Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade. The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed. One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed. This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.  COMMONS: Work launches on March 20th. Canadaland Supporters can listen to all episodes one week early! Become a supporter at canadaland.com/join   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, COMMONS producer Noor Azrieh sits down with Peter Smith to discuss his reporting on right-wing conspiracy groups like Qanon and Romana Didulo.Featured in this episode: Peter SmithTo learn more:“Lead in the head”: Self-Declared Canadian Prime Minister and QAnon Adherent Calls for Executions of Officials Who Refuse Her Cease and Desists” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate Network“Self Declared Queen Of Canada Calling For US Supporters To Invade Canada And Prepare To Execute “Traitors” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate NetworkCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor in Cheif)Sponsors: Douglas, Athletic GreensIf you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts discusses the controversy surrounding stock buybacks in the grocery sector, focusing on Canada's big grocery chains and their profit margins. He highlights the significant size and expansion of stock buyback programs of Loblaws, Metro, and Sobs, amounting to over $3 billion. The podcast also delves into the struggles of grocery workers who are demanding fair wages amidst high profits. It explores the legality, profitability, and history of stock buybacks, as well as their impact on economic growth, employees, and customers. The origins of the concept of maximizing shareholder value and the self-serving nature of buybacks are also examined. Finally, the chapter analyzes tax policies and makes a plea for listener support.

We live in a world of obsessive fandoms. The Stans, Swifties, Potterheads, Beliebers, Trekkies, Bronies, Barbs and their ilk are everywhere to be found.But at what point does it go from being harmless entertainment and turn into something more sinister?Featured in this episode: Zoe Alderton, Robert LawsonTo learn more:“‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom” by Zoe Alderton in Religions“Andrew Tate: how the ‘manosphere’ influencer is selling extreme masculinity to young men” by Robert Lawson in The ConversationEverything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn TiffanyCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: oxio, DouglasIf you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romana Didulo, the self-proclaimed Queen of Canada, is unlike almost any other cult leader Canada has ever seen. In an incredibly short amount of time, she’s been able to gain a mass following, despite her absurd claims and alarming rhetoric.At various points, she’s claimed to be a political leader, a monarch, an interdimensional being communing with aliens, and so much more. She’s urged her followers to take up arms and execute migrants on sight.And now, she’s taken up residence in a small Saskatchewan town that doesn’t know what to do.Featured in this episode: Mack Lamoureux (VICE News), Peter Smith (Canadian Anti-Hate Network), Hugh EverdingTo learn more:“A QAnon Cult Set Up a Compound in a Small Town. The Locals Are Fighting Back” by Mack Lamoureux in VICE News“Self Declared Queen Of Canada Calling For US Supporters To Invade Canada And Prepare To Execute “Traitors”” by Peter Smith in Canadian Anti-Hate NetworkThe Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: oxio, Athletic Greens If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Multi-level marketing isn’t based on rational business logic. It’s not even built on irrational business logic. It’s ideology. It’s faith.MLMs have become such a ubiquitous part of North American life that their tenets are rarely ever questioned. The sector holds enormous political sway. Millions of people join, leave and rejoin every year, almost all of them ending up poorer for the experience.And to call it a cult is not just a cute turn of phrase. The cultishness of MLMs is essential to their success.Featured in this episode: Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Julie AndersonTo learn more:Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing by Robert L. Fitzpatrick“How lobbying dollars prop up pyramid schemes” by Matt Stroud in The VergeYouTube: @JulieAndersonvideosAmway: The Cult of Free Enterprise by Stephen ButterfieldCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Aviva Lessard (Additional Production) Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: Douglas, Oxio, Athletic Greens If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly 1.4 million Canadians and almost 50 million Americans are involved in multi-level marketing. And that sheer volume of people makes it a near certainty that you’ve encountered MLMs in your life somehow.The promise of financial freedom can be an intoxicating lure. But MLMs, like so many other cultish enterprises, are about more than just money. They’re about transcendence.And in their wake, they often leave behind ruined livelihoods and broken lives. Featured in this episode: Julie Anderson, Amanda Montell, Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Marco Moukhaiber To learn more:Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing by Robert L. Fitzpatrick“'They have you in a cultish grip': the women losing thousands to online beauty schemes” by Amelia Tate in The GuardianYouTube: @JulieAndersonvideosYouTube: @AlwaysMarcoCultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda MontellCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Aviva Lessard (Additional Production) Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: Oxio, Athletic GreensIf you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary-Jayne Blackmore is one of the oldest children of Winston Blackmore, the most famous polygamist in Canada. For decades, her family has been the subject of intense media and legal scrutiny because of her father’s 27 wives and 150 children. Their lives have been dissected in documentaries and in court testimony.The name Blackmore has become synonymous with either faith-based persecution by the state or with cult-like religious fundamentalism that victimizes girls and women.But for Mary-Jayne, these kinds of black-and-white portrayals miss so much about what it’s been like being a Blackmore.To learn more:Balancing Bountiful: What I Learned About Feminism From My Polygamist Grandmothers by Mary Jayne BlackmoreThe Bishop of Bountiful B.C. by the CBC’s Fifth EstateUnder the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon KrakauerCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: Canva, Athletic Greens If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1973, a French motorsports journalist claimed to have been visited by a UFO that revealed to him the secret origins of humanity. For the next half-century, the man known as Raël would go on to create a new faith with tens of thousands of adherents all around the world. The media have portrayed the Raelians as not just a cult, but a strange phantasmagoria of extraterrestrials, orgies and clones. But its followers insist it is the only true path forward for humanity.Featured in this episode: Nicole Bertrand, Susan J. Palmer, Harold HenningTo learn more:Aliens Adored: Raël’s UFO Religion by Susan J. PalmerThe Prophet and the Space Aliens by Yoav ShamirThe UFO sect campaigning against female genital mutilation by Monica Mark in The Guardian Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: Douglas, Athletic Greens If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An explosion of new spiritual movements in the 1970s led to the creation of an entirely novel academic field. But right from the beginning, the discipline was riven asunder.The Cult Wars have been raging for decades. They’re fought not only in academic journals and conference seminars, but in the press, the courts and in legislative assemblies. And their battles continue to have enormous consequences.Featured in this episode: Michael Kropveld, Stephen A. Kent, Susan J. PalmerTo learn more:“Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a New Religious Movement Researcher” by Susan J. Palmer in University of Toronto Press“Life after Doomsday: Tracking cult activity from a Montreal storage locker” by Simon Lewson in The WalrusMisunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field edited by Benjamin Zablocki & Thomas RobbinsCredits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Additional music from Audio NetworkSponsors: OxioIf you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.