rabble radio

Rape culture is a term we hear more and more. But what is it? How pervasive is it? And who is affected? Where do we see rape culture? So many questions. Well to help you understand, we've got a radio documentary! It's produced by rabble.ca's own Meghan Stacey. It comes to us from the Rad Voices, the podcast that is produced for the Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit as a resource for activists. Loretta Ross has decades of work in the women's movement under her belt. She's worked to end violence against women and promote reproductive justice in the United States and around the world. Ross was active in the black nationalist and civil rights movements. In the 1970s, she directed one of the first rape crisis centres in the United States, and she was one of the first African American women to hold that position. From 1996-2004, she was the Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education in Atlanta, Georgia.Here are some of her thoughts from a presentation in Guelph, Ontario. The band Blondie is famously named for what men used to shout out to Debbie Harry as she walked down the street. That was back in the 70s, but not much has changed. Angela Matthews is a researcher and activist and volunteer at the Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre. She recently conducted research on stranger harassment and its impact on the holistic health of women and the health of our communities. Ariana Barer) from the F-Word caught up with Angela Matthews to learn more about her research.

Joey "Shithead" Keithley is one of the founders of the legendary Vancouver punk band DOA. For him punk music was a natural progression from the music of the hippies and the sounds of protests from the sixties. Here he speaks with David Swanson about the evolution of punk, and the music of political activism. Doug Karr has been creating original independent films since 1997. Karr's credits include narrative shorts Tiny Dancer, The Straitjacket Lottery and the award-winning documentaries LSD25, The June Bug Symphony, Lifecycles: a story of AIDS in Malawi, and The Face of AIDS. Doug has new film opening, The Art Machine, and he spoke with David Peck about the film, filmmaking, and how seeing a remake of the film Lawrence of Arabia, at 9 years old, changed his life. Film lover, watcher and reviewer Cathi Bond has a city that fascinates her. Now she has found a great documentary to help her explore it Visit rabble.ca/podcasts for great shows!

Nova Scotia's potential fracking game changer. We get the scoop on the Northern Gateway pipeline ruling, supporting trans and queer prisoners, and a movie review. Pressure is building in many communities to stop hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" as a method to extract natural gas. We will hear about a proposed law in Nova Scotia that could be a fracking game changer. Hear the whole episode of "Habitat" here. Then we get energized about the government's recent ruling about the northern gateway pipeline. We hear from an environmental lawyer who lays down the law. Tune in to the "Redeye" episode we feature here. And when there is law, it seems there are prisons. From rabble.ca's own show, "rad voices", we have an interview with a prison abolitionist activist working to support prisoners and change the system. It is the tax system that needs to be changed to develop Africa, says one tax justice activist. What is tax justice and how can it be achieved? Tune in to find out. Hear the whole interview on Africa files here. Finally rabble contributor Cathi Bond turns her cinematic eye to an offbeat film that might just reflect a new brand of chick flick. Catch all of Cathi's reviews on "Watch Me." And if you can, please chip in to support the rabble podcast network and rabble.ca. It takes just a moment at www.rabble.ca/donate

Ariel Sharon died on Saturday, January 11, 2014. When Ariel Sharon fell into a coma in 2006, rabble.ca's Redeye podcast spoke about Sharon's legacy with Palestinian-American journalist and co-founder of electronicintifada.net Ali Abunimah.

As 2013 was coming to an end the world saw the passing of South African revolutionary and president Nelson Mandela. During this, our last show of the year, we dedicate the show to reflections on the life and work of Mandela. We are airing excerpts from a special episode of Amandla – a weekly African current affairs program produced in English and French on CKUT 90.3 in Montreal. You can hear their full show right here. This is our last show of the year, if you have enjoyed rabble radio this year, please chip in a few dollars to support this kind of programing. You can help out at rabble.ca/donate.

Halloween is a time where we can, with good friends around, face some of our fears. In this episode we will hear some scary stuff. Don't worry though, we haven't forgotten the treat. We start with the terrifying world of water. Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and activist and an author. Recently she launched the final installment of her trilogy on water, the book Blue Future. She spoke to a packed house in Ottawa earlier this month and this is some of what she had to say. Get the whole thing here. On July 1, 1958 the St Lawrence Seaway flooded out 6,500 people and inundated 10 communities, some over 200 years old. Hear the stories of people that were there and reflections from Louis Helbig who interviewed them. You can hear the whole show at the rpn here. Cancer is frightening. Yet when women get breast cancer there is, it seems, a cultural pressure to emphasize optimism and delegitimize anger. Emilia Nielsen is a sessional faculty member and ph.d candidate at UBC candidate whose research focuses on breast cancer narratives and feminism. Listen to Caity Goerke from the F-Word in conversation with Emilia Nielsen. Hear the whole interview here. And now for our treat. El Jones is an activist and a poet. In fact she is the poet poet laureate of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Recently Jones spoke to Scott Neigh about poetry, activism and the politics of poetry. She also shared a beautiful spoken word poem. Lend us your ear. Hear the whole thing here. This weekend ends our rabble fundraising drive in support of Karl Nerenberg. Karl has been busy reporting on the almost always frightening politics that come out of Parliament. With support from the community we can have him reporting for the rest of the year. Please donate at rabble.ca/donate if you can. The good news is you can win great prizes that, unlike that Halloween candy, your dentist won't hate.

Historian Howard Zinn once said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. In this episode we will hear from a number of dissenters. First, sign of the times. We'll hear how a placard holding woman near parliament hill drew an unwelcome visit from the RCMP. And, a group of folks in Regina, Saskatchewan are resisting private control over their water. Then, an announcement of a different kind of labour union, whose leaders say that their dissenting voices will be heard. And Inter Pares founder Ian Smillie about whether development work is working. In our democracy holding a protest sign is a pretty basic right of freedom of expression. Or is it? Redeye host Jane Williams gets the story from one woman who was stopped by the RCMP for doing just that – holding a sign. Hear the whole interview here. Citizen advocacy group Regina Water Watch has forced a referendum to keep their wastewater facility public. Scott Neigh spoke with activist Jeremy Campbell about the campaign. Hear the whole interview here. Over the labour day weekend a new union was formed in Canada. It is named "Unifor," and it is made up of the members of Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. UNIFOR is now the largest private sector union in Canada. It represents more than 20 sectors. That's over 300 000 workers. The leaders of the new union say UNIFOR will do things differently. Here is Inaugural Unifor President Jerry Dias making the opening statement at his first Unifor press conference. To hear the whole press conference listen here. Does development work? Ian Smilley has some thoughts on the matter. Smiley has been an international development practitioner, consultant, teacher and writer for many years. He has lived and worked in Asia and Africa, was a founder of Inter Pares and Executive Director of CUSO. This month, a new podcast called face 2 face, hosted by David Peck joined the network. Here is David Peck talking with Ian Smilley. Hear the whole interview here. Finally, please support our campaign to put Karl Nerenberg back on the on Parliament Hill beat.

Dateline: Vancouver. 2011. The city's landscape and skyline is rapidly changing. Height restrictions have been removed from Vancouver's historic Chinatown. This change is affecting, among other things, the Night Market., where Chinatown businesses and vendors take their work outdoors and sell their wares every weekend. Fast forward to 2013, and Vancouver's Night Market is 18 years old. It is the only night market in North America, and the changes continue. Co-op Radio's Tanya Hill is capturing the sounds and stories of the new era of the Night Market in a series of short documentaries. Here is the first tasty report. Canada has issues – food security issues. In fact, almost 10 percent of Canadians face challenges when it comes to obtaining healthy food. If Vancouverites can't come to the food, one Vancouver community is taking the food to them. We'll hear from one anti-poverty activist working with a Toronto neighbourhood. They're organizing. Not just to improve their situation but to change the system itself. Movie companies and film festivals spend millions of dollars promoting their films, from ads to product tie-ins. But what if you had a festival where that refused to disclose its film lineup? Spoiler alert: people will line up for the show.

We hear from Onur Bakiner on the situation in Turkey, Chris Hedges on a pending revolution, Henry Giroux on social movements and youth, plus a comic book and the live in care giver program, and troubles with an important psychology book. The world watched this month as protestors in Turkey were met with extremely strong police crackdowns. There were plenty of images of police brutality, but not a lot of information about who was protesting and why. Onur Bakiner, is an Assistant Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University. He spoke with Irwin Oostindie about what he sees is going on in Turkey. The United States is on its way to a revolution, according to Chris Hedges. The Pulitzer prize-winning reporter has written and reported around the globe. For his latest project, he traveled to some of America's most economically depressed areas with co-author Joe Sacco, then wrote about what he found. The book is called Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. The author, educator, journalist and activist to spoke in Ottawa in June at the Southminster United Church. The lecture was hosted by Octopus Books. Dr. Henry Giroux is a world renowned writer and thinker. He has done work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies, and critical theory. He is currently the Global television Network Chair in Communications Studies in Hamilton, Ontario. he is the author of over 50 books including Youth in Revolt: Reclaiming a Democratic Future. Dr. Giroux spoke to Riaz Sayani-Mulji about the Quebec student movement, Occupy and the struggles of youth facing a world made by neoliberalism. The live-in caregiver program in Canada is part of Canada's temporary worker program and has come under fire. There have been many accusations of abuse: Low basic wages, non-stop work schedules, and a lack of freedom for employees. The stories that haven't been told as much is how women are resisting the exploitative structure of the Live-in-Care program and creating community. Toronto based artists Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo are making comic book in collaboration with workers to tell the stories of how they resisted. The project is called Kwentong Bayan[Kwen ton buy on]: Labour of Love. Marycarl Guiao spoke to the artists. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or as it is sometimes know as "the DSM") is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The publication of the new DSM-5 this spring has some mental health professionals worried. Brent Dean Robbins is Director of Psychology at Point Park University and co-chair of the International DSM-5 Response Committee. He spoke with Lorraine Chisholm about his concerns with DSM 5, beginning with how important this book is.

We began with an excerpt of an interview with Judy Rebick about Dr. Henry Morgentaler and the impact he had on her and on the pro-choice movement. Franke James is an artist. Her art often focuses on environmental issues, including her concerns about the Tar Sands. Her work got to the attention of the Harper government who pulled her tour funding. We hear her story. It has still got a way to go, but the mental health system in Canada has changed for the better since the 1970s. And it was political organizing by people who had experienced the system that made change happen. Activists lobbied and protested through the 80s. Then, in the 90s they decided they needed to party a little and started a festival called Psychiatric Survivor Pride Toronto. That festival, under a new name, is celebrating its 20th year in 2013 and Talking Radical Radio's Scott Neigh caught up with some festival organizers to talk about its new name and what it means to them. Here are Elizabeth Carvahlo, Jeremiah Bach, Peter and Alisa. Kate Braid has a lot of firsts under her toolbelt. Braid was one of the first women in British Columbia to get her journeyman's carpentry ticket. She was the first woman to join the Vancouver local of the Carpenters' Union. She was also the first woman to run her own construction company in the province. She has a new book out Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man's World and the F-Word caught up with Braid to hear about her experiences. Finally, if you enjoy this show please become a supporting member – www.rabble.ca/membership