Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

This week on the group chat, critics Hoai-Tran Bui, Reanna Cruz and Jackson Weaver chat with guest host Amil Niazi about Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo film ‘After the Hunt’ featuring Julia Roberts, the musical ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ starring Jennifer Lopez, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. We'd love to hear from you! Complete our listener survey here.

Marc Maron’s groundbreaking podcast WTF is over – he dropped his very last episode this week, more than 15 years after it launched. Culture critics Dominic Tardiff and Niko Stratis join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about how the podcast changed them, changed public discourse, and so much more. Plus - tickets for Rush's tour officially go on sale this Friday. Music journalist Annie Zaleski discusses the surprise return of the Canadian rock legends, whose surviving members will embark on a 50th-anniversary tour in 2026 – their first shows since the 2020 passing of their long-time drummer Neil Peart. And the moment when the band will introduce us to its newest member, drummer Anika Nilles. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter D’Angelo died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Elamin is joined by music critics Jay Smooth and David Dennis Jr. to look back on D'Angelo's legacy, and how his music helped to change the trajectory of soul, R&B and rap music as we now know it. Plus, legendary Anishnaabe artist Norval Morrisseau is one of the most celebrated Indigenous artists in the world, and criminal fraudsters have capitalized on his popularity by creating fake Morrisseau paintings — the extent of which is believed to be the largest art crime fraud ever. Elamin chats with Adrian Stimson, an artist from the Siksika Nation and the host of the new podcast 'Forged' from CBC and ABC Australia, about the art crime underworld of fake Morrisseau paintings. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

With the controversial theater production ‘Slave Play’ coming to Toronto, Elamin Abdelamhmoud is joined by culture critics El Jones and Matt Amha with their thoughts on this most recent staging of the play and the themes around race, slavery and interracial relationships that it covers. Plus, creators are frustrated after the AI platform SORA introduced stricter controls around what they could do with copyrighted characters and real people - but will the guardrails work? Or will people just use OTHER AI tools … with fewer rules? Samantha Cole joins Elamin to discuss. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

More than three decades after his death, Canadian actor and comedy trailblazer John Candy is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks to a new documentary and book about his life and legacy. The book’s author, Paul Myers, joins the Group Chat alongside entertainment reporter Teri Hart and podcaster Vish Khanna to explain why Candy remains such a revered figure in Canadian pop culture. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks about new movies out this week with culture critics Sarah-Tai Black, Roxana Hadadi and Jourdain Searles: the horror film Good Boy, starring a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy, the Channing Tatum led crime comedy Roofman and suspense thriller Lurker starring Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

One of the bestselling books of the year has to be The Tell by Amy Griffin. It's a memoir about how MDMA-assisted therapy helped her unearth this buried childhood trauma, but a New York Times investigation is now casting doubt on the book. Elamin chats with Nathan Maharaj and Jen Sookfong Lee about the controversy. And MTV cancelled Catfish after 9 seasons. Elamin chats with Candice Lim, co-host ICYMI, Slate’s podcast about internet culture, about how the show reflected our complicated relationship with the internet. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Michael Blackmon, a culture writer and comments editor at The Washington Post, dives into Mariah Carey's new album 'Here For It All' and her enduring legacy. He discusses how the title track reflects personal losses, offering a rawer, more intimate sound. The conversation highlights the impact of 'Vision of Love' and how Mariah's live performance on MTV Unplugged silence critics. Blackmon also explores her creative struggles with Columbia and her monumental resurgence with 'Emancipation of Mimi', showing how she influenced today's pop divas.

Ana Diaz, a freelance culture critic and passionate anime fan, dives into the world of 'Demon Slayer' and its remarkable rise. She explores the film's dynamic characters, particularly the warm-hearted Tanjiro, and discusses why it resonates with audiences. The conversation also touches on how the series leveraged platforms like TikTok for its success and the rapid growth of anime globally, aided by streaming services. Plus, Ana reveals how well the latest movie met fan expectations with its stunning animation and continuity.

Comedians performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival are being criticized for selling out to a Saudi regime that is trying to change its image. Alyssa Mercante and Shireen Ahmed join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about Saudi Arabia's soft power, and how it's making inroads into new cultural realms and changing the conversation. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input!