The Weird Canadian

The Weird Canadian

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 Engineers writing the protocols that route around outdated institutions.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. 3d ago

    Can You Upgrade Your DNA? Helen Muller on Epigenetics, Consciousness & AI

    Episode Notes What if the human body is advanced hardware running outdated software? In this episode of The Weird Canadian, Cody Johnston sits down with Helen Muller from You, Me & Happiness to explore happiness, epigenetics, DNA expression, consciousness, energy work, AI, identity, rural community, and what it means to live with less chaos and more intention. Helen shares how her search for happiness started at 16, why chasing euphoria can become a trap, and how she thinks about the “larger consciousness system.” The conversation moves through old patterns, personal change, breatharian/pranic living as Helen's personal experience, food and information, simulation theory, AI as a mirror, and Cody's book-in-progress, Bleeding Digital. This episode is not medical advice and does not claim proof of cures, healing, DNA rewriting, or guaranteed results. It is an open, skeptical, curious conversation about consciousness, human potential, personal responsibility, and the stories we live by. Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/oetQJVlsJGo Guest links: Helen Muller / You, Me & Happiness: https://youmeandhappiness.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youmeandhappiness/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/youmeandhappiness/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youmeandhappiness/ Tools I use: Async: https://async.com/?ref=zjdlyzn Disclosure: this is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up through it. Pinecast keywords/tags: Helen Muller, The Weird Canadian, Cody Johnston, epigenetics, DNA expression, consciousness, AI, artificial intelligence, happiness, personal growth, energy work, simulation theory, online identity, Bleeding Digital, Newfoundland, podcast interview 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

    48 min
  2. Jun 3

    The Death of Google: Why AI Just Made Your Business Invisible | Stephan Bajaio

    Episode Notes Nobody lies to their search bar. Every day, millions of people type their real fears, desires, and questions into a box with zero filter. And right now, AI is intercepting those answers before your brand ever shows up. In this episode, I sit down with Stephan Bajaio, co-founder of Conductor (the enterprise SEO platform behind FedEx, Uber, and Johns Hopkins), who scaled the company to a $525M valuation, sold it to WeWork, survived the collapse, and helped buy it back. Now the CEO of VibeLogic, Stephan breaks down why "Web Presence Intelligence" is replacing SEO, how AI is rewriting the rules of customer discovery, and what businesses of all sizes need to do to survive the disruption ahead. Topics covered: The WeWork acquisition and implosion (from the inside) Why the SEO industry's identity crisis is its own fault Web Presence Intelligence: the framework replacing traditional SEO How AI chatbots, Reddit, and LLMs are intercepting your buyers Building an uncopyable data moat from your company's internal wisdom Why your input matters more than your output in the AI age Uncle Elie learning Chinese at 102 (and why that matters) Watch the full video episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrkCh2s_vo Connect with Stephan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanbajaio/ Website: https://www.vibelogic.com/ Connect with The Weird Canadian: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The_Weird_Canadian Website: https://theweirdcanadian.ca 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

    1 hr
  3. Jun 1

    AI for Lawyers: Why Canada Is Running Out of Professionals | Ft. Albert Lin

    Episode Notes Rural Canada is quietly losing the professionals that hold communities together — and nobody is talking about it. In this episode, Cody sits down with Albert Lin, Partner and CIO at Northview Law and Lead Investor at dCarbonVC, to unpack one of the most overlooked infrastructure crises in the country. Albert's path is unlike anyone else in the room: he started as a cancer research scientist, moved into private equity, became Senior Vice President of Investments at Brookfield Asset Management where he closed over $30 billion in M\&A transactions, and then walked away from institutional finance to build a regional law firm designed to solve the rural professional shortage. In this conversation, we cover the broken economics of small-town professional practice, how AI is actually being deployed inside law firms right now (not to replace lawyers, but to eliminate the administrative weight underneath), the real state of climate tech investing, and why only 3% of people are using AI effectively in their businesses. This is a candid, no-fluff conversation about systems, incentives, and what it actually takes to rebuild something that matters. Topics covered in this episode: — Why young professionals won't move to rural Canada — How AI is changing law firm workflows (Projects Argo, Wyatt & Caspian) — Climate tech investing: what's ready now vs. what's still hype — Data privacy and why ChatGPT is not a legal-grade tool — The $30B M\&A lesson every business owner needs to hear — Why only 3% of people use AI effectively Guest links: 🔗 Northview Law: https://www.northviewlaw.com/ 🔗 dCarbonVC: https://dcarbonvc.com/ Watch the full video episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80CmnS6GFKE Subscribe to The Weird Canadian wherever you listen to podcasts. 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

    1 hr
  4. May 27

    Built an AI Chatbot That Can't Lie (Here's How ) with Martin Hills

    Episode Notes Is your business chatbot secretly driving customers away? In this episode of The Weird Canadian, we sit down with Martin Hills, a veteran software developer who has built complex risk systems for global banks like Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. Now, as the founder of Infin8y, Martin is tackling one of the biggest problems in modern business: AI chatbots that lie. We discuss why slapping a basic AI on top of your company FAQs is a recipe for disaster, and how Martin's "Frontline Intelligence" platform flips the script. Instead of just automating support, his technology acts as a "brain map," using RAG and vector databases to provide verified answers while exposing exactly what your customers are confused about. Tune in to hear Martin's fascinating origin story (including his 7-year battle to build a social media competitor), his insights on the future of decentralized data centers and photonics, and actionable advice on how to use AI to listen better, not just automate more. If you are an entrepreneur or business owner looking to scale without losing customer trust, this episode is packed with value. Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SbFd3b-ZO_w Take action: Want to see how your own website's AI holds up? Book a free 10-Minute Answer Quality Audit with Martin: https://www.infin8y.com/solutions/ai-chatbot Connect with Martin Hills: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fin8y Website: https://www.infin8y.com/ #AIChatbot #BusinessIntelligence #TheWeirdCanadian #Entrepreneurship #TechInnovation #CustomerExperience 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

    53 min
  5. May 20

    The Juggernaut: Thunder Parley on Fixing California's Shadow Budget, Benefit Cliff, and Broken Schools

    Episode Notes Thunder Parley arrived in California at 18 years old with $50 and a one-way ticket. His guidance counselor told him he was too poor to go out of state. Two decades later, he built his career at Google, where colleagues called him "The Juggernaut" — because once he locked onto a broken system, he refused to quit until it was fixed. Now he's running for Governor of California on a single promise: one term, fix the machine, go home. In this episode, we go deep on the three systemic failures Thunder says are destroying California from the inside: the shadow budget hiding 22 taxes in your electricity bill, the benefit cliff that punishes working mothers for getting a raise, and the classroom crisis that is costing an entire generation their economic future. What You'll Learn: •How the benefit cliff works: why a $1/hour raise can cost a California family $22,000 in lost child-care support overnight, and how the MATH Plan (0% tax on the first $98k, flat 4.9% above that ) is designed to eliminate it •The shadow budget: how California pays neighboring states over $150 million per year to take excess solar energy while Californians pay four times the national average for electricity — and how 22 hidden taxes, fees, and social programs are buried in every bill •The LIMIT proposal: why tracking lost instructional minutes caused by classroom evacuations matters more than "social climate dashboards" — and what it means for students from lower-income families •Why Thunder says California spent $24 billion on homelessness over five years while homelessness increased by 30–40%, and what accountability actually looks like •The bureaucratic absurdity of being required to print 500 pages of tax returns and hand-deliver them to the Secretary of State so they could be scanned back into PDFs •Why he only wants one term — and why that is the most radical thing about his campaign Guest Links: •Campaign Website: https://votethunder.com/ •X/Twitter: https://x.com/VoteThunderCA •Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VoteThunderCA 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

    1 hr
5
out of 5
2 Ratings

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.