The Weird Canadian

The Weird Canadian
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

What if the system isn't broken, it's just finished? What comes next, and who's building it? The Weird Canadian is a show about the people answering that question with action. Engineers writing the protocols that route around outdated institutions. Economists rethinking money, work, and ownership for an AI-native world. Policy advocates dragging Canada out of a decade of decline. Founders building tools, communities, and movements that give regular people leverage they've never had. I believe technology, used right, is the most powerful equalizer humanity has ever invented. AI isn't the threat. Concentration is the threat. So this show platforms the people pushing in the opposite direction: open systems, individual sovereignty, distributed power, and a future where being free isn't a luxury. You don't have to agree with me on everything. You just have to be building, creating, or fighting for something real. If your work makes a regular person stronger, smarter, freer, or less dependent on a system that's failing them, this is your audience. Canadian focus, global lens. No fluff, no talking points, no algorithm-chasing. Just the conversations we should be having out loud.

  1. 19h ago

    Podcast Guesting for Founders: It's All About the Host

    Episode Notes How do you promote your business on a podcast without making the whole interview an advertisement? Sam Swirsky joins Cody to talk about what founders can bring to a host's show, why preparation matters, and how to leave listeners with something useful. Sam describes his move from LinkedIn ghostwriting toward podcast guesting. He argues that useful content starts with real opinions and source material, not just a tool that can generate more words. Different hosts ask different questions, giving a guest opportunities to explain their thinking and develop material for future posts or clips. From the host's side, Cody explains why he values a conversation before recording: it helps him understand the guest, the work, and anything they hope to promote. They discuss giving away a useful part of your process, being clear about AI use, and building a relationship rather than treating the host as a distribution channel. In this episode: - Podcast guesting for founders: focus on the host and the audience. - How to be a good podcast guest without turning every answer into a pitch. - LinkedIn content strategy and the value of commenting before posting. - AI ghostwriting and the problem of borrowing opinions you haven't developed. - Repurposing conversations while preserving the speaker's point of view. - Pre-interview conversations and useful, non-pushy promotion. Connect with Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-swirsky/ If you reach out, mention that you heard him on The Weird Canadian. YouTube version and premiere details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrV84zP6HQ4 Episodes, sources, and more: https://theweirdcanadian.ca Episode promotions: Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian Disclosure: The Async and PodMatch links are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through them. My own app, GrayGate: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Content note: Strong language and a brief discussion of pet loss and grief. Career stories, platform observations, and AI forecasts are the speakers' accounts and opinions, not independently verified findings. The AI/copyright discussion is not legal advice. A guest appearance does not imply endorsement of every view or product discussed. Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app for more conversations about technology, work, and what you can do next. Stay weird. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Read transcript

  2. 4d ago

    AI Agents, Human Review, and Production Risk with Nate Stewart

    Episode Notes When AI generates work faster, who checks it before customers depend on it? Cody talks with Nate Stewart of Runtype about AI agent reliability and the responsibilities that remain when a model can write code or take action. Nate describes how his expectations of automation changed when faster generation created more work to review. The conversation explores how to build reliable AI products through testing, simulations, reviewed building blocks, and clear limits on destructive access. Cody shares his own mistakes with production databases, while Nate describes safeguards and ways to test changes without affecting production. The point is not to stop experimenting. It's to understand what an agent can change before expanding its authority. They also discuss AI automation mistakes, model selection, and why AI product development is about more than the model: cost, latency, failure handling, integrations, and supporting the people who use the result. The later conversation covers local-model experiments and what honest building in public can teach other builders. In this episode: - The review workload behind faster generation - Where to draw the line on agent access - Simulating changes before production - Turning prototypes into products through Runtype - Matching models to tasks rather than chasing every release - Local models and sharing the real work behind a build Guest and project: Runtype: https://www.runtype.com/ Nate on X: https://x.com/becomevocal Nate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/becomevocal/ Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app for more conversations about AI, work, business, and what you can build next. Episodes and more: https://theweirdcanadian.ca Watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/vU7aKYMdan0 Episode partners and Cody's app: Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian Disclosure: The Async and PodMatch links are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through them. GrayGate, my own Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate This conversation shares experience and opinions, not a security audit, implementation guarantee, or promise of business results. Contains explicit language. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Read transcript

