The Orchardcast

Los Angeles-based labour educator Cole Rockarts has a new book out today, Fired Up About Unions.

They join the podcast to talk about why Gen-Z is organizing their workplaces, the corporate onslaught against unionization and how to fight back against AI-assisted workplace surveillance.

Related Links

* Fired Up About Unions (Between the Lines, 2026)

* Work Sucks, Let’s Unionize! Counterpunch

* Amazon used AI tool to track risk of unionization in Canadian warehouses, documents show, Globe and Mail

* Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith (Dundurn Press, 2026)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you Dave Cournoyer, Shama Rangwala, ClimateLunchClub, Tim W Callaway, Patricia Hughes-Fuller, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

On Tuesday, I went on CTV’s Your Morning Edmonton to speak to Kent Morrison about Danielle Smith’s astonishing political comeback and how her communicative talents from her years as a radio host help her maintain power.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Counterpunch managing editor Joshua Frank has a provocative new book out. Bad Energy, which outlines the environmental and human pitfalls of the capitalist-led green energy transition.

He compellingly argues that replacing fossil fuel consumption with increased mining for precious metals, massive solar fields and wind farms, and speculative nuclear technology from the U.S. military-industrial complex isn’t going to save us.

Related Links

* Bad Energy: The AI Hucksters, Rogue Lithium Extractors, and Wind Industrialists Who Are Selling Off Our Future (Haymarket Books, 2026)

* Killing the Planet to Save It, Counterpunch

* Green Energy Is Coming for the Desert, The Intercept

* Degrowth offers a path to a truly just global energy transition, Canada’s National Observer

* PM Mark Carney pledged to ‘Buy Canadian.’ Since then, $7.8 billion in contracts went to American corporations, Toronto Star

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Preorder Links

* Shop Local (Preferred)

* Amazon (25% off preorders)

* Indigo (25% off preorders)

In addition to purchasing a copy of the book, don’t forget to order it to your local public library!

Book Events

* Edmonton: Book launch at the Aviary - Oct. 13

* Calgary: Alberta Advantage live recording, followed by book signing and social - Nov. 6

* Toronto: TBD.

If you’re involved with a community group that has a budget to sponsor me to come for a talk, please do reach out at [email protected].

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Watch part one here:

Thank you Dave Cournoyer, Clearing a New Path, Alessia Rosanna, Janet Pennington, and many others for tuning into my live video with Nora Loreto! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed has a new book out today, Crossing the Red Line, which takes an inside look at the internal machinations behind President Joe Biden’s support for Israel as it destroyed Gaza.

Related Links

* Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza (W.W. Norton, 2026)

* How Former Biden Officials Defend Their Gaza Policy, New Yorker

* ‘Unprecedented In Modern History’: U.S. Aid Experts Warn Gaza Likely Already Experiencing Famine, Huffpost

* Exclusive: ‘Mutiny Brewing’ Inside State Department Over Israel-Palestine Policy, Huffpost

* Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza ‘De-Escalation’ Talk, Huffpost

* Preorder Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith from your local bookstore, Amazon or Indigo.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe