Episode 316 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck dives deep into Vancouver's City Hall soap opera, a wave of journalists jumping into politics, the slow walk to a Liberal majority, and a war with no end game in Iran.

Here's what's inside:

⚖️ Sean Orr Sues Ken Sim — The councillor launches a GoFundMe to sue the mayor for defamation after the drug dealer comments. George questions whether it'll succeed, raises campaign finance red flags, and explains why the city will likely cover Sim's legal costs. Meanwhile, the affordable housing debate that started it all is completely buried.

🏛️ Vancouver's 2026 Election Chaos — Too many parties, too many candidates, and the left keeps splitting the vote. George breaks down why ABC could still win despite Ken Sim's implosion, and why celebrity name recognition alone doesn't win council seats.

🗞️ Journalists Jump Into Politics — Frances Bula, veteran civic affairs reporter, announces a run for Vancouver council. Janet Brown enters the race in Surrey. George compares the policy wonk versus retail politician skill sets and shares his own 2011 campaign strategy of winning through micro-markets.

🇨🇦 Crossing the Floor to a Majority — A Nunavut NDP MP joins the Liberals, the first New Democrat to cross. Three Conservatives already have. Carney's now within one or two seats of a majority, with by-elections set for April 13th. George disagrees with floor-crossing on principle. Jody says this one actually makes sense given Nunavut's unique position.

🇳🇴 Carney Heads to Norway — The PM visits the North, then flies to Norway to talk oil, pipelines, and resource management. George points out Norway's $5-trillion sovereign wealth fund, no debt, and protected coastline as the model Canada should follow.

💣 Iran War Escalates — The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Ships are being attacked. Terror threats emerge on US soil. No congressional approval, no stated end game, and a new reason every day for why the US and Israel went in. George says Netanyahu benefits from regional chaos and Trump thought it would be as easy as Venezuela.

📍 From a GoFundMe lawsuit at City Hall to a war with global supply chain consequences, Episode 316 covers it all.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Sean Orr's GoFundMe Lawsuit Against Ken Sim 05:00 – Political Mudslinging & the Lost Housing Debate 07:00 – Journalists Enter the Race: Frances Bula & Janet Brown 10:00 – Celebrity vs Policy Wonk: Who Wins Council Seats? 13:00 – How George Won in 2011: Micro-Market Strategy 16:00 – Crossing the Floor: NDP MP Joins the Liberals 18:00 – Carney's Path to a Majority 20:00 – Norway Trip & Resource Management Lessons 22:00 – Iran War: No Plan, No Approval, No End Game 24:00 – Strait of Hormuz, Oil Prices & Global Fallout 28:00 – Final Thoughts

Episode 314 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck swings from Olympic hockey outrage to Vancouver City Hall scandal to the geopolitical chess game Canada's playing on the world stage.

Here's what's inside:

🏒 US Hockey Team's Locker Room Moment — The men's Olympic gold medal team's call with Trump and Cash Patel goes sideways. The women's team laughs it off in real time. Jody goes deep on why "locker room talk" stopped being an excuse decades ago. Some players are apologizing. Most aren't.

🏙️ Councillor Lenny Zhou's WeChat Scandal — A Vancouver councillor goes on WeChat in Mandarin and calls fellow councillors drug dealers and users. He apologized — but only because he got caught. Mayor Ken Sim's response? A thank-you note for saying sorry. Then he literally ran from the media.

🌎 Mexico Under Siege — George just got back from Puerto Vallarta as cartel violence erupted. Buses, banks, and taxis on fire. Tourists watching from hotel rooftops. A bizarre personal encounter with what may have been a cartel message at a resort.

🇨🇦 Canada's Unity Surge — Polling shows Canadians more united than they've been in decades. Mark Carney's approval hits record highs, Poilievre drops to minus 16, and defence deals with South Korea, Norway, and the UK fly under the radar.

🇺🇸 Trump's State of the Union — Ten thousand words, zero connection to reality. George and Jody break down the "bizarro world" speech, the sycophant applause, and why Andrew Scheer's "where's the deal?" line may be the worst political read of the year.

🤖 AI, Anthropic & Pete Hegseth — The US Defence Secretary pressures Anthropic to loosen AI safeguards while Canada pushes to tighten them. Jody and George discuss what that means for the future.

🏛️ Vancouver's Official Development Plan — A massive public hearing on March 10th will codify the Vancouver Plan into policy. Over 130 development projects are in the pipeline for 2026, double last year. The sidewalk budget triples — but it'll still take 500 years to catch up.

