Something wild happened in Nova Scotia during filming of the James Cameron film Titanic. 

Parts of the blockbuster were filmed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and on the last night of filming there, someone did something. Something that caused director James Cameron to question reality itself, something that resulted in the rest of the cast and crew being piled into vans and rushed to a nearby hospital. The cops looked into it, but they never figured out who was responsible.

That mystery is now a piece of Canadian film industry lore. It has been whispered about and speculated on for decades. Lots of people have theories, but so far nobody has cracked the case. Now, Canadaland goes searching for the answer. Who spiked the Titanic chowder?

Caleb Thompson (Post Production), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Reported by Julian Abraham

Fact checking by Lucie L

Additional music by Audio Network

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Further Reading:

“Grips are doing wheelies in wheelchairs” - Variety

James Cameron Recalls the Night the Titanic Crew Were Spiked with PCP - CBC

James Cameron on CBC’s The Q - Video

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If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

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In July, Mark Carney made it clear to public workers that there would be a tightening of the belt. Ministers were told to save 15% from their departmental budgets over the next three years. The deadline to do so is next week, August 28th. 

What that looks like in practice is pretty bleak. By 2028, it has been estimated that over 57,000 full-time equivalent workers will be laid off. Who will be laid off? And is this type of austerity bad governance?

Meanwhile, in Ontario, Doug Ford is mandating a return to office for all workers, five days a week, come January 2026. Who will this affect?

Host San Grewal and reporter Stacy Thomas break it down.

Host: San Grewal

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Stacy Thomas

Photo: Creative edit by Tristan Capacchione, with photos from Gage Skidmore and Simon Dawson

• Further reading on our website

Sponsors:

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If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

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The Air Canada strike this past weekend affected tens of thousands of Canadians and international travelers. The negotiations have been going on for eight months, the contract renewal was known about for ten years, so how did the Air Canada strike sneak up on Canadians so fast?

Why were flight attendants, who are primarily women, not being paid for “ground work” for so long? 

Is labour coverage so non-existent in Canada that these stories just go unnoticed?

Labour reporter Stacy Thomas joins San Grewal to talk all about it.

Host: San Grewal

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Stacy Thomas

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading on our website 

Sponsors: 

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

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If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

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Our kids are broke and seriously unemployed.  We're in the dog days of summer, and for generations, that marked the end of scooping ice cream at the corner shop, pulling espresso shots at the café, or lifeguarding at the local pool.  But for many young Canadians, this isn't the end, cause there was no beginning. This episode, host Noor Azrieh unpacks  what happens when young people can't work.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Dr. Srividya Iyer, Brendon Bernard

Background reading:

• Carmichael: Canada's young workers are getting crushed – The Logic
• Youth employment continues to fall as StatsCan records lowest rates since 1998 – CBC News
• Toronto's youth unemployment crisis: Young people want to work but having a hard time, report finds – CityNews
• Gen Z is facing the worst youth unemployment rate in decades. Here is how it's different – CBC News
• COMMONS Monopoly #11 – Flight Risk 

Sponsors: 

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Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

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Singh built a bot. It’s a concoction of ChatGPT, Grok, and a handful of other advanced AI systems that might destroy truth-based civil discourse once and for all.

Or.

What if that same technology could be harnessed to champion the truth? To do what no human could possibly do to refute lies and misinformation?

Today we talk to Singh about his creation, DOGEAI. He’s been labelled a MAGA-bot master but he says he’s really a progressive technologist.

Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Fact checking by Julian Abraham

Additional music by Audio Network

Further Reading:

• Meet the 24-year-old Ottawa software engineer who runs a MAGA bot — Ottawa Citizen
• Zohran Mamdani’s newest opponent is an AI bot run by a 24-year-old in Canada — Courthouse News
• DOGE AI account on X
• DOGE AI on Github

Sponsors:

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today.  Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer.

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Squarespace: Check out Squarespace.com/canadaland for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use code canadaland to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

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Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

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TIFF’s whiff and the legacy of Trudeau’s media policies. 

Carney is reversing course on the Liberal’s approach to media, but can the Canadian media ecosystem exorcise the ghost of Trudeau? 

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate producer and Fact Checking) Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Ronit Novak

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading: 

• TIFF pulls documentary about Oct. 7 attack from lineup over security and rights concerns | CBC News 
• Carney’s Digital Recalibration: How the Government is Trending Away from Justin Trudeau’s Digital Policy - Michael Geist 
• Carney suggests he's considering rescinding Online News Act | National Post
• Some U.S. Republicans want Canada to axe its Online Streaming Act | CBC News  
• Google sends $100M in funds to journalism collective in exchange for Online News Act exemption 
• 23-year-old charged with assaulting Jewish man at Montreal park | CBC News 

Sponsors: 

Douglas:  Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today.  Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year Canadaland launched a new initiative called the Canadalabs Audio Journalism Fellowship programme, where we hired two young reporters to come and produce a story with us and learn from our team.

