Below the Radar

What does it mean to use and enjoy a city park on unceded Indigenous land? Am Johal interviews co-authors of “On This Patch of Grass: City Parks on Occupied Land” (Fernwood Publishing 2019), Matt Hern and Selena Couture, who wrote the book with two of their daughters, Sadie Couture and Daisy Couture. As a white settler family, they have lived near and around East Vancouver’s Victoria Park (AKA Bocce Ball Park) for years. Interrogating the concept of urban parks as colonial constructs, they investigate the land politics of this small green space with such a multiplicity of overlapping users and sovereignties.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/20-matt-hern-selena-couture.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/20-selena-couture-matt-hern.html

Find the book: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/on-this-patch-of-grass

Bio:

Selena Couture is an Assistant Professor of Drama at the University of Alberta. Her research and work examines intersections of performance and Indigeneity, particularly regarding uses of Indigenous perforamnces as a way to tell Indigenous histories eroded by colonialism with a parallel inquiry into colonial performance and the construction of whiteness. Her research has been published in Theatre Journal, Performance Research, Canadian Theatre Review, alt.theatre as well as a chapter in Recasting Commodity and Spectacle in the Indigenous Americas.

Matt Hern is a community-based activist and organizer who teaches urban studies at SFU, Cape Breton University, and UBC. He is the co-founder and co-director of Solid State Industries and has written books including What a City is For: Remaking Politics of Displacement (MIT Press, 2016), Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life (MIT, 2018 with Am Johal and Joe Sacco.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Politicizing the urban park — with Selena Couture & Matt Hern” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, July 8, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/20-matt-hern-selena-couture.html

On this episode of Below the Radar, Am Johal sits down with Darcie Bennett, the co-author of the Pivot Legal Society report "Project Inclusion". This report draws on interviews and research conducted with people across BC and highlights the way stigma around drug use and poverty has become embedded into current law and policy. Am and Darcie talk about the report and what steps can be taken to reduce the stigma around these issues so that these systems better serve people.

You can read the full report here: http://www.pivotlegal.org/project_inclusion_full

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/19-darcie-bennett.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/19-darcie-bennett.html

Bio:

Since completing her PhD in sociology at UBC, Darcie Bennett has worked at the intersection of non-profit management, legal advocacy, and social science research. In 2006, Darcie joined Pivot Legal Society as a community-based researcher and went on to hold several positions including Child Welfare Campaigner, Campaigns Director, and Interim Executive Director. She also spent two years as Director of Marketing and Communications for Ecojustice Canada. In 2018, Darcie completed a graduate certificate in executive coaching from Royal Roads University. Today, as a certified executive coach and consultant, Darcie supports individuals, teams and organizations to live their values sustainably and achieve their goals.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Dismantling systems of harm — with Darcie Bennett” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, June 17, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/19-darcie-bennett.html

Episode 18 features Baljit Sangra, a Vancouver-based documentarian and filmmaker. Baljit's latest documentary, "Because We Are Girls", is a powerful film that follows three Indo-Canadian sisters from Williams Lake, BC, who experienced sexual abuse by an older relative in their childhood years. Through an empathetic lens, Baljit shows the sisters’ laughs and struggles, as they seek to break the cycle of abuse and redress the wrongs within their family. Am Johal and Maria Cecilia Saba talk to Baljit about her approach to a complex story in a way that highlights her heroines’ humanity and the power of true sisterhood.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/18-baljit-sangra.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/18-baljit-sangra.html

Read more about "Because We Are Girls" here: http://vivamantra.ca/

Bio:

Baljit Sangra is a Vancouver based filmmaker who has been working on documentaries, corporate videos, feature films and factual entertainment. Her passion is exploring social and cross-cultural issues. She has now directed/produced the documentary “Because We Are Girls” in association with NFB (National Film Board of Canada). She has also directed/produced Many Rivers Home a personal story that focuses on Seniors in assisted care and looks at the end story of life for OmniTV. In addition, she has directed/produced the documentary Warrior Boyz in association with NFB and Canwest which examines the long running gang scene unique to the Indo-Canadian enclave of the Lower Mainland. Warrior Boyz premiered at Doxa and was nominated for three Leos. Baljit also directed an A&E for CityTV and Channel M called VIVA! for several seasons.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am and Maria Cecilia Saba. “Telling difficult stories with compassion — with Baljit Sangra” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, June 4, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/18-baljit-sangra.html

Episode 17 features Hilda Fernandez, a clinical psychoanalyst and a grad student at SFU. Hilda was also the former president of the Lacan Salon, a group that meets bi-weekly to read and discuss the work of Freud and Jacques Lacan. On this episode, she talks to Am Johal about love and desire from a psychoanalytical perspective — the stages of love, how it is sustained and reinvented, and break-ups and the hatred that can come along with it.

