Episode 17: The Zapatistas 20 Years On with Alex Khasnabish

Well dear listeners, this is it – the final episode of Escape Velocity Radio (for the foreseeable future anyway). And it’s not even a real episode. It’s about one-tenth of an episode – and even then it barely got made. But we felt that at the very least we owed you 6 more minutes top-drawer† podcasting before we closed this chapter, so here it is. Thanks for listening and for all the support, and we’ll see you on the other side. † assessment of quality has not been verified by an independent third-party

Episode Links

Episode Music

• Europe – The Final Countdown

After celebrating Winnipeg’s triumphant victory as Canada’s most racist city, we look at the disconnect between viewing racism as bigoted acts by individuals and seeing it as a colonial system which operates beyond any individual person’s attitudes or actions. We then buckle in for the thrill ride that is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, offering our official review of Canada’s newest national museum: from the wings of the white dove, through the bodegas of despair, and up to the tip of the flume ride and back. Lastly, on G7 Radio, we look at Rhythm Activism’s strange and amazing 1998 album Jesus Was Gay.

Episode Links

• Welcome to Winnipeg: Where Canada's racism problem is at its worst
• Wheeler Vs. MacLeans Magazine
• Canadian Museum for Human Rights
• Norman Nawrocki

Episode Music

• Rhythm Activism – Down in the Mines
• Rhythm Activism – In the Darkest Hour

This month we get into the copious feedback we received from last episode, specifically reflecting on the dissonance between our discussion of sexual assault and two of our past G7 releases. Next we look at the recent spate of highly-publicized police killings of black men in the United States, and wonder aloud what might be more effective in preventing such extra-judicial murder: police body cameras, or a fundamental power shift in race, policing, and justice? Then we make the mistake of once again trying to review a Hollywood movie with Interstellar, but end up on a tangent about our obsession with science fiction and space travel, human triumphalism, alien saviourism, and the barf scene in Team America. Lastly, in the fourth installment of G7 Radio, we discuss I Spy’s 1998 discography Perversity Is Spreading … It’s About Time!

Episode Links

• ConsentEd - What Is Consent?
• ConsentEd - Misrepresentation of Sexual Assault
• Project MEND
• Restorative Justice Online
• Operation Ghetto Storm Annual Report
• Do Police Body Cameras Actually Work?
• Why is no-one talking about American-on-American crime?
• Black Lives Matter
• Interstellar
• Wanderers
• The Fermi Paradox
• Avoiding "Sagan Syndrome"
• Reasonable Vegan

Episode Music

• Dead Prez – I Have A Dream, Too
• I Spy – Appliances and Cars

In the wake of widespread allegations detailing disgraced CBC Radio personality Jian Ghomeshi’s long history of violent sexual assaults, Winnipeg-based writer and journalist Melissa Martin (@DoubleEmMartin) joins us in the basement. We discuss her experience being introduced to the “open secret” of Ghomeshi’s unsettling behaviour towards women; how that kind of open secret is mirrored more broadly in society; why the criminal justice system is not the right model for dealing with sexual assault; and how our twisted and deficient views on consent and sexuality allow abusers like Jian to believe they’ve done nothing wrong. Then to lighten the mood, we bring you the third installment of G7 Radio, this time featuring The Weakerthans’ debut album “Fallow”.

Episode Links

• Jian Ghomeshi: 8 women accuse former CBC host of violence, sexual abuse or harassment
• The week that was: How Jian Ghomeshi news unfolded
• Jian Ghomeshi's Facebook post
• Do You Know About Jian
• I Didn't Report Because Fuck You
• For battered NFL wives, a message from the cops and the league: Keep quiet
• Sorry, we haven't reached a 'watershed' on violence against women

Episode Music

• The Weakerthans – Leash
• The Weakerthans – Letter of Resignation

Boo! It’s October, which means another terrifying Halloween episode! This month we visit the home of Anishinaabe/Metis comedian and podcaster Ryan McMahon (@RMComedy) – which, like most homes in North America, is probably built on a haunted ancient Indian burial ground. We chat with Ryan about his stand-up comedy and his Red Man Laughing podcast; how Idle No More has influenced his work; the history of colonization in Canada; and how we might work towards a more just and sustainable future. Then, on the second installment of G7 Radio, we discuss Consolidated’s artistically-advanced yet commercially-untenable 1997 album “Dropped”.

