Beyond Culture

In this episode, we have a conversation on all things Canadian politics. After first being shortlisted in 2010, Mary Simon has officially been appointed as Canada’s Governor-General. We discuss this historic moment and the role she will play during a time when Canada faces a reckoning for its horrific treatment of Indigenous communities.

We then have a conversation surrounding Canada’s snap election. As Trudeau strides to form a majority government, both the NDP and Conservatives have denounced this decision by the Liberals.

Finally, we discuss the infighting that has taken place in the Green Party and offer our opinions on Annamie Paul’s leadership.

The NBA guys are back to recap the Finals and various news surrounding the league. Giannis Antetokounpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won their second championship in franchise history “the hard way”.

As Giannis puts it “I wanted to get the job done. It’s easy to go somewhere and go win a championship with someone else. It’s easy. I could go to a super team and just do my part and win a championship. But this is the hard way to do it and we did it.”

The guys discuss Antetokounmpo’s historic game 6 performance, and the crucial roles Jrue Holiday and Kris Middleton played in winning this championship. We then share our thoughts on Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns’ performance as they went on to lose 4 games in a row. Finally, we shift our attention to the free agency and the struggles team USA will be facing in the Tokyo Olympics.

This episode is a conversation with collegiate basketball player Farah Alfar. As the NBA playoffs continue to be filled with twists and turns, we get her opinion on the league and who she hopes wins the championship.

We then discuss her playing career, from her high school days to the University and College level. Furthermore, we touch on the importance of taking care of one's mental health, the pressures of being a student-athlete and the state of the WNBA. 

In this episode, the NBA crew is back to discuss the NBA Finals. First, we shared our thoughts on the leaked audio of Rachel Nichols and her comments towards her fellow NBA personality Maria Taylor. We then take a deep dive in the NBA finals.

After 16 years in the league, Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns are competing for a championship against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. We also discuss other NBA topics such as the Ben Simmons situation, the new era of NBA stars, the onslaught of injuries and much more!

In this episode, we talk to the Toronto-based filmmaker Mike Regis. We discussed Mike's atypical background as a Business Management graduate from Ryerson University and the reason why he fell in love with filmmaking. Furthermore, we discussed the challenges of being a young Black Canadian filmmaker and how he uses his particular worldview to achieve a strong sense of Black nuance and humanity within his work. Finally, we touched on his projects such as Promotion and My 18th Birthday.

This episode is a conversation with George Boutsalis. George is a co-host on The Pal's Podcast and a co-founder of the social voting app Cast. We discussed the history of The Pal's Podcast and why George, and his co-host Ricky Liorti, decided to pick up podcasting as a hobby. Among many other things, we talked about the behind-the-scene grind that podcasting requires, how to get started with podcasting, and how to land great guests. Lastly, we discussed how George and his co-founders came up with the idea of Cast, the process of creating a social media app, and ultimately their vision for it.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the history of sexual assault and misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces. Back in February of this year, allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against the former Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance. We discuss the findings of the recent independent review which stated that sexual misconduct remains as rampant and destructive in 2021 as it was back in 2015. We highlight the stories of many victims and their experiences with the internal military judicial system. Finally, we look at the political implications for the Trudeau government as the public question its lack of action on this issue.

In this episode, we cover all things consumer tech and Silicon Valley.⁣ We discuss how companies like Apple have created an ecosystem that has hurt competition and innovation in the tech world.⁣
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We also look at the rise in popularity of short-form videos and apps like TikTok which utilize algorithms to cater feeds to consumers. Finally, we touch on the recent cryptocurrency and NFT craze, and the future of these digital markets.⁣

In this episode, the NBA Crew is back for a special playoff preview. ⁣We share our thoughts on the Toronto Raptors missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and on the future that lies ahead for the organization. We then go through various first-round matchups, the play-in tournament, and the top contenders for this years’ championship. ⁣

In this episode, we take a current and retrospective look at the Covid-19 pandemic a year later. ⁣
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As the Ontario government potentially plans on extending this 3rd lockdown, we evaluate the political decisions that have been made both at the federal and provincial levels. We also take a look at vaccination trends, anti-lockdown movements, essential workers and much more...⁣