The Bellwether

By Max Bell School of Public Policy

The Bellwether is a podcast where students of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University talk to current MPP students, leading practitioners, and experts on emerging policy issues in Ca... more

· Society & Culture

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FAQs about The Bellwether:

How many episodes does The Bellwether have?

The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.

The Bellwether episodes:

April 25, 2025 The Ins and Outs of Political Campaigning w/ Cheryl Oates
In this uncut election special Isabella and Gabe discuss the finer points of political campaigning in Canada with Cheryl Oates. Cheryl draws on her extensive experience working campaigns with the NDP to give an insider's perspective on Canada's political parties during an election period.
Hosts: Gabe Blanc and Isabella Coronado Doria
Producers: Gabe Blanc, Isabella Coronado Doria and Kiran Gill
Managing Editor of the Bellwether: Kiran Gill
Editor-in-Chief of the Bell: Gabe Blanc
...more
40min
February 07, 2025 Geopolitics Unraveling: The War in Ukraine w/ Maria Popova
The Bellwether is back with another longform interview! In this episode, Jacob Kates Rose sits down with Maria Popova Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University and author of the new book Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. Jacob and Professor Popova have a comprehensive discussion about the state of the war in Ukraine, Western involvement in the conflict and what could come next.
Host: Jacob Kates Rose
Producer: Jacob Kates Rose
Audio Engineering: Jacob Kates Rose
Managing Editor of the Bellwether: Kiran Gill
Music Credits: Jacob Tarasofsky (Instagram: Tarasonic)
...more
50min
October 01, 2024 Indigenous Language Revitalization with Cameron Adams
The Bellwether is back with an exciting guest! Cameron Adams, from Gimli Manitoba, has been involved with indigenous language revitalization in his community through the creation of an app (Swampy Cree), language camps and academic research. In this episode he speaks with Seth and Isabella about his experiences with indigenous language, language advocacy, policy and reconciliation more broadly.

Hosts: Isabella Coronado Doria and Seth Bumagat
Producers: Seth Bumagat and Isabella Coronado Doria
Audio Engineering: Jacob Kates Rose
Managing Editor: Kiran Gill
Editor in Chief of the Bell: Gabriel Blanc
Music Credits: Jacob Tarasofsky (Instagram: Tarasonic)

...more
42min
September 28, 2024 Article Spotlight: Anti-Scab Legislation and Bill C-58 with Kiran Gill
In this first episode of the new season, we begin with the first edition of a new segment for The Bellwether called Article Spotlight. Kiran Gill, the author of the recent article from The Bell titled, “Anti-Scab Legislation is an Important Win for Organized Labour,” joins hosts Seth Bumagat and Cyrus Nagra. They discuss Kiran’s article, covering topics including the recently passed Bill C-58, 1990s labour history in the Northwest Territories, and class politics.

Seth Bumagat, Cyrus Nagra, and Kiran Gill are all Master of Public Policy Students at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy. The Bellwether podcast is associated with The Bell, a student-run newsletter from students at the Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Subscribe to The Bell: https://maxpolicy.substack.com/
Read Kiran’s Article: https://maxpolicy.substack.com/p/anti-scab-legislation-is-an-important

Hosts: Seth Bumagat & Cyrus Nagra
Sound Engineer: Seth Bumagat
Production: Seth Bumagat, Kiran Gill, Cyrus Nagra, Husein Pumaya Yakubu
Managing Editor: Kiran Gill
Editor-in-Chief of the Bell: Gabriel Blanc

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Music credits to: TuneTank

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Song: Musical Bakery - In Da Hood (No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Tunetank.
Free Download: bit.ly/3eMHsy4
Video Link: youtu.be/93tW9diWPYM
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www.facebook.com/tunetankcom
twitter.com/tunetank_com
www.instagram.com/thetunetank

...more
15min
September 20, 2024 Season Two Intro
The Bellwether Podcast is back! Here is a brief introduction from the new team. Stay tuned for new upcoming episodes!

Host(s): Isabella Coronado, Seth Bumagat

Managing Editor: Kiran Gill

Editor-in-Chief of The Bell: Gabriel Blanc

Audio Attribution:
https://freesound.org/people/Jauer13/sounds/660980/?attribution=1

...more
1min
May 08, 2024 Episode 4: Resilience of International Aid Organizations Amid Funding Cuts with Dirk Druet
The fourth episode of the Bellwether features Dirk Druet, a researcher, policy adviser and former official in international peace and security at the United Nations. He is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations of the International Peace Institute and an Affiliate Researcher at McGill University’s Centre for International Peace and Security Studies. This year, he taught a complexity seminar at McGill's Max Bell School of Public Policy called "Trade-Offs in International Policy".

