Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Culture writer Joan Summers, music journalist Maura Johnston, and rapper and author Rollie Pemberton join Elamin Abdelmahmoud for the Friday Group Chat to share their thoughts on new releases from Addison Rae, Turnstile, and Lorde.

After 26 years dancing with the National Ballet of Canada, Guillaume Côté will take his final bow tonight. Elamin talks with two of his longtime collaborators – the dancer Greta Hodgkinson and choreographer Anisa Tejpar about his legacy, and why he just might be the GOAT of Canadian ballet. Plus, the latest version of Google’s AI tool Veo can make impressively realistic looking 8-second videos. While this has inevitably raised concerns about people being fooled by deepfake videos, Kyle Orland from Ars Technica chats with Elamin about a curious trend he noticed: real TikTokers pretending to be AI generated. 

Xtra Magazine reporter Mel Woods and Laura Winton of the Library Association of Alberta discuss the provincial government’s plans to introduce new age-appropriate standards for books in school libraries, and how they could adversely affect books with 2SLGBTQ+ themes. Plus, critic Rendy Jones talks about the Gen-Z comedy 'Adults,' which explores the absurd ups and downs of being in your 20s in the 2020s in New York City.

What is Canadian content? And why does it matter? The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission has been hearing very different answers to that question — as they try to come up with new CanCon rules. Jesse Wente, Vass Bednar and Anthony Q Farrell join Elamin to talk about why getting CanCon right has never been more important. 

For almost 20 years, NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts have given the internet a chance to see some of the biggest artists and promising upcoming talents in an incredibly intimate, live setting that has made for unforgettable moments. At the same time, the series has become a crucial and trusted hub for Black pop music. At the inaugural Departures festival in Toronto, Elamin sat down with Bobby Carter, the host and series producer for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by Vulture’s Alison Willmore, Inverse’s Hoai-Tran Bui and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival’s Aram Siu Wai Collier for a group chat about Karate Kid: Legends, and what they're most excited to see in theatres this summer.

Ms. Rachel is one of the biggest children's entertainers right now, and she's been using her social media to talk about how the Israel-Hamas war has affected children. Elamin chats with Jael Richardson and Kathryn VanArendonk about the reaction and criticism Ms. Rachel is getting for wading into conflict and tragedy. 

‘Forever’ is a new Netflix tv series that reimagines Judy Blume’s controversial YA book of the same name, through the lens of the contemporary Black teen experience. Guest host Radheyan Simonpillai is joined by culture critics Kathleen Newman-Bremang and David Dennis Jr. to discuss the new series and its approach to the teen drama genre. Plus, with the second season of HBO’s hit zombie drama ‘The Last of Us’ winding down this week, culture reporter Kat Tenbarge explains how the story developments of this season further intensified the online hate campaign against its star Bella Ramsey.

So many TV shows and movies mine the dramatic potential of those first few days on campus where new students get to re-invent themselves.But despite everything that’s come before it, Benito Skinner’s new show, 'Overcompensating,' treads new ground. Chris Murphy and Jackson Weaver join guest host Rad Simponpillai to talk about why it’s so refreshing. Plus, ‘0-60 Driving Academy’ is a new series that’s being called Atlantic Canada’s first Black sitcom. It’s also inspired by the real life experiences of Dartmouth based driving instructor Steve Lawrence. Elamin is joined by author and artist Guyleigh Johnson to discuss the series and what it says about African Nova Scotian culture. 

Elamin is joined by Leander Schaerlaeckens and Richard Sutcliffe to talk about the new season of Welcome to Wrexham, a docu-series about Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a Welsh football team. Plus, over the course of the past decade, Andy Shauf has emerged as one of Canada's most respected singer-songwriters with multiple Juno nominations and fans like Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Barack Obama. Vish Khanna explains how this low-key musician has developed a fervent fanbase, and how the sophomore record of his band Foxwarren pushes his artistry into new territory.