Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Entertainment journalists Teri Hart and Aramide Tinubu join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to review the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, which officially signal the start of awards season in Hollywood. Plus, Teri reports on the legal drama between 'It Ends With Us' co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Music journalists Vish Khanna, Caryn Rose, and Ian Grant weigh in on the new biopic 'A Complete Unknown,' starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, and explain how the folk music hero has remained such a enigmatic and iconic figure in pop culture for over 60 years.

Culture critics Pablo The Don, Tristan Grant aka Wolfcastle and Rollie Pemberton aka Cadence Weapon join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about what the music industry has in store for 2025, from Beyoncé at the Grammys, Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl to new music from rising stars Tia Wood and Doechii.

Elamin is joined by entertainment reporter Teri Hart, Mashable film editor Kristy Puchko, and NPR TV critic Eric Deggans to look ahead to the TV shows and films that will keep us glued to our screens in 2025. 

Josh O’Kane, a reporter for the Globe and Mail, and Michelle Cyca, a writer for The Walrus, delve into a tumultuous year for Canadian literature. They discuss the Giller Prize controversy and the impact of corporate sponsorship on the arts. The ongoing debate surrounding Alice Munro's legacy raises questions about authorship responsibilities. They also passionately recommend Canadian novels like 'Coexistence' and 'Hair for Men,' reflecting on their emotional depth and the potential for renewal in literature.

This year marks the 150th birthday of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the lauded Canadian writer best known for her internationally-acclaimed novel Anne of Green Gables. The story of a spunky red-headed orphan who learns how to live and love on Prince Edward Island has transcended time and space, charming generations of readers with its wit, pastoral landscapes and rich characters. Today on Commotion, scholar Laura Robinson, playwright Kat Sandler and TV writer Kathryn Borel join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about all the ways this story has been adapted for the page, stage and screen — and why audiences can’t get enough.

For all of the shows and films that made the best-of lists, there’s a LOT of great stuff that flew under the radar in 2024. Culture critics Rad Simonpillai, Thomas Leblanc and Ashley Ray join guest host Ali Hassan to talk about the best things they watched this past year — that most of us never heard about. 

It’s been three years since Squid Game came out and surprised everybody by becoming a gigantic hit. As season 2 drops today, Michelle Cho, Regina Kim and Kathryn VanArendonk join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud for a spoiler-free group chat about the return to the world of Squid Game.

Commotion guest host Ali Hassan is joined by culture critics Sharine Taylor, Danae Peart and Jovanté Anderson to discuss HBO's new Jamaica-set crime series Get Millie Black, and the way the show centers trans and queer Jamaican people. Plus, film critic Teri Hart talks about how Dwayne Johnson's new Christmas comedy, Red One, pulled in a record breaking 50 million views on Prime Video after a disappointing box office run.

Fashion writers Danya Issawi, Joan Summers and Gianluca Russo look back on the year in Fashion, from John Galliano’s dolls, Charli XCX’s Brat summer and Zendaya’s red carpet moments for Challengers and Dune: Part II.