Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

With pioneering MuchMusic program ‘RapCity’ having its 35th anniversary celebrations this year, Elamin is joined by the show's original creator and producer, Michele Geister - to look back on the program’s early rise to prominence.

Imagine this: Two of the best hockey players on the best teams in the NHL are arch-rivals on the rink. Off the ice: they’re lovers. That’s the premise of a new series on Crave called Heated Rivalry – adapted from a popular series of romance novels. Lainey Lui and former pro hockey player Brock McGillis join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about a show that might be the steamiest on TV right now.Plus, people are talking about Claire Danes’ face in her new Netflix show, 'The Beast in Me.' Amil Niazi joins Elamin to talk about the response, what it reveals about Hollywood, beauty standards, and the world we’re living in today.

Choclair’s first full length album in 20 years - veteran music critic Dalton Higgins and Canadian music industry veteran Craig ‘Big C’ Mannix join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to review the new album and reflect on Choclair’s early rise to prominence. And Guardian columnist Stuart Heritage discusses the upcoming fourth entry in the action-comedy film series Rush Hour, a movie that is reportedly being made at the request of President Donald Trump.

For decades, Thomas King was considered to be one of the most prominent Indigenous authors and creators, so news that he has no Indigenous ancestry came as a shock to many people this week. Jesse Wente is a writer and Storyteller in Residence at Toronto Metropolitan University. Jesse worked closely with Thomas King on the screen adaptation of Thomas King's novel 'The Inconvenient Indian.' Jesse joins Elamin Abdelmahmoud to work through the complicated feelings of this latest news, and how he’s grappling with the fallout.Jesse's reccos:books‘The Knowing’ by Tanya Talaga‘Bad Indians Book Club’ by Patty Krawec‘The Idea of an Entire Life’ by Billy Ray Belcourt‘The Boy From Buzwah: A Life in Indian Education’ by Cecil King‘Survival Ojibwe’ by Patricia Ningewance ‘Danger Eagle’ written by Jesse Wente and illustrated by Shaikara Davidfilm/tv‘Saints and Warriors’ (coming soon to Crave)‘The Knowing’ - documentary series based on Tanya Talaga's book (on CBC Gem)‘Aki’ by Darlene Naponse‘Uiksaringitara: Wrong Husband’ by Zacharias Kunuk (in limited release in theatres)‘Meadowlarks’ by Tasha Hubbard - coming soon to theatres, it’s a drama adaptation of her documentary ‘Birth of a Family’ (available on NFB website)‘Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man’ by Sinakson Trevor Solway

With the recent passing of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, Elamin Abdelmahmood is joined by University of West Indies professor Sonja Stanley Niaah and culture critic Danae Peart to look back on the role Cliff played in the genre’s rise to global pop dominance.'Stranger Things' season five returns to Netflix this week. TV critics Alison Herman and Hoai-Tran Bui join Elamin to talk about how the show became a cultural phenomenon, and why now is the right time to say goodbye.

Cree journalist Michelle Cyca and Anishinaabe/Mohawk writer Kim Wheeler assess the fallout from award-winning author Thomas King’s recent admission that he’s not actually of Cherokee descent, as he has claimed throughout his career.Plus, this week, the Jim Henson Company, home of Sesame Street and the Muppets, auctioned more than 400 items from its archives, including props and puppets. Min Chen, culture editor at Artnet News, talks with Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how pop culture memorabilia is becoming big business for collectors.

Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue is always a barometer for the year’s hottest celebrities, especially ahead of Oscar season. Well, this year -- for the first time -- those celebrities are only men. Culture critics Vinson Cunningham and Lainey Lui join Elamin to talk about this new class of leading men and what it says about masculinity and this moment we’re living in.Tobias Jesso Jr. released a critically acclaimed, Juno/Polaris-nominated debut album in 2015, before stepping out of the spotlight to become a Grammy-winning behind-the-scenes writer for stars like Adele and Dua Lipa. However, this month, he announced the surprise release of s h i n e, his first solo album in 10 years, and music journalist Emile Hanskamp will explain what the record reveals about this enigmatic artist. 

