THE IMPOSTER

The Last Laugh

June 30, 2018

Will Aliya bomb or solve racism with jokes? Find out in this final episode of The Imposter. 

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Beverly Glenn-Copeland Comes out of the Woodwork

June 20, 2018

In 1986, an album called Keyboard Fantasies was recorded on cassette in Huntsville, Ontario. It was self-released and barely sold any copies. Recently, the album was rediscovered, shining a spotlight on the incredible catalogue of Beverly Glenn-Copeland.

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Is Comedy Art?

June 1, 2018

The difference between art and entertainment is in the eye of the bureaucrat, and what happens when your punchline is a 15-foot bronze statue of King Edward VII on a horse?

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Meet the Porn Auteurs

May 24, 2018

"My mentor, who's like this 71-year-old retired pornstar from the 80s — she would always say the best porns come from your own personal sex life"

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The Sun Never Sets on Abtec Island

May 3, 2018

A shoot 'em up game that runs on emotions and an Indigenous island that runs on memory.

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The Patron Saint of Comics

April 23, 2018

A hagiography of celebrated publisher Annie Koyama.

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No, However…

April 2, 2018

Improv’s about saying “yes, and...” to everything. It’s about building a limitless environment for playful and absurd moments to surface organically—but when your boundaries are crossed, how do you push back?

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Aliya Does Improv

March 23, 2018

Saying yes to everything is an excellent approach to improvisation, but it's a terrible idea in life. So what happens when worlds collide?

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Lido Pimienta’s Next Baby

March 2, 2018

"I see my goals and the things that I want so clear that if I'm not texting with Solange regularly, I'm nobody."

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Sexcoven

February 20, 2018

The story of Sexcoven.mp3, a 6-hour atonal drone track that got teenagers high in the late nineties.

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Cadence Weapon and The Black Experience in Sound

February 7, 2018

Cadence Weapon was a nineteen-year-old in Edmonton, battle rapping on the internet when he released his first mixtape, Breaking Kayfabe. He wanted to make “the most fucked up rap anyone’s ever heard.” And it was. It got him a record deal with a major American label, and helped bring Canada’s rap underground to light.  Since then, he released two more albums, and was anointed the poet laureate of Edmonton. He just released his fourth album, the self-titled Cadence Weapon. On this episode, we talk about how Canadian radio failed Canadian hip hop artists, Cadence’s legendary DJ dad, and why he’s rapping about Pinot Grigio these days.  

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Music for Plants and the People Who Love Them

January 12, 2018

At the height of the New Age movement, there was a lot of music for plants. But there was only one Plantasia.

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The Man Who Scored the World

December 29, 2017

The story of the most innovative instrument of the 20th century, and the Maritimer who invented its sound.

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Towards a Theory of the Hoser

December 8, 2017

From Bob and Doug McKenzie to Letterkenny, the story of Canadian film and television is littered with Hosers. But what do they mean?         

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Aliya’s First Set

November 24, 2017

Aliya does her first 5 minutes of stand-up and gets two pro comedians to dissect it.

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Alanis Obomsawin: 85 Years of Resistance

November 2, 2017

Alanis Obomsawin is an Abenaki filmmaker who's been challenging Canada's image of itself for the last 50 years. And she got funding from the National Film Board to do it.

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Aliya Tries Comedy

October 4, 2017

At the end of this season, Aliya will do a live comedy set onstage at Second City. But first—she needs to learn how to tell a joke. On the first episode of this harrowing journey, Aliya recalls the 1968 comedy that ruined laughter for her, phones her dad up to talk about brownface, and goes to standup school.                                    

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I Pity The Country (Pt. 2)

June 29, 2017

An operatic tenor takes turn-of-the-century field recordings out of the museum and back to their original community by fusing them with new, avant-garde songs.

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I Pity The Country (Pt. 1)

June 29, 2017

Rare recordings of Indigenous folk, rock and country are re-issued, turning the spotlight back on trailblazing musicians from across the continent.

