rabble radio

What a week it's been. Looking back to last Friday, Inauguration Day, a lot of us were sharing the same sense of gloom and foreboding, wondering what the next four years are going to be like and fearing the worst. And then came Saturday ... a day of resistance, defiance, hope and a resolve that the worst is not going to happen. Because it's not Donald Trump's Universe. The future belongs to people who don't believe that misogyny and hatred is the way forward. And it was a day of solidarity with the citizens of the U.S. where millions around the world also said "Hey, we're with you in the struggle". Today on rabble radio --- some of the voices from the Women's March. Starting in Washington, and then moving up to Vancouver and Toronto.

What a year it was. Coming off of the maddening, disappointing and very scary U.S. election, it's too easy to look back and wish that we could have just fast forwarded from December 31, 2015 right to January 1, 2017. But that's not the whole story. In many ways it was also a really good year. Admittedly, we have to work a little harder to lift our spirits in this holiday season than in other years. But we know that rabble listeners and readers know that these things happen in cycles. Better days are ahead. Lots of work for us to do in the new year to help restore this planet to health and happiness. But for now, take a break and have a listen to some of our faves.

It used to be the case that media and democracy were synonymous. Democracies weren't worthy of the name unless they had free and independent media that spoke truth to power. That was in the good old days. The changes in the political winds these days means that there are more pressures than ever on the kind of media outlets to do their job preserving and strengthening democracy. Today's program comes to us from Media Democracy Days, held in Vancouver every year. This year was no exception. And one could say that Media Democracy is more important than ever in the dark days of 2016.

What does it take to build stronger communities? A lot of it is about participation -- when we work together for the common good, the places where we live become stronger. We know our neighbours, we help each other. In healthy communities, people are engaged with each other. But what does that mean? Today's program is about engagement, connecting and making a difference in the places we live. How do we strengthen those ties that bind?  A few ideas here on this month's rabble radio ..   

Since it's harvest season, what better time to take a look at farming. And sadly, it's not the family farm we're going to be talking about. There are still some family farms left, and still some independent farmers who are making a living for themselves adopting new forms of sustainable agriculture. But despite the growth of organics, artisan food products and people who are adopting farming practices that are kind to the land, the corporations continue to march across the countryside. We'll hear from a few people today who can tell us what's wrong with that.  

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. There were hundreds of panel discussions at the World Social Forum. The hard thing was to make a choice which one to go to. There weren't a lot of descriptions in the handbook sometimes, so often we just had to pick one and see how it all turned out. You never knew what you were going to get.  

Like this podcast? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Just because you can't touch, see or smell sound doesn't mean that the sounds around us don't affect us just as much as the quality of our water, air and physical environment.

Like this podcast? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. The media landscape isn't at all the same today as it was 15 years ago when rabble.ca first started publishing on the internet.

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Here is Canada we don't have as many Black Lives Matter chapters as there are in the United States but the ideas are just as relevant. Despite our beliefs in this country that we are not racist and not violent, Black Lives Matter is helping us see that those perspectives aren't accurate.

August may seem like a ways away, but for the organizers of the World Social Forum in Montreal in August, time is ticking away. Two years ago in August, the city of Ottawa was the site for a warmup to the World Social Forum. The People's Social Forum  was a huge event. The thing about these kinds of Social Forums is that they are very ambitious. Anybody can propose a workshop, or a discussion group. The result of this is an incredible amount of energy in one place, and lots to talk about and think about. In a lot of ways, Ottawa was a dress rehearsal for the World Social Forum, which will be held in Montreal from August 9-14, 2016.

Honduras is a country that doesn't show up in the news very often, especially here in Canada. A quick google search brought up links for travel destinations, World Cup soccer and the free trade agreement which Canada signed with Honduras on October 1, 2014.   The Canada Honduras Free Trade website lists the population of Honduras as 8.2 million. What it doesn't say is that there was a U.S. backed coup in 2009 which resulted in the overthrow of the democratically elected president of Honduras.   It's a country where it's dangerous to challenge power.  

What a couple of months it's been in media land.  Newspapers folding, television stations getting out of local news.. all because of the internet, they say.  We don't hear much about radio, though. 1.) Today we go to Podcamp Toronto and hear about something that hasn't changed in radio.   There still are way too few women on the air.  Rabble radio contributor Kveshe Be tells us about a study on diversity in radio done by Ryerson University Professor Lori Beckstead. 

The work world has changed a lot over thirty years.  It used to be the case that most people got a job and stayed there. If not for life, then at least for a long long time. That's not the case anymore. Employers don't like to make commitments to employees anymore. The idea of a full time job with job security and benefits is becoming more and more a thing of the past. And we're all being encouraged to start our own businesses, without the recognition that self employment isn't for everybody. It's an increasingly precarious world.

Hard to believe it's the end of the year. But it is. 2015 is almost finished. And what a year it was. Today, we round out the year with a look back at the year that was, a look ahead to the next, and a couple of big changes. 1) Karl's end of the year podcast - We got an early Christmas present this year on October 18th, when we finally kicked the grinch out of Who-ville. Stephen Harper is gone. It was a gruelling election campaign to cover.  One of the good things Karl Nerenberg, our excellent Parliamentary Correspondent, decided to start doing a podcast.  To round out the year, I had a talk with Karl reflects on the election that was, and the year to come.

This program comes to you from the Community Media Convergence, a gathering of community television, radio, online and gaming people from across the country. We all know that different media forms are coming together. Radio websites have video on them. Newspapers have podcasts. If rabble.ca had been around 20 years ago, we would have likely been a paper based magazine. And a radio show. There would have been no rabble tv because there aren't very many independent community tv stations out there. Now we're a whole combination of different kinds of media.

It's been a great autumn for podcast anniversaries! 1.) One year ago on October 6, Indian and Cowboy made its internet debut. Indian & Cowboy is a listener supported media network consisting of Indigenous media makers, artists, storytellers, musicians & producers rooted firmly at the intersection between digital media art, podcasting & Indigenous Storytelling.  Roshini Nair did this feature for rabble radio with Ryan McMahon, the founder of Indian and Cowboy. (click on the link for a transcript of Roshini's entire interview for rabble.ca)

Like this podcast? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. We're in the home stretch of Election 42. Just a little under three weeks to go.   We're not running out of things to talk about yet.   Far from it. On today's show --  

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.

The Peoples' Social Forum 2014 wrapped up in Ottawa yesterday. It was a dynamic day summarizing a lot of the many conversations, sessions and workshops which had happened during the three days. rabble radio's fourth and final podcast contains some highlights from the Final Assembly.

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. Minute 2:00 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.  Minute 8:22