Last summer, Canadaland opened our first call for submissions, receiving more than 275 pitches from journalists and audio makers across the globe.
“We were overwhelmed by the number of amazing concepts we received,” says publisher Jesse Brown. “The shows we are set to release are the ones that we were most wild about and had to bring into the world. They are consistent with the quality of shows we’ve made, like Thunder Bay and Cool Mules, but they go in entirely new directions that are expanding our own concept of what Canadaland can be.”
Over the next nine months, Canadaland’s dynamic lineup of shows will include four new original series (Pretendians, A Field Guide to Gay Animals, The Worst Podcast, and The Copernic Affair), the English-language premiere of the Prix Italia-winning Radio France podcast Inside Kabul, new seasons of Commons, canadaLANDBACK, and The Backbench, and, of course, urgent news and insightful analysis from longtime favourites CANADALAND, Short Cuts, Détours, and Wag the Doug.
“At a time when most podcast companies are cancelling shows and taking fewer chances, it feels great to bring some incredible new stories to the listeners. They’re very different from one to the next, but all offer smart, relevant, and innovative storytelling from talented teams that are sure to resonate with audiences in Canada and far beyond,” executive producer Julie Shapiro adds.
Early access, bonus content, and ad-free listening will be available to Canadaland Supporters for all of our 2024 releases.
Premiering Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Exposing jaw-dropping stories of Indigenous identity fraud
What do some of the most prominent and successful Indigenous artists, leaders, and thinkers have in common? They aren’t Indigenous.
There are dozens of cases of Indigenous identity fraud that we know about, and likely thousands that we do not. So why do these so-called “Pretendians” do it? How do they pull it off? And what happens when they are exposed?
In each episode of this riveting new podcast series, co-hosts Robert Jago (Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe) and Angel Ellis (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) reveal unbelievable stories of audacious fraudsters and investigate the complex phenomenon of Indigenous identity fraud. Pretendians will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about identity politics.
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Robert Jago is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, and Indigenous rights activist from Richmond, British Columbia. Robert’s written for The Guardian, The Nation, the CBC, The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and many others. Robert is a citizen of both the Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe.
Angel Ellis (Muscogee Creek) is the director of Mvskoke Media and a free-press activist. She is the real-life protagonist of the Sundance award-winning film Bad Press, a documentary thriller which documents the struggle for an independent press within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Premiering Thursday, June 13, 2024
Birds and bees and bears, oh my! Humans aren’t the only ones having gay sex in the bushes
Strap on your binoculars and lace up your boots: A Field Guide to Gay Animals explores sexuality, gender, and joy in the animal world. Animal enthusiasts Owen Ever and Laine Kaplan-Levenson take you on a quest to see beyond the natural world as we know it and into the natural world as it is: queer as fuck.
Homosexuality has been documented in over 1,500 species of animals. From flaming woodpeckers and bisexual bison to lesbian elephant love affairs and all-male, all-whale orgies, expressions of same-sex action in the animal queendom are all around us.
In each episode, your intrepid guides Owen and Laine investigate this variety of animal behaviours with a roving cast of friends, enthusiasts, and experts. Together, they explore the depths of the ocean, the heart of the forest, and the parks in your neighbourhood, diving deep into nuanced conversations about queerness in the animal world.
Cheeky and contemplative, curious and raunchy, Field Guide shows you the natural world, more exuberant, more joyful, and more gay than you could possibly imagine.
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Owen Ever is a community-oriented artist and educator committed to wonder, history, and healthcare justice. They were previously a curator and historian at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, worked in HIV support and prevention at a community clinic, and were a research associate with the CDC’s national HIV behavioural health survey. They are a theatre maker, therapeutic medical clown, and find queer joy in birdwatching.
Laine Kaplan-Levenson most recently hosted and produced All The Only Ones, a miniseries about the history of trans youth from NPR’s Embedded podcast. Previously, they produced and reported for NPR’s Throughline podcast. They also hosted and produced WWNO’s award-winning history podcast TriPod: New Orleans at 300, as well as WWNO/WRKF’s award-winning political podcast Sticky Wicket. They were also host and producer of Last Call, a podcast and collective of queer artists and archivists, and founded and hosted the live storytelling series Bring Your Own.
Premiering Wednesday, July 17, 2024
The harrowing story of two young women coming of age at the end of their world
In the summer of 2021, the Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan and the destinies of two young women, Raha and Marwa, are forever changed. As they contemplate their futures, Raha and Marwa exchange and record hundreds of voice notes with noted French journalist Caroline Gillet.
What emerges is a raw and incredibly intimate chronicle of two young women coming of age, amidst the collapse of the world they had known. While Raha has chosen to stay in Kabul and is confronted with the violence of the new regime, Marwa has left and finds herself locked up in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi.
Inside Kabul tells a universal story of friendship, bravery, and the meaning of home.