De La Soul is back with a new album, 'Cabin In The Sky.' It's the group's first album in eleven years, and the first since the death of one of De La Soul's founding members, Trugoy the Dove. Music critic Ian Steaman and rapper Keysha Freshh join Elamin to talk about the album, how it's being received, and how Trugoy shows up on it. The British government says it wants to make it illegal to resell tickets for more than their face value. The Guardian’s business reporter Rob Davies has been covering the issue of ticket scalping in the UK for almost a decade. He joins Elamin to talk about the proposed legislation and why it’s happening now, after years of complaints from music artists and fans.

Elamin is joined by culture critics Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Sarah-Tai Black and Syrus Marcus Ware to discuss ‘Wicked: For Good,' the controversy around Michelle Obama’s recent comments about Black women and hair, and why Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,' has had its earliest entry into the Billboard Hot 100

With the season four finale of The Morning Show out now, Elamin Abdelmahmoud speaks to TV critic Emily Longeretta and comedian Cassie Cao about why this season was its most outrageous yet, and why we can’t stop watching. Paul McCartney is performing two dates in Canada this week, in the lead-up to the long-awaited release of the fourth instalment in The Beatles’ Anthology series of archival recordings. However, he’s also recently issued a box set and biography dedicated to his much-maligned post-Beatles band Wings, who have since become an influential force in the worlds of indie rock and R&B. Podcaster Paul Myers explains how McCartney’s legacy is being rewritten by a younger generation of fans.

Nardwuar the Human Serviette made a name for himself on MuchMusic, interviewing artists and surprising them with deep cut facts. Now he's selling out global shows, and collaborating with Nike. Radio host and programmer Mastermind and music critic Lisa Christansen join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss how Nardwuar built his brand and why so many fans are resonating with his work today. And culture critic Scaachi Koul explains why the latest installment of the heist movie franchise Now You See Me: Now You Don't is winning at the box office.

There are lots of movies out now that were actually books first -  Frankenstein, The Running Man, and Hamnet is coming soon. So we're asking the question – do you have to read the book before you watch the movie?  Bookstore co-owner Jo Saul, culture writer CT Jones and film critic Bilge Eibiri join Elamin to weigh in, and let’s just say, they have strong opinions.  

Morgan Campbell of CBC Sports and Sirius XM host Tara Slone give us their morning-after take on The Grey Cup and how it reflected this current pivotal moment in Canadian culture. Comedian and podcaster Marlon Palmer joins us to talk about the new Eddie Murphy doc, and why he is one of the greatest comics of our time.

Film critics Rad Simonpillai, Teri Hart, and Kaiya Shunyata join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss Edgar Wright’s reboot of Stephen King’s dystopian thriller The Running Man, the growing cult appeal of the Toronto-based comedy series The Office Movers, and the disastrous box-office performance of Sydney Sweeney’s would-be Oscar contender Christy.

Entertainment writer Jackson Weaver and culture critic Kathryn VanArendonk talk with Elamin Abdelmahmoud about Vince Gilligan’s long-awaited show Pluribus and how it's asking big, philosophical questions in new ways. And It’s been more than a decade since Grand Theft Auto got an update – and now the new version of the iconic video game has been delayed, again! Alyssa Mercante explains why, and why it matters.

A lot has been said about Margaret Atwood’s memoir ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ since it was published last week, which makes sense, because she revealed a whole lot about her life that most of us didn’t know. Author Heather O’Neill, and writer Deborah Dundas join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about how reading Margaret Atwood's memoir changes the way we read her work.Correction for this episode: Graeme Gibson's first wife's name is Shirley Gibson.

Montreal-based graphic artist Raymond Biesinger has a new book out called '9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off.' He describes it as an informal guide for professional creatives to protect themselves from exploitation. He joins Elamin Abdelmahmoud along with Vancouver-based photographer Jackie Dives to talk about fighting back after having creative work appropriated without permission.

Hip-hop radio veterans Mastermind and Jay Smooth, along with music industry academic Michelle Santosuosso join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the rise of rappers turned popular podcasters and how that squares against the decline of rap music on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Critics Teri Hart, Roxana Hadadi and Jackson Weaver join guest host Amil Niazi to discuss the new Kim Kardashian legal drama ‘All’s Fair,’ and how motherhood shows up in Jennifer Lawrence's new film, ‘Die My Love’ and in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ starring Rose Byrne.

