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Talking Radical Radio

Scott Neightalkingradical.ca
Talking Radical Radio brings you grassroots voices from across Canada. It features in-depth interview with people involved in a wide range of activism, organizing, and other social change work, and gives them a chance to take a longer view as they talk about what they're doing, how they're doing it, and why they're doing it.
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Episodes

Histories of struggle by workers in Alberta

In episode #337 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Alvin Finkel. He is a history professor from Athabasca University and the author of 13 books, most recently Compassion: A Global History of Social Policy. He is also the president of the Alberta Labour History Institute (ALHI), a grassroots organization devoted to preserving and sharing the stories of Alberta's working people and their struggles. They talk about those histories and struggles, and about the work of the ALHI. For a m...

Sep 17, 201928 min

Challenging the harms of hydroelectricity projects

In episode #336 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Ramona Neckoway and Stephane McLachlan. Both are academics who do research on the impacts of hydroelectricity projects on the environment and on Indigenous communities, and Neckoway is also a member of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, a hydro-impacted community. They talk about Wa Ni Ska Tan, an alliance that brings together people from communities in Manitoba that have been impacted by hydroelectricity projects, as well as their suppo...

Sep 10, 201928 min

Revitalizing Indigenous langauges and cultures

In episode #335 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interview Tiffany Joseph. Her ancestry is of the W̱SÁNEĆ people on her mother's side and the Sḵx̱wu7mesh people on her father's side, and she currently lives in Tsartlip First Nation, a bit north of Victoria on Vancouver Island. She talks about her peoples' history and about her work revitalizing her language and culture, and restoring the land. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/09/03/trr-...

Sep 03, 201928 min

The radical legal collective supporting protestors in Toronto

In episode #334 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Macdonald Scott, a legal worker specializing in immigration law and an active member of the Movement Defence Committee. The Committee is a collective of lawyers and legal workers that focuses on providing legal support for protesters who face arrest or other unwanted police attention in the course of political action in and around Toronto. Neigh and Scott talk about the relationship between social movements and the legal system and...

Aug 27, 201928 min

Rebroadcast: Cindy Blackstock's long fight for the rights of First Nations children

In this rebroadcast of episode #304 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Cindy Blackstock -- a member of the Gitksan First Nation, a social worker, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, and the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. She is also the most visible face of the long-term effort to get the Canadian government to end the ongoing injustice in its treatment of First Nations children. They talk about the pervasive underfundin...

Aug 20, 201928 min

Towards an anti-racist and decolonial left in Quebec

In episode #333 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews May Chiu. She is a lawyer and grassroots activist based in Montreal, and one of the founding members of a group called Pour une dignité politique. They talk about the group's work to build an anti-racist and decolonial left in Quebec, as well as Chiu's personal involvement in opposition to the recent racist legislation in the province passed as Bill 21. For a more detailed description of the episode, go here: http://talkingradical....

Aug 13, 201928 min

Canadian Catholics mobilizing in response to the climate crisis

In episode #332 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Marissa Vertrees of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) and Agnes Richard of the GCCM's Canadian chapter. The movement's mission is to engage Catholics in addressing the climate crisis through spiritual, liturgical, lifestyle, and institutional change, and through engagement in advocacy for broader social and policy change. They talk about faith and climate action, and about what their movement is doing both globally and in...

Aug 06, 201928 min

A big win against discriminatory school dress codes

In episode #331 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Kate Curtis. She is a high school teacher and a co-founder of the End Dress Codes Collective. They talk about how dress codes result in barriers and discrimination for some students, and about the recent policy victory at the Toronto District School Board that happened thanks to the work of the collective and many others. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/07/30/trr-end_dress_cod...

Jul 30, 201928 min

Grassroots history and archiving in British Columbia

In episode #330 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Laura Cuthbert. She is an organizer with a keen interest in history, and she runs Populous Map, a grassroots project that aims to preserve and share marginalized histories from communities large and small across British Columbia, in ways that respect autonomy, privacy, and reciprocity. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/07/23/trr-populous_map/

Jul 23, 201928 min

Fighting the institutionalization of disabled Nova Scotians

In episode #329 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Marty Wexler and Claire McNeil of the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia. They talk about the ongoing institutionalization of people with disabilities in Nova Scotia and about the coalition's two decades of work to end the practice and to push the provincial government to provide the supports that people with disabilities need to live as full members of their communities. For a longer description of this episode, go here: h...

