Below the Radar

Philosophy scholar and author Willow Verkerk sits down with Am Johal to discuss Nietzsche and his ideas of friendship, as well as her current work on the Gendered Mimesis project at KU Leuven.

Willow compares Nietzsche’s more agonistic notion of friendship with other philosophers like Aristotle, Kant, Derrida – and draws from Luce Irigaray to consider friendship from a more gendered lens. Willow also speaks about her creative writing in the past as a form of expression, and discusses her current work on Gendered Mimesis Project, from which she is looking to trace the genealogies of gendered-being by drawing from Adriana Cavarero, Judith Butler, and Catherine Malabou.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/189-willow-verkerk.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/189-willow-verkerk.html

Resources:

Willow Verkerk: https://philosophy.ubc.ca/profile/willow-verkerk/

Nietzsche and Friendship: https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/nietzsche-and-friendship-9781350047341/

Gendered Mimesis project: http://www.homomimeticus.eu/gendered-mimesis-c1/

Willow Verkerk at KU Leuven: https://hiw.kuleuven.be/hua/about/staff-hua/00060614

Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/555192/thus-spoke-zarathustra-by-friedrich-nietzsche-translated-with-a-preface-by-walter-kaufmann/9780140047486

Bio:

Willow Verkerk is a Vancouver based scholar and author who has taught philosophy both within and outside of the academy in Europe, the UK, and Canada. She has published numerous academic essays on friendship, feminist activism, and gender identity and is the author of Nietzsche and Friendship. Willow is also an author of short fiction published in literary magazines in Canada and Europe. Her current research is concerned with providing a new account of the human subject through the philosophical concept of mimesis. Dr. Verkerk is frequently invited to speak about her research at universities and art institutions. She is passionate about communicating to diverse audiences the thinking of the three masters of suspicion- Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud- alongside a feminist politics that illuminates the importance of philosophical honesty. Willow brings philosophical frames of meaning from the foundations and legacies of critical theory to contemporary issues in both private and public life. In doing so, she connects thinkers in the history of philosophy to political and ethical studies that reflect upon the axes of oppression that are relevant today.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Nietzsche and Friendship — with Willow Verkerk.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 11, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/189-willow-verkerk.html.

Bob Williams is the writer of the book Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia, which describes his many political contributions to British Columbia. In this episode, our host Am Johal sits down with Bob to discuss his public life and the political impacts that his decisions continue to have.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/188-bob-williams.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/188-bob-williams.html

Resources:

Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia: https://harbourpublishing.com/products/9780889714243

Zombie Conscripts: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/zombies-world-war-two-poem-reveals-1.5212415

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF): https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP13CH3PA1LE.html

Bio:

Bob Williams was a politician representing Vancouver East (1966-1976 and 1984-1991) as a BC NDP MLA. Bob also served as an alderman for Vancouver City Council (1964-1966). After his political career, he was chair of ICBC and director of Vancity Credit Union, In 2022, Bob published his book, Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Bob Williams Unplugged — with Bob Williams.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, October 04, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/188-bob-williams.html.

Khari Wendell McClelland—a diversely talented musician, writer, and community facilitator—joins Am Johal to discuss music as a tool for community healing.

Khari explores music as an interactive process, and sees music as an opportunity to connect with the surrounding community. As an artist, he speaks about the importance of one's presence and the ability to connect with the audience. He says his willingness to interact with the community gave birth to so many of his collaborations.

Khari also discussed the importance of his Freedom Singer Project as a means of connecting with his great great grandmother who was enslaved in the mid 1800’s, and he talks about his other projects like the CCB (Community Capacity Building). As a new father, he also shares how he balances his work with his parental life.