The recent TikTok drama between Sombr and one of his fans got a lot of people talking. The 20-year-old pop star responded to a 25-year-old fan after she called his show ‘cringe’ and said his jokes were immature. Music critic Emilie Hanskamp chats with Elamin about how the intragenerational fight played out, and what it says about the state of the internet and what we expect from young and up-and-coming artists.

How did a song about a shipwreck become one of the biggest songs of Gordon Lightfoot's career? Music critic and writer Niko Stratis and writer Conor Kerr join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about why the internet is flooded with memes of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out his vision for the future in this new federal budget this week. And that vision includes Canada’s participation in the Eurovision song contest. Wait. What? Why? How? Commotion's Eurovision correspondent Karen Fricker imagines how it might work.

Literary festivals bring people together who love books, and they also move a bunch of merchandise. But what’s the deeper work happening here? Stephanie Domet and Leslie Hurtig are both involved with running literary festivals and join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the special place these events have at this particular cultural moment. And music journalist Reanna Cruz looks at Rosalia’s bold approach for her latest album LUX, combining symphonic sounds, opera, and singing in thirteen languages.

Tech culture journalists Alyssa Mercante and Jonathan Ore join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about Xbox’s decision to make its exclusive game, Halo, available on rival PlayStation consoles, and what that says about the state of the video-game industry right now.

If the World Series showed us anything this year, it’s that the game was about so much more than baseball. Elamin Abdelmahmoud sits down with Morgan Campbell, Kaitlyn McGrath and Joyita Sengupta to talk about why Canada's team came out on top, despite not winning it all.  

Sonya Ballantyne, Beatrice Loayza and Laura Hall join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the horrifying return of Pennywise the clown in HBO’s ‘Welcome to Derry,’ the existential horror of Emma Stone’s film ‘Bugonia,’ and nightmare-inducing Canadian indie horror film ‘Dream Eater.’ Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

Misty Copeland took her final bow last week, retiring from a 25 year career at American Ballet Theatre. A decade ago, she made headlines when she became the first Black woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the company. Lydia Murray, marketing and communications manager at Baryshnikov Arts in New York, joins Elamin Abdelmahmoud to reflect on Misty Copeland’s career as both a star and trailblazer in the world of ballet.Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

Culture writer Olivia Petter, and music critic Reanna Cruz delve into Lily Allen’s new album ‘West End Girl’ with Elamin Abdelmahmoud and talk about how it doesn’t just hint at the breakdown of a marriage, it paints a detailed, devastating picture, and why fans are obsessively dissecting every track.  Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

With the new film ‘A House of Dynamite’ and season 3 of the ‘The Diplomat’ streaming now on Netflix, Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by culture critics El Jones and Kathryn VanArendonk to look at the ways political thrillers are being received amidst our real world geo-political tensions. And CBC Music journalist Natalie Harmsen talks about the new album from Juno and Grammy-Award-winning R&B star Daniel Caesar, and how it reflects a more spiritual state of mind.  Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey 

Film critic Adrian Horton, music journalist Dominic Tardif, and podcaster Vish Khanna join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the new Bruce Springsteen biopic ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ and whether it offers any fresh insight into the making of his 1982 classic ‘Nebraska,’ which has also recently been reissued in a deluxe box set. Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

It's game three of the World Series tonight. And no matter how it all ends, it's been an incredible post-season for Canadian baseball. Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks with Jays superfan Sadaf Ahsan and sports reporter Shireen Ahmed about how the Blue Jays are challenging the idea that it’s ‘America’s Game.’ And podcaster and comedian Marlon Palmer talks about Vybz Kartel's first-ever concert dates in Canada. Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

Globe & Mail film critic Barry Hertz, culture writer Anne T. Donahue, and CBC entertainment reporter Jackson Weaver join the Group Chat to discuss the new season of Netflix’s hit comedy ‘Nobody Wants This,’ Richard Linklater’s latest Ethan Hawke showcase ‘Blue Moon,’ and Blue Jays World Series fever. Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