Jul 16, 201928 min

Choral music as social and environmental justice activism

In episode #328 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews long-time activist and musician Rama DelaRosa. She is the director of the Resistance Rising Choir in Victoria BC. They talk about music, about movements, and about what Resistance Rising brings to struggles for social and environmental justice. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/07/09/trr-resistance_rising_choir/

Jul 09, 201928 min

The youth climate strike movement in Canada

In episode #327 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Emma Lim and Rebecca Hamilton. Lim, 18, is a high school student in London, Ontario. Hamilton, 17, is also a high school student, and she's based in Vancouver, BC. They are both organizers with Climate Strike Canada, and they talk about what they are doing to build the Canadian wing of the international movement of young people periodically striking from school to demand meaningful action on the climate crisis. For a more detailed ...

Jul 02, 201928 min

Trans youth challenging barriers to gender-affirming health care

In episode #326 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Kaeden Seburn and Jay Burns. Seburn is a Bachelor of Social Work student at Carleton University and a community organizer and advocate. Burns is a high school student currently finishing Grade 12. Both are active members of SAEFTY Ottawa, a group run by and for trans and gender-diverse youth in Ottawa. They talk about the group and about its use of research and advocacy to challenge barriers that youth face in accessing gender-affi...

Jun 25, 201928 min

A gathering of radical health workers

In episode #325, Scott Neigh interviews Baj Mukhopadhyay, Bilal Mamdani, Alas Mata. Mukhopadhyay is a physician, Mamdani is a medical student, and Mata is an emergency medical technician, and all three ground their politics in struggles for collective liberation. They talk about the Liberation Health Convergence, a five day gathering of radical health workers that took place recently in Toronto. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/06/18/trr-lib...

Jun 18, 201928 min

Speaking out against Canada's drug war

In episode #324 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Garth Mullins, an activist and organizer who has been part of many different movements, a freelance journalist, and an award-winning broadcaster. Mullins has also been a drug user for most of his adult life – primarily heroin in his younger years and methadone today – and he is currently a drug user activist. They talk about the drug war in Canada, about drug user organizing, and about Mullins' new podcast on these issues, Crackdow...

Jun 11, 201928 min

The long fight against sex discrimination in the Indian Act

In episode #323 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Lynn Gehl, an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe, an advocate, and a writer based in Peterborough, Ontario. They talk about the long history of struggle by Indigenous women against sex discrimination in the federal Indian Act, and the current "6(1)(a) All The Way" campaign putting pressure on the Trudeau government to remove the last elements of sex discrimination from the act. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http:...

Jun 04, 201928 min

Feminist art in a digital age

In episode #322 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Hana Shafi, also known as Frizz Kid. She is an artist, a poet, a freelance writer, and a feminist. Her first book is *It Begins With The Body* (Book*Hug Press, 2018), which features her poetry and illustrations. Neigh and Shafi talk about her work and about her politics. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/05/28/trr-frizz_kid/

May 28, 201928 min

Defending campus radio in Ontario

In episode #321 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Jacky Tuinstra Harrison and Barry Rooke. Tuinstra Harrison is the general manager of CJRU 1280 AM, also called The Scope, a relatively new campus radio station affiliated with Ryerson University in Toronto. Rooke is the executive director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. They talk about the Ontario government's attack on campus radio, which is one facet of its broader attack on student organizations, and abou...