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The Heart Says No

June 22, 2017

In the new season of The Heart podcast, Kaitlin Prest gets men to open up about that time when they didn't get consent, but did it anyway. We ask how she pulled it off.

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The Indigenous New Wave

June 7, 2017

From experimental DJs to punk bands and soul singers, a surge of artists are creating modern, groundbreaking Indigenous music.

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Why There Are No Period Films About Black People In Canada

May 31, 2017

Filmmaker Charles Officer is done trying to convince people his stories have an audience. After struggling to get funding for fictional movies, he turned to digging up true, forgotten stories of Black Canada.

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That Time The CBC Aired 10 Hours Of Crickets And Church Bells

May 24, 2017

For two weeks in 1974, the CBC broadcast ten hours of field recordings from across the country on their flagship show, Ideas. A group of twentysomething composers and an avant-garde acoustic ecologist were trying to capture Canada through sound. On this episode, we ask whether that’s even possible.

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A Psychological Thriller About A Man And A Radiator

May 17, 2017

Guy Delisle slows down the kidnapping experience in his graphic novel Hostage. Cartoonists talk about who they want to trade work with.

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A Field Recording Of The Body

May 10, 2017

Darcy Spidle uses a jaw harp to play his insides. Aisha Sasha John studied clown to become a poet.

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Will Jonathan Goldstein React To This Episode?

May 2, 2017

We painstakingly crafted an homage to Jonathan Goldstein's WireTap, and we haven't heard from him since.

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#hurtjae Update/Cassils Reloaded

April 26, 2017

We asked for your help getting Jonny Rotsztain's comics about the Metro newspaper published in the Metro newspaper, and we've got some news about it.

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Justice for Cartoon Jonny Rotsztain!

April 19, 2017

One man's quest to get his comics about the Metro newspaper into the Metro newspaper.

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Century Egg

April 12, 2017

Century Egg composes Chinese pop songs by Email. And a war is brewing in the Canadian art world. It's a war of loverz, haterz and haterzhaterz.

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Sabrina Jalees

April 4, 2017

Sabrina Jalees knows the work side of comedy. She's been doing standup since she was a teen and has been on TV almost as long. But she's still waiting for that dream job.

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Fatima Dhowre

March 29, 2017

Comedian Fatima Dhowre recounts her many near death experiences. Aliya goes in search of the house that Nickelback built.

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The Movie Written By Five-Year-Olds

March 22, 2017

A ten-year-old leads the revolution on Youtube. An interview with two child screenwriters goes badly. A dad and daughter review Mac DeMarco's old band.

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Anupa Mistry Is Done With The 6ix

March 15, 2017

The Fader's Anupa Mistry on a strange early clip of the Weeknd, new music you should pay attention to and why you should stop talking about the 6ix.

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Waiting For A Callback From Sun Ra

March 8, 2017

Kapwani Kiwanga sends a message to Saturn. SlowPitchSound goes to Wonderland. Rajni Perera launches deities into space.

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Austra Takes Control

February 28, 2017

Austra talks about her awkward CBC dance party, her days in an ostracized riot grrrl band and learning to own her music.

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Theme For An Asylum

February 22, 2017

Folk songs from a 19th-Century asylum for women, collected by the alter ego of Simone Schmidt.

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Pineapple Pizzagate

February 15, 2017

Emily M. Keeler listens to one song seven times a day, goes on Instagram and ends up in the Twilight Zone, and looks for gopher holes in poetry.

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Hamilton, The Musical

February 8, 2017

Gif heritage with Sally McKay. Kiera Boult is the wizard of Canada's Brooklyn. The first movie star is from Hamilton.

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The Art Psychic

February 1, 2017

Artwork goes missing. A film hits an impasse. An artist feels stuck. They turn to fortune teller Cindy Mochizuki.

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Land of Filth n’ Honey

January 25, 2017

Jess Salomon makes her comedy Great Again. Bruce McDonald goes to Washington. PJ Vogt inhabits a Weakerthans song. BJ Snowden loves Canada more than Canadians do.

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Remembering Subservient Chicken

January 18, 2017

Author Pasha Malla recommends one of his favourite novels, the song that makes him speed, the band he was overly keen towards and an athlete's face.

