COMMONS is coming to an end after six years, with a final investigation available on the CANADALAND feed. Publisher Jesse Brown sits down with COMMONS host Arshy Mann to discuss the new episode, and to help introduce Arshy’s new venture, The Hatchet.

Host: Arshy Mann

Credits: Jordan Cornish (Producer, Mixing & Mastering), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Caleb Thompson (production support), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Publisher)

Further Reading:

• The Hatchet, Arshy Mann’s and Jordan Cornish’s new publication

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The Copernic Affair is Canadaland’s latest big investigation  about how an unassuming sociology professor in Ottawa ended up the prime suspect in a terrorism investigation that French authorities have been trying to solve since the 1980s.

Is he a terrorist? Or a scapegoat?

The Copernic Affair launches in late-January, but you can listen to the first two episodes right now and the rest of it,  each week, starting today. 

Canadaland is offering early access to supporters.  As a Canadaland Supporter, you’ll also get ad-free listening to all of Canadaland’s award-winning podcasts including Commons, Pretendians, and Thunder Bay, and a bunch of other perks. 

You’ll be enabling great journalism and ensuring it remains accessible and free for everybody.

If you aren't a supporter yet, it's easy to become one.   Just go to canadaland.com/join 

This show is the product of years of reporting. Great journalism relies on your support. Go to canadaland.com/join.

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Canadaland has launched its first ever celebrity interview podcast and it’s not great. It’s The Worst Podcast.

Celebrities are always talking about their bests. Now hear them at their worst.

Join award-winning filmmaker and noted curmudgeon Alan Zweig for refreshingly honest conversations with “notable people” about the worst things in life.

Alan has no interest in best-selling books or Hollywood triumphs, and doesn’t know (or care) much about his guests. 

He’s looking for real conversations that dig deep and get to the worst things: nagging fears, embarrassing secrets and haunting regrets. And he’ll no doubt share a few of his own along the way.

Listen to The Worst Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

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After months of trading voice memos and messages, Caroline meets Marwa in person in Germany. They talk about the choices they have made, the lessons they have learned, and long for a reunion with Raha.  

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

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 at Douglas.ca/Canadaland. 

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

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

It has been ten months since the arrival of the Taliban. Marwa takes the steps to settle in Germany and takes a step back from her country, its traditions and its history. It is the first time she has been in Europe, and everything in Germany surprises her.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban impose full veils on women. Raha is more and more desperate, and plots her escape.

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

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 at Douglas.ca/Canadaland. 

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

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

Marwa arrives in Germany and everything surprises her. Raha sends the terrifying sounds of the end of Ramadan. She is increasingly cooped up and angry in Kabul, but she manages to send gifts from there.

It always gets harder to talk to Raha. Caroline Gillet doesn't know if it's because of the power cuts, or if Raha can no longer find how to say what she's going through.

The end of Ramadan is determined by the stars and in Afghanistan, we observe the decision of the Emirates to announce the start of Eid - El - Fitr. The three-day festival marks the end of the fast. Raha tells Caroline that she slowly starts cleaning the house as tradition dictates at the end of Ramadan and then, one evening, she sends chilling voice messages.

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

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 at Douglas.ca/Canadaland. 

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/COMMONS.  

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

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

We arrive in April, and it has been eight months since Marwa and Raha began talking about their daily lives with reporter Caroline Gillet. Raha is in Kabul, Marwa in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi. They say that documenting what they are experiencing and sharing helps to compensate for the immobility.

The economic situation in Afghanistan is dramatic following the freezing of international aid which financed nearly 80% of the Afghan budget. Half of the country is threatened by hunger. Aid is conditional on measures promised by the Taliban in favor of human rights and women's rights in particular, such as the return of adolescent girls to school.

Marwa and Raha celebrate Ramadan in very new conditions. These religious events are perhaps the last things that connect them. In this episode, their two trajectories will separate radically. While Marwa is far from her family, Raha is surrounded, but explosions make her fear for her mother's life, and push her employers to fire her. Marwa finally has her tickets to go to Germany.

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: 

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/COMMONS.  

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

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

Revolt in all its forms – hidden or revealed – is unfolding in Kabul and in the Abu Dhabi camp.

From the start, Caroline Gillet asks Marwa and Raha questions, and they answer. Or they send her sounds, or photos, when they want to share something. The reporter never knows what she will discover when she opens a voice note.

Sometimes there are long minutes of ambience, or short messages for practical things, or 20 minutes of monologues to tell a story. The reporter learns to recognize false cheerful tones when things are not going well.

An episode with a guitar, slogans, French high school students, and feelings of when you are 20 years old.

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: 

Betterhelp: For 10% off your first month, visit BetterHelp.com/InsideKabul.  

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/COMMONS.  

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

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

With the media’s attention turned away from Afghanistan and snow beginning to fall, Raha and Marwa continue to endure the daily realities of their new lives – finding simple pleasures that help them get through the day.

While Raha finally finds a new job opportunity and a glimmer of hope, Marwa begins to go out at night in the camp and creates a new family to help her quench her desire for home.

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan.

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: 

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/COMMONS.  

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

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

It has been three months since the Taliban returned to power. Raha and Marwa regularly receive reminders from Instagram of what their lives used to be – at a birthday, at a party, surrounded by friends. They send screenshots with their voice notes to Caroline Gillet.

For Caroline, she sees evidence of daily lives that had been so much closer to her own than she would have imagined. The images make Caroline more aware of the scale and speed of the upheavals over recent weeks.

While Raha endures the economic crisis and the multiplication of power cuts in Kabul, Marwa becomes familiar with the refugee camp, but the uncertainty and waiting weigh down. Marwa dreams of the future. 

By Caroline Gillet with Marwa and Raha. The original podcast broadcast on France INTER / RADIO FRANCE © RADIO FRANCE. Canadaland is proud to premiere the English-language adaptation of this urgent and intimate podcast, building on Commons' crucial season that told the story of Canada’s role in the War in Afghanistan. 

COMMONS is brought to you by: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Max Collins (Production Manager), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Shows like this cannot get made without you. Become a supporter and binge the entire season now, ad-free.

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: 

Betterhelp: For 10% off your first month, visit BetterHelp.com/InsideKabul. 

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

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