This episode contains excerpts of Khari Wendell McClelland's song "Feels Real Good," courtesy of the artist.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/187-khari-wendell.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/187-khari-wendell.html

Resources:

Moving the Centre: https://talonbooks.com/books/moving-the-centre

Khari’s website: http://khariwendellmcclelland.com

FREEDOM SINGER: https://www.projecthumanity.ca/freedom-singer

Catch the Fire, book: https://newsociety.ca/books/c/catch-the-fire?sitedomain=ca

Megaphone: https://www.megaphonemagazine.com/

Khari on CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2683535661

Bio:

Khari Wendell McClelland is a diversely talented and ever-evolving artist. Originally from Detroit, Khari has become a darling on the Canadian music scene, with reviewers lauding his performances as a clever mix of soul and gospel. Khari’s songwriting crosses genres and generations, joyfully invoking the spirit of his ancestors who straddled the US-Canadian border in efforts to escape slavery and discrimination. His music draws from this rich history, integrating the rhythms and folklore of early African-Americans with contemporary sounds and stories of struggle. Recently, Khari received critical acclaim for his Freedom Singer project, recreating the music fugitive slaves carried on their journey north into Canada. Khari also performs with the Roots Gospel group The Sojourners. Whether on stage or in the studio, Khari's passion for community, equality and justice is palpable, as is his belief in the redemptive power of music.

Khari’s recent jazz festival performances in Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver left audiences and reviewers wanting more. Opening for both Andra Day and Ms. Lauryn Hill, Khari is at home with Soul and R&B giants. His debut solo album "Fleeting Is The Time" is available through most online platforms.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Freedom Singer — with Khari Wendell McClelland.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 27, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/187-khari-wendell-mcclelland.html.

Erika Lewis is a singer and musician of Tuba Skinny, a blues and ragtime band from New Orleans. Erika is also a solo artist, with the albums, “Waiting for Stars” (2016) and “A Walk Around the Sun” (2022). This episode goes into the different musical influences of New Orleans, Erika’s move from blues to country, and her overall experiences of street busking and touring internationally. There is also a discussion of her health scare and how it pushed the release of her latest album.

This episode contains excerpts from songs from Erika's album A Walk Around the Sun, courtesy of the artist.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/186-erika-lewis.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/186-erika-lewis.html

Resources:

Erika Lewis: https://www.erikalewismusic.com/full-bio

Tuba Skinny: http://tubaskinny.com/

A Walk Around The Sun: https://lnk.to/aroundthesun

The Bomb Shelter: https://www.bombshelterstudio.com/

Bio:

Known for her lengthy tenure touring and busking with beloved New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny, prolific songwriter and singer Erika Lewis has been churning out American originals all her own for the past several years. From classic country to cosmic Americana to dreamy indie folk, Lewis continues to dip her toes more deeply into an ever-expanding pool of roots music styles. Her latest record, “A Walk Around the Sun” (2022), is a testament to Lewis’ songwriting prowess and exceptional vocal ability.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “A Walk Around the Sun — with Erika Lewis” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 20, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/186-erika-lewis.html.

Situated within the current context of police brutality, for-profit prisons, and excessive incarceration rates, Am Johal sits down with educator, writer, and public scholar, Walidah Imarisha.

Walidah describes her creative works involving ideas and futures of police and prison abolition, including her book Angels with Dirty Faces, and her current work developing Space to Breathe – a film that looks back on our present moment of the abolitionist movement from a future where police and prisons have been abolished. She also shares her collaboration with adrienne maree brown in the creating the Octavia's Brood, an anthology inspired out of their desire to push movement organizers beyond ideas if “realistic” change.

Throughout the interview Walidah also speaks about science fiction as an avenue to inspire greater imaginings for social change, and discusses white supremacy, imperial colonialism, and white “progressiveness” within the past and present histories of Oregon and The United States.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/185-walidah-imarisha.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/185-walidah-imarisha.html

Resources:

Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements: https://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html

Walida’s website: https://www.walidah.com/

Below the Radar with adrienne maree brown: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/166-adrienne-maree-brown/

Space to Breath film: https://www.walidah.com/blog/2021/3/24/grant-recipient-for-sci-fi-documentary-film

Angels with Dirty Faces: https://www.akpress.org/angelswithdirtyfaces.html

What a City Is For by Matt Hern: https://www.akpress.org/angelswithdirtyfaces.html

Bio:

Walidah Imarisha is an educator, writer, public scholar and spoken word artist.