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How to Set Yourself On Fire

January 11, 2017

Performance artist Cassils talks about setting themselves on fire, having their image banned in Germany and making out with Lady Gaga in the Telephone video.

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The Best Of The Imposter (So Far) pt.2

January 3, 2017

Featuring the best moments from Canadaland's new arts & culture show, hosted by Aliya Pabani.

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The Best Of The Imposter (So Far) pt.1

December 26, 2016

Featuring the best moments from the first 18 episodes of The Imposter.

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How To Be Funny In An Age Of Rat Sandwiches

December 21, 2016

"I don't want to joke about my own anxiety. The world is just under a dark cloud right now." Comedians Chris Locke and Kathleen Phillips reflect on the role of comedy in troubling times, and the birth of their first child.

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Owen Pallett Has A Job

December 14, 2016

Owen Pallett turns collaborators into clients. A machine writes a love song for Aliya.

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It’s Like Scrabble In India

December 7, 2016

Leanne Simpson learns to work with the noise. Scrabble opens deep wounds in Delhi. Golboo Amani unsettles Catan.

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Sports Music For Goths

November 30, 2016

Pasha Malla and Jeff Parker find the poetry in press conferences. Hazel Meyer redefines fantasy sports. Nick Grottick wants you to smell the song.

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DEGRASSILAND

November 23, 2016

Aliya explores the impact of Degrassi, a high school melodrama that's a whole lot like a prison show. Snake reads fan fiction. Aisha Alfa rejects her only fan. Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler talks pig farmers and penis pumps.

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A Road Map For What Not To Do

November 16, 2016

Jessica Campbell probes unexplored parts of famous dead artists. D'bi Young Anitafrika plays cops and revolutionaries.

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My Life Is A Turmoil From A Film

November 9, 2016

A 1967 film exposed a controversial group home for children. But what happened when the cameras left? Jennifer Goodhue struggles for a laugh. Morgan Waters and Brooks Gray trick people into being on TV.

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We Just Need Some More Grinders

November 2, 2016

Aliya takes a trip to New York to talk to an Albertan running a radio station out of a shipping container.

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Happy Lucky Accident Stories

October 26, 2016

Walter Scott doodles on a napkin and gets big in Japan. Mike Carrozza breaks down the bear joke. Anni Spadafora unlearns music. Mister Quickly, Amazon's greatest wit, revealed.

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Jonathan Goldstein Can’t Let Go

October 19, 2016

The former host of CBC's WireTap has moved to New York, but he's having trouble moving on.

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Tanya Tagaq Is Unreconciled

October 12, 2016

Tanya Tagaq opens up to Aliya before the release of her new album, Retribution.

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The Missing Piece is Ego

September 28, 2016

Remembering Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook. Vanessa Dunn on fronting a cock rock cover band while pregnant. PUP's Stefan Babcock almost goes into punk retirement.

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It’s About Kim Kardashian if Kim Kardashian Was a Baker

September 21, 2016

Lido Pimienta charges extra for diversity. Subversive make-up tutorials from Megan MacKay. Cult 60s prairie rock psychedelia and Guillaume Morrissette reads his own worst reviews.

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Everything That’s Alive is A Great Actor

September 14, 2016

Matt Johnson keeps sneaking around and getting away with it. Stephen Thomas is a lifelong human chameleon.

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Sex Canoe

August 31, 2016

Carolyn Taylor on how Baroness Von Sketch Show gets made. Lauren Strapagiel defends Guy Fieri. The women of The Second City talk about being funny while female.

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Database Error Hairy Chest

August 16, 2016

The Imposter's first live event at the Gladstone Hotel. Like a first marriage, it's new and exciting, and promises that the next one will be infinitely more extravagant.

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Spoiler Alert

August 3, 2016

On this episode, we talk about those things you only indulge in the dark. We turn up the house lights and ruin the magic of cinema.

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Brushes with Drake

July 19, 2016

On this episode, we don't go around Drake—we go through him.

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