City and Nuuchimii

• Youth Palestinian-Canadian activist calling for #Ceasefire after losing dozens of family members since October 7 in Gaza, Hala Alshaer
• Managing editor of The Breach, author of The Trudeau Formula, and a Jew opposed to Israeli apartheid, Martin Lukacs
• Palestinian-Canadian equity consultant, former federal candidate for the New Democratic Party of Canada, and first generation Palestinian-Canadian, Beisan Zubi⁠

Sources and further reading:

• Ottawa woman says she's lost dozens of family members in Gaza (Power & Politics, CBC News Network)
• Ottawa’s Palestinian community rallies after deadly blast at Gaza hospital (CBC Ottawa)
• CTV reports on Gaza with anti-Palestinian double standard, data shows (The Breach)
• Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour
• Get this straight, Western media: Palestinians aren’t sub-human (Andrew Mitrovica, Al Jazeera)
• How Israeli Apartheid destroyed my hometown (Dena Takruri, AJ+)
• Michael Moore on Gaza: 'We need to stop the slaughter' (Al Jazeera)
• 9/11 a defining moment in the childhoods of Muslim millennials (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Hamilton-Centre MPP Sarah Jama vows to fight on, braces for legal battle with Premier Ford as an independent MPP (Grant LaFleche, Hamilton Spectator)
• Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama says NDP removal was due to her 'early' call for ceasefire in Gaza
• Texans fill downtown Austin streets to demand ceasefire in Gaza (Texas Tribune)
• Biggest pro-Palestine protest in British history as hundreds of thousands pour into London streets (Middle East Eye)
• 87yo holocaust survivor condemns Israeli assault and calls for peace (Democracy Now)
• ‘I will not be silenced’: Rashida Tlaib won’t stop fighting for Palestinian rights (The Guardian)

Music featured in this episode:

Can I Live by MC Abdul

City and Nuuchimii is an independent, non-partisan podcast produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (in nuuchimii) and Jenn Jefferys (in the city). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Thanks in part to the explosive docu-series like Trainwreck and Woodstock 99, niche bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit are gaining traction again. And while nu metal is, was, and probably always "suck" to many critics, today the genre seems to be having a moment.

Today's guest stumbled his way to the front of this digital conversation, which has since led him to launch The Nu Metal Agenda — a place for exchanging "crazy ass moments in nu metal history" and where the diverse and ever-expanding nu metal culture comes together.

Music journalist ⁠⁠Holiday Kirk⁠⁠ joins us from his home studio in Los Angeles, California to talk about everything from bad billionaires to high school haters, toxic masculinity in nu metal culture, and making nu metal go viral decades after peak commercial popularity.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

It's ⁠#WorldAutismMonth⁠⁠⁠ and today we're digging into this fascinatingly complex neurological condition that one of our co-hosts was actually recently diagnosed with (listen to find out who!).

Plenty of autistic folks manage to live fulfilling lives, but obviously we don't all enjoy the same privilege as Elon Musk⁠ or ⁠Greta Thunberg⁠ — and navigating a neurotypical world as a neurodivergent person can pose challenges.

Viral sensation Ayanna Davis — aka. Phenomenally Autistic to her thousands of followers — joins us to speak to some of these challenges. We'll also learn about her work dispelling ableist myths, and building affirmative community care as a Black autistic artist, author, dance choreographer, and social media influencer from Westchester County, New York.

Conservative Member of Parliament Mike Lake also joins us. Mike's autistic son Jaden inspired ⁠a powerful speech⁠ he ⁠recently delivered⁠ in Canada's House of Commons, as well as a bill he managed to fast-track in Parliament after gathering unanimous multi-partisan support.

The bill — which was first introduced in the Senate, then sponsored by Lake in the lower chamber — requires Canada's health minister to table a national autism framework in the next two years. Hopefully in a couple years time, this framework will deliver results for the Canadian autistic community.

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Are you autistic, raising an autistic child, or just hoping to learn more about autism and other forms of neurodiversity? You're not alone! Here are some resources we found helpful while producing this episode:

https://www.autismspeaks.ca/

https://www.myautism.org/wam

https://autismcanada.org/resources/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JFeZygXL4A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTLUYda-0O8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDXo83OtzgE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwRrVw-CRo

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-greta-thunberg-s-autism-helps-give-her-a-singular-focus-1.5301634

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

Canadian healthcare is often mistaken for a truly universal system. Even medical doctors will tell you that while it saves lives, our Medicare still only covers the basics — and universal, single-payer, public Canadian Pharmacare is desperately needed.

