Indigenous resurgence through education. Reflecting on the need for decolonizing and re-storying education, Roberts says: “When Indigenous students step into the classroom, we are being asked to leave a part of who we are at the door, because that's not talked about or shared within those spaces. So we have to leave our indigeneity at the door to come in to learn about something else. And that's not a sustainable thing.And not only for Indigenous students, but for all non white students that are walking into these spaces … We need to make sure that we're having multiple stories from multiple perspectives in our classrooms, so that all of our students can see a piece of them within the work that they're doing.” For online registration, conference fees and information about the February 27, 2025 conference, please click this link.  About today’s guests:  Carolyn Roberts uses her voice to support Indigenous resurgence through education. She is a St’at’imc and Sto:lo woman belonging to the Thevarge family from N'quatqua Nation and the Kelly Family from the Tzeachten Nation and under the Indian Act she is a member of the Squamish Nation. Carolyn is a speaker, author, Indigenous academic, and a faculty member in UBC Teacher Education and NITEP programs. She has been an educator and administrator for over 20 years in the K-12 system. Carolyn’s work is grounded in educating about Indigenous people and the decolonization of the education system. She works with pre-service teachers to help build their understandings in Indigenous history, education, and ancestral ways of knowing, to create a brighter future for all Indigenous people and the seven generations yet to come.She is also the author of Re-Storying Education: Decolonizing Your Practice Using a Critical Lens (2024).  Alex Irwin is an accomplished educator with broad experience managing people and projects and developing innovative education programming for a wide range of students, both domestically and overseas. He is director of Student Well-Being and Support at George Brown College, where he oversees counselling, accessible learning services, deaf and hard of hearing services, and the college’s peer wellness programming. He is also a clinical social worker, with a history of working at community-based mental health and treatment centres. Susan Toews has over 35 years of experience in education, with the last 18 years of her career at George Brown College, where she has served in leadership positions in both academic roles and service areas. She is currently the Dean, Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies. Susan is a strong advocate for a whole campus/whole student approach to student mental health and believes in the wide application of Universal Design for Learning, as it provides guidance for creating accessible, inclusive and engaging student-centered learning opportunities – critical to student well-being. Susan holds an M.Ed. from OISE/University of Toronto and, as a committed lifelong learner, continually engages in professional development in education, including graduating from UBC’s Organizational Coaching program in 2024. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Carolyn Roberts, Susan Toews, Alex Irwin  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

In part two of our focus on Oxfam’s latest report: Takers Not Makers: The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism, we welcome associate professor and faculty chair of the Indigenous Relations Initiative at McGill University, Dr. Veldon Coburn. Reflecting on his 2022 book (co-edited with David Thomas) Capitalism and Dispossession: Corporate Canada at Home and Abroad, we speak of the growth of billionaire colonialism and corporate power in Canada and the ways in which this is anchored in Canada’s continuing history of settler colonialism. Reflecting on corporate extraction and dispossession of Indigenous resources, Coburn says: “It's easier to steal and to take what's existing there, exactly what the Oxfam Report is titled, Takers Not Makers is the failure of the promise of capital to reproduce itself. .. wealth is only created through ongoing theft and dispossession… taking from someone else. And the broligarchs, the billionaire oligarchy, have seized quite a few of the interests of the State. And in a settler colonial society like this, those hallowed halls are easier to access through the capitalist class rather than the colonized peoples.” About today’s guest:  Veldon Coburn is Anishinaabe, a citizen of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. Veldon is an associate professor at McGill University and the faculty chair of the Indigenous Relations Initiative in the School of Continuing Studies. He earned degrees in economics and political science, and his PhD is from Queen’s University where his research focused on Indigenous politics and governance. Veldon arrived at McGill after previously teaching at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Coburn has over a decade of professional experience in program and strategic Indigenous policy with the Government of Canada as well as extensive experience working with Indigenous governments and organizations. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Veldon Coburn  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

In part one of this discussion, executive director of Oxfam Canada Lauren Ravon returns to discuss Oxfam’s latest report: Takers Not Makers: The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism. Ravon and Resh Budhu explore the extreme wealth and power of the billionaire class, this era of “billionaire colonialism” and what it will take to decolonize economies in Canada and throughout the world.  According to Ravon: “I would say the highlight of this year's report is really well captured by the title Takers Not Makers, because we're focusing not just on this extreme and I'd say obscene wealth accumulation, not just the amount of wealth that's being held by the very few, but the fact that this is not wealth that is earned in any sense. This is wealth that has been taken, whether through corruption, through cronyism, through monopolistic power, through connections through inheritance, but also through the legacy, the very life legacy of colonialism." About today’s guests:  Lauren Ravon, executive director of Oxfam Canada, is a committed feminist and social justice advocate with more than 15 years of international development experience. Lauren has been with Oxfam Canada since 2011, holding a number of roles – including director of Policy and Campaigns – and working tirelessly to put women’s rights at the heart of the global Oxfam confederation. Before joining Oxfam, Lauren worked at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy), where she was program manager for the Americas and oversaw the Centre’s office and human rights programming in Haiti. She has also worked on programs to tackle gender-based violence and promote sexual and reproductive rights with Planned Parenthood Global and the International Rescue Committee.  Lauren has conducted extensive policy research and campaigned on issues of food justice, women’s economic equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights and the role of women’s movements. She holds master's degrees in international affairs and development studies from Columbia University and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Lauren sits on the Board of Directors of the Humanitarian Coalition.                            Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Lauren Ravon  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

In our season eight premiere, we welcome independent journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes, author, political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ricardo Tranjan and welcome back writer, social justice activist and former organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke. The group reflects on the current state of progressive politics in Canada, the Liberal legacy and the possibility of a Conservative win. They discuss the need for a new progressive alternative and wonder aloud what this could look like. Reflecting on Canadian political parties, Noakes says: “They are far too established. They have become organizations unto themselves that seek self-preservation above all else … It has essentially prevented them by and large from experiencing the kind of renewal that's necessary to keep political parties vibrant and connected to people in their day-to-day concerns.” Speaking to the rise of political right-wing populism, Clarke says: “People's lives are being thrown into turmoil … But a serious left political alternative is not put before people. And there's no question that the Right is presenting alternatives, hateful, hateful alternatives and pseudo solutions … There's a great deal of anger that can take very positive directions, but there's also within a minority of the population a mood of reactionary rage.” According to Tranjan: “[W]hat would bring really [a] breathe of fresh air here is if we have a political formation, that is a vehicle for social movements for community organizations for the share of the workforce that does not benefit from being part of a union from those groups that are not now represented in the day-to-day claptrap of policy debate." About today’s guests:  John Clarke is a writer and activist who became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he became an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019 when he became Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University. Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal.  Ricardo Tranjan is a political economist, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, frequent media commentator in English and French, and author of two books, including the national bestseller The Tenant Class.                                                               Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Taylor C. Noakes, John Clarke, Ricardo Tranjan  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.    Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In our final episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, season seven, we are joined by author, professor and director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Radhika Desai, and author, professor and Chair of International Relations and Political Science at St. Thomas University, Dr. Shaun Narine. We discuss the shifting balance of power in global politics, BRICS, de-dollarization, the rise of Asia and the Global South, the challenges it poses to the rules-based international order of the Global North and Canada’s place within an inevitably multipolar world. Speaking on the growth of multipolarity, Desai says: “Lenin argued that imperialism, by which he meant the stage capitalism had arrived at in the early 20th century, was the highest stage of capitalism … Beyond it, there was not much capitalism had to give to humanity… After 40 years of neoliberalism … it is quite obvious that it is suffering from senility … low growth rates, low investment rates, low innovation rates … It is far from fulfilling the needs of humanity … it is far from keeping the West powerful. Part of the emergence of multipolarity … is the decline in the vigor of Western capitalist economies.” Reflecting on Canada as a middle power in a multipolar world, Narine says: “I think in a world where multipolarity is mattering more and more and more … simply being an American vassal state, which is what I'd argue we largely are right now … doesn't encourage anybody to look at Canada as an independent actor … I think the first step for us to be a Middle Power means to demonstrate that we're actually capable of independent thinking and independent policy and capable of articulating interests that aren't being dictated by the American embassy in Ottawa.” About today’s guests:  Radhika Desai is professor of Political Studies and director of Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba, convenor of the International Manifesto Group and past president of the Society for Socialist Studies. Her wide-ranging work covers party politics, political and geopolitical economy, political and economic theory, nationalism, fascism, British, US and Indian politics. Geopolitical economy, the approach to the international relations of the capitalist world she proposed in her 2013 work, Geopolitical Economy, combines Marx’s analysis of capitalism with those of ‘late development’ and the developmental state as the key to explaining the dynamic of international relations of the modern capitalist world. Currently, she is working on several books including ‘Hindutva and the Political Economy of Indian Capitalism’ and ‘Marx as a Monetary Theorist’. Her numerous articles have appeared in Capital and Class, Economic and Political Weekly,  International Critical Thought, New Left Review, Third World Quarterly, World Review of Political Economy and other journals and in edited collections on parties, political economy, culture and nationalism. She is regularly invited as a speaker and to conferences around the world. Shaun Narine is a professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. His research focuses on institutionalism in the Asia Pacific. He has written two books on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and published on issues related to ASEAN as well as Canadian foreign policy, Canada’s relations with China, and US foreign policy. He was a Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2000-2002) at the University of British Columbia and has been a Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center (2000) and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute (2017 and 2021) in Singapore. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Radhika Desai, Shaun Narine  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In episode six of the latest season of the Courage My Friends podcast series, co-executive director of Food Secure Canada, Marissa Alexander and executive director of North York Harvest Food Bank, Ryan Noble discuss the alarming outcomes of Toronto’s Who’s Hungry report, the growing food and poverty crisis in Toronto and across Canada and urgent actions that need to be taken by policy-makers and civil society in averting this ever-worsening crisis. Reflecting on reasons for the record number of food banks visits this year, Noble says: “It's not as if there's been a sudden shock over the last year. What we're seeing is the continued culmination of insufficient supports for people, public and private, to deal with skyrocketing costs of living. .. whether those are employment supports, social assistance supports, settlement supports, to deal with an out of control cost of living, primarily driven by housing, but also by the cost of food and other essentials.” According to Alexander: “I don't think the systems are breaking down. I think the systems are working exactly as they were designed, which is not to support those who are the most marginalized and oppressed… like capitalism, but also the patriarchy, systemic racism and oppression ... So if we're going to make changes to ensuring that those people aren't "falling through the cracks," we have to make sure that those cracks aren't designed for them to fall through.” About today’s guest:  Marissa (she/they) is a registered dietitian and co-executive director of Food Secure Canada, who is passionate about anti-racism, food security, and equity. Living and working on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, she has had the honour of working alongside 55 First Nations communities in northern BC. She is also privileged to be able to connect with many different peoples and communities through her anti-racism consulting work. In her very little spare time, she is working on her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on equity and cultural studies. Access her socials here: Website / Instagram- @fscrad / Facebook / LinkedIn / X- @FoodSecureCAN Since 2015, Ryan Noble has served as the executive director of the North York Harvest Food Bank. Previously, he was the vice chair of NYHFB’s board of directors. Under Ryan’s leadership, the organization has embraced a model of ‘community wealth building,’ integrating traditional charitable activities with social enterprise and workforce development initiatives.  He is a past member of the Ontario Nonprofit Network's Policy Committee and the past chair and current member of the Board of Directors of Feed Ontario.  Check out this year’s annual Who’s Hungry Report Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Marissa Alexander, Ryan Noble  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

In 2018, the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College in Toronto welcomed then Senator and former head of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada, the Honourable Murray Sinclair as its keynote speaker. Through his poignant address about the impacts of Canada’s colonial history and the residential school system on the lives of Indigenous Peoples and the meaning of reconciliation, we experienced first-hand the brilliance, integrity, kindness and humour of this truly remarkable individual. The Honourable Murray Sinclair passed away on the morning of November 4, 2024. In his memory, we bring you his 2018 keynote address on Community, Education, Change: Indigenous Ways of Knowing. Reflecting on reconciliation, Sinclair said: “Reconciliation is a process which is building. It's not a spectator sport. It involves everybody. And everybody is implicated in it .. No neutrality exists here. .. And understanding it is part of the educational process. And understanding the implications it has for you is part of the challenge that we also need to face. And all of that has to do with knowledge. All of that has to do with dialogue as well, and developing consensus and agreement about where we're going to go as a country… We have to talk about what kind of relationship we're going to have going forward. . And that means we have to think differently. We have to think better. ” rabble had previously shared this keynote address here. About today’s speaker:  The Honourable Murray Sinclair served the justice system in Manitoba for over 25 years. He was the first Indigenous Judge appointed in Manitoba and Canada’s second. Sinclair was Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As head of the TRC, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada, culminating in the issuance of the TRC’s final report in 2015 and its 94 Calls to Action. He also oversaw an active multi-million dollar fundraising program to support various TRC events and activities. Over the years, Sinclair has been invited to speak throughout Canada, the United States and internationally, including the Cambridge Lectures for members of the Judiciary of various Commonwealth Courts in England. He served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Manitoba. In 2021, Sinclair was appointed 15th Chancellor of Queen’s University, later becoming Chancellor Emeritus and Special Advisor to the Principal on Reconciliation of Queen's University in 2024. Sinclair has received numerous awards and honours, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, The Mahatma Gandhi Prize for Peace, the Mandela Award, the Manitoba Bar Association’s Equality Award and its Distinguished Service Award, Canada’s World Peace Prize, and the Meritorius Service Cross. He has also received honorary doctorates and degrees from universities across Canada.  Sinclair was appointed to the Canadian Senate on April 2, 2016 where he served as a Senator for five years.In 2022 Murray Sinclair was appointed a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba in 2024. Most recently Sinclair published his memoir, Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation The Honourable Murray Sinclair passed away peacefully and surrounded by his loved ones on November 4th, 2024. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be made to the Murray Sinclair Memorial Fund at the Winnipeg Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: The Honourable Murray Sinclair / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Original Editing and Recording by: Victoria Fenner and Emily Parr Host: Resh Budhu.

In episode four, Palestinian storyteller Sarah Abu-Sharar joins us for our third annual Mouth Open Story Jump Out episode. Through Palestinian folktales and stories of her father, she reflects on the meaning and power of stories within Palestinian resilience, recuperation and resistance. Reflection on her journey into storytelling, Abu-Sharar says: “When I started storytelling, it had to be for Palestine because it was reclaiming my identity. It was a way of saying, the Occupation might have deprived me of my land, of my culture, but I will resist by telling our stories.” About today’s guest:  Sarah Abu-Sharar comes from a long line of storytellers on her paternal side. She tells stories to both adults and children. Abu-Sharar has told stories both nationally and internationally at festivals in Canada, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Tunisia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Because Abu-Sharar grew up in several countries she tells stories from all over the world with the focus on Palestinian and Croatian stories where her roots lie. Her favourite stories are ones that promote social change. She has also used stories in a therapeutic way with children in refugee camps and refugee children in Toronto, as part of their therapy. She works at the Parent Child Mother Goose Program using traditional storytelling to encourage parent child bonding. Abu-Sharar belongs to a collective called "Musical Story Studio" where stories and music are combined. She tells stories so that she may go deep inside of the tales and find herself in far away magical places that she remembers, from long, long ago. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Sarah Abu-Sharar  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In episode three, researcher Dr. Rahul Kumar and political economist Dr. Tanner Mirrlees  discuss the rise of education technology and artificial intelligence across colleges and universities, how they impact and disrupt teaching and learning, and how public post secondary education has become an incredibly lucrative business for privately owned EdTech corporations. Reflecting on the impacts of EdTech companies on education, Mirrlees says: “The very same business model that these corporations have developed and advanced in all facets of social life are now being advanced throughout the context of public education. Whereby platform capitalism is becoming the classroom. Surveillance capitalism is becoming the classroom. Data is being aggregated about all of the users of these services, teachers, learners, administrators, everyone.” Describing the interminable cycle of EdTech and AI, Kumar says: “Imagine a triangle where we have pedagogy, privacy and privatization. … pedagogy, we need to teach these things. Oh my goodness, we need graduates to be well versed in it. And that becomes the entry point. Well, you buy this piece of software, which is the private part. And it is going to lead to providing solutions. Meanwhile the tool is being used for surveillance, which allows for better improvements … which leads to that idea of more technology begets more technology.” About today’s guests:  Rahul Kumar is an assistant professor at the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University. His current scholarship contributes to the discourse of AI’s role in higher education and K-12 system.  He is an active contributor to several prestigious journals and a recipient of several internal and external grants for his research work. Prior to his academic post, Kumar worked in the IT industry and brings his theoretical and practical knowledge to understanding, promoting, and critiquing technology within education. Tanner Mirrlees is a political economist of the communication, media and tech industries, and teaches in the Communication and Digital Media Studies program at Ontario Tech University. Mirrlees is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2024), Global Entertainment Media: Between Cultural Imperialism and Cultural Globalization (Routledge, 2013), Hearts and Mines: The US Empire's Cultural Industry (UBC Press, 2016), and EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age (Routledge, 2019). Mirrlees is also the co-editor of Media Imperialism: Continuity and Change (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), Media, Technology, and the Culture of Militarism (Democratic Communiqué, 2014), and The Television Reader (Oxford University Press, 2012). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute Image: Tanner Mirrlees, Rahul Kumar  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

Episode two welcomes research director of the Yellowhead Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, Eva Jewell and director of education, outreach and public programming at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Kaila Johnston. As we enter National Truth and Reconciliation Week, we discuss Canada’s progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and the meaning of reconciliation and reclamation in this settler-colonial state. Reflecting on Canada’s progress on reconciliation, Johnston says: “It's been the low hanging fruit or the easy Calls to Action that have been addressed to date … A lot of the work that I have seen is through grassroots organizations and others who've been working away at the Calls to Action.” Speaking about two key aspects of reconciliation, Jewell says: “The first is for Canadians. They have to reconcile with themselves and with what their country has done … And then there's the work that we have to do as Indigenous Peoples … and that is reclaiming, recreating our world through our language practices, our cultural practices, our political practices, repopulating our political systems that were destroyed by Residential Schools.” About today’s guests:  Dr. Eva Jewell is Anishinaabe from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) in southwestern Ontario, with paternal lineage from Oneida Nation of the Thames. Her research is in areas of care, cultural reclamation, and accountability in reconciliation. Dr. Jewell is an assistant professor in the sociology department at Toronto Metropolitan University and research director at Yellowhead Institute.Follow Yellowhead Institute's work on yellowheadinstitute.org.  As the director of education, outreach, and public programming, Kaila Johnston oversees matters related to the support of educators, development of resources, establishment of outreach initiatives, as well as public engagement on residential schools and their legacy. Prior to joining the NCTR, Kaila worked with the TRC as a statement gatherer and coordinator to support statement gathering activities. She holds a BA (Hons.) in Criminal Justice from the University of Winnipeg and a MSc in International Crimes and Criminology from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Follow the NCTR at: https://www.facebook.com/nctr.ca https://x.com/nctr_um https://www.instagram.com/nctr_um/ https://ca.linkedin.com/company/nctr-um Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute Image: Eva Jewell, Kaila Johnston  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In our season seven premiere, we welcome the managing director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy and former mayor of Toronto, David MIller. We discuss the crucial role of cities in “fixing” the climate crisis, what we can learn in building sustainable and equitable urban communities and explore the question of just how prepared Canadian cities are to meet the challenges of this crisis. Reflecting on the key role of cities in dealing with the climate crisis, Miller says: “The international community said, okay, climate change is a problem. And then they took 21 years to come to an agreement. Twenty-one years! … A mayor would be thrown out if she waited 21 years to act on anything. It's just inconceivable. So the nature of city governments lends themselves to action. And because they have responsibilities that significantly impact on whether we're going to have low-impact cities from a planetary perspective, whether we're going to have cities that emphasize equality or produce inequality. Their actions are really important.” About today’s guest:  David Miller is the managing director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy.  He is the author of “Solved: how the great cities of the world are fixing the climate crisis” (University of Toronto Press) and host of Cities 1.5 podcast. Miller was Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010 and served as Chair of C40 Cities from 2008 until 2010. Under his leadership, Toronto became widely admired internationally for its environmental leadership, economic strength and social integration. He is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies.   Miller has held a variety of public and private positions and served as Future of Cities Global Fellow at Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2011 to 2014. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from York University and is currently executive in residence at the University of Victoria. David Miller is a Harvard trained economist and professionally is a lawyer. He and his wife, lawyer Jill Arthur, are the parents of two children. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: David Miller  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

For our fourth episode, Scholasticide and solidarity: The mind and memory of Gaza, we welcome University of Toronto professor, researcher and host of the Liberation Pedagogy Podcast, Dr. Chandni Desai and Mount Royal University professor, author and policy analyst with Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, Dr. Muhannad Ayyash. Discussing the months-long Israeli military onslaught waged on Palestinians, we focus on the destruction of Gaza’s educational systems, educators and students, the role of scholasticide within genocide and the global solidarity mobilizing across university and college campuses to counter it. Reflecting on scholasticide and the meaning of education for the Palestinian people Desai says: “Scholasticide is the systemic destruction of the Palestinian education system, which has been ongoing since the 1948 Nakba…But in this genocide ..we are seeing a complete annihilation of the education system in Gaza…When a people have lost everything, including the land …education has become a really important pillar, not just in terms of preserving a national identity across fragmented borders and fragmented geographies, but also as a central pillar of knowledge that gets passed on in various ways that contribute to the cause for liberation. ”  Speaking on the rise of global pro-Palestinian solidarity, including on university campuses, Ayyash says: “One of the reasons that the Palestinian struggle speaks to so many people around the world, why we see so many people going on their streets in all corners of the globe, speaking up for Palestine .. [i]t's precisely because the Palestinian struggle makes clear… a yearning for a liberation from the age of colonial modernity that has brought far too much death and destruction for too many around the world …In this moment, the Palestinian struggle is becoming a political consciousness. .. a way for people to make sense of their own systems of oppression.. that oppress and repress their own aspirations for freedom in their own context..” About the guests: Dr. Muhannad Ayyash was born and raised in Silwan, Al-Quds, before immigrating to Canada where he is professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University. He is also a policy analyst at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. He is the author of A Hermeneutics of Violence, has co-edited two books, and is the author of multiple journal articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces. Dr. Chandni Desai is an assistant professor in the Critical Studies of Equity and Solidarity at the University of Toronto. Her areas of research, teaching and supervision include: comparative settler colonialisms, Palestine studies, the politics of the Middle East, state violence (carceral politics, militarism and war), cultures of resistance and revolution, political economy, third world internationalism, solidarity, memory, oral history, anti-racism and feminism. She is working on her first book Revolutionary Circuits of Liberation: The Radical Tradition of Palestinian Resistance Culture and Internationalism. Desai also hosts the Liberation Pedagogy Podcast.  Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Chandni Desai, Muhannad Ayyash  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Grace Taruc-Almeda, Karin Maier and Jim Cheung (Street Voices)   Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

The season’s third episode takes us back to George Brown College’s 32nd annual Labour Fair in Toronto, ‘Corporate Power vs. Labour Power: It’s Our Work!!’  Professor Benjamin McCarthy facilitates a discussion featuring Lauren Ravon, executive director of Oxfam Canada and Jared Ong, organizer and case worker with the Workers’ Action Centre. Together, they discuss how this new age of corporate-driven inequality impacts workers on the ground and the hope that lies within working peoples’ solidarity. Reflecting on how government should be investing in work, Ravon says: “ …When we think of what the government can invest in, when we talk about a Green Transition, the care economy is a great one. We have an aging population. Care services provide huge value to communities and also just create happier and healthier communities and they're low emissions. One of our alternatives is saying tax windfall profits, tax the super wealthy and invest in the care economy. This is also a sector that employs mostly women and racialized folks. You're creating employment opportunities. They're seen as less desirable jobs, not because they're inherently less interesting jobs than working in mining ... It's because they're not well paid. But we really see investments in the care economy as actually one of the solutions to the inequality crisis today and the climate crisis.”  