Gwyneth Paltrow, the Oscar-winning actor, multi-millionaire founder and CEO of Goop and unofficial arbiter of gorgeous living, is upset about the way she’s characterized in Amy Odell’s new biography about her. Lainey Lui and Jen Sookfong Lee join guest host Amil Niazi to discuss how her reaction is a little off-brand. And Deven McClure talks about why so many of the NPCs in the latest Pokemon game seem to be going through an existential crisis. Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

'The Perfect Neighbor' is a new Netflix documentary about how a seemingly trivial neighborhood dispute turned into a tragedy. And the doc is told almost entirely through bodycam footage. Culture critic El Jones and Rolling Stone journalist C.T. Jones join guest host Amil Niazi to talk about the doc's unique approach to this true crime story. And comedian Ali Hassan drops by to talk about ‘Who Killed the Montreal Expos?’ The documentary investigates why Canada’s first MLB team folded and moved to Washington in 2004. Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

ChatGPT is expanding into erotica, for verified adults, while Instagram is restricting content for teen users. Tech journalist Samantha Cole and policy analyst Vass Bednar talk with guest host Amil Niazi about the direction of both these platforms. And police are still searching for the thieves who pulled off a jewel heist at the Louvre. Karen K. Ho explains people are turning to pop culture to make sense of the dramatic crime.Fill out our listener survey: https://cbc.ca/CommotionSurvey

Have you noticed hemlines getting longer? Blouses being more buttoned up? Kelsey Stiegman and Tashira Halyard join guest host Amil Niazi to talk about how politics in the era of U.S. President Donald Trump are reshaping fashion, from the fall runways to TikTok trends to your own closet.  Plus, music journalist Grayson Haver Currin discusses the highly anticipated new album from Australian psychedelic-pop artist Kevin Parker — a.k.a. Tame Impala — and how this reclusive producer from Perth, Australia has become one of the most influential forces in mainstream and underground music over the past two decades. We'd love to hear from you. Complete our listener survey here.

Rock star Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies is doing rock star things — like buying paintings. And what better painting for an iconic Canadian rocker to buy than one by Norval Morrisseau, one of the most iconic Indigenous artists in Canada? But when Kevin’s Morrisseau painting is featured in an exhibit, it gets taken down because the head curator says it’s “questionable.” Kevin tries to get some answers but every answer leads to more questions. Host of Forged, Adrian Stimson traces Kevin’s dogged quest to find out the truth about his painting — and learns how this one painting is the key to cracking a whole underworld open. Forged is a six-part series, from CBC in Canada and ABC Australia, host Adrian Stimson, an artist from the Siksika Nation, travels from Thunder Bay to the Northern Territory of Australia, to reveal what's believed to be the largest art crime fraud in the world. More episodes of Forged are available here: https://link.mgln.ai/ForgedxCommotion

This week on the group chat, critics Hoai-Tran Bui, Reanna Cruz and Jackson Weaver chat with guest host Amil Niazi about Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo film ‘After the Hunt’ featuring Julia Roberts, the musical ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ starring Jennifer Lopez, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. We'd love to hear from you! Complete our listener survey here.

Marc Maron’s groundbreaking podcast WTF is over – he dropped his very last episode this week, more than 15 years after it launched. Culture critics Dominic Tardiff and Niko Stratis join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about how the podcast changed them, changed public discourse, and so much more. Plus - tickets for Rush's tour officially go on sale this Friday. Music journalist Annie Zaleski discusses the surprise return of the Canadian rock legends, whose surviving members will embark on a 50th-anniversary tour in 2026 – their first shows since the 2020 passing of their long-time drummer Neil Peart. And the moment when the band will introduce us to its newest member, drummer Anika Nilles. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter D’Angelo died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Elamin is joined by music critics Jay Smooth and David Dennis Jr. to look back on D'Angelo's legacy, and how his music helped to change the trajectory of soul, R&B and rap music as we now know it. Plus, legendary Anishnaabe artist Norval Morrisseau is one of the most celebrated Indigenous artists in the world, and criminal fraudsters have capitalized on his popularity by creating fake Morrisseau paintings — the extent of which is believed to be the largest art crime fraud ever. Elamin chats with Adrian Stimson, an artist from the Siksika Nation and the host of the new podcast 'Forged' from CBC and ABC Australia, about the art crime underworld of fake Morrisseau paintings. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

