Passages

Passages the Podcast
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A new show about old ideas.

  1. FEB 27

    S2E06 - SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORK AND RESISTANCE - Ed Dunsworth

    To lift oneself up against the gravity of common sense, it takes a probing mind and searching spirit. It takes focus and scope, it takes dialogue with people who have real experience, and it perhaps also takes some acquaintance with history. Ed Dunsworth is a historian of labour, migration, and politics at McGill University. His 2022 book is Harvesting Labour: Tobacco and the Global Making of Canada’s Agricultural Workforce. It’s an intricate and ambitious look at how global trends and trajectories have passed through the prism of one specific sector in one specific county, just off Lake Erie in southern Ontario. Harvesting Labour undermines our default understanding of agricultural work in Canada, not least by showing farm workers of many eras and origins organizing, resisting, and asserting their own dignity.  This episode also discusses Dunsworth’s 2023 book, Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada, co-authored with Gabriel Allahdua. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    59 min

  2. JAN 1

    S2E05 - SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION AND THIRD PLACES - Tonya K. Davidson

    There are a number of ways that one could describe Tonya K. Davidson’s new book, Ottawology. On one level, it’s a synthesis of sociological theory and research about Canada’s capital. It is also to some extent a map of the vital tensions that we find in all cities. At yet another level, it's a book that helps its readers perceive the richness of urban life, and every city’s potential to nourish both individuals and society. Davidson is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University in Ottawa.  The final passage heard in the episode is from Tara Milbrandt’s chapter of Seasonal Sociology. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    54 min

  3. 12/21/2025 · BONUS

    S2 - SOLSTICE READING - Annie Dillard

    Annie Dillard is verbally vibrant and deadly in description. But it’s the nature of the solstice season too, impeccably balanced, a knife’s edge of mortality and vitality.  Passages featured in this solstice reading bonus episode are from Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974) and The Writing Life (1989).

    11 min

  4. 11/07/2025

    S2E04 - PHILOSOPHY AND POWER - James Romm

    A great work, like a great river, has many tributaries. In the case of Plato’s Republic, American classicist James Romm divines one such buried stream, exploring Plato’s encounters with tyranny on his several trips to the Greek West. Romm’s 2025 book is Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece’s Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece. Passages from Plato’s Seventh Letter are from Jonah Radding’s translation, found in Heather L. Reid and Mark Ralkowski’s Plato at Syracuse. Passages from Plato’s Republic are from Allan Bloom’s translation. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    59 min

  5. 09/30/2025

    S2E03 - SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND SELF-REALISATION - Frances Abele

    Ed Broadbent’s political thought and action was based on a desire for a fuller and richer democratic life, and a basic respect for his fellow Canadians. In one of his final years, Broadbent wrote that his political task had been “to communicate a social democratic vision to ordinary Canadians,” providing tangible improvements to their lives in the process. Amongst Broadbent’s co-authors for his final major publication was Frances Abele. Abele is Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor Emerita at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy & Administration. Her 2023 book with Ed Broadbent, Jonathan Sas and Luke Savage is Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    1 hr

  6. 09/01/2025

    S2E02 - DEMOCRACY AND DECISIONS - Dave Moscrop

    Democracy is both a lofty ideal and a humble collection of practices, institutions and dispositions.  Dave Moscrop’s writing travels between these two poles. Moscrop brings gentleness to his judgment of individual democratic decision-makers and an urgency to the overall project of elevating our democracy. Dave Moscrop is a commentator on politics for TV, radio and print, his writing appearing in a range of Canadian, American and British publications. His 2019 book is Too Dumb for Democracy? Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    57 min

  7. 08/04/2025 · BONUS

    S2 - SUMMER READING - Dennis Lee

    Dennis Lee's poems sound the depths of human interiority, but also show that interiority has external (and political) correlates. The poems featured in this summer reading bonus episode are collected in Lee's 2017 book, Heart Residence.

    7 min

  8. 07/01/2025

    S2E01 - DEMOCRACY AND JUDGMENT - Andrew Coyne

    For Andrew Coyne, Canadian democracy has become more ceremony than substance. His 2025 book The Crisis of Canadian Democracy maps the imbalances between government and Parliament, leaders and caucus, prime ministers and cabinets. And he shows the fundamental risks posed by these asymmetries, particularly as declining legitimacy diminishes action and initiative, at a moment when the country badly needs each. Andrew Coyne writes for the Globe and Mail. Music for this episode from ⁠⁠⁠Uppbeat⁠⁠⁠⁠. License code: 2CWHTEVPITF6KWEO.

    1h 1m
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About

A new show about old ideas.

Information

  • Creator
    Passages the Podcast
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Passages the Podcast
  • Show Website
    Passages