May 21, 201928 min

Transformative justice as response to sexual and gendered violence

In episode #320 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Hirut Melaku and Rachel Zellers of the Third Eye Collective, a group of Black women based in Montreal focused on developing transformative justice approaches for responding to sexual and gendered violence. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/05/14/trr-third_eye_collective/

May 14, 201928 min

Defending the Northumberland Strait and the communities that depend on it

In episode #319 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Jill Graham-Scanlan. She is the president of the Friends of the Northumberland Strait, and she talks about their work to oppose a plan that would see effluent from the Northern Pulp mill piped into the strait, putting ecosystems, fisheries, and communities at risk. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/05/07/trr-northumberland_strait/

May 07, 201928 min

Reducing the harms that prisons do while working to abolish them

In episode #318 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Rowan Moyes of Bar None Winnipeg. They talk about Bar None's prison rideshare project, about prison abolitionist politics more generally, and about the other ways that Bar None and its members are working towards a world without prisons. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/04/30/trr-bar_none_winnipeg/

Apr 30, 201928 min

Indigenous women rising in the face of violence and injustice

In episode #317 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Carol Martin (Nisga'a) and Sophie Merasty (Denesuline and Woodland Cree). Both have been part of the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood in Vancouver for almost 30 years, and both were involved in producing *Red Women Rising*, a new publication in which Indigenous women in what has been called the "ground zero for violence against Indigenous women" come together to talk about injustice, survival, leadership, and the changes that must h...

Apr 23, 201928 min

Supporting refugees in a small Quebec border town

In episode #316 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Frances Ravensbergen. She is a resident of a small Quebec town close to Roxham Road, the most frequently used point for refugees wanting to cross the border irregularly from the US into Canada. She is also a member of Bridges Not Borders, a migrant justice group that residents of that town founded to support the increased number of refugees making the crossing since the election of Donald Trump. For a more detailed description of t...

Apr 16, 201928 min

Building the skills of social movement organizers

In episode #315 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Peter Gibbs, a co-director of Organize BC. They talk about Organize BC's use of training, coaching, and community-building to build the skills of organizers working for social and environmental justice in western Canada. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/04/09/trr-organize_bc/ ‎

Apr 09, 201928 min

A campaign to raise the minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador

In episode #314 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Alyse Stuart and Keith Dunne. They are active with the Fight for $15 and Fairness – Newfoundland and Labrador, and they speak about how that campaign is fighting to increase one of the lowest minimum wages in Canada to $15/hour. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/04/02/trr-newfoundland_minimum_wage/

Apr 02, 201928 min

A solidarity fund by and for trans women in Montreal

In episode #313 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Estelle Davis. She is one of the co-founders of Taking What We Need, a solidarity fund created by and for trans women in Montreal. They talk about the limits of the politics of visibility, about the barriers that trans women face, and about the solidarity fund. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/03/26/trr-taking_what_we_need/

Mar 26, 201928 min

Radical music, graphic history, and the Winnipeg General Strike

In episode #312 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews Vancouver-based musician and artist David Lester. He is musically best known as half of rock duo Mecca Normal, while graphically he has for decades created everything from leaflets to posters to graphic novels. They talk about the power of combining radical politics with art and music and about Lester's latest book, 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike (Between the Lines, 2019), created in collaboration with the G...

Mar 19, 201928 min

Building tenant power in Ottawa's Herongate neighbourhood

In episode #311 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interview Tammy Mast and Kenneth Aliu of the Herongate Tenant Coalition. They talk about the coalition's fight against mass evictions, chronic disrepair, rent increases, and gentrification in an Ottawa neighbourhood containing one of the largest clusters in the country of rental housing owned by a single private sector landlord. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/03/12/trr-herongate_tenants...

Mar 12, 201928 min

Defending reproductive rights in Alberta

In episode #310 of Talking Radical Radio (March 5, 2019), Scott Neigh interviews Kathy Dawson, who is a board member of the Alberta Pro-Choice Coalition. She talks about the major threats to sexual and reproductive rights in Alberta today and about the work of the Coalition to defend them. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2019/03/05/trr-alberta_pro-choice/

Mar 05, 201928 min

Fighting harassment and discrimination in the workplace

In episode #309 of Talking Radical Radio (February 26, 2019), Scott Neigh interviews former firefighter Liane Tessier and retired business professor Judy Haiven. They talk about the landmark human rights case related to workplace harassment and gender discrimination that Tessier fought, and about the work of Equity Watch -- a grassroots group based in Halifax that the two co-founded that aims to fight bullying, harassment, and discrimination in workplaces by supporting individuals and pushing fo...

Feb 26, 201928 min
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