The original French-language podcast was released on France Inter / Radio France to great critical acclaim, winning the prestigious Prix Italia for Documentary and Reportage. Canadaland will premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons’ crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.
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Caroline Gillet has been making documentaries for the French national public radio, France Inter, for the last 15 years. Her work focuses on finding new ways to create exchanges and tell stories of people who are far away geographically or who have limited access to media. Her latest podcast, Inside Kabul, was adapted into a 30-minute animated film for France TV and BBC. Previously, she was in a charge of a weekly documentary radio program called Foule continentale. Caroline also produced the daily live radio program Tea Time Club (adapted for France 4) and the mini podcast series À ton âge. She teaches radio reporting at the University of Louvain.
Premiering Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Everyone’s done some worst thing
Canadaland is launching its first celebrity interview podcast, and it’s not great… In fact, it’s The Worst Podcast.
Join Alan Zweig, reformed curmudgeon and iconoclastic documentary filmmaker (but don’t call him that to his face), for refreshingly honest conversations about life’s darker moments. Though himself deeply flawed, Alan is here to absolve his guests of their sins.
And to confess his own… ad nauseam.
Most interview shows serve canned anecdotes about triumphs, and that gets tiresome. The Worst knows it is more revealing (and satisfying) to hear about failures than successes, so we’ve invited top comedians, pop stars, TikTok influencers, and other cultural icons to share their worst things — and find some redemption in the telling.
The average interview show will tell you that they’re not your average interview show. We’re telling you we’re The Worst.
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Alan Zweig is an award-winning auteur documentary filmmaker (I, Curmudgeon, Vinyl, etc.) with an amazing ability for conversation — Zweig can draw anyone out and get them to discuss their most intimate and important thoughts.
Premiering late 2024
Terrorist or scapegoat?
The life of an unassuming Lebanese-Canadian sociology professor gets turned upside down when he is accused of masterminding a bomb attack on a synagogue in Paris. Hassan Diab claims heʼs innocent — but French investigators are determined to prove otherwise.
What follows is a decades-long international story about the pursuit of justice, wild reversals of fortune, and lives torn apart. On one side is a French court in a dogged pursuit of justice for a devastating attack on Parisʼs Jewish community. On the other, an ordinary man who denies any involvement.
In the first podcast investigation into this case, investigative journalists Dana Ballout and Alex Atack use exclusive interviews, rich archival material, and extensive original reporting to take listeners through the twists and turns of this extraordinary story, and try to answer the question: Is Hassan Diab really innocent? And if so, who was behind the Paris synagogue bombing?
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Dana Ballout is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, journalist, and podcaster. She has worked on several award-winning shows including The Messenger, which won Best Black Podcast of the Year at the Black Podcasting Awards in 2021, and National Geographicʼs Emmy-nominated TV documentary series Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller. She was founding editor of Kerning Cultures, a premier Middle Eastern podcast network.
Alex Atack is a journalist and audio producer. A founding producer at Kerning Cultures, Alex has helped bring in-depth and nuanced stories from the Middle East and its diaspora to a global audience through collaborations with the likes of Radiolab, 99% Invisible, TED, NPR, PRIʼs The World, and more. Atack is currently at The Guardianʼs award-winning podcast Today in Focus, where he produces investigative series and in-depth current affairs stories.
Continues biweekly
Serious political discourse for the rest of us
Your Twitter feed is a dumpster fire, and dinner table discussions aren’t exactly what they used to be. That’s why in 2024, The Backbench is going to bring the issues that matter into focus — and have fun doing it.
With the next federal election looming, host Mattea Roach (Jeopardy! super champion) and featured guests will help you make sense of Canadian politics with a mix of engaging, myth-busting, rug-pulling analysis and personal stories straight from the mouths of those caught in the crosshairs.
New season launches Wednesday, March 20, 2024
The ever-present war on workers — and how to fight back
Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade. The rise of gig work and temp agencies has 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. Even for those in seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed. One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed.
From the labour crisis shutting down our emergency rooms to inflation and the rising cost of living — work is at the centre of many urgent issues.
So how did we get here? On this season of the award-winning Commons, host Arshy Mann will dissect the fascinating and infuriating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker.
COMMONS: Work will unmask the ever-present war on workers. And the many, many ways that workers have banded together to fight back against it.
New season launches October 2024
Stories of people who won’t let their circumstances define them
Coming off a critically-acclaimed first season that explored landback, resistance, and reclamation, canadaLANDBACK returns with untold stories about Indigenous people who rose to positions of wealth, power, and influence.
From a human rights lawyer to prominent fashion designers and top-level political insiders, host Karyn Pugliese and producer Kim Wheeler bring us tales of struggle and triumph from people not just rising above their circumstances, but having a wide-ranging impact on the future of Canada.
Support Independent Journalism
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Canadaland Supporters also have access to a host of great benefits, including ad-free podcasts, bonus episodes, invitations to live events, limited-edition merch, and exclusive advanced access to episodes.
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