Episode Links

• Ryan McMahon
• Red Man Laughing Live on CBC
• Dancing On Our Turtle's Back
• Indian & Cowboy
• Consolidated - "Dropped"
• Consolidated - "Business of Punishment"

Episode Music

• Tanya Tagaq – Uja
• Consolidated – Schnitzel Boy
• Consolidated – Fractured Fairytales
• Consolidated – Shell

This month we delve (very-shallowly) into our personal video game histories in order to reveal just how little we know about games and gaming, then discuss Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency and Tropes vs Women in Video Games projects. We then touch on the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights and how it may or may not be of any value to anybody anywhere currently facing human rights abuses, and see how it compares to the nearby Museum of Canadian Human Rights Abuses. Lastly we break ground on a new segment called G7 Radio, where we step back through time and discuss the records we released while running G7 Welcoming Committee Records. This month: …But Alive’s Bis Jetzt Ging Alles Gut.

Episode Links

• Feminist Frequency
• Canadian Museum of Human Rights
• First Nations launch human rights violations museum on CMHR grounds
• G7 Welcoming Committee Records
• ...But Alive
• Kettcar
• Grand Hotel van Cleef

Episode Music

• ...But Alive – Zeit, An Gott Zu Denken
• ...But Alive – Ausverkauf Vs. Ghettoromantik
• ...But Alive – Korrekt III (Das Letzte Kapitel)

We return from our summer travels (and travails) with stories of colonial homesteads and colonial privilege, followed by a debunking of prominent atheist and neuroscientist Sam Harris’ absurd article and podcast defending Israel over the (apparently) mindless barbarian Arabs who comprise “her enemies”. We then chat with Electronic Intifada associate editor Nora Barrows-Friedman (@norabf) about the origins of the Israel/Palestine conflict, Zionism as a colonial project, what the deal is with Hamas, and what lies ahead.

Episode Links

• Sam Harris - Why Don't I Criticize Israel?
• Gaza myths and facts: what American Jewish leaders won't tell you
• The Electronic Intifada
• One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

Episode Music

• Punch – Worth More Than Your Opinion

We start by discussing the new documentary Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, which delves into how animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental degradation on the planet, and asks why major environmental organizations aren’t doing anything about it. Then we are joined by veteran lecturer and media analyst Jean Kilbourne to discuss her pioneering work looking at how advertising depicts women; how it creates and enforces gender roles and impossible beauty standards; and how it contributes to rape culture. Lastly, we review some feedback on the Chris Hedges plagiarism debacle.

Episode Links

• Cowspiracy
• The Wrong Kind of Green
• Green, Inc
• Why Do Environmentalists Keep Getting Killed Around the World?
• Jean Kilbourne
• Killing Us Softly 4
• Can't Buy Me Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel
• So Sexy So Soon

Episode Music

• Clann Zú – There Will Be No Morning Copy

As we return from our extended absence, Chris brings us tales of Propagandhi’s Australian sojourn, including their introduction to the RISE organization, and their time with Sea Shepherd. Then we give our half-a-cent on the plagiarism charges being levelled at Chris Hedges; look at new and probably-terrible ideas to alter how we eat via technology; and relatedly review some feedback on last episode’s interview with Leigh Phillips about GMOs. Lastly, we discuss Dr. Gabor Maté‘s humane yet difficult perspective on the Rob Ford spectacle; and on Kickstarter Corner®, we bring word of Will Potter’s Drone on the Farm project.

Episode Links

• RISE
• Sea Shepherd
• The Troubling Case of Chris Hedges
• Chris Hedges Defends Himself Against Accusations of Plagiarism
• Let’s embrace the end of food
• Organic farming: Environmental impact and emissions
• Can Rob Ford Conquer his Pain and Become an Inspiration?
• Drone on the Farm

Episode Music

• RVIVR – The Seam

In this month’s extended installment of the podcast, we begin by taking a field trip to a corporate chain movie theatre to watch better-than-average Hollywood slop in the form of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah. Then we take a field trip to our houses to watch better-than-everything sciencey television in the form of Cosmos. Next, our interview guest – science writer and EU affairs journalist Leigh Phillips (@leigh_phillips) – joins us to mount a leftist defence of genetically-modified food. Lastly, we review some listener feedback, and discuss the Inuit #sealfie campaign (and the Canadian government’s success in conflating the commercial and subsistence seal hunts to its own shit-mouthed benefit.)

Episode Links

• Noah
• Cosmos
• Leigh Phillips
• Debate: GM is good for you
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Making A Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights
• Sistah Vegan
• An Animal Liberationist Perspective on #Sealfie and the Inuit Seal Hunt

Episode Music

• Corrosion of Conformity – Technocracy
• The Flatliners – Drown in Blood