#220 We Need To Talk About Reddit

February 26, 2018

CANADALAND

After years of dodging emails about the internal politics of the country's largest subreddit, r/Canada, Jesse finally jumps down the weirdo-message-board rabbit hole.

Jesse Brown

Host & Publisher

Nearly 340k people are subscribed to r/Canada, with many using it as their primary source of news. This past week, private messages were leaked between two of the subreddit’s moderators, in which one moderator named u/Perma wrote that they were “slowly becoming” a white nationalist.

Freelance journalist and CANADALAND contributor, Evan Balgord joins Jesse to get a sense of how one of Canada’s biggest informal, “non-partisan” news platforms begun skewing (alt)right and how Reddit influences mainstream media (and politics).

Jesse also speaks to the person responsible for leaking the conversation, “Neil” AKA u/UsedToDonateBlood, the founding moderator of r/OnGuardForThee — the breakout subreddit pushing back against the “censorious,” and increasingly “alt-right” editorial slant of r/Canada.

An earlier version of this episode made reference to a Justin Trudeau AMA on r/CanadaPolitics. That was in fact an April Fool’s hoax.

image source: Reddit user legit4u

More from this series

#838 The Food Bank Industrial Complex

It’s the holidays, and on your TV or radio you’re inevitably hit with ads telling you that this is the season of giving - it’s time to donate to a food drive. Conservative politicians, Liberal politicians, banks, broadcasters, grocery stores: they all are united in this message. With the promotion of food banks from virtually every institution and elected official in the country, you might conclude that they are the best solution to food insecurity. Except - they’re not. Food bank use in Canada is at an all-time high, and experts, community organizers, even staff at food banks say that the growing need just shows how our government has failed to address poverty and hold corporations to account.

December 5, 2022

#836 Cops, Lies, And Videotape

*A note to listeners: Today’s episode deals with sexual violence inflicted on minors and won’t be suitable for all listeners. In 2006, RCMP Const. Joseph Kohut kicked down the door to his ex’s home in Prince George, B.C., and left with certain belongings. His ex said that one of the things Kohut took was a videotape showing him sexually harassing an underage Indigenous girl. Kohut had already been investigated for sexual misconduct after a local judge pled guilty to sexually assaulting several Indigenous minors. Kohut’s ex, also a Mountie, reported the alleged theft of evidence. So what happened next? Reporter Jessica McDiarmid tells the story of 16-years of entropy and indifference within the RCMP.

November 28, 2022

#832 Ratfucker Chapter Three: The Trojan Horse

Thanks to David Wallace and Richard Marsh, the Klondike Papers blew up online - and nothing garnered more attention than Wallace’s claim that there was a plot to get rid of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Could it be true? Cherise and Jesse try to get to the bottom of what actually happened, and in doing so discover a complex network of Brethren business with extensive political connections around the globe.

November 14, 2022

#830 Ratfucker Chapter Two: The Brethren

Richard Marsh was born into the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. He got out of the group he calls a cult and has made it his mission to expose the Brethren for their alleged abuses. Now he’s on the run from Brethren members who’ve been searching for him for years. The man hired to hunt Marsh down? David Wallace.

November 7, 2022

#828 Ratfucker

Meet David Wallace, political fixer and dirty tricks operative. After a career in the shadows, he’s turned whistleblower, leaking his files and sparking a conspiracy theory. But why? And can he be trusted?

October 31, 2022

#824 Hark! A Migrant (Worker)

Kate Beaton has written the best book about the oil sands, ever. It's a nonfiction comic book called Ducks, and it's about class in Canada as much as it's about anything. She talks with Jesse about what it's like to be a migrant worker in your own country.

October 17, 2022

#822 Salvaging The Beachcombers

The Beachcombers was a wildly long-running series, by any measure. With 387 episodes, the CBC dramedy had more installments than CSI, and five times as many as Schitt’s Creek. For nearly two decades, it was just always there — until one day it wasn’t. Since the last episode aired in 1990, The Beachcombers has largely been forgotten, its title reduced to a punchline. But there’s one place that can’t forget. Producer Sophie Woodrooffe pays a visit to Gibsons, BC, the town that takes The Beachcombers more than a little seriously.

October 10, 2022

#820 Crimes Against Nature

Every year, hundreds, possibly thousands, of crimes are happening in the woods of British Columbia. Sometimes the law catches them, but more often than not, they don’t. So, what exactly is happening in BC’s forests?

October 3, 2022

All Podcasts

CANADALAND