She has co-edited two anthologies, Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories From Social Justice Movements and Another World is Possible. Imarisha’s nonfiction book Angels with Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison, and Redemption won a 2017 Oregon Book Award. She is also the author of the poetry collection Scars/Stars, and in 2015, she received a Tiptree Fellowship for her science fiction writing.

Imarisha is currently an Assistant Professor in the Black Studies Department and Director of the Center for Black Studies at Portland State University. In the past, she has taught at Stanford University, Pacific Northwest College of the Arts and Oregon State University.

For six years, she presented statewide as a public scholar with Oregon Humanities' Conversation Project on several topics, including Oregon Black history. She was one of the founders and first editor of the political hip hop magazine AWOL.

She has toured the country many times performing, lecturing and challenging, and has shared the stage with folks as different as Angela Davis, Cornel West, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Kenny Muhammad of the Roots, Chuck D, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Robin D.G. Kelley, Umar bin Hassan from The Last Poets, Boots Riley, Saul Williams, Ani DiFranco, John Irving, dead prez, Rebecca Solnit, and Yuri Kochiyama.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Science Fiction & Social Justice — with Walidah Imarisha.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 13, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/185-walidah-imarisha.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, host Am Johal is joined by Lizzie Borden, an independent filmmaker who's been directing & creating since the 1970s.

Lizzie describes her unique creative journey, as a filmmaker who never went to film school and instead came into filmmaking after studying visual arts. She discusses her inspirations, which vary from gallery art, to second-wave feminism, to women in Marxism.

She also dives into her colourful filmography: Regrouping, her 1976 experimental documentary, Born in Flames, her 1983 documentary-style fiction film, and Working Girls, her 1986 drama film looking at the lives of sex workers.

Touching on both past and present, Lizzie speaks on her creative process, with intentional editing and aesthetics and the search for intersectionality in her work--even before "intersectionality" was a commonly-used term. She talks about independent filmmaking, and how trying out alternatives only solidified it as her practice of choice. She also looks at the conversations still being held today around her work, especially Born in Flames, with its socialist setting and political message still sparking conversation.

Resources:

Born in Flames Website: https://www.borninflamesmovie.com/

Lizzie Borden’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizziebordenla?lang=en

Whorephobia, Lizzie’s upcoming book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/711521/whorephobia-by-lizzie-borden/9781644212271

Coverage on the restoration of Regrouping: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/festivals/regrouping-lizzie-borden-edinburgh-2016-revival

Bio:

Award-winning feminist filmmaker Lizzie Borden is best known for the 1983 film Born in Flames. Borden's career as a feminist filmmaker began when she majored in art at Wellesley College in Massachusetts before moving to New York. Her early films take on hot topics in the feminist movement with visual representations of struggles for equality in race, class, gender, and sexuality. Her later films focus on women’s sexuality, and her attempts to move into more mainstream film in the 1990’s were challenged by studio politics. She continues to work in film today as a script doctor while developing her own projects.

Citation:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Born in Flames — with Lizzie Borden.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, September 6, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/184-lizzie-borden.html.

Leanne Prain is the writer of The Creative Instigator's Handbook: A DIY Guide to Making Social Change and Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet & Knit Graffiti. In this episode, Melissa Roach and Leanne discuss the inspiration for The Creative Instigator's Handbook, the different range of projects and artists described in the book, the impact of the pandemic, and the creativity of “Do It Yourself” art projects.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/183-leanne-prain.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/183-leanne-prain.html

Resources:

Leanne Prain: https://www.leanneprain.com/about

The Creative Instigator’s Handbook: A DIY Guide to Making Social Change through Art: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Creative-Instigator-s-Handbook

Godfrey Stephens and the Weeping Cedar Woman of Clayoquot Sound: https://www.godfreysart.com/weeping-cedar-woman