With the controversial theater production ‘Slave Play’ coming to Toronto, Elamin Abdelamhmoud is joined by culture critics El Jones and Matt Amha with their thoughts on this most recent staging of the play and the themes around race, slavery and interracial relationships that it covers. Plus, creators are frustrated after the AI platform SORA introduced stricter controls around what they could do with copyrighted characters and real people - but will the guardrails work? Or will people just use OTHER AI tools … with fewer rules? Samantha Cole joins Elamin to discuss. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

More than three decades after his death, Canadian actor and comedy trailblazer John Candy is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks to a new documentary and book about his life and legacy. The book’s author, Paul Myers, joins the Group Chat alongside entertainment reporter Teri Hart and podcaster Vish Khanna to explain why Candy remains such a revered figure in Canadian pop culture. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks about new movies out this week with culture critics Sarah-Tai Black, Roxana Hadadi and Jourdain Searles: the horror film Good Boy, starring a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy, the Channing Tatum led crime comedy Roofman and suspense thriller Lurker starring Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin. We value your input. Fill out our listener questionnaire here!

One of the bestselling books of the year has to be The Tell by Amy Griffin. It's a memoir about how MDMA-assisted therapy helped her unearth this buried childhood trauma, but a New York Times investigation is now casting doubt on the book. Elamin chats with Nathan Maharaj and Jen Sookfong Lee about the controversy. And MTV cancelled Catfish after 9 seasons. Elamin chats with Candice Lim, co-host ICYMI, Slate’s podcast about internet culture, about how the show reflected our complicated relationship with the internet. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Elamin is joined by culture critics Pablo The Don and Michael Blackmon, along with Juno nominated singer Tanika Charles to discuss ‘Here For It All’ - the new album from Mariah Carey, and why she remains one of the most iconic singer/songwriters of our time. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

There’s a mounting pressure on writers to turn their debut books into bestsellers, but it hasn’t always been this way. The Walrus writer Tajja Isen and author Jen Sookfong Lee join Elamin to talk about how publishers are relying on incomplete data to predict the next big thing, instead of investing in the development of a writer’s craft.Plus, one of the biggest movies of the year is ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle.’ Based on a popular Japanese manga series, the anime movie has made more money worldwide than Superman or any of the Marvel movies this year. Freelance critic and anime fan Ana Diaz chats with Elamin about why Demon Slayer is sweeping the box office. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Comedians performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival are being criticized for selling out to a Saudi regime that is trying to change its image. Alyssa Mercante and Shireen Ahmed join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about Saudi Arabia's soft power, and how it's making inroads into new cultural realms and changing the conversation. Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

Music journalists Emilie Hanskamp, Reanna Cruz, and Suzy Exposito join Elamin Abdelmahmoud in the Group Chat to weigh-in on Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album, ‘Life of a Showgirl,’ and the recent announcement of Bad Bunny as the halftime-show performer at next year's Super Bowl.Fill out our listener survey here. We appreciate your input! 

With the release season 5 of ‘Only Murders In The Building’, the films ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ and ‘Eleanor The Great,’ Elamin is joined by film and tv critics Radheyan Simonpillai and Teri Hart, and screenwriter and show-runner Anthony Q. Farrell to discuss the ways characters who are 60-plus show up in our film and tv programming today, and whether Hollywood is doing a good enough job at portraying these characters, as well as what it means to age.Fill out our listener survey here. We'd love to hear from you!

Niko Stratis and Rachel Ho join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to share their thoughts on comedian Mae Martin's series Wayward, an unexpectedly dark thriller that is definitely not a comedy. Plus, T'Cha Dunlevy talks about the return of Montreal singer-songwriter Patrick Watson, whose ethereal new album Uh Oh is about losing his voice.Fill out our listener survey here. We'd love to hear from you!

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – we talk about an artist who is having a profound impact on the way we understand Canada’s past – and the resilience of Indigenous people. Riley Yesno, Susan Blight and Marion Newman celebrate Kent Monkman, whose gender-fluid alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle is now the subject of an opera, parts of which will be performed tonight (Sept 30) in Montreal.