⚽ World Cup & ICE in Vancouver — Pete Fry's motion to ban US immigration agents from Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup gets ruled out of order. George calls it performative. The question remains: what happens at the border?

📍 From Olympic hockey scandal to Vancouver's biggest planning decision in 40 years, Episode 314 is packed.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Trump's State of the Union Spin 02:00 – US Hockey Team's Locker Room Disgrace 07:00 – Councillor Xo's WeChat Scandal 11:00 – World Cup, ICE & Vancouver Border Politics 13:00 – Lenny Zhou, Drug Slander & Ken Sim Runs Away 17:00 – Carney's Record Polling & Canada's Unity Moment 20:00 – Poilievre's UK Trip & Conservative Collapse 22:00 – Andrew Scheer's Worst Take of the Year 25:00 – Trump's Bizarro State of the Union 27:00 – Vancouver's 130 Development Projects & the ODP 29:00 – AI, Anthropic & the Hegseth Problem 31:00 – Final Thoughts & the Vancouver Plan

Episode 315 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck goes from a Vancouver City Hall apology tour to the end of daylight saving time to an actual war breaking out in the Middle East.

Here's what's inside:

🏙️ Ken Sim's Full Mea Culpa — After video surfaced of the mayor himself calling Councillor Sean Orr a drug dealer, Sim held a second press conference and went full apology mode. Orr rejected it. George breaks down the crisis comms strategy and what Sim should have said instead.

🏘️ Affordable Housing Gets Lost in the Spin — The controversy started over housing for seniors and people with disabilities. Not SROs, not the Downtown Eastside. Jody's frustrated that the real issue got buried under political mud-slinging.

🕐 BC Kills Daylight Saving Time — Premier Eby announces BC will spring forward one last time and stay on permanent daylight time. 97% of the public wanted it. Every business group, the airport, and the border opposed it. George predicts Eby will reverse it within a month under pressure from Washington State.

⚽ Granville Street Goes Pedestrian for FIFA — Vancouver plans to close Granville to traffic for the World Cup fan zone. George and Jody reminisce about the 2010 Olympics energy and hope FIFA brings the same magic. The new PNE amphitheatre — $184 million, triple the original budget — will host a 10,000-person fan zone.

🏴 Musqueam Agreement — The federal government quietly dropped a First Nations ocean and waterway management deal on a Friday afternoon. MP Wade Grant and Musqueam leaders try to calm the backlash while the news gets buried by the weekend's war coverage.

💣 US Launches War on Iran — Operation Fury begins. Six US service members killed, over a thousand Iranian casualties, and no clear articulation of an end game. Congress wasn't consulted. George and Jody debate whether toppling the regime is justified when there's no plan for what comes next.

🇨🇦 Carney's Global Trade Blitz — While the US wages war, Canada's Prime Minister is in Australia, Japan, and India signing defence and trade deals. Saskatchewan farmers get canola relief through a China deal. The steel and auto sectors still suffer, but momentum builds.

📺 Media Landscape Shifts — CNN may become Fox 2.0 under new ownership. Netflix circles displaced journalists. YouTube lands the Academy Awards through 2030. Christy Noem gets fired. Her replacement can't tell Iran from Iraq.

📍 From Ken Sim's apology to a new war in the Middle East, Episode 315 is the wildest UnSpun yet.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Ken Sim's Drug Dealer Video Surfaces 03:00 – The Full Mea Culpa Press Conference 07:00 – Affordable Housing Lost in the Spin 08:00 – BC Kills Daylight Saving Time Forever 11:00 – Granville Street Pedestrian Mall & FIFA Fan Zone 14:00 – PNE Amphitheatre & 2010 Olympics Nostalgia 18:00 – Musqueam Waterway Deal Buried on a Friday 20:00 – US Launches War on Iran 23:00 – No End Game, No Congressional Approval 25:00 – Carney's Trade Blitz: Australia, Japan, India 27:00 – Poilievre in London, Conservatives Adrift 28:00 – CNN, Netflix & the New Media Order 30:00 – Christy Noem Out, MMA Fighter In 31:00 – Final Thoughts

Episode 313 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck drops on a news-heavy day — from Olympic heartbreak to Prince Andrew's arrest to Conservatives jumping ship to the Liberals.

Here's what's inside:

🏒 Women's Hockey Heartbreak Canada loses the Olympic gold medal to the USA in overtime after holding a 1-0 lead until 40 seconds left in the third period. George blames the Canucks curse. Jody's devastated but hopeful for the men's tournament.

