The Canadians

Jimi Fritz is a writer, musician, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and the author of Rave Culture: An Insider’s Overview. A longtime traveler and legendary rave promoter, he has spent decades documenting and participating in one of the most influential—and perhaps most misunderstood—youth movements of the late twentieth century.
 
We begin by exploring the origins of rave culture, the music that defined it, and the unique experience that kept people returning to dance floors around the world. From there, we discuss community, belonging, psychedelics, spirituality, and why the movement was so often misunderstood by authorities and the media.
 
This is a conversation about community, transcendence, and what one forgotten cultural movement might still teach us about the enduring human search for meaning and belonging.
 
Jimi’s Link’s
 
Website:
 
https://www.jimifritz.ca/
 
Rave Culture: An Insider’s Overview:
 
https://www.amazon.ca/Rave-culture-insiders-Jimi-Fritz/dp/0968572103/
 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded on July 7, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Trevor Herriot is a Saskatchewan naturalist, conservationist, and award-winning author. Through decades of writing and conservation work, he has explored the relationship between people, place, and the natural world.
 
We begin by discussing Canada’s native prairie grasslands, the historic role of bison, and the surprising partnership between ranchers and conservationists in protecting these increasingly rare landscapes. From there, our conversation broadens into questions of spirituality, humility, our relationship with nature, and whether modern society has become a little too certain of what it knows.
 
This is a conversation about conservation, belonging, and the landscapes that shape who we are.
 
Guardians of the Grasslands (12-min documentary):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CG4ROvCu0Y
 
Nature Saskatchewan:
 
https://www.naturesask.ca/
 
 
Trevor's Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.trevorherriot.com/
 
Public Pastures - Public Interest:
 
https://pfrapastureposts.wordpress.com/about/who-we-are/
 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded on May 27, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.
 

Former BC cabinet minister Selina Robinson joins The Canadians for a conversation about identity, democratic values, and what it means to be Jewish in Canada today.
 
We begin with the controversy that brought her political career to an abrupt end before exploring the rise of Jew hatred following October 7th, the lived experience of belonging to one of Canada’s smallest minority communities, and the difficult relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
 
From there, we turn to broader questions about anti-racism, colour-blindness, equality versus equity, and whether class and poverty—not race or ancestry—should once again become the primary focus of progressive politics.
 
Selina Robinson served as a BC MLA from 2013 to 2024 and held several senior cabinet positions, including Minister of Finance during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is the author of Truth Be Told.
 
Selina’s links
 
Truth Be Told:
 
https://www.amazon.ca/Truth-Be-Told-Selina-Robinson/dp/1069165107
 
Website:
 
https://www.selinarobinson.ca/
 
Substack:
 
https://selinarobinson.substack.com/p/on-retirement
 
X:
 
https://x.com/SelinaMRobinson
 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded on May 19, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Aaron Pete is a First Nation Chief, law graduate, and host of the Nuanced podcast. Through hundreds of conversations across Canada’s political, cultural, and ideological divides, he has earned a reputation for approaching disagreement with curiosity rather than certainty.
 
We begin by exploring what shaped Aaron’s approach to dialogue and what he has learned from speaking with people across the political spectrum. From there, we discuss reconciliation, Indigenous governance, economic development, land and title, and why he believes Indigenous policy should ultimately be judged by whether it helps communities become healthier, stronger, and more prosperous.
 
This is a conversation about listening well, thinking carefully, and searching for practical paths toward reconciliation.
 
Aaron Pete/Tim Thielmann debate on reconciliation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3Ktn4iEkc
 
Aaron’s links
 
Website:
 
https://aaronpete.com/
 
X:
 
https://x.com/Aaronpete_
 
Nuanced:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@NuancedwithAaronPete
 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded on May 14, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Modern society has become very good at communication and increasingly poor at understanding.
 
In this solo minisode, Jared Michael explores the difference between listening and simply waiting for our turn to speak. He reflects on disagreement, dehumanization, curiosity, and why recognizing another person’s humanity may be one of the most important skills a healthy society can cultivate.
 
A reflection on listening, not as a communication technique, but as an act of recognition, empathy, and perhaps even love.
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on Spotify:
 
https://open.spotify.com/show/75wxT42gEPMiOBGTFFU4D4
 
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bad-canadians/id1785300184
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Stephen Jenkinson is a culture worker, author, and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School. He holds master’s degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the University of Toronto and is the author of numerous books, including Die Wise and his most recent work, Trembling, Still.
 
This conversation began as an attempt to discuss Stephen’s earlier work on death and grief, but quickly moved elsewhere. Instead, we found ourselves talking about culture itself: what it owes, who it serves, and what happens when people inherit a world that no longer provides reliable ways of belonging, remembering, or understanding their obligations to one another.
 
We discuss Canada as a country shaped by immigration, displacement, and reinvention, the role of ritual and elderhood in modern life, the tension between freedom and obligation, and the challenge of building wisdom in an age increasingly detached from inherited forms of meaning.
 
Finally we turn to his new book, Trembling, Still, written in the wake of a serious neurodegenerative diagnosis, and Stephen’s reflections on illness, identity, and the possibility of becoming a stranger to oneself.
 
Stephen’s Links
 
Orphan Wisdom School:
 
https://orphanwisdom.com/
 
Trembling, Still and Other Books by Stephen Jenkinson:
 
https://orphanwisdom.com/books/
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page:
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded on April 22, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Therapeutic coach Glynis Sherwood joins The Canadians for a conversation on scapegoating, family dynamics, shame, conflict, and public shaming.
 
We explore the human tendency to place blame onto individuals rather than confront deeper tensions requiring personal or collective self-reflection. From family conflict and workplace dynamics to online mobs and cancel culture, Sherwood argues that scapegoating is one of the oldest and most recurring patterns in human behavior.
 
We discuss scapegoating theory, projection, emotional regulation, Sherwood’s new book Finding Freedom, and the broader social dynamics that shape both private relationships and public life.
 
Glynis Sherwood is a therapeutic coach, and one of the pioneers in the study of scapegoating and family systems. Her website contains more than 100 articles exploring scapegoating, relationships, conflict, emotional systems, and personal growth, and serves as an excellent starting point for those interested in her work.
 
Glynis’ Links
 
Website:
 
https://glynissherwood.com/
 
Finding Freedom:
 
https://glynissherwood.com/finding-freedom-ebook-a-guide-to-healing-from-relationship-trauma/
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website:
 
https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/
 
Support Page
 
https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians
 
Follow us on X:
 
https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod
 
Subscribe on YouTube:
 
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod
 
Conversation recorded April 6, 2026
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Andrew Weaver is a climate scientist, former leader of the BC Green Party, and one of Canada’s most prominent voices on climate policy.
 
Widely reported to have endorsed John Rustad and the BC Conservatives’ climate plan during the last provincial election, Weaver begins by pushing back on that framing, using it as a starting point to discuss what it means to engage across political lines in an increasingly polarized environment.
 
We explore his path from science into politics, his time holding the balance of power in British Columbia, and the challenges of translating technical expertise into public policy.
 
Weaver argues that climate change is real and serious, but that framing it as an emergency can sometimes undermine practical solutions. He outlines his support for approaches like carbon capture and decarbonized oil, and reflects on why some of his strongest opposition has come from activist groups rather than industry.
 
Running through the conversation is a broader concern about the breakdown of public discourse, and the growing difficulty of having honest, good-faith conversations across political and ideological divides.
 
Andrew Weaver is a climate scientist and professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria. He previously held the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis, served as a lead author on multiple United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific assessments, and has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. He was elected MLA for Oak Bay–Gordon Head in 2013, later led the BC Green Party, and served in the Legislature until 2020. He is also the author of two books: Keeping Our Cool and Generation Us, and continues to write on climate solutions and public policy through his website.
Recorded March 18, 2026
 
Andrew's Links
 
Website
 
X
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website
 
Support Page
 
Follow us on X
 
Subscribe on Spotify
 
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
 
Subscribe on YouTube
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Nick Osmond-Jones is a former investigator with the Office of the Ombudsman in British Columbia. Before entering government, he spent a decade working in Alberta’s oil and gas industry, eventually returning to school to pursue a career in public service aligned with his values.
 
What happens when someone inside a public institution begins to feel that the norms they once trusted are changing? And what are the consequences of pushing back in an environment where dissent is not easily tolerated?
 
Nick describes a gradual shift during his time in government. What began as a shared commitment to neutrality and political impartiality gave way, over time, to a more moralized and ideological culture.
 
After obtaining materials from one such workshop and sharing them with a journalist, a decision that would eventually be traced back to him, he found himself under investigation and, soon after, leaving his position altogether.
 
In the second half of the conversation, we widen the lens to questions of neutrality, institutional culture, and the difficulty of sustaining open dialogue in an increasingly polarized environment.
 
Nick has since rebuilt his life outside of government as an arborist, and continues to share his thoughts publicly.
 
Nick’s Links
 
Follow Nick on X
 
Nick's personal essay in Quillette
 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website
 
Donations Page
 
Follow us on X
 
Subscribe on YouTube
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.
 

Eric Kaufmann is a political scientist and professor at the University of Buckingham, and one of the few academics who has tried to define what people mean when they talk about “woke” as an ideology, rather than just a term of criticism.
Much of the current discussion around these ideas is confused or imprecise. In this conversation, we slow things down and start at the beginning. What is “woke”? Is it a coherent worldview, or something more diffuse? How does it differ from older traditions on the left, and how much influence does it have in Canadian institutions and public life?
Kaufmann suggests that what we are seeing is less a traditional political ideology and more a moral or cultural movement, one that defines certain ideas as sacred, establishes strong taboos, and increasingly shapes the norms of public life.
What makes his perspective distinct is that he does not frame this as a top-down political project, but as something that has developed more organically, with real moral motivations behind it, even as it creates tension and conflict.
This is a conversation about definitions, assumptions, and trying to think more clearly about a set of ideas that are often talked about, but not always carefully examined.
Professor Kaufmann is the author of several books on these topics, including Taboo and The Third Awokening.
 
Eric Kaufmann Links
 
Website 
 
X: 
 
The Canadians Links
 
Website
 
Donations Page
 
Follow us on X
 
YouTube
 
Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.