  3. Sep 28

    AI, Smaller Teams, and What Workers Can Do Next with Jim Love

    Read transcript Episode Notes Could AI change how many people a team needs before it replaces every part of a person's job? Cody talks with Jim Love about AI job displacement, human judgment, and how to prepare for AI at work without treating a prediction as a plan. Jim describes rebuilding his publishing audience reach with a much smaller operation after his former business failed. We keep that context intact: the story does not establish that AI caused every lost job, or that matching audience reach means matching revenue, quality, or all the work of the original company. From there, the conversation explores AI and the future of work: what smaller teams could mean for wages and customers, why model answers can vary, and where dependable code and human judgment still matter. Jim shares his views on AI workforce transformation, while the discussion returns to practical learning, useful consulting, and asking questions instead of pretending to know everything. This is a wide-ranging interview. It also includes AI control, fiction, robotics, climate and energy, community, and political opinions. There is no step-by-step career plan or promise of an AI-proof job. TOPICS - Jim's publishing rebuild and the difference between audience reach and business equivalence. - Smaller teams, wages, and the question of who buys what companies produce. - Model variability, code, and human judgment. - AI control, robotics, and the possible futures explored in Jim's fiction. - Consulting that delivers useful work, not just presentations. - Experimenting, asking questions, and participating in a community. ABOUT JIM LOVE Jim hosts Hashtag Trending and is the author of Elisa: A Tale of Quantum Kisses. He brings a background in technology leadership, publishing, and consulting. Website: https://jimlove.com/ Books: https://books.jimlove.com/novels/ Tech Newsday: https://technewsday.com/ X: https://x.com/CIOJimLove FOLLOW / EXPLORE Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app for more conversations about what technology changes for work and business. Episodes, sources, and more: https://theweirdcanadian.ca YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJrgsSp0Khs RELATED CONVERSATION Why AI Makes Engineers More Valuable, Not Less https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXscF_EP0FY SUPPORT THE SHOW Disclosure: Async and PodMatch links below are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through them. Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian GrayGate is my own app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate RESEARCH CONTEXT The ILO's 2025 research distinguishes occupational exposure to generative AI from jobs actually being eliminated. It is context for the discussion, not evidence for Jim's replacement ratio or timeline: https://www.ilo.org/publications/generative-ai-and-jobs-2025-update CONTENT NOTE Strong language and political opinions. Jim's business account and forecasts are attributed views, not independently established employment outcomes. The troubleshooting story is not a repair tutorial. Do not rely on AI alone for hazardous repairs, and do not share private or workplace-sensitive information with AI tools. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

  4. Sep 24

    AI in Local Government: Who Checks the AI? with Evan Meyer

    Read transcript Episode Notes Local officials have information to work through and residents to keep informed. Evan Meyer joins Cody to discuss where AI might help, from understanding a complicated bill to preparing a community newsletter, and what people still need to understand before putting their name on the result. Evan describes MyGovTools' approach to AI government newsletters, including gathering community information, preparing a weekly digest and adding human review and personal input. We discuss government communication with AI, disclosure, and why human oversight of AI has to involve more than accepting the output. The conversation also moves through property values and local policy, AI music, creative work, free will and what future technology could make possible. This is an exploratory interview about AI in local government and beyond, not a step-by-step tutorial or independent test of MyGovTools. TOPICS - Reading beyond a bill's headline and checking the underlying information. - Evan's view of property values, relationships and public trust. - MyGovTools and AI-assisted newsletters for local officials. - Disclosure, human review and responsibility for public messages. - AI music, creative agency and the debate over machine intelligence. - Using AI to ask questions and learn, without surrendering judgment. ABOUT EVAN Evan Meyer is a civic-tech entrepreneur whose projects include MyGovTools, Beautify Earth and RideAmigos. He hosts Meyerside Chats and draws on his experience as a California Senate district director in this conversation. Evan Meyer: https://evanmeyer.io MyGovTools: https://mygovtools.org Meyerside Chats: https://www.evanmeyer.io/podcast Beautify Earth: https://beautifyearth.com RideAmigos / CommuteHub: https://rideamigos.com CONTEXT AND SOURCES Product benefits and forecasts are the speakers' views, not independently measured outcomes. Political and legal discussion is commentary, not legal advice. Check AI-generated explanations against the original documents. The broad government-trust claim is not a verified global ranking. Gallup's 2023 U.S. survey distinguishes local government from Congress: https://news.gallup.com/poll/512651/americans-trust-local-government-congress-least.aspx The episode's broad one-in-ten childbirth claim is not established here. A CDC historical report gives six to nine maternal deaths from pregnancy-related complications per 1,000 live births in the early-20th-century United States, a specified population and measure: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10563522/ The unidentified water-powered-scooter anecdote was not verified. Electrolysis requires electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen; water is not a fuel by itself: https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-electrolysis Other numerical anecdotes, including a Shanghai vehicle percentage and translation latency, were not independently verified. Future-technology predictions are speculation, not established results. PROMOTIONS AND DISCLOSURES The Async and PodMatch links below are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through them. Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian GrayGate is my own app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app for more conversations about AI, practical tools and the people building what comes next. Episodes, sources and projects: https://theweirdcanadian.ca Watch the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvABWuNQFW8 Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

  5. Sep 21

    The $47.45 Billion TikTok Bid: Reid Rasner's Wyoming Plan

    Read transcript Episode Notes Could a technology business give people more ways to work and raise a family close to home? Reid Rasner joins Cody on The Weird Canadian to discuss his unsuccessful $47.45 billion bid for TikTok's US business and why he wanted another major industry in Wyoming. The TikTok Wyoming bid leads into Reid's proposed Wyoming stablecoin payment model for TikTok Shop and his argument for tech jobs in Wyoming. He also discusses AI data center jobs, the opportunity he sees for tradespeople, power and water concerns, and why he advocated a pause to study the effects of development. The conversation ranges beyond the bid: Cody's GameStop experience, emotional investing, tensions between the US and Canada, term limits, voter participation, AI optimism and Reid's proposed digital bill of rights. Listen for the distinction between a plan, a prediction and something already delivered. TOPICS - The unsuccessful 2025 bid and Reid's account of what happened. - TikTok Shop and his proposed stable-token payment model. - Local work, AI infrastructure, power and water. - US-Canada relations and political accountability. - Investing discipline and the risks of emotional decisions. - A proposed digital bill of rights for individuals. CONTEXT AND CAUTIONS TikTok announced the establishment of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC on January 23, 2026. That separate arrangement is not the acquisition Rasner proposed. His statements about White House delivery and China leaving negotiations remain his account. This episode contains political opinions, financial commentary and disputed technical claims. It is not personalized investment or legal advice, and investments can lose value. The projected state revenues and future-millionaire claims are not independently established. A House-passed electricity bill is not proof of an enacted nationwide rate protection. The AI/quantum-encryption discussion should not be treated as a verified technical explanation; NIST's resource below provides background. GUEST Reid Rasner: https://www.reidrasner.com/ Omnivest Financial: https://www.omnivestfinancial.com/ These are guest-information links, not an endorsement of investment services. READ THE CONTEXT Historical bid reporting: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tiktok-bid-reid-rasner-white-house-rcna195001 TikTok's separate joint-venture announcement: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/announcement-from-the-new-tiktok-usds-joint-venture-llc?lang=en Wyoming's official stable-token launch announcement: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WYGOV/bulletins/3ee734a House-passed Ratepayer Protection Act text: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr9340eh/html/BILLS-119hr9340eh.htm Post-quantum cryptography: https://www.nist.gov/pqc PROMOTIONS AND DISCLOSURE GrayGate is my own app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Async, the video editor I use: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn This episode promotes my GrayGate app and includes an Async affiliate message. I may earn a commission if you sign up through the Async link. These promotions are separate from the guest conversation and do not imply Reid's endorsement. Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app for more conversations about technology, work and what comes next. Episodes, sources and more: https://theweirdcanadian.ca Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQ-a3kodtk Stay weird. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

  6. Sep 17

    He Learned to Read at 62. Now He's Building an AI Tutor for Struggling Readers

    Episode Notes David Chalk built technology companies and became a familiar voice on television and radio while carrying a private fear: that people would mistake his difficulty reading for a lack of intelligence. In this episode, David tells Cody what happened on his first day of school, how shame followed him into adulthood, and what changed when he learned to read in his early 60s during the making of The Truth About Reading. He describes receiving 11 hours of instruction and recognizing written language as patterns. That was David's personal experience, not a guaranteed timeline for other learners. The conversation then turns to Reading Road, the AI-assisted literacy platform David is building. He explains a proposed approach that starts with spoken language and words the learner already understands, uses personal interests to expand vocabulary, and tries to respond when frustration appears. Cody asks the questions that matter before a family relies on an AI tutor: What can AI add that a teacher may not have time to provide one-on-one? What should it never replace? How should a system working with children handle consent, privacy, biometric signals, human oversight, and safety? What measurable results should it produce before skeptical parents, educators, or reading scientists trust it? The episode also explores dyslexia, ADHD, neurodivergent learning, emotional safety, pattern recognition, handwriting, the limits of language models, and practical ways adults can begin using AI with more curiosity and less hype. GUEST LINKS Reading Road: https://readingroad.ai About David and Reading Road: https://readingroad.ai/about/ David Chalk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchalkmentoring/ The Truth About Reading on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100016377/the-truth-about-reading THE WEIRD CANADIAN Watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/FMQ-qlKR82s Episodes, sources, and more: https://theweirdcanadian.ca PARTNERS PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn GrayGate: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Disclosure: The PodMatch and Async links may be affiliate links, which means The Weird Canadian may benefit if you sign up or purchase through them. Reading Road's capabilities, pricing, safeguards, certifications, access model, and outcomes are discussed as founder or product claims. This conversation is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or individualized education advice. Qualified assessment and evidence-based support may still be appropriate. Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app, visit https://theweirdcanadian.ca, and use the YouTube link above if you want the video version. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Read transcript

  7. Sep 14

    AI Guardrails for Kids: Building Judgment Beyond Parental Controls

    Episode Notes Parental controls can reduce a child's exposure to known risks. They cannot supply judgment when a new message, voice, image, or AI conversation feels convincing. Cybersecurity leader, author, and DigiArmorX founder Nidhi Srivastava joins Cody to discuss what AI safety for kids looks like when the technology can imitate, persuade, remember context, and invite personal disclosure. Nidhi shares how her son's experience with cyberbullying changed her view of controls-only safety and led her toward risk-based digital-safety education. The conversation offers a practical framework for families and schools: `human first, AI second, human last`. Children attempt the thinking first, use AI to challenge or extend it, and return to human judgment before making a decision. Nidhi and Cody also discuss productive struggle, deepfake awareness, emotional boundaries with AI, recurring family conversations, DigiArmorX, and password habits. In this episode: - Why technical guardrails and human judgment do different jobs - How to teach kids critical thinking with AI - Questions parents can repeat without becoming AI experts - Privacy and emotional boundaries for AI conversations - Why digital literacy for children should be practised as a life skill - How Nidhi describes DigiArmorX's risk-based learning model - What the password segment gets right and where current guidance needs more context Guest and project links: Nidhi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nidhi-srivastava-a5493468 DigiArmorX: https://www.digiarmorx.ai Growing Safe Digital Minds: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX2TQ7R1 The Brightshield Digital Defenders: The Super Password: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GXMMLQ55 The Weird Canadian: Website: https://theweirdcanadian.ca Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtwjLtOvHj0 Partners and tools mentioned in the episode: PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn Graygate: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Disclosure: The PodMatch and Async links are affiliate links, which means Cody may earn a commission if you sign up through them. Follow The Weird Canadian in your podcast app, visit the website for episode links and sources, or watch the full video on YouTube. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Read transcript

  8. Sep 10

    AI Can Make Content. It Can't Earn Customer Trust, with Chris Anderson

    Episode Notes AI can produce more content for less. That does not mean an audience will believe it, remember it, or trust the business behind it. Chris Anderson of Elevate Media Group joins Cody for an audio-first conversation about AI content creation for business and the parts of marketing that automation still cannot carry on its own. They discuss story, proof, judgment, consistency, and why a recognizable personal point of view becomes more important as production gets easier. The conversation also covers raw versus polished content, the idea that every business is becoming a media company, the often-cited seven-hour trust rule, small teams using AI as leverage, fact-checking generated material, writing scroll-stopping hooks without lying, handling internet criticism, and questions about robots, UBI, and the future of work. The seven-hour trust idea is discussed as a marketing heuristic rather than a guaranteed buying threshold. Predictions and views about AI and future work belong to the conversation and should not be read as settled forecasts. TOPICS - What AI content still misses - Customer trust through content - Personal brand content strategy - Video marketing for small business - Raw content versus polished production - AI-assisted teams and fact-checking - Hooks that earn attention without overpromising - Robots, UBI, and the future of work CONNECT WITH CHRIS Elevate Media Group: https://www.elevate-media-group.com/ Chris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris.t.anderson/ The Upgraded Man on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-upgraded-man/id1488052556 THE WEIRD CANADIAN Episodes, sources, and more: https://www.theweirdcanadian.ca/ Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcuW-EibLnI PARTNERS PodMatch: https://joinpodmatch.com/the_weird_canadian GrayGate: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graygate Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn Affiliate disclosure: I may earn a commission if you sign up through the PodMatch or Async links. GrayGate is My own created app. Follow the show in your podcast app, visit The Weird Canadian for more episodes and sources, or watch the full video conversation on YouTube. Support The Weird Canadian by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-weird-canadian This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Read transcript

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About

What if the system isn't broken, it's just finished? What comes next, and who's building it? The Weird Canadian is a show about the people answering that question with action. Engineers writing the protocols that route around outdated institutions. Economists rethinking money, work, and ownership for an AI-native world. Policy advocates dragging Canada out of a decade of decline. Founders building tools, communities, and movements that give regular people leverage they've never had. I believe technology, used right, is the most powerful equalizer humanity has ever invented. AI isn't the threat. Concentration is the threat. So this show platforms the people pushing in the opposite direction: open systems, individual sovereignty, distributed power, and a future where being free isn't a luxury. You don't have to agree with me on everything. You just have to be building, creating, or fighting for something real. If your work makes a regular person stronger, smarter, freer, or less dependent on a system that's failing them, this is your audience. Canadian focus, global lens. No fluff, no talking points, no algorithm-chasing. Just the conversations we should be having out loud.

Information

  • Creator
    The Weird Canadian
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    167
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    The Weird Canadian