Joined by Dirk are MPP students Michael Kynaston and Chloe Aboud. In this episode, they discuss the resilience of international aid organizations, specifically, the multifaceted challenges that UNRWA faced following funding withdrawals by donor nations in January 2024. It explores the complexities of maintaining aid in conflict zones like Gaza and the trade-offs faced by UN leadership in upholding core organizational principles.

If you want to learn more about this topic, Max Bell student Arwa Emhemed and co-host Chloe Aboud wrote about UNRWA's funding cuts in the Bell newsletter. You can read their op-ed here.

Make sure to subscribe to The Bellwether on Spotify to get notified when our next episode comes out.

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Music credits to: TuneTank

-------
Song: Musical Bakery - In Da Hood (No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Tunetank.
Free Download: bit.ly/3eMHsy4
Video Link: youtu.be/93tW9diWPYM
-------
www.facebook.com/tunetankcom
twitter.com/tunetank_com
www.instagram.com/thetunetank

...more
33min
April 23, 2024 Episode 3: The Online Harms Act (with Dr. Taylor Owen)
Regulating the online world is as complex as the diverse content it hosts. For the third episode of the Bellwether, Max Bell School of Public Policy Students Nina Hernandez and Asha Sivarajah unpack Canada’s recently tabled Online Harms Act (C-63) - a pivotal piece of Canadian legislation aimed at regulating harmful online content. This episode, we talk with Taylor Owen, Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications, and the founding director of The Center for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University. Tune in as we analyze the bill and what the future holds for online safety.

***
Music credits to: TuneTank
-------
Song: Musical Bakery - In Da Hood (No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Tunetank.
Free Download: bit.ly/3eMHsy4
Video Link: youtu.be/93tW9diWPYM
-------
www.facebook.com/tunetankcom
twitter.com/tunetank_com
www.instagram.com/thetunetank

...more
34min
February 27, 2024 Episode 2: Second Anniversary of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine with Dr. Jennifer Welsh
For the second episode of The Bellwether, we talk to Dr. Jennifer Welsh about the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dr. Welsh is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University and teaches Global Politics and Policy Landscape at the Max Bell School of Public Policy. She recently went to Ukraine on a special mission with the Internally Displaced Persons Experts Group. The group supports the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. In this episode, she tells us about things from her trip to Ukraine and her thoughts on the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war that has been going on for two years.
This episode is hosted by Anita Dernovici and Teodora Durca, and produced by Sean Celi. Anita and Teodora also recently published an op-ed about this topic on The Bell newsletter. You can read that op-ed here.

***
Music credits to: TuneTank
-------
Song: Musical Bakery - In Da Hood (No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Tunetank.
Free Download: bit.ly/3eMHsy4
Video Link: youtu.be/93tW9diWPYM
-------
www.facebook.com/tunetankcom
twitter.com/tunetank_com
www.instagram.com/thetun

...more
48min
January 29, 2024 Episode 1: 2023 Manitoba Elections with Brian Topp and Cheryl Oates
For the first episode of the Bellwether, we dive into the 2023 Manitoba elections where Wab Kinew made history by becoming the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province.
In October 2023, The Manitoba New Democratic Party won a majority government beating the incumbent Progressive Conservatives. The NDP’s campaign promises focused largely on healthcare reform and improving the quality of life for all Manitobans.
We will hear from two top campaign strategists, Brian Topp, who was the campaign director of Manitoba NDP who successfully elected Wab Kinew and Cheryl Oates, who also helped in the Manitoba NDP’s campaign and was the Executive Director of Communication and Planning to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley from 2015-2019. They will share their insights on the win and what this means for the future of Manitoba and Canada.
This episode is hosted by Jibril Hussein and Soomin Han, and produced by Gagan Gill and Sean Celi.

Music credits to: TuneTank
-------
Song: Musical Bakery - In Da Hood (No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Tunetank.
Free Download: bit.ly/3eMHsy4
Video Link: youtu.be/93tW9diWPYM
-------
www.facebook.com/tunetankcom
twitter.com/tunetank_com
www.instagram.com/thetunetank

...more
36min

FAQs about The Bellwether:

How many episodes does The Bellwether have?

The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.