🔄 Conservative MP Crosses the Floor Edmonton Conservative MP joins Mark Carney's Liberals, citing the Davos speech as the turning point. George hates floor-crossing on principle — but predicts the MP will get an ambassadorship or a soft landing for his trouble. Poilievre calls it "dirty backroom dealing."

🎤 David Letterman in Vancouver Jody sees Letterman live at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre filming with Zach Galifianakis. Both go hard politically — Letterman apologizes for Trump, Zach calls Poilievre "Vladimir Poutine." The sold-out crowd cheers. The separatists in the room were not feeling it.

📺 Colbert vs. CBS Stephen Colbert was ordered not to air his interview with Texas Senate candidate Colin Allred — so he talked about it on air and dropped it on YouTube instead. The interview got 10 times the eyeballs. Same Streisand Effect that boosted Jimmy Kimmel.

💸 BC Budget Disaster The NDP delivers another brutal budget. George blames a decade of no big projects, increased government staffing by 30%, and thwarting real estate development. Hidden in the fine print: property tax deferral rates jumped from prime minus 2% to prime plus 2%.

👮 Surrey Police Budget Cut The province pulls $46.95 million from Surrey's police transition. George predicts policing will be 40-50% of Surrey's budget within three years.

👑 Prince Andrew Arrested On his 66th birthday, formerly known as Prince Andrew gets a knock at the door — not gifts, but cops with a warrant. Charges include extortion and selling state secrets. George says Fergie's next. Meanwhile, America still has zero arrests from the Epstein files.

🇰🇷 South Korea's Insurrection Sentence The former South Korean president just got life in prison for insurrection. George asks: sound familiar?

🇨🇳 China's Green Leap Jody reflects on how much her worldview shifted after visiting China — it's now easier to travel there than to the US. Meanwhile, Trump's pushing "big beautiful coal" and bringing back DDT while China builds massive solar and wind farms.

🗳️ Action Soothes Anxiety Jody quotes Scott Galloway: when you feel helpless, do something. Stay on the platforms. Call things out. Democracy depends on people showing up.

📍 From Olympic heartbreak to royal arrests to BC's budget mess, Episode 313 is packed.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Women's Hockey Heartbreak 03:00 – Conservative MP Crosses to Liberals 06:00 – David Letterman in Vancouver 09:00 – Letterman Built the Trump Brand 10:00 – Colbert vs. CBS Censorship 13:00 – Streisand Effect Strikes Again 15:00 – BC Budget Disaster 17:00 – Property Tax Deferral Change 19:00 – BC Conservative Leadership Matters 21:00 – Surrey Police Budget Cut 22:00 – Prince Andrew Arrested 24:00 – South Korea's Insurrection Sentence 25:00 – Stay on the Platforms 28:00 – China vs. US on Climate 32:00 – Final Thoughts

Episode 312 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck opens with condolences and closes with corruption — a full rollercoaster from local to international chaos.

Here's what's inside:

🏈 Super Bowl Recap Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots. Bad Bunny's halftime show stuns with 360 sugar cane dancers. Canada gets a shoutout. And the team's owner, Jody Allen — sister of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — raises the trophy while the Epstein cloud hangs over Bill Gates.

💔 Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting British Columbia mourns after a mass shooting in a small mining town of 2,000 people. Nine dead including the alleged shooter, 25 injured. The RCMP keeps details close — confusing American media used to instant coverage. George and Jody praise Canadian politicians for not politicizing the tragedy.

🏙️ Another Mayoral Candidate One City's William Azaroff enters the Vancouver mayoral race. George jokes that at this point, who isn't running? Maybe Jody and George should run as a duo — she does public hearings, he does the events.

🏗️ Granville Street Transformation A major development gets the green light near the Commodore Ballroom — but George argues Granville should be hotels, not rentals. Residents will just complain about noise. Make it like Times Square. Also: orphan properties still block progress across downtown.

💸 Vancouver House CAC Scandal The city wasn't tracking Community Amenity Contributions properly. George breaks down how CACs became cash grabs instead of actual amenities like parks and public art. The chandelier under the Granville Bridge? Originally valued at $5 million — and the accounting is a mess.

🏦 NATO Bank to Vancouver? There's talk of bringing a NATO-affiliated centralized bank headquarters to Vancouver. George notes: if Alberta keeps pushing separation talk, head offices will flee — just like they left Montreal in the 1970s.

🎰 Casino Expansion Concerns The Parq wants to double in size. River Rock already gutted its entertainment spaces for more slot machines. George worries Vancouver casinos are heading the same ugly direction.

