Talking Radical Radio

In episode #397 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Reuben Roth, Katlyn Kotila, and Darius Garneau. Roth is a labour studies and sociology professor at Laurentian University, an instiution facing unprecedented crisis after recently filing for creditor protection. Kotila and Garneau are undergraduate students at Laurentian and members of Save Our Sudbury. Neigh interviews all three about the crisis, how it is being used to impose cuts and other forms of austerity, its implications for other universities and the broader public sector, and what the community is doing in response. For a more detailed description, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/03/30/radio-resisting-an-unprecedented-austerity-attack-on-the-university-sector/

In episode #396 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interview Jonny Sopotiuk and Zandi Dandizette. They are founding members of both the Vancouver Artists Labour Union Co-operative (VALU CO-OP), a workplace owned and run democratically by its workers, and of the Arts and Cultural Workers Union (ACWU). They talk about how this new model for artists and other cultural workers to organize themselves -- a worker co-op *and* a union -- may be the key to challenging precarious work and poverty in the sector. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/03/23/interview-artists-as-workers-a-new-model-for-organizing/

In episode #395 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Mary Kelly and Alex Bestos. Kelly is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia and a national board member of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP). Bestos works at a health research centre focused on substance use and is the international liaison for CSSDP. They talk about the current state of drug-related public policy in Canada and what the students and youth of CSSDP are doing to make it better. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/03/16/radio-students-mobilizing-for-the-decriminalization-of-drugs/

In episode #394 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews William Carroll, James Rowe, and Emily Lowan of the University of Victoria. Carroll is a professor of sociology and Rowe an associate professor of environmental studies, and they are both involved in the Corporate Mapping Project, which brings together academic and community-based researchers to investigate the corporate power of fossil fuel industries in Canada. Rowe and Lowan, who is an undergraduate student in environmental studies and economics, are involved in Divest UVic, a campaign that is pushing the University of Victoria to divest from fossil fuel industries. They talk about the power of fossil fuel industries; about the work of researching, analyzing, and understanding that power; and about how that research can be applied in struggles on the ground, like campaigns for divestment. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/03/09/radio-mapping-and-opposing-the-power-of-fossil-fuel-industri

In episode #393 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Samir Shaheen-Hussain. He is a pediatric emergency physician in Montreal and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. He was also a central organizer in the #aHand2Hold campaign, which in 2018 won a victory against a specific aspect of medical colonialism in Quebec. In this episode, he talks about the campaign, about his new book, *Fighting for a Hand to Hold: Confronting Medical Colonialism against Indigenous Children in Canada*, and about the broader history and present reality of medical colonialism in this country. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/03/02/radio-the-past-and-present-of-medical-colonialism-in-canada/

In episode #392 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Ra'anaa Brown and Shana Calixte of Black Lives Matter - Sudbury. They talk about about what the struggle for Black lives looks like in northern Ontario and about their conference coming up on February 27 and 28, "Here to Stay Baby": A Northern Intersectional Caucus. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/02/23/radio-the-struggle-for-black-lives-in-northern-ontario/

In episode #391 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Daniel Sarah Karasik and Darrah Teitel of the Suppress the Virus Now Coalition, an Ontario-based coalition of community groups, labour organizations, and individuals. They talk about their concerns with how the Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government have responded to the pandemic so far, about what needs to be done differently, and about their coalition's plans to push for a #COVIDZero approach that would eliminate community spread. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/02/16/radio-demanding-a-covid-strategy-that-would-suppress-the-virus/

In episode #390 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Michelle Stein and Bill Noll. They are residents of the municipality of South Bruce, Ontario, near Lake Huron. And they are members of Protect Our Waterways - No Nuclear Waste, a group of residents who have come together in opposition to the proposal to put a high-level radioactive waste storage facility in their community. They talk about their concerns with the proposal and their campaign to stop it. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/02/09/radio-a-communitys-fight-to-stop-a-high-level-radioactive-waste-storage-facility/

In episode #389 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Sarah Edo of Nuance and pihêsiw of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network. They talk about the theme of this year's Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week campaign, "Youth Friendly Care: It's Your Right!", and about what it means to centre Black, Indigenous, racialized, and migrant youth in questions of sexual health and rights. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/02/02/radio-centring-bipoc-youth-in-questions-of-sexual-health-and-rights/

