December 20, 2021
SHARE
CANADALAND
#739 The Duty To Sh*t Disturb
He's the academic expert people love to hate. But he considers stirring the pot his moral duty. This week, CANADALAND brings you a profile of Amir Attaran.
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher
Tristan Capacchione
Audio Editor & Technical Producer
Sarah Lawrynuik
Senior Producer
Kieran Oudshoorn
Managing Editor, Podcasts

Amir Attaran might not be a name you know off the top of your head, but if you listen or read Canadian media, you’ve definitely come across him before.

He is a professor at both the University of Ottawa law school and also its School of Epidemiology and Public Health. He’s got a PhD in immunology from Oxford, along with a law degree from UBC.

Attaran has been a real sh*t disturber throughout the pandemic, criticizing all levels of government for their public health responses, but he liked stirring the pot long before COVID-19 reared its head. He makes the case that it is his duty.

The Prime Minister scolded him. Twitter deplatformed him. Journalists have largely stopped calling him… Well, that is, except for us.

Support Canadaland at canadaland.com/join or gift a subscription to someone else at canadaland.com/gift.

Sponsors: Policy Me, Douglas

More from this series
It’s the biggest media success story you’ve (maybe) never heard of.
May 6, 2024
As the conflict in the Middle East continues to heat up, many Canadian diaspora communities have been affected and talked about in recent months. But as Iran starts to take a more central role, what is the temperature around the dinner table of Iranian-Canadians?
April 29, 2024
A former police chief was arrested in Thunder Bay on April 12, 2024. But there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
April 22, 2024
Has journalism been left holding the bag for Big Media’s bad bet? 
April 15, 2024
What is behind the near complete collapse of Canada’s role in peacekeeping around the world?
April 8, 2024
The story that no one asked for, but must be told. The story of one of Canada’s most popular entertainment exports ever. An oral history of the hit show, Just For Laughs Gags.
April 1, 2024
Of all the private intelligence firms in the English-language world, there appears to be just one whose speciality is tracking activists. And it has a branch office in Calgary.
March 25, 2024
Andy Mills’ podcasting work for The New York Times won a Peabody Award and a Pulitzer Prize citation. Then he lost it all.
March 18, 2024
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
CANADALAND