⚖️ Congress Votes Against Trump Tariffs Republicans flip — the Senate votes to strike down Trump's emergency tariff order on Canada. It'll likely get vetoed, but it's a crack in the dam.

📜 Pam Bondi's Epstein Circus The Attorney General refuses to answer basic questions about Epstein co-conspirators while survivors sit behind her ignored. The UK strips Prince Andrew's titles. France and Norway take action. Meanwhile, one woman sits in jail in America. Where are the men?

🧊 ICE Leaves Minnesota After disastrous optics, ICE pulls out of Minnesota. George: "They'll just pop up somewhere else to torture people."

🇨🇦 US Meddling in Alberta American officials are meeting with Alberta separatists. George says the ambassador should face consequences — this is an attack on Canadian sovereignty.

📍 From Tumbler Ridge to Granville Street to the Epstein hearings, Episode 312 is packed with everything you need unspun.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Super Bowl & Bad Bunny 03:00 – Tumbler Ridge Tragedy 06:00 – New Mayoral Candidate 07:00 – Granville Street Development 10:00 – Vancouver House CAC Scandal 13:30 – NATO Bank to Vancouver? 15:00 – Casino Expansion Concerns 19:00 – Congress Votes on Tariffs 20:30 – Pam Bondi's Epstein Testimony 25:00 – Survivors Ignored 27:00 – ICE Leaves Minnesota 30:00 – US Meddling in Alberta Separation 32:00 – Final Thoughts

Episode 311 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck goes hyperlocal on Vancouver controversies before diving into BC's provincial mess and the chaos unfolding south of the border.

Here's what's inside:

🐕 Pacific Spirit Park Victory Jody wins one for the dog owners. Metro Vancouver backs down on restrictive leash rules after community pushback. The secret? Personalized emails with solutions — not copy-paste campaigns. Rebecca Bligh gets credit for bringing common sense to the table.

🏊 Kits Pool Lifeguard Challenge Jody officially asks: Has Vancouver Park Board posted lifeguard job openings yet? Every year they claim they can't find staff — but only advertise days before opening. Free Kids Pool!

🎆 $2 Million Fireworks Gamble Ken Sim announces city-funded fireworks — but is it good policy or election-year politics? George breaks down the math: $2 million equals a quarter percent of property tax. Where's it coming from? And why wasn't it in the budget?

💸 BC's Budget Catastrophe Tens of billions in debt, highways washed out, wildfires, trade chaos — but also massive government bloat. George goes off: the NDP has done nothing significant since 2017 except "pavement politics." No big projects, no economic stimulus, no plan.

⚖️ BC Conservatives: Too Extreme? The opposition can't capitalize because they're obsessed with culture wars instead of fiscal policy. Trans athletes in school sports? Four kids in the whole country. George and Jody ask: where does the political middle go?

🇨🇦 Harper Backs Carney Stephen Harper publicly endorses Mark Carney as the leader Canada needs — right after Poilievre's divisive convention speech. Jason Kenney and George W. Bush now look moderate by comparison. The Overton window keeps shifting.

⚽ Pete Fry's ICE Motion The new mayoral candidate puts forward a motion to ban ICE from FIFA events in Vancouver. One problem: the U.S. isn't even playing games in Canada. George calls it pure political spin.

📜 Epstein Files Keep Coming Almost all the files are out — and only one person is in jail: Ghislaine Maxwell, now in a "country club" prison with yoga and a dog. The Clintons are set to testify. EU countries are launching their own investigations. The redactions still protect powerful names.

📍 From dog parks to billion-dollar deficits to global scandal, Episode 311 covers it all with the unfiltered spin you expect.

💬 Tell us in the comments: Should Vancouver fund fireworks? Is BC's budget fixable? And who's hiding behind those Epstein redactions?

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Free the Dogs: Pacific Spirit Park Win 05:00 – Kits Pool Lifeguard Drama 06:30 – $2 Million Fireworks Debate 11:00 – BC's Budget Disaster Explained 15:00 – NDP's 10 Years of "Nothing" 17:00 – BC Conservatives Too Extreme 19:30 – Harper Endorses Carney 22:00 – Poilievre's Convention & Stolen Ideas 24:00 – Pete Fry's Mayoral Launch & ICE Motion 27:30 – Epstein Files & Global Fallout 32:00 – Final Thoughts

Episode 310 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck kicks off the new year with a bang — from Davos diplomacy to Alberta separatism to Vancouver's crowded mayoral race heating up fast.

Here's what's inside:

🌍 Carney's Davos Speech Goes Viral Mark Carney delivers a self-written speech at the World Economic Forum that trends worldwide. "Canada is open for business" — a roadmap for trade diversification without once naming Trump or the U.S. Polling shows his approval surging coast to coast (except Alberta, down 5%).