In episode #388 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Nick Driedger, a long-time labour organizer from northern Alberta. Driedger has been part of a number of different unions, including the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Industrial Workers of the World, and he currently works for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. He is also a contributor at *Organizing Work*, a website with a grassroots focus committed to honest, strategic discussions about the nuts and bolts of organizing. Neigh interviews him about his vision of organizing and about his recent article, "Common Organizing Mistakes." For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/01/26/radio-organizing-workers-and-how-to-do-it-better/

In episode #387 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Claire Bodkin and Sara Alavian. They are both physicians in Hamilton, Ontario, as well as members of an ad hoc group of health workers from different parts of Canada with an interest in prison abolitionist politics. They talk about what it means to think about prison abolition in the context of health care, and about the zine that the group will be releasing on February 1, *Caring for People Who Are Detained: A Handbook for Healthcare Workers + Trainees*. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/01/19/radio-practical-prison-abolition-politics-in-health-care-contexts/

In episode #386 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Maya Adachi and Kota Kimura. They are members of Japanese Canadians for Social Justice, and they talk about the group's origins, its expansive vision of solidarity, and its involvement in struggles on the ground. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/01/12/radio-japanese-canadians-mobilizing-across-a-broad-range-of-social-justice-issues/

In episode #385 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Samantha Smith, Leslie Scott, and Robert Crooks. They are renters and current or former residents of the West Broadway neighbourhood in Winnipeg, and active members of the West Broadway Tenants Committee, a grassroots group of renters. They talk about the committee’s work organizing for tenant justice and building tenant power to oppose evictions, excessive rent increases, and abuse from landlords. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2021/01/05/radio-tenant-organizing-in-a-winnipeg-neighbourhood/

In this rebroadcast of an episode of Talking Radical Radio that originally aired in June 2020, Scott Neigh interviews Souheil Benslimane. He describes himself as a father, a partner, and an illegalized and criminalized migrant living in Ottawa. Since his release from prison in 2018, Benslimane has been involved in the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP). He talks about his experiences of criminalization, about the anti-carceral work of CPEP, and about what he thinks needs to be happening in this critical moment to advance an abolitionist agenda. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/12/29/rebroadcast-jail-never-saved-me-and-jail-never-saves-anyone/

In episode #384 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Taylor Maton. She is the conservation outreach coordinator with CPAWS Northern Alberta, a regional chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. In recent months, the main focus of her work has been the Defend Alberta Parks campaign, which is working to oppose a major provincial government initiative to close and delist provincial parks. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/12/22/radio-defending-the-provincial-parks-system-in-alberta/

In episode #383 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interview Bianca Mugyenyi and Yves Engler. Mugyenyi is a long-time activist across multiple movements and the director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. Engler is also a long-time activist and a writer, and he is a fellow at the CFPI. They talk about the CFPI's work to present a critical challenge to Canadian foreign policy across a broad spectrum of issues. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/12/15/radio-pushing-for-a-fundamental-reassessment-of-canadas-foreign-policy/

In episode #382 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Terry McDowell. He is a graphic designer in Winnipeg and a member of Strike Poster, a collective of designers and artists of all sorts committed to radical politics and to working in support of grassroots movements. They talk about the intersection of politics and design, and about the work of Strike Poster. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/12/08/radio-a-radical-design-collective-in-winnipeg/

In episode #381 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Laura Hamilton, a climate activist from Waterloo, Ontario. They talk about the journey that Hamilton and Divest Waterloo, the group that she co-founded, have taken from an initial approach to climate action focused on promoting divestment from fossil fuel industries to their current radical commitment to climate justice. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/12/01/radio-bringing-questions-of-justice-to-the-heart-of-struggles-for-climate-action/

In episode #380 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Cam Scott, Irene Bindi, and Daniel Friesen. They are community organizers and members of Police-Free Schools Winnipeg, and they talk about the struggle to get police out of Winnipeg schools. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/11/24/radio-fighting-to-get-police-out-of-winnipeg-schools/

In episode #379 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Angela Marie MacDougall, Jennifer Johnstone, and Rhiannon Bennett. MacDougall is a Vancouver feminist who traces her ancestry to northern Sweden and to Western Africa, and the executive director of Battered Women's Support Services. Johnstone is a white settler feminist and the CEO of the Central City Foundation. They are co-founders and co-chairs of Feminists Deliver. Bennett is a Musqueam woman and the decolonization and accountability consultant for Feminists Deliver. They talk about their vision for grassroots, decolonial, intersectional feminism and about what they have been doing to turn it into reality. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/11/17/radio-building-grassroots-decolonial-intersectional-feminism/