COMMONS Canadaland Beyond
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- Society & Culture
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COMMONS is a documentary podcast that proves Canada is anything but boring. Each season, host Arshy Mann guides you through the country’s dark underbelly, bringing you stories about crime, corruption and all manner of misdeeds.
This season will unmask the ever-present war on workers. And the many, many ways that workers have banded together to fight back against it.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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WORK 10 - Prison Labour Industrial Complex
Acast: WORK 10 - Prison Labour Industrial Complex
Website: WORK #10 - Prison Labour Industrial Complex
Patreon: COMMONS: WORK #10 - Prison Labour Industrial Complex
Supercast: WORK 10 - Prison Labour Industrial Complex
Prison labour is largely invisible in Canada. Most prisoners who work do institutional upkeep, the kind of cleaning, cooking and maintenance that’s required to keep a prison running.
But then there are prison industries. Not only do Canadian prisoners work for for-profit businesses, but they’re sometimes doing dangerous and nauseating work around.
Featured in this episode: Calvin Neufeld
To learn more:
Bloody Bad Business: Report on the Joyceville Institution Abattoir
“Prison farm supporter worries new Kingston farms may exploit prison labour” by Jonna Semple in Global News
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music from Audio Network
Sponsors: Douglas, Pod Save The World
For a limited time, get 6 months of exclusive supporter benefits for just $2/month. Go to canadaland.com/join to become a supporter today.
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WORK 11 - The Way the Music Died
♩♪ A long, long time ago, I can still remember
How the music used to pay my bills
I knew that if I got my break
That I could be as big as Drake
And then I could stop shopping at No Frills ♩♪
♩♪ But Spotify, it’s nearly killed us
Ticketmaster’s ground us to dust
The companies got too large
Now monopolies are in charge ♩♪
♩♪ And the record labels I fear the most
Have all just merged and so now we’re toast
Don’t you think it’s just so gross?
The way, the music, died ♩♪
Featured in this episode: Simon Outhit, Cory Doctorow
To learn more
Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We'll Win Them Back by Rebecca Giblin & Cory Doctorow
“'A public relations nightmare': Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program” in CBC News by Dave Seglins, Rachel Houlihan & Laura Clementson
“We went undercover as ticket scalpers — and Ticketmaster offered to help us do business” in Toronto Star by Robert Cribb & Marco Chown Oved
“Is Live Music Broken? It’s Not Just Ticketmaster, It’s Everything” in The Ringer by Nate Rogers
A Statement From Live Nation Entertainment
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Associate Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator)
Additional music from Audio Network
For a limited time, get 6 months of exclusive supporter benefits for just $2/month. Go to canadaland.com/join to become a supporter today. -
WORK 9 - Working Behind Bars
All labour exists on a spectrum, ranging from enslavement at one pole, to fully, freely given on the other.
And, in Canada, at the most extreme end of that spectrum are prison labourers. Incarcerated people have few rights and fewer options when it comes to their working lives.
If we want to truly understand our criminal justice system and Canadian labour, we need to examine how prisoners work.
Featured in this episode: Jordan House, Asaf Rashid
To learn more:
Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour by Jordan House & Asaf Rashid
“Prison breaking-point: Canada’s jail system is in crisis, and that affects all of us” by Justin Ling in The Globe and Mail
“The case for a prisoners’ union” in Briarpatch by Jordan House & Asaf Rashid
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music from Audio Network
Sponsors: Douglas
For a limited time, get 6 months of exclusive supporter benefits for just $2/month. Go to canadaland.com/join to become a supporter today.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Introducing Pretendians
Today we’re sharing with you a preview of the first episode of Canadaland’s newest show Pretendians.
What do some of the most prominent and successful Indigenous artists, leaders and thinkers have in common? They aren’t Indigenous.
From major universities, to the halls of power, to Hollywood, there are people claiming to be Indigenous in the interest of power, money, and status. There are dozens of outrageous cases of Indigenous identity fraud that we know about, and likely thousands that we do not.
So why do these so-called “Pretendians” do it? How do they pull it off? And what happens when they are exposed?
To hear more follow Pretendians in your podcast app or click here.
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WORK 8 - Make and Break Harbour
In Newfoundland and Labrador, fishing is more than just an industry or a job. It truly is a way of life. It’s at the core of what has made this place what it is.
Today, as fishers leave the industry in droves, all of that is at risk of dying.
But is it even worth it to try to keep all of that alive? After all, there’s plenty of ways to make a living. And what kind of future is in store for the people who refuse to let go?
Featured in this episode: Kimberly Orren, Leo Hearn, Jenn Thornhill Verma, Ryan Cleary
To learn more:
“Could smaller, more sustainable cod fishing make a comeback? Newfoundlanders look cautiously for ways to rebuild” by Jenn Thornhill Verma in The Globe and Mail
“Fishing school takes students out of the classroom and out on the water” by Amanda Gear in CBC News
“The Fishing Revolution and the Origins of Capitalism” by Ian Angus in Monthly Review
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music from Audio Network
Sponsors: Rotman, AG1
If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.
You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.
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WORK 9 - Working Behind Bars
All labour exists on a spectrum, ranging from enslavement at one pole, to fully, freely given on the other.
And, in Canada, at the most extreme end of that spectrum are prison labourers. Incarcerated people have few rights and fewer options when it comes to their working lives.
If we want to truly understand our criminal justice system and Canadian labour, we need to examine how prisoners work.
Featured in this episode: Jordan House, Asaf Rashid
To learn more:
Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour by Jordan House & Asaf Rashid
“Prison breaking-point: Canada’s jail system is in crisis, and that affects all of us” by Justin Ling in The Globe and Mail
“The case for a prisoners’ union” in Briarpatch by Jordan House & Asaf Rashid
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music from Audio Network
Customer Reviews
Commons
I don’t listen to every season because the topics don’t always appeal to me, but the new season about Work is excellent. The experience of workers in our economy is something journalists haven’t paid enough attention to. This podcast does!
Bring the a little bit of water to the
Kale and sour cream is good too so we can
You can’t have it both ways
This comment is in regards specifically to the episode of WORK that addresses the fishery in NL. I’m sorry but you do not get to have it both ways. You cannot bemoan a price fixing system in times of high inflation and low exchange rate (CND dollar vs USD) and vice versa bemoan a few market system (Canadian dollar trending high, low inflation like the early 2000s). This is what had been going on with crab fishermen in NL. This podcast is so biased toward the “workers” that it does not stop to ask ANY critical thinking questions about ANYTHING. Like. Ok. Crab fisherman are getting screwed. But today they are blaming the fixed market pricing system that they FOUGHT FOR in the mid 1990s. But now that that’s not offering them the prices they need to pay the mortgages on their McMansions in Holyrood and the southern shore they are holding a whole province’s government hostage. Honestly this reporting is shamefully uninformed. There’s no poor fisherman. They want the system that gives them the highest price in the moment. Today that’s free market capitalism. Yesterday it was state sanctioned price fixing. Tomorrow. Who knows? Gas up the f-150 and get all the family their stamps.