On the necessity of being politically engaged, Ong says: “..when we talk about how we organize, sometimes people say we have the power to vote. But I would say voting is just one piece that people do every four years or less that actually changes the government. We can do things in between to actually make changes happen. I used to have hair, and then I became an activist and look at me. So sometimes I think, you know, all that work and why did I do it? But people have been winning. When I first started out, people were like $15 minimum wage, it's never going to happen. And today, a couple of years later, people are like $15, hell no, that's not enough ... So I do tangibly feel on the street that things are changing.” About the guests: Lauren Ravon, executive director of Oxfam Canada, is a committed feminist and social justice advocate with more than 15 years of international development experience. Ravon has been with Oxfam Canada since 2011, holding a number of roles – including director of Policy and Campaigns – and working tirelessly to put women’s rights at the heart of the global Oxfam confederation. Before joining Oxfam, Ravon worked at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy), where she was program manager for the Americas and oversaw the Centre’s office and human rights programming in Haiti. She has also worked on programs to tackle gender-based violence and promote sexual and reproductive rights with Planned Parenthood Global and the International Rescue Committee. Lauren sits on the board of directors of the Humanitarian Coalition. Jared Ong is an organizer and case worker with the Workers Action Centre. He empowers workers with the tools and community to stand up against bad bosses and protect themselves at work. But he also knows that systemic changes must happen Ontario-wide to raise the bar for all our workers because our minimum labour standards are not enough. Panel Moderator, Benjamin McCarthy is a faculty with the School of Labour at George Brown College and an organizer with the College Annual Labour Fair. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Lauren Ravon, Jared Ong  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Grace Taruc-Almeda, Karin Maier and Jim Cheung (Street Voices)   Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu.

We launch our sixth season with Tamara Lorincz, environmental and feminist peace activist and Linda Thyer, founding member of Doctors for Planetary Health - West Coast and a discussion on the interconnected impacts of war and occupation on both people and planet, the costs of Canadian militarism and our involvement in NATO and the possibilities for global cooperation, peace, and climate justice in times of conflict.  Reflecting on the twin impacts of conflict on climate in Gaza and Ukraine, Lorincz says: “The Middle Eastern region has suffered from drought and from excessive heat. This genocide in Gaza is just horrendous for the people and it's exacerbating the climate emergency as well. These fossil fuel powered weapon systems that Israel is using, not just fighter jets, but attack helicopters and tanks.And the fact that Canada took over two and a half months for us finally to support a ceasefire, but we've been continuing to send weapons … we're prolonging the genocide and we are contributing to a climate emergency. Canada is doing the same thing in Eastern Europe by continuing to send arms to Ukraine. We're prolonging a conflict instead of calling for a ceasefire …We are contributing to human suffering, to a lot of death and destruction and contributing to the  environmental harms.”  Thyer says of our military spending: “Canadian military spending around $36 billion per year recently. So this is a massive amount of money, could certainly be much better … used to mitigate climate problems, used in new technology ... And could be used to help recoveries internationally as well as locally from these extreme weather events that we're seeing. In some of these war zones, people are being conscripted against their will to fighting. In Canada, our conscription is through our taxes that we are paying for this militarism, for the harms that are being done to the planet and to other people through our taxes every year.” About today’s guests:  Tamara Lorincz is a PhD candidate in Global Governance at the Balsillie School for International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has a Masters in International Politics & Security Studies from the University of Bradford and a Law degree and MBA specializing in environmental law and management from Dalhousie University. Her research is on the climate and environmental impacts of the military. She’s a member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Canada. Tamara is also on the advisory committee of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, and the No to NATO Network. She’s a long-time environmentalist, feminist and peace activist and a mother with two teenage boys. Linda Thyer is a mother of 3 youth, practicing family and sport medicine on traditional Coast Salish territories. She is a founding member of Doctors for Planetary Health - West Coast and active member of several community and medical organizations working towards peace and a healthy living home. She is grateful for the many healing and nourishing gifts of Mother Earth and works towards restoring health and peace for all. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Tamara Lorincz, Linda Thyer  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.  Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Grace Taruc-Almeda, Karin Maier and Jim Cheung (Street Voices)