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In 2021, Vancouver City Council formally apologized for historical discrimination toward  passengers travelling on board the Komagata Maru steamship from British India in 1914.  Last month, the City unveiled special commemorative signs near the harbour honoring those impacted by the Komagata Maru tragedy. The street signs were designed by Jagandeep Nagra, a queer Punjabi visual artist and community advocate.

In March, Ben Parfitt wrote an article critiquing the BC government’s direction and lack of progress on protecting old growth forests. This was centered on a confidential map of logging deferrals that was leaked from the provincial ministry of forests. Since then, new information has come out blaming the delays in protecting old growth on consultations with BC First Nations. We speak with Ben Parfitt, resource policy analyst for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC office.

In 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel called on international scholars to break ties with Israeli academic institutions. In response, Israeli academics claimed to be simply bystanders to the apartheid policies of the Israeli state. A new book reveals just how deeply Israeli universities are entangled with the Israeli state’s systems of oppression. Maya Wind is the author of Towers of Ivory and Steel. She is a scholar of military expertise and a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

Jackie Shane was one of soul's first Black trans performers. She was born in 1940 in Nashville but her incredible voice took her across North America. She found a home in Toronto in the '60s, performing sold-out shows almost every night. In 1971, Shane disappeared from the spotlight.  When she eventually reemerged in the 2010s, there were still many questions surrounding her life and career.  Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s latest documentary, Any Other Way, tells the story of Shane's life.

On April 5, the Simcoe School Board joined four of the largest Ontario school boards in suing the companies behind Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. The lawsuit claims time spent on these apps  has led to “an attention, learning, and mental health crisis”.  Sachin Maharaj joins us to speak about the case and the impacts of social media apps on students. Maharaj is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Policy and Program Evaluation in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa.

UN negotiations took place in Ottawa last week, aimed at achieving an international plastics treaty. Leading up to these historic meetings, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has just released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production. We’re joined by Dr. Neil Tangri, Senior Fellow at University of California’s Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, to talk about the study and what’s needed in the treaty.