COMMONS Canadaland Politics
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- Society & Culture
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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 1 - The War on Workers
Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade.
The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed.
One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed.
This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.
Featured in this episode: Jim Stanford
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 -
Introducing our new season… Work
Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade.
The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed.
One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed.
This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.
COMMONS: Work launches on March 20th.
Canadaland Supporters can listen to all episodes one week early! Become a supporter at canadaland.com/join
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Introducing our new season… Work
Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade.
The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed.
One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed.
This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.
COMMONS: Work launches on March 20th.
Canadaland Supporters can listen to all episodes one week early! Become a supporter at canadaland.com/join -
Bonus - Everybody Loves Romana
In this bonus episode, COMMONS producer Noor Azrieh sits down with Peter Smith to discuss his reporting on right-wing conspiracy groups like Qanon and Romana Didulo.
Featured in this episode: Peter Smith
To learn more:
“Lead in the head”: Self-Declared Canadian Prime Minister and QAnon Adherent Calls for Executions of Officials Who Refuse Her Cease and Desists” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate Network
“Self Declared Queen Of Canada Calling For US Supporters To Invade Canada And Prepare To Execute “Traitors” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor in Cheif)
Sponsors: Douglas, Athletic Greens
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. -
CANADALAND #914 Stock Buybacks: How Grocers Eat Themselves
This episode was originally published on August 28th, 2023.
Listen to Monopoly 1 - Lost in the Supermarket and Monopoly 17 - Food Fight
In the past several years, Loblaws, Metro and Empire have spent billions on their own stock – And at a time of food price inflation and grocery workers on strike.
Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished?
Featured in this episode:
William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts
Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work
Further reading:
Profits Without Prosperity, William Lazonick, Harvard Business Review“The American disease’: Canadian companies pouring cash into stock buybacks as backlash grows abroad, Geoff Zochodne, Financial PostStriking Metro workers say they face challenges affording the very food they sell, Canadian Press
Host: Jesse Brown
Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jonathan Goldsbie (News Editor), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
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. -
CANADALAND #914 Stock Buybacks: How Grocers Eat Themselves
This episode was originally published on August 28th, 2023.
Listen to Monopoly 1 - Lost in the Supermarket and Monopoly 17 - Food Fight
In the past several years, Loblaws, Metro and Empire have spent billions on their own stock – And at a time of food price inflation and grocery workers on strike.
Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished?
Featured in this episode:
William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts
Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work
Further reading:
Profits Without Prosperity, William Lazonick, Harvard Business Review
“The American disease’: Canadian companies pouring cash into stock buybacks as backlash grows abroad, Geoff Zochodne, Financial Post
Striking Metro workers say they face challenges affording the very food they sell, Canadian Press
Host: Jesse Brown
Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jonathan Goldsbie (News Editor), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
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.
Customer Reviews
Excellent journalism, lackluster production
This season on corruption features the excellent investigative reporting I’ve come to expect from Canadaland and its affiliated shows, however, elements of the production make Commons an aggravating listening experience. Audio packages and soundbites fluctuate from inaudibly quiet (see: Barack Obama in the first minutes of episode 3; many of the bed music interludes), to in-the-red loud at other moments. In one single segment, around 20:00mins in ep. 3, host Arshy Mann’s voice goes from too-quiet to too-loud with no interlude. It’s a fantastic show, but the listening experience both in headphones and external speakers, is poor.
Wannabe Woke
Trying way to hard to be “woke” and only catering to the racial narrative
Laziest journalism ever
Decent narration but you do an episode on fighting in hockey and you choose to rehash the Derek Boogard story?? I believe this case has been well covered, no? A writer for the NY Times wrote a mediocre book about it that was a bestseller. This is a polarizing and exhaustive topic, and one that deserves to be treated with care.
Instead we get the one story everybody has heard already. I think the topic, and your audience deserves better. Way to phone it in.
Why don’t go out on a limb and cover the Theranos story next episode?