Today on the pod, Canada's former federal minister of health, the Honourable Dr. Jane Philpott⁠, joins us to expand on her recent op-ed for The Globe and Mail: 'Canada is failing to meet the moment on the cost of medication' .

Dr. Philpott also reflects on her time practicing medicine in the Global South, her time in Prime Minister Trudeau's original cabinet in Ottawa, and why she feels we need a "Tommy Douglas 2.0" to drive down the exorbitant costs of prescription medication.

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"Unless there is a concerted effort to apply pressure on the Federal and Provincial governments, the erosion of Medicare will continue unabated and might even be accelerated. Our best hope lies in the Canadian Health Coalition…for the preservation and extension of Medicare."
―Tommy Douglas, father of Canadian Medicare

"Canadians have considered the idea of universal drug coverage, as a complement to universal health care, for over five decades. For such a long-standing debate there is a surprising level of consensus. After hearing from many thousands of Canadians, we found a strongly held, shared belief that everyone in Canada should have access to prescription drugs based on their need and not their ability to pay, and delivered in a manner that is fair and sustainable. That’s why our council has recommended that Canada implement universal, single-payer, public pharmacare."
—2019 Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, chaired by Dr. Eric Hoskins

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

Not really, but his candy heart comics do reveal the tortured inner monologues of humanity. Tommy joined us from Los Angeles, California to talk about animation, American politics, and his natural proclivity for drawing butts on things.

We also learned that when he isn't trying to land a book deal or get published by The New Yorker, you can usually find Tommy birdwatching or making music with Jukebox the Ghost.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

Hey bb. It's 2023. We're back!* It also happens to be Galentine's Day, so we're joined by celebrated Anishinaabe pundit Riley Yesno.

You might recognize her from television — she's a regular commentator on CBC news and her fam are recent competitors on Canadian Family Feud — or from her prolific body of published work in news and academia.

Together we dig into Toronto Mayor John Tory's bombshell resignation, the unanswered calls to #DefundThePolice, urban Native visibility and rights portability off the rez, and (most importantly) the inside scoop on the ultimate fairy tale queer romance.

 ( *like Rhianna ).

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

You definitely know The Simpsons.

But you may not know Josh Weinstein — one of the show's original writers from the 1990s.

Remember when Homer met Billy Corgan? Or when Milhouse became Thrillhouse? How about the gay steel mill?

Well, Josh Weinstein actually wrote those episodes. He worked with comedic icons like Conan O'Brien to craft some of the most quoteable lines ever delivered by America's favourite cartoon family.

Today on the pod we sit down with Josh to go over everything from conspiracy theories, to working with celebrities like Glenn Close and The Smashing Pumpkins, to predicting the future, to the ubiquitous Halloween gags in Treehouse of Horror.

So pour a Duff (or maybe some Malk), forge your couch groove, and buckle in for some of the juiciest storytelling since Christopher Walken read Goodnight, Moon.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

Future lawyer and proud Marsh Iraqi Nur Al Ebeid joins us today to discuss. Nur is working toward her dual degree juris doctor from uOttawa and masters in international affairs from Carleton University.

The daughter of refugees, Nur was born in London, ON — a small southwestern Ontario city near the U.S. border. Southern Iraq's marshlands, also known as the Mesopotamian marshes, are still considered by some to be the cradle of civilization. Nur's family were forced out of this region when Sadam Hussein drained these marshes in the 1990s, wiping out thousands of homes and countless wildlife. The original Garden of Eden was once found in this sacred region. Today these once lush, vast marshes are mostly desert.

In this episode, we hear from Nur about her ancestors' way of life in الاهوار بلاد ما بين النهرين. We also discuss nationhood, belonging, #OurLondonFamily, Islamophobia, the fallout from bills 21 and 96 in Quebec, and the hate that too often spans generations in this country.
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Sources and further reading:

• Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia (YCCI Canada) short film: To Yumnah, With Love
  
• Canadian political leaders vow to combat Islamophobia in vigil held for Muslim family killed (via Global News)
  
• National Council of Canadian Muslims on the Our London Family Act
  
• Feds seek special advisor to combat Islamophobia in Canada (via CTV News)
  
• Francophone Quebecers increasingly believe anglophone Canadians look down on them (via Policy Options)
  
• I was asked to apologize for my question in the leaders’ debate. I stand by it unequivocally (op-ed by Shachi Kurl for G&M)
  
• المغني الأخير: One man’s fight to maintain a dying tradition in the ancient marshlands of Iraq (via Nowness)

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

He can smell BS a mile way. The New Yorker once called him 'Canada's foremost Harperologist' thanks to his biting analysis of PM Trudeau's predecessor. Today on the pod, revered political journalist and senior writer for Maclean's magazine, Paul Wells, joins us to talk Canadian news media's shortcomings, the current #cdnpoli climate, and why he's trying to be a little less of a "meanie" these days.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

On November 19 2021, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Amber Bracken while she was doing her job.