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery: https://belkin.ubc.ca/

Jenny Hart: https://sublimestitching.com/pages/jenny_hart

Smokey D: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/respect-chinatown-art-exhibit-1.6493781

Aram Han Sifuentes: https://www.aramhansifuentes.com

BE MIGHTY: https://medium.com/bemighty/learning-to-be-mighty-chapter-1-e744a9b2b110

Thomas Dambo: https://thomasdambo.com

Dave Eggers - The Spirit of the Animals is in the Wheels: https://daveeggers.net/spirit

Laura Farina: https://www.sfu.ca/continuing-studies/instructors/e-h/laura-farina.html

Maker Faire: https://makerfaire.ca

The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/

Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/tour/getting-started

Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/Y/Yarn-Bombing

Bio:

Leanne Prain helps communities connect through creative ideas. A writer, speaker and certified design professional, her previous books include Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet & Knit Graffiti, and Strange Material: Storytelling through Textiles. Her latest book The Creative Instigator's Handbook: A DIY Guide to Making Social Change through Art was published in 2022.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Roach, Melissa. “The Creative Instigator’s Handbook — with Leanne Prain.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, August 30, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/183-leanne-prain.html.

This week we’re highlighting an episode created by our friends at Urbanarium City Talks, from their Should I Stay Or Should I Go? podcast. This series follows Jenny Tan on her mission to figure out how to keep on living in Vancouver, as she explores the housing crisis from her trailer home in the Westend.

Throughout the series, Jenny asks Sonja Trauss, president of YIMBY, journalist/writer Sam Cooper, developers Heather Tremain, Tony Pappajohn and Leslie Shieh, Andy Yan, director of SFU's City Program and her mom, should she stay or should she go? She is asking you too.

If you like the episode, make sure to listen to the rest of the series at https://urbanarium.org/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go

Event recording from 28th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Event took place on April 30th, 2022.

Fight against Genocide in combating Genocide ideology and denial. Conversation presented by the Rwandan community of Vancouver to remember and honour our loved ones, 28 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

This event is presented by the Rwandan community of Vancouver, with support from SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement.

On the fourth and final episode of The Trip Diary, Steve Tornes speaks with Bowinn Ma and Uytae Lee about their public engagement work involving transit systems, as well as the possible futures of transportation in the Lower Mainland. Bowinn and Steve have a conversation about INSTPP and B-Line/rapid bus initiative in West Vancouver, while Uytae described how his series, “Uytae Lee's Stories About Here,” brings awareness to urban planning concepts to a larger audience.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/the-trip-diary/182-b-line-to-the-future.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/182-b-line-to-the-future.html

Resources:

Bowinn Ma’s website: https://bowinnmamla.ca/

Uytae Lee with CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/author/uytae-lee-1.5094424

Integrated North Shore Transportation Planning Project: http://www.instpp.ca/

Uytae Lee's Stories About Here: https://gem.cbc.ca/media/uytae-lees-stories-about-here/s01

About Here, Uytae’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AboutHere

Bio:

Bowinn Ma is British Columbia’s Minister of State for Infrastructure and the MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale. She is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) with a degree in civil engineering (BASc), a masters from the UBC Sauder School of Business (MM), and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Bowinn previously served as Parliamentary Secretary for TransLink and as the Chair for the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, leading an all-party committee to develop recommendations for Transportation Network Services in British Columbia. She has also served as a member of BC’s Treasury Board since 2017. Prior to being first elected, Bowinn managed terminal expansion and redevelopment projects for the Vancouver Airport Authority.

Uytae Lee produces videos that educate people on the urban planning challenges facing cities today. He is the creator of the CBC series “Stories About Here”, where he explores the often overlooked issues in our own backyards - whether it’s the shortage of public bathrooms, sewage leaking into the water, or the bureaucratic roots of the housing crisis. In addition to producing videos for CBC, he hosts a YouTube channel called “About Here”.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Tornes, Steve. “B-Line to the Future — with Bowinn Ma and Uytae Lee” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, July 26, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/182-b-line-to-the-future.html.