This week, we caught up with past Canadaland fellows to see how they’ve fared. Was their time at Canadaland worth it?

And we are talking about that because we have a fresh batch of fellows that will be joining the team very soon!

Plus, an update about the future of this show.

Host: Sam Konnert

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Tony Wang (Executive Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Publisher)

Guests: Jesse Brown, Noor Azrieh, Mia Johnson, Leora Schertzer

Photo: Tony Wang

Additional music by Audio Network

Further Listening:

• #1084 Waste Management: Sh*t’s Complicated — CANADALAND
• #1022 The Painful Truth About IUDs — CANADALAND

Plus, check out our Mia and Leora’s work since leaving Canadaland!

Leora:

• Hypnosis over anesthesia? Why patients in Quebec are choosing alternative pain management — Montreal Gazette
• Pizza revolution: The rise of Montreal’s new slice scene — Montreal Gazette
• West Island mayors say ‘far-right’ extremist influenced Montreal to stop fluoridating water — Montreal Gazette

Mia:

• Ontario law could spell doom for turtles in Toronto’s wetlands — Frequency News
• TDSB cancels Grade 9 enrolment for special needs school — Frequency News
• Nature’s calling but the city of Toronto isn’t picking up the phone — Frequency News

This show is available exclusively to Canadaland supporters. To become one, go to https://canadaland.com/join/. You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

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Is Evan Solomon a chatbot? Deciphering the Minister of AI’s jargon-filled tech-speak. Canada is going all in on AI, but what is the plan, exactly?

Plus, new Trudeau tea and a controversial National Post headline. 

Clarification: A previous version of this episode implied that Cohere was both Canadian and American-owned. It is the data centre that is American owned. We regret the error.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Ronit Novak

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading: 

• Canada’s AI Opportunity with Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon - RBC [PODCAST]
• Canada’s first AI Minister Evan Solomon on his plan to scale up the industry - The Globe and Mail 
• “I was such a nerd. I learned guitar just so I wouldn’t get beat up”: A Q&A with Evan Solomon, Canada’s new minister of AI - Toronto Life 
• Liberals won’t reintroduce old AI law but will address copyright issues - The Logic 
• “Light, tight, right” regulation: Minister Evan Solomon unpacks how Canada plans to support domestic AI and quantum computing | BetaKit 
• https://maxvaliquette.substack.com/ 
• Israeli strike in Gaza slays Anas al-Sharif, who Israel says posed as an 'Al Jazeera' journalist | National Post 

Sponsors:

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apparently, the reason you’re broke isn’t just because of your questionable shopping addiction, it’s because Canada has a full-blown productivity crisis… To host Noor Azrieh, that seems dramatic. She says she’s actually quite productive at work. But economists Brian Lewis and Philip Cross say this isn’t about how hard you grind, it’s about how the entire economy turns work into wealth…or, in Canada’s case, doesn’t.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Brian Lewis, Philip Cross

Background reading:

• The national 'emergency' that is hitting Canadians where it hurts — in their paycheques –  Financial Post
• Work American hours, earn European wages: Why Canada has the worst of both worlds – The Globe and Mail
• Philip Cross: Productivity drives income growth, despite claims to the contrary – Financial Post
• Why Canada's Economy Is Just Fine – Macleans
• Is Canada actually facing a productivity ‘emergency’? – TVO

Sponsors: 

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more

To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Carney is nation building. To do that, he needs to rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces. Between decades of neglect and the forces’ own goals by way of bad headlines that’s no mean feat.

Rebuilding the military, from new recruits to new fighter planes, will take more than promising government money. There’s a pitch that needs to be made to the Canadian public and partnerships to be forged with the private sector for investment.

So how will the Prime Minister convince the Canadian public and private investors to rebuild the embattled Canadian Armed Forces? Are Carney’s nation-building plans the new National Dream or just national daydreaming?

Professor Wesley Wark, defence and security analyst and former national security and intelligence advisor to Stephen Harper, joins us today.

Host: Bruce Thorson (Reporter, Senior Producer)

Caleb Thompson (Mixing & Master), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Fact checking by Julian Abraham

Trumpet by: Tristan Capacchione

Additional music by Audio Network

Further Reading

Wesley Wark Substack 

Liberals Spending $2B to Boost Military Pay - CBC 

Sponsors: 

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

BetterHelp: Visit BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month.

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer

Cargurus: Buy your next car today with CarGurus at https://www.cargurus.ca/

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.