Most university economics students are exposed to mainly one school of economic thought: Neoclassical Economics. For students to have an education that promotes critical thinking and an understanding of economic events and policies, they must gain exposure to alternative perspectives, the so-called 'heterodox' schools.

The Expanding Economics Podcast aims to shift the focus in economics by discussing alternative perspectives and incorporating concepts such as environmentalism, clarity and social justice in economic thinking.

In our first episode, we discuss the modern framework of university economics education, the dominance of neoclassical economics, and its drawbacks. We are joined by Professor Chris Barrington-Leigh and undergraduate students Lucy Everett, Maanav Sunderaraman, and Claire Downie to wrap our heads around what should be changed in the university economics experience.

This week, Palestine-solidarity activists in Canada achieved yet another victory related to the problematic IHRA re-definition of antisemitism.

After Vancouver and Calgary, Montreal became the 3d Canadian city where apartheid apologists tried to pass a motion that would make the city adopt the controversial IHRA re-definition, and like the other 2 cities, the motion was stopped in Montreal as well thanks to major mobilization, Montreal activists managed to convince Montreal's mayor of the controversial and divisive nature of this definition.

I had with me on the phone Fabienne Presentey, member of the coordination committee of Independent Jewish Voices Canada (Montreal Chapter), to talk to us more about what exactly took place at the Montreal city council leading to this new victory,

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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CKUT 90.FM Montreal's Tuesday Morning Show's Interview with Tona Ohama, a Canadian recording artist who in the 1980's made stellar Minimal Wave Music from his parents Potato Farm in Rural Alberta. Tona flew under the radar through his career, but the spot light was shone on him after he appeared on the Stones Throw Records compilation, Minimal Wave Tapes, put together By Veronica Vasicka.

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For years, Alternatives center has had a Palestinian flag painted on its roof. The flag is big and seen from afar on a busy street of Montreal.

I had with me in studio Michel Lambert, the Executive Director of Alternatives, to talk to us more about the story behind the mural, what kind of reactions the center got for having a Palestinian flag drawn on its roof, and did the center deal with any repercussions as a result of their Palestine-solidarity work over the years.

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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For a brief moment before the election, human rights activists in Canada got optimistic when the NDP responded positively to the #IVotePalestine questionnaire.

After the election, this optimism quickly turned into disappointment. when NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, suddenly attacked BDS, praised the colonial state-building project of Israel and defended the merits of the problematic IHRA re-definition of anti-semitism.

What’s next? will this political hypocrisy hurt the NDP in the long run, and who benefits from this flip-flopping?

To answer these questions and more, I talked with Hanna Kawas, chairperson of the Canada-Palestine Association (CPA).

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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For a brief moment in November human rights activists in Canada got optimistic when Canada voted, for the first time in 14 years, ‘Yes’ on a UN resolution that supports Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

This ‘Yes’ vote was quickly overshadowed by a stream of ‘No’ votes Canada subsequently presented on the remaining Palestine-focused UN resolutions that was voted on in the following weeks at the UN General Assembly and that aim at defending Palestinian human rights on various levels.

So, why Canada changed its voting pattern for that one resolution, and is that enough to support Canada’s candidature for the UN security Council seat next year?

To understand Canada’s history at the UN, especially concerning Palestinian human rights, I talked with Hanna Kawas from the Canada-Palestine Association (CPA). CPA recently released a study that looked into Canada’ voting record at the UN.

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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Recently Hillel McGill approached student executives in various student organisations to offer them free trips to Israel organized by Hillel Montreal. On Oct. 15 SSMU sent a letter to Hillel McGill raising concerns over the lack of transparency of the invitation process, the trip’s purpose was kept ambiguous and the selection process of the students wasn’t explained. Subsequently, several additional concerns were raised by other Mcgill groups over the propaganda nature of these trips as well.

Eventually, it was revealed that some governing officials within SSMU did indeed accept such an expensive gift offered by an external group, raising further concerns about the impartiality of the union.

To better understand all the various concerns that this gift provoked, I had with me in studio a member of SPHR McGill (Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill)

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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Augmented Reality often reminds us of Pokemon Go or Instagram stories. It is the addition of virtual elements to the real world. But, beyond the commercial gimmicks and trends, AR has a great creative potential for artists. Painters, graffiti artists, print artists, poets and even publishers have used it in their work. But, the potential also comes with its technical challenges, which is making many artists still hesitant to explore the medium.

To learn more about AR, I talked with Louis Rastelli, co-founder of Archive Montreal, the organisation behind Distroboto, which recently started selling Print Augmented in their art vending machines. Print Augmented is a series of print art that includes AR in them, these pieces were created during a series of AR-focused workshops that Archive Montreal organized with several Montreal and Quebec-based artists.

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura (insta: @sawssankreates)

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Intro music: Outcast by THOMAS VX

One of the digital sights you might have seen lately is what is known as the Extinction logo. You've seen it printed on posters, protest banners, shared online and even projected on buildings. The logo surpassed the digital world and is now being drawn on the walls in cities around the world.

The logo, created in 2011, seems to have been gaining momentum only recently and is quickly becoming the symbol of the environmentalist movement, reminding us of previous logos, like the Peace logo or the Anarchy logo.

To delve more into what makes a logo transform into a symbol of a movement and what makes the Extinction logo a good candidate for that transition, I had with me on the phone from Seattle, Journalist Jane C. Hu. Jane Recently wrote an article called The story behind the Extinction Rebellion symbol at climate protests.

Interviews conducted by Sawssan Kaddoura (insta: @sawssankreates)

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Intro music: Outcast by THOMAS VX

In November, activists in Calgary received news of a new motion to be voted on by the Calgary city council on Nov. 18. Among other things, the motion wanted Calgary to adopt a new controversial IHRA re-redefinition of antisemitism (noihra.ca). This same definition was rejected last August by the Vancouver City Council.

Anti-apartheid activists in Calgary mobilized immediately against the motion, but, to their surprise, the city councilors who presented the motion ended up deciding to remove the controversial part. But, contrary to Vancouver, this good news might be temporary in Calgary, where apartheid apologists have a strong presence.

To better understand what happened and what’s the state of Palestine-solidarity advocacy in Calgary, I had with me on the phone, Miriam Meir, from the Calgary chapter of the Independent Jewish Voices-Canada.

Interview by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree

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