The Canadians Podcast Por Jared Michael arte de portada

The Canadians

The Canadians

De: Jared Michael
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The Canadians (formerly Bad Canadians) is a Canadian long-form interview series devoted to ideas, curiosity, and thoughtful conversation. Hosted by Jared Michael, the show creates a space where writers, journalists, and cultural observers can exchange ideas across traditions while avoiding the usual culture-war trenches.

Each episode is a deep, unhurried conversation with people who think differently, challenge orthodoxies, or see the country from an unexpected angle. The goal is serious, open-ended discussion about culture, institutions, history, science, media, and the stories Canada tells about itself.

Working-class roots. A Free Speech lens. Canadian contrarians. That means taking disagreement seriously and treating people as full moral equals, not caricatures or mascots for a side. The aim is to understand how thoughtful people actually think, especially when you disagree with them.

Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
Ciencias Sociales
Episodios
  • Eric Kaufmann: Moral Order, Cultural Change, and Defining Woke | The Canadians Ep. 13
    Apr 7 2026

    Eric Kaufmann is a political scientist and professor at the University of Buckingham, and one of the few academics who has tried to define what people mean when they talk about “woke” as an ideology, rather than just a term of criticism.

    Much of the current discussion around these ideas is confused or imprecise. In this conversation, we slow things down and start at the beginning. What is “woke”? Is it a coherent worldview, or something more diffuse? How does it differ from older traditions on the left, and how much influence does it have in Canadian institutions and public life?

    Kaufmann suggests that what we are seeing is less a traditional political ideology and more a moral or cultural movement, one that defines certain ideas as sacred, establishes strong taboos, and increasingly shapes the norms of public life.

    What makes his perspective distinct is that he does not frame this as a top-down political project, but as something that has developed more organically, with real moral motivations behind it, even as it creates tension and conflict.

    This is a conversation about definitions, assumptions, and trying to think more clearly about a set of ideas that are often talked about, but not always carefully examined.

    Professor Kaufmann is the author of several books on these topics, including Taboo and The Third Awokening.

    Eric Kaufmann Links

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    Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

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    1 h
  • David Cayley: The CBC, Public Broadcasting, and What Comes Next | The Canadians Ep. 12
    Mar 24 2026

    David Cayley spent more than thirty years as a producer for the CBC radio program Ideas, where he created hundreds of documentaries on history, philosophy, politics, religion, and culture. He is also the author of several books, including his latest, The CBC: How Canada's Public Broadcaster Lost Its Voice (And How to Get It Back), a reflection on the corporation and the question of what a public broadcaster should be in a fractured and distrustful age.

    It is not unusual today to hear criticism of the CBC. What makes Cayley’s critique different is that it does not end in cynicism or a call to tear it down. He is trying to understand whether a public broadcaster could still serve a real purpose in this country, and if so, what principles might guide it forward.

    In this conversation, we spend time on his diagnosis of what has gone wrong, but more on his constructive vision. We talk about the fact that the past cannot simply be recreated, that the old world is not coming back, and that any path forward has to reckon honestly with the situation we are now in. What emerges is a discussion not just about the CBC, but about institutions, public life, thinking itself, and what renewal might require.

    Those interested in more of Cayley’s work can visit his website, which collects decades of articles, books, and documentaries.

    David Cayley's Links

    The CBC: How Canada's Public Broadcaster Lost Its Voice (And How to Get It Back)

    Website

    The Canadians' Links

    Website

    Donations Page

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    YouTube

    Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

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    1 h y 6 m
  • Hal Niedzviecki: Creativity, Conformity & The Rise and Fall of Broken Pencil | The Canadians Ep. 11
    Oct 28 2025

    Hal Niedzviecki built the heartbeat of North America’s zine movement — then lost it all for defending free expression.

    In the mid-90s, his magazine Broken Pencil championed DIY art, radical self-expression, and underground culture. For nearly 30 years, it gave a voice to Canada’s creative outsiders. But in 2017, Hal published a short editorial questioning the new rules around “cultural appropriation,” and within hours, he was blacklisted by the literary establishment. Then came October 7th, 2023. When he defended Israel’s right to exist, he was labeled a “Zionist” and told to surrender his magazine to activists. Instead, he shut it down.

    In this conversation, Hal reflects on founding Broken Pencil and the early zine scene that shaped him, the personal and professional fallout from his 2017 cancellation, and what it’s like being a Jewish writer in Canada after October 7th. We talk about the collapse of tolerance in the arts, the new moral orthodoxies gripping Canadian institutions, and what it costs to stay true to free expression in an age of conformity.

    About Hal Niedzviecki

    Hal is the founder and former editor of Broken Pencil. He’s the author of multiple books, including The Lost Expert, and is currently writing his memoir for Cormorant Books. His Substack, Hal, I’m Special, offers deeper reflections on writing, culture, and identity, and he recently wrote a deep dive, long form essay describing his full story in the Australian publication, Quillette.

    Hal’s Links

    Substack

    Cormorant Press

    Quillette Essay

    Bad Canadians Website and Zines

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    Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

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    1 h y 20 m
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