The Lacan Salon meets every other Tuesday from 7-9 PM in room 2205 at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. It welcomes participants from all academic disciplines and levels of experience. For more information, please visit their website: http://www.lacansalon.com/.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/17-hilda-fernandez.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/17-hilda-fernandez.html

Bio:

Hilda Fernandez Alvarez was born and raised in Mexico City. She practices Lacanian psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy in Vancouver, Canada, since 2007. With a solid clinical experience in the field of psychotherapy, throughout her clinical trajectory, she has worked in the medical and mental health fields alongside a private practice. Currently, she has a private practice in downtown Vancouver, and has worked for the past fourteen years as a psychotherapist at SAFER, part of Vancouver Coastal Health. In Mexico City she worked for eight years in the National Rehabilitation Program within the Central Hospital of the Mexican Red Cross.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Psychoanalyzing love and desire — with Hilda Fernandez” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 21, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/17-hilda-fernandez.html

Episode 16 features Libby Davies, an activist and former Member of Parliament for Vancouver East. Libby spent the past four decades advocating for the Downtown Eastside community as a grassroots organizer, and an elected representative at the municipal and federal levels. She was also the first publicly out woman to be elected to parliament in Canada. SFU’s Melissa Roach and Jamie-Leigh Gonzales interview Libby about her newly released memoir, “Outside In”, covering her early days of community organizing, her experiences as a woman in politics, and representing her community’s concerns in Ottawa.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/16-libby-davies.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/16-libby-davies.html

Read more about “Outside In: A Political Memoir” here:

https://libbydavies.ca/

https://www.straight.com/life/1231686/libby-daviess-memoir-outside-tells-grassroots-story-her-journey-downtown-eastside

Bio:

Libby Davies is a former Canadian politician from British Columbia. She moved to Vancouver in 1968 and served as a city councillor from 1982 to 1993, then represented the federal riding of Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015 under the New Democratic Party banner. She was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016 and was Canada's first openly lesbian MP.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Gonzales, Jamie-Leigh, and Roach, Melissa. “A political life: from grassroots to parliament — with Libby Davies” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 6, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/16-libby-davies.html

This episode of Below the Radar features mother, entrepreneur, creative, feminist Madeleine Shaw. Many of us now find the topic of menstruation significantly less taboo thanks to the work of folks like Madeleine. As one of the cofounders of Lunapads, Madeleine has been normalizing menstruation for nearly three decades. Led by her creativity, she has more recently embarked on new projects including G Day, a national event series that celebrates the transition between childhood and adolescence in female-identified tween youth, and Nestworks, a work friendly family space that will shape a better understanding of a healthy work-life balance.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/15-madeleine-shaw.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/15-madeleine-shaw.html

Resources:

https://gday.world/

https://gday.world/simplysmashing2019/

http://nestworks.space/

https://lunapads.ca/

http://lunagals.com/

Bio:

Madeleine Shaw is a social entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), a founding Canadian BCorp that specializes in sustainable menstrual products. She is also founder and Board Chair of United Girls of the World Society, a registered charity that produces G Day, a national event series for tween girls and their adult supporters. She is also the founder of Nestworks, a family-friendly shared work/life space launching in 2019/2020. Madeleine blogs about her adventures in social entrepreneurship at www.lunagals.com.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Roach, Melissa, and Saba Maria. “A feminist career — with Madeleine Shaw” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, April 22, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/15-madeleine-shaw.html

Episode 14 features Ginger Gosnell-Myers, a Nisga’a-Kwakwaka'wakw urban planner, researcher, and policy expert, who was the City of Vancouver’s first Indigenous Relations Manager. Ginger is currently completing a master’s degree in public policy at Simon Fraser University. She is in conversation with Am Johal and Jamie-Leigh Gonzales, reflecting on her work for the City bringing Indigenous policy-making to Vancouver, speaking to a need for greater access to services for Indigenous folks in the city, and for more meaningful engagement with — and acknowledgement of — First Nations’ governance at the municipal level. She shares her thoughts on building understanding of urban Aboriginal identity and Indigenizing Vancouver through increased political representation and the sustainable funding of Indigenous community planning.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/14-ginger-gosnell-myers.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/14-ginger-gosnell-myers.html

Bio:

