65 episodes
Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud CBC Arts & Entertainment
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- Arts
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4.6 • 475 Ratings
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Big laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts & entertainment stories of the day, in 30 minutes or less.
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Remembering Alice Munro
Alice Munro, Canadian master of the short story and Nobel winner, has died at 92 years of age. Her longtime publisher Douglas Gibson, and writers Heather O’Neill and Madeleine Thien join Elamin to talk about her life and legacy.
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What needs to change when the WNBA comes to Canada, and soap operas done TikTok style
With the news that Canada has won the bid to have its first WNBA team, Elamin is joined by sports journalist Shireen Ahmed (who broke the story) and sports fan and culture critic Andrea Williams to react to the news and the moment the WNBA has been having this year. Plus, Elamin is joined by Rolling Stone journalist EJ Dickson to talk about vertical-video apps, which are attracting millions of viewers with their schlocky soap-era-style shows delivered in short 90-second episodes. However, the medium’s rising popularity has also brought greater scrutiny to its non-unionized work practices, its algorithm-driven content generation, and non-diverse casting.
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The most political Eurovision in recent memory, and Randy Travis's AI song
Eurovision was the most political it’s ever been this year because of the war between Israel and Hamas. Elamin speaks with Commotion Eurovision correspondent Karen Fricker about what happened. Then, it was a devastating blow to country music when legendary singer Randy Travis lost his voice to a stroke in 2013. With the assistance of artificial intelligence, he’s released his first new song in more than a decade called Where That Came From. Elamin speaks with music writer Steacy Easton about the new song, and how it's being received.
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Baby Reindeer's real Martha speaks, and that Apple ad
The Commotion Friday Group chat convenes to talk about this week’s top stories in the world of arts and entertainment. This week, Elamin is joined by pop culture experts Leila Latif, Vikram Murthi, and Paul Myers to talk about the latest twist in the ‘Baby Reindeer’ saga; the new high-energy reboot of Doctor Who starring Ncuti Gatwa, and the angry reaction to Apple’s latest iPad ad.
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Misogynoir underscores the Drake and Kendrick beef, and John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.
Elamin is joined by rap culture critics Clarkisha Kent and Charles Holmes to unpack the latest developments in the Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap feud, and the way gender and misogyny have intersected with this feud and across rap music history. Plus, Elamin speaks with Kathryn VanArendonk about John Mulaney's Netflix show, Everybody's in L.A., and how live events like this just might be the future of streaming.
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Is the music industry built for mothers?
When Lily Allen opened up about being a mom recently, her comments went viral. She said that in terms of pop stardom, having kids ruined her career. Guest host Amil Niazi is joined by musician Amy Millan and psychotherapist Tamsin Embleton to talk about the realities of juggling a career as an artist and being a mom.
Customer Reviews
Such a good person/host and show
El Amin’s big heart, passion, insight, deep care, great rapport, all make this show just absolutely bangin’. I love it. One of the few cbc shows I will Always catch up on podcasts if I miss it live. Love this dude, and all the guests and convos.
Awesome 🤩
Everything elamin abdelmahmoud touches turns to gold. He gets the best out of his guests and he’s so personable. He’s CBC’s true Gem 💎
My source of pop culture critiques.
Preface: I LOVE THIS SHOW I discovered this show one time I had the radio on and thank goodness that I did. I love Elamin. He feels like a friend talking through the radio. The guests are hilarious and I find myself stifling laughter as I listen on the train. I frequently have not heard or seen what they are talking but they do such a great job of quickly explaining it that I always feel like I understand what’s going on. And when I do know what they’re talking about, the explanations don’t feel cumbersome to the conversation.