Her job? Photojournalism.

Bracken is among the few reporters who've been on the ground in Wet'suwet'en Yintah covering the defence of these sovereign lands from pipeline development and violent paramilitary invasion. Her arrest (which coinsided with the arrest of over a dozen Indigenous land defenders) and the four days she spent behind bars prompted widespread condemnation from around the world. Canada's Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister weighed in, as did the Canadian Association of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and even Leonardo DiCaprio.

On this episode, award-winning freelance photojournalist Amber Bracken recounts this harrowing experience, and explains why she sees covering Indigenous resistance and the climate crisis truthfully — as she did in Wet'suwet'en — as a sacred responsibility.


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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Alexisonfire helped pioneer Canadian screamo in the early aughts. They describe it as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls mid-knife-fight." Today AOF frontman-turned-firefighter George Pettit joins the pod to spill some tea on social justice, the MuchMusic glory days, and how stoked he is to tear up some pits and tear off some shirts in 2022.
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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Erica Violet Lee is a two-spirited Nēhiyaw poet, political theorist, and proud Native (literally) of inner-city Saskatoon, SK. Erica has spent all her life on the front lines of Indigenous activism by way of Idle No More, MMIWG2S, COP21, and most recently the Prairie harm reduction movement. Erica joins Maïtée on the pod to talk neurodivergence, surviving academia, and learning how to be vulnerable while still asserting boundaries and self worth.
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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

He's smashed skins for Our Lady Peace at Woodstock, he helped pioneer CanCon rock, and now he and his good BAHD Jonathan Torrens (aka. Jonovision/J-Roc) are co-hosting a podcast: Taggart & Torrens. Canadian drummer Jeremy Taggart joins the pod to talk about life after sex, drugs and rock and roll.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

You probably know him from blockbuster films like Knocked Up or Almost Famous. Canadians might also remember him from Popular Mechanics for Kids or Are You Afraid of the Dark? Today on the pod, Jay Baruchel opens up about comedy, mental health, life as a Canadian kid in Hollywood and lots more.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Mark Critch might be the funniest guy in Canada. You know him from his starring role on This Hour Has 22 Minutes — where he makes fun of everybody — and his best-selling memoir Son of a Critch. Our fav b'y joins us to talk Newfoundland, satire, and CBC for this special #elxn44 mini pod.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

We're back for pumpkin spice season—which also happens to be election season! Canada goes to the polls this Monday September 20 so we've got political science prof Stéphanie Chouinard with us to break down the #elxn44 race. So settle in, hike up those sweatpants, plug in those earbuds, and STOODIS.
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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Chantal Hébert needs no introduction — she is a Canadian icon. Maïtée and Jenn host the pragmatic pundit for a casual conversation on #cdnpoli, #elxn44 (?!), and goose. yes, goose.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Leilani Farha wears a lot of hats. She's a lawyer, a mother, a proud feminist, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, and now the founding Global Director of The Shift. Jenn spoke with Leilani about how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened housing affordability and homelessness in Canada, and where we need to go from here.

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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Cadence Weapon is one of those rare few artists who's never afraid to rock the boat—politically or creatively. He's old friends with Grimes, and now based in downtown Toronto where he's deeply immersed in local Black community activism. Even during lockdown, he hasn't stopped creating. Jenn spoke with Cadence Weapon about BLM, George Floyd, and his forthcoming album of "straight bangers," Parallel World, which drops April 30 2021.
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City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash (she/her) and Jenn Jefferys (she/her). Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii.

Anna Mehler Paperny is an award-winning reporter and author of Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person. She's also one of the smartest/funniest people you'll ever meet. Anna joined the pod to talk treatment-resistant depression and suicidality, a bit on #OprahMeghanHarry, and to share some of what she learned writing her best-selling investigative memoir.