Ginger Gosnell-Myers, of Nisga’a and Kwakwak'awakw heritage is passionate about advancing Indigenous rights and knowledge, while breaking down barriers between Indigenous peoples and all Canadians. Ginger was the City of Vancouver’s first Indigenous Relations Manager where she was central to advancing Vancouver as the world’s first official City of Reconciliation, and from 2013-2018 worked to bridge Indigenous policies, programs and relations. Through her work with the City, she identified tangible opportunities across all City departments to advance reconciliation. Guided by Ginger’s leadership, more than 75 initiatives were launched in the first four years. Key to this work was Vancouver recognizing that it was on unceded Coast Salish territories – the only government in Canada to officially recognize this. Also integral was implementing the 28 out of the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Action, and strengthening the relationship between local First Nations, the urban Indigenous community.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am and Jamie-Leigh Gonzales. “Indigenizing the City of Vancouver — with Ginger Gosnell-Myers” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, April 8, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/14-ginger-gosnell-myers.html

Political Economist and SFU Geography Professor, Geoff Mann, joins Am Johal in episode 13 of Below the Radar. They discuss Mann’s two recent books: "In the Long Run We Are All Dead" and "Climate Leviathan" — co written by Joel Wainwright. For those who may not be familiar with Keynesian economics, Geoff Mann has a way of communicating concepts that makes them easily digestible for all audiences — even without a degree in economics. Learn more about the books and about the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives at the links below:

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/13-geoff-mann.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/13-geoff-mann.html

In the Long Run We are all Dead by Geoff Mann: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2245-in-the-long-run-we-are-all-dead

Climate Leviathan by Geoff Mann: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2545-climate-leviathan

Policy Alternatives BC: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/offices/bc

Find Geoff on Twitter at @GeoffPMann.

Bio:

Geoff Mann is a professor and undergraduate programs chair in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University, where he also directs the Centre for Global Political Economy. His most recent books are In the Long Run We Are All Dead: Keynesianism, Political Economy and Revolution(Verso, 2017) and Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future, co-authored with Joel Wainwright (Verso, 2018). He and his family live near Trout Lake, in Vancouver.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Keynesian economics and the hope for climate X — with Geoff Mann” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, March 24, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/13-geoff-mann.html

Adrienne Smith joins Am Johal and Melissa Roach in conversation for episode 12 of Below the Radar. A poet and human rights lawyer, Adrienne has a passion for social justice and advocacy. They work to protect and uphold workers’ rights, seeking justice for trans and non-binary people. In this episode, they talk about the issues of misgendering folks in the justice system or in a workplace, and how the conflation of sex and gender can have dangerous repercussions on those who may not be out in their workplace. They also speak to the policy and accessibility issues of being a trans person within a healthcare system and what the geographical implications of healthcare can be for trans folks. Adrienne works pro bono for the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre providing legal support to trans and gender diverse folks.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/12-adrienne-smith.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/12-adrienne-smith.html

Resources:

Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre: http://www.cwhwc.com/

Trans Rights BC: www.transrightsbc.ca

Candian Labour Workers in Transition Guide: http://canadianlabour.ca/sites/default/files/media/WorkersInTransitionGuide-2011-04-EN.pdf

Find Adrienne on Twitter at @VanAlias

Bio:

Adrienne Smith is a transgender human rights activist and drug policy lawyer. They recently settled a BC Supreme Court case which guaranteed access to opiate replacement therapy for prisoners in BC jails. Adrienne appeared at the BC Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada where they argued about the deleterious effects of mandatory minimum sentences for women, Indigenous people, and drug users. At the Canadian Labour Congress, they advocate for transgender inclusion in our unions and workplaces.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am and Melissa Roach. “Discussion on Trans Rights — with Adrienne Smith” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, March 11, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/12-adrienne-smith.html

Episode 11 of Below the Radar features Stephanie Allen, a director of the Hogan's Alley Society, and Vice-president at Catalyst Community Developments Society and #46 on the 2018 VanMag Power 50 List. In this episode Am Johal and Stephanie Allen discuss affordable housing, the pros and cons of not-for-profit real estate development, the nature of ownership and property, along with a look at the fight for Hogan’s Alley and the recognition of the erasure of black culture from Vancouver through city development.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/11-stephanie-allen.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/11-stephanie-allen.html

Resources:

www.catalystcommdev.org

www.hogansalleysociety.org

Follow Stephanie on Twitter @builtjustice

Bio:

Stephanie Allen is the director of the Hogan's Alley Society, and Vice-president at Catalyst Community Developments Society and #46 on the 2018 VanMag Power 50 List. In this episode Am Johal and Stephanie discuss affordable housing, the pros and cons of not-for-profit real estate development, the nature of ownership and property, along with a look at the fight for Hogan’s Alley and the recognition of the erasure of black culture from Vancouver through city development.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Housing justice for Vancouver: affordability, inclusion and redress — with Stephanie Allen” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, February 25, 2019. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/11-stephanie-allen.html