COMMONS Canadaland Beyond
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- Society & Culture
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 7 - Merchants of the Rock
The cod collapse is a harbinger of the many environmental disasters we’re about to face. But what happens to workers in the aftermath of that kind of catastrophe? In Newfoundland and Labrador, monopolistic corporations took advantage.
The history of the Atlantic fishery can be understood as a power struggle between fishermen and merchants.
And the merchants are winning.
Featured in this episode: Glen Winslow, Ryan Cleary, Jenn Thornhill-Verma
To learn more:
“Who Controls Fish Processing in Newfoundland & Labrador?” by Jenn Thornhill-Verma & Jack Daly in The Independent
“Why are fish harvesters protesting in Newfoundland?” in CTV News
“Danish company Royal Greenland buying 4 more N.L. fish plants” in CBC News
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: Douglas, AGI
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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
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 -
WORK 6 - Emptying an Ocean
The closure of the cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador was the most devastating mass layoff in Canadian history. And its impacts are still being felt to this day.
The collapse of Newfoundland cod is a story of man-made environmental calamity that turned into economic devastation. It’s a story of a government ignoring the knowledge of working people, in favour of the so-called expertise of industry, to disastrous effect.
But this isn’t just history. It’s prophecy. It’s a vision of what may come if we continue to ignore the ecological limits of this planet in the pursuit of profit.
Featured in this episode: Bernard Martin, Jenn Thornhill-Verma, Ryan Cleary, Glen Winslow
To learn more:
Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys by Jenn Thornhill-Verma
Lament for an Ocean: The Collapse of the Atlantic Cod Fishery by Michael Harris
Managed Annihilation: An Unnatural History of the Newfoundland Cod Collapse by Dean Bavington
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
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, Douglas
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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
WORK 7 - Merchants of the Rock
The cod collapse is a harbinger of the many environmental disasters we’re about to face. But what happens to workers in the aftermath of that kind of catastrophe? In Newfoundland and Labrador, monopolistic corporations took advantage.
The history of the Atlantic fishery can be understood as a power struggle between fishermen and merchants.
And the merchants are winning.
Featured in this episode: Glen Winslow, Ryan Cleary, Jenn Thornhill-Verma
To learn more:
“Who Controls Fish Processing in Newfoundland & Labrador?” by Jenn Thornhill-Verma & Jack Daly in The Independent
“Why are fish harvesters protesting in Newfoundland?” in CTV News
“Danish company Royal Greenland buying 4 more N.L. fish plants” in CBC News
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 -
WORK 5 - The Westray Disaster
This episode was originally published on November 24, 2021.
Twenty-six men were working underground when an explosion tore through the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia. Their friends and colleagues went into the wreckage to try to save them.
The story of Westray is one of managerial malice and the heroism of everyday people. But why is it that governments let this happen over and over again, at the expense of so many lives?
Featured in this episode: Vernon Theriault, Tom Sandborn
To learn more:
Westray: My Journey From Darkness to Light by Vernon Theriault and Marjorie Coady
“Hell’s History” by Tom Sandborn in The Tyee
The Last Shift by CBC’s The Fifth Estate
Additional music from Audio Network
Sponsors: Douglas, 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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
WORK 4 - Reaping the Whirlwind
Migrant farm workers are the backbone of Canada’s agricultural economy. But because they can be fired and deported at will, their voices are rarely ever heard in this country.
But Gabriel Allahdua is one of the few who can now speak up. And the story he has to tell is startling.
It’s a story of racism and labour exploitation that goes back decades, even centuries. And it’s a prophecy of what is to come — that the hardships inflicted on migrant farm workers are only a trial run for the rest of us.
This is the second episode in a two-part series on farm labour.
Featured in this episode: Gabriel Allahdua, Chris Ramsaroop
To learn more:
Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada by Gabriel Allahdua with Edward Dunsworth
“‘Overtly racist’: Lawsuit challenges Canada’s migrant farmworker system” by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours in Al-Jazeera
“Former Ontario seasonal farmworker speaks out about exploitation, files class action lawsuit” by Jon Woodward in CTV News
“The Canadian state and the racialization of Caribbean migrant farm labour 1947–1966” by Vic Satzewich in Ethnic and Racial Studies
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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.