Over the course of the past two years, Jesse Brown, founder, editor and publisher at CANADALAND has lost the trust of many journalists in the industry, especially me. His behaviour and approach to journalism has shaken multiple contributors and former employees to the point where they have left his project. He has attempted to reconcile with this perception in the lead up to his new series, What Is Happening Here?, a podcast exploring antisemitism in Canada since the Oct. 7 attacks. In this interview, Scott poses difficult questions about the process and reception to his new podcast.

CORRECTION: Scott refers to "nine percent" at one point when referring to the "nine times more likely" statistic. He also refers to a report by Statistics Canada comparing crime between the US and Canada with incorrect dates. The report (included in the sources for this episode) is from 1998 to 2023. We regret these errors.

Submit your questions for the Q&A here!

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Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/accounts-and-accountability-ft-jesse-brown-podcast

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In a move that was in the works for month, the UCP government in Alberta has invoked the notwithstanding clause to shield three bills from court challenges. These bills specifically target trans kids, requiring birth gender to enter sports after 12 years old, preventing them from using differing pronouns at school without parental permission and bans on medical treatment under 16 years of age. With such unprecedented use of the clause, it's important to have a discussion on the very real implications for trans people, kids and wider society. Mel Woods, senior editor at Xtra Magazine joins the show to discuss the approach by the government, the effect on trans kids and their article calling out premier Danielle Smith for dishonest justifications.

Submit your questions for the Q&A here!

Follow Mel on Bluesky

Check out Xtra Magazine

Follow Scott on Bluesky

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're a news nerd, a media freak, or some sort of schadenfreude savant, you're probably aware of the spectacular implosion of CANADALAND and its equally infamous leader, Jesse Brown. This week the network drops the first two episodes of a podcast examining antisemitism in Canada. To be blunt: hopes are not high. Nothing has been convincing that they should be, either. So why do we like talking about it? For this week's monologue, I dive into my latest critique, why I hope to focus less on CANADALAND in the future, and what news media critique means in a landscape without the indie giant.

Submit your questions for the Q&A here!

Follow Scott on Bluesky

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-post-canadaland-wasteland-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.