🚗 Chinese EVs & Trade Pivots Canada opens the door to 40,000 Chinese electric vehicles, South Korea makes a deal, and the UK's Keir Starmer lands in Beijing. The message is clear: if the U.S. shuts doors, Canada will find new ones.

🤝 First Ministers Meet Monthly David Eby, Mark Carney, and Danielle Smith sit down together as premiers commit to monthly in-person meetings while CUSMA hangs in the balance. George explains why face-to-face diplomacy changes everything.

⚠️ Alberta Separation Talk Eby calls Alberta separatists "treasonous," First Nations leaders remind them the land stays put, and George unpacks why this feels more like a protest vote than a real movement.

🗳️ Poilievre's Leadership Review The Conservative convention kicks off with a Friday vote on Pierre Poilievre's leadership. His polling is terrible, and there's talk of removing abortion and DEI protections from party policy. George predicts he'll survive — but not for long.

📱 Media, Bots & the Fight for Truth Only 38% of social media users are real people. Jody explains why staying active on platforms like Twitter matters more than ever, while George calls out CBC for leaving the space to bots and billionaires.

🏙️ Vancouver's Mayoral Race Explodes Pete Fry expected to announce Friday. Shauna Sylvester publicly warns him not to run. Karim Allen adds Victoria Young to his slate. Colleen Hardwick circles again. And Jody pitches George Affleck for mayor (yes, really).

📍 From Davos to City Hall, Episode 310 is packed with the spin you need stripped away.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

In Episode 317 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck, the US war on Iran shakes the global economy, Canada eyes a historic European pivot, and Jody drops a bombshell on the Park Board's pool staffing scandal — before signing off for a four-week spring break.

Here's what's inside:

🌍 The Iran War & Global Fallout — Trump's military strikes on Iran have shut down the Strait of Hormuz, sent oil past $110 a barrel, and rattled supply chains worldwide. Gas prices surge, groceries climb, and TSA agents work without pay. Jody and George break down how one man has upended the global order in 16 months.

🇨🇦 Canada + the EU? — The European Union floats the idea of Canada joining. George explains what free movement of goods and services would actually mean for Canadians, and why — with the US becoming an unreliable partner — this conversation is suddenly very serious.

💰 Carney's Economic Tightrope — Canada's PM is doing the rounds, making deals, and projecting confidence. But George warns that until Canadians actually start spending again, all the diplomacy in the world won't fix the economy. Construction stalled, renovations on hold, real estate frozen.

📉 Deficits Everywhere — From BC's vanishing property transfer tax revenue to Quebec's massive debt, George traces how governments built budgets on unpredictable revenue streams and are now paying the price.

🏥 American Healthcare Workers Fleeing to BC — Eby's government has been quietly recruiting US physicians and scientists. The response from those who've moved? Vancouver feels like relief.

🏊 Kits Pool & the Lifeguard Scandal — Jody has been investigating and the story is bigger than a staff shortage. A Park Board manager has reportedly said they want to "break the system." Jody names names next episode — and is calling on insiders to come forward. George reminds everyone: the Park Board has been dysfunctional for 20 years.

🌊 World Cup Warning — Vancouver is hosting thousands of visitors this summer. The city's plan to pull lifeguards from beaches to staff pools? George points out he'd like a lifeguard at the beach too.

⏸️ Spring Break — George heads to the UK for his daughter's wedding. UnSpun returns in four weeks.

📍 From global war economics to Vancouver's pool politics, Episode 317 covers the big and the hyperlocal — as only UnSpun does.

📬 Follow Jody: @jodyvance 📬 Follow George: @george_affleck 🌐 unspunpodcast.com

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Iran War, Oil Prices & Global Ripple Effects 03:00 – TSA Agents Unpaid, US Shutdown Fallout 06:00 – Canada & the EU: A Real Conversation? 10:00 – Carney's Diplomacy vs. Consumer Confidence 15:00 – Epstein Files: It Gets Worse 17:00 – BC Deficits & Unpredictable Revenue 20:00 – Canada Lost 100,000 People Last Year 21:00 – American Healthcare Workers Moving to BC 22:00 – Anti-Vaxxers Joining ICE (Then Getting Vaccinated) 23:00 – Kits Pool: The Lifeguard Myth Exposed 27:00 – The Park Board Manager Who Wants to Break the System 30:00 – World Cup & Beach Lifeguard Warning 32:00 – Spring Break Sign-Off