Support this podcast Meatpacking plants were the sites of COVID-19 outbreaks across the continent, and the outbreaks in Alberta killed several workers. What is it about this industry that made workers so vulnerable to this pandemic, and why do the corporate meat-packing giants command such influence and power? Team Advantage examines the role of corporate agribusiness in rural Alberta and the labour struggles that have shaped the industry.  Further information: Alberta Labour History Institute: Alberta's Summer of '86 [video] 24 Days in Brooks [National Film Board documentary] Michael Broadway: Small Town, Big Changes Meat-packing, refugees and the transformation of Brooks. [Alberta Views, 2006] George Melnyk: Faces of the Lakeside Packers Strike [Alberta Views, 2006] Michael Broadway: Cut to the Bone: How changes in meatpacking have created the most vulnerable worker in Alberta [May 2012]

Meat the Rich Who Butcher Workers: Our Beef with the Meatpacking Industry

Fresh from the birthplace of the CCF! Commentary and analysis on local and provincial politics from a left perspective.

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 Gaza solidarity encampments on university campuses in the U.S. and Canada are experiencing violent police crackdowns. How do the student movements of the past inform what's going on now? Team Advantage digs into the history of student radicalism and speaks to encampment supporters about their experiences with police.

Sous les pavés: Student radicalism from the '60s to today

What can we learn about the ongoing pandemic and how it's been handled? How's the whole global public health infrastructure, campaign for clean air, and renewed push for workplace going? Does this bode well for future pandemics and crises, and how can we learn from what's happened so far to shape our future demands?

COVID-19 in 2024

Israel is on a genocidal rampage through Gaza. Team Advantage, joined by intrepid independent journalist Jeremy Appel, examine the historical roots and basic assumptions that underlie Zionism, and discuss a few light topics, like discourse-policing, denouncing Hamas, antisemitism, and settler-colonialism.

Zionism Sucks

In late September 2023, Canadian Parliament clapped for "Ukrainian hero" Yaroslav Hunka, who fought with the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a unit in the Nazi German military.  Why did Canada let so many Ukrainian Nazis into the country after WW2, and how did this wave of right-wing Ukrainian nationalist shape Canada's Ukrainian diaspora? Team Advantage digs into the working-class origins of Ukrainians in Canada, Canada's efforts at post-war anticommunism, and the Canadian government's careful management of "multiculturalism."

Why does Canada love Ukrainian Nazis?

The area burned by wildfires in Canada this year exceeded 18 million hectares and burned 1,740 megatonnes of CO2, roughly three times Canada's human-made emissions from 2022. As fire season winds down, Team Advantage examines this new, fun, half-year-long weather phenomenon, and considers the role of fossil fuels and the end of "cheap nature."   Further reading: John Vaillant - Fire Weather Edward Struzik - Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future Alex Callinicos - The New Age of Catastrophe Jason Moore - Capitalism in the Web of Life 

Meat the Rich Who Butcher Workers: Our Beef with the Meatpacking Industry

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