We start by reflecting on criticism from a past discussion and what it says about how people hear and respond to political conversations. Then we talk about a stream Owen did with someone who says they’ve left the left and explore why anger and burnout push people toward reactionary thinking. The episode ends with a look at how solidarity can survive in a world that rewards outrage and division.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/@owenmacdonald7428
https://bsky.app/profile/owenmacdonald.bsky.socialMy Linktreehttps://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Qatar#Stadium_construction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_issues_involving_the_2022_FIFA_World_Cup#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar#FIFA_World_Cup_preparations_and_reported_abuses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_controversies#
Graham Culbertson joins me to talk about anarchism as a lived practice, how people already cooperate without coercion, why authority rarely works the way we think it does, and what it means to resist systems of control in everyday life.
We also get into the pressures of podcasting in an algorithmic world and how staying authentic can itself be an act of resistance.
Guest: Graham Culbertson – https://everydayanarchism.com All links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
From Gaza to Ecuador, governments are cracking down while people fight back. Nick and I talk about global uprisings, the criminalization of protest, and why power always reacts the same way when ordinary people demand justice.
We cover Gaza marches, Ecuador’s Indigenous protests, Assata Shakur’s legacy, media capture by billionaires, Apple’s censorship of an anti-ICE app, and the right’s obsession with calling antifascists terrorists.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/assata-shakur-black-revolutionary-who-fought-for-freedom-in-exile
https://www.salon.com/2025/10/06/from-dan-rather-to-bari-weiss-how-far-cbs-news-has-fallen/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/05/trump-behavior-online-posts
The Guardian – Trump signs order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-designating-antifa-terrorist-organization/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/18/what-is-antifa-what-does-trumps-major-terrorist-label-mean
Nick’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickdgirard/ My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Mutual Aid:
Regina Cathedral Community Fridge — volunteer-run, 24/7 mutual aid fridge in Regina; feeding local neighbours every day. Help them here: https://www.cathedralcommunityfridge.com/
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) — offering medical care, food, and humanitarian aid to children and families in Gaza and the West Bank: https://www.pcrf.net/donate
Taylor Mcnallie is an activist and organizer from out of Calgary Alberta who has a number of pages to help support others and also she needs help with legal fees after being targeted by the Calgary police for her activism https://linktr.ee/taylor_mcnallie.
SomeRandomG33k gives a lot of their income to people in need so you can either donate to them through streamlabs https://streamlabs.com/somerandomg33k/tip or check out their charity links page https://charitylinks.page/
Simon Enoch from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives joins me to talk about how neoliberalism reshaped Canadian policy and what privatization has done to public services. We cover the rise of corporate think tanks, the loss of economic democracy, and why evidence-based policy still matters.
Links:
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/ https://bsky.app/profile/simonenoch.bsky.social
Cory Doctorow joins me to talk about Enshitification, his new book about the long decline of the internet. We go through how platforms start out good for users, turn on them once they’re locked in, and finally become unrecognizable corporate machines. Cory explains how this pattern connects to monopoly power, labor exploitation, and government capture, and why it’s not just a tech problem but a political one.
Cory Doctorow’s links:https://craphound.com/https://craphound.com/shop/
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/
My links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Revolt, propaganda, and border control, in this episode we talk about uprisings in Nepal and Indonesia, Trump’s visa scams, digital IDs in the UK, propaganda around Charlie Kirk, AI pushing people into violence, and an economy rigged for the few.
Sources
https://people.com/charlie-kirk-martyr-allegedly-threatens-shoot-up-gay-bar-11813937
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-h1b-visa-changes_n_68cdd347e4b02387cfec20c8
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-starmer-set-push-digital-id-plans-ft-reports-2025-09-19/
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/how-gen-z-protests-over-corruption-jobs-ousted-nepal-pm-oli-2025-09-09/ https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2025/09/18/deadly-gen-z-protests-expose-decades-systemic-rot-nepal https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/09/gen-z-protests-in-nepal-result-in-19-deaths-prime-minister-resignation-and-social-media-ban-repeal/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/8/six-killed-in-nepal-amid-gen-z-protests-after-social-media-ban-all-to-knowhttps://archive.is/20250913093923/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/13/nepal-protests-gen-z-uprising/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nepals-deadly-protests-social-media-ban-lies-anger-125389219
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2025/09/13/revolt-in-indonesia/
https://futurism.com/man-chatgpt-psychosis-murders-mother
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/19/trumps-destruction-of-the-us-economy/
Nick’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickdgirard/
AnCom’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ancomscicomm.bsky.social
My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
In this episode Owen Macdonald and I talk about capitalism’s gospel of greed. We start with AI’s effect on work, move into how exploitation underpins the global economy, and look at how Christian nationalism keeps people tied to an unjust system. We also discuss the hypocrisy of right-wing religion through Owen’s debate with a Trump supporter and the selective outrage over Charlie Kirk’s death.
I've started calling my collaborations with Owen Solidarity Across Borders. I've created a logo and found new music for the intro and outro. Hopefully, Owen and I can continue these chats, and they'll become their own standalone playlist on YouTube and a subseries for the show. I hope you enjoy them
Follow Owen: YouTube | BlueSky
Support my work: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist | https://www.patreon.com/skepticalleftist
This week, Nick Girard joins me to dig into another week of manufactured emergencies and systemic collapse. From Trump’s military occupation of DC, to Romana Didulo’s arrest, to the slow-motion disaster of AI harms and ecological breakdown, it’s all crisis all the time. We also talk about capitalism’s state-capitalist mask slipping and the shifting views on socialism in the U.S.
Nick is also sending out his book for free. Just reach out to him on Instagram at @nickdgirard or email me at mindofaskepticalleftist@gmail.com and we’ll get you a copy.
Solidarity is the strategy.
Sources
https://globalnews.ca/news/11391128/saskatchewan-rcmp-richmound-investigation/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/rcmp-richmound-didulo-1.7624038
https://leaderpost.com/news/sha-declare-queen-of-canadas-compound-a-threat-to-public-safety
https://climateandcapitalism.com/2025/09/07/60-of-land-area-is-now-out-of-the-safe-operating-zone/
https://www.commondreams.org/news/we-are-all-dc-tens-of-thousands-march-to-white-house
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/google-antitrust-order-1.7623824
Mutual aid shoutouts or action items
Support KJ’s fight against a brain tumor — donate to the GoFundMe campaign for Eric’s nephew: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kj-with-his-battle-against-a-brain-tumor
Regina Cathedral Community Fridge — volunteer-run, 24/7 mutual aid fridge in Regina; feeding local neighbours every day. Help them here: https://www.cathedralcommunityfridge.com/https://linktr.ee/reginacommunityfridge
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) — offering medical care, food, and humanitarian aid to children and families in Gaza and the West Bank: https://www.pcrf.net/donate
Taylor Mcnallie is an activist and organizer from out of Calgary Alberta who has a number of pages to help support others and also she needs help with legal fees after being targeted by the Calgary police for her activism https://linktr.ee/taylor_mcnallie
SomeRandomG33k gives a lot of their income to people in need so you can either donate to them through streamlabs https://streamlabs.com/somerandomg33k/tip or check out their charity links page https://charitylinks.page/
Check out Nick’s book In the Beginning
Buy Nick’s book in Canada https://a.co/d/bbtJsT4
Buy Nick’s book in the US https://a.co/d/czu4Maw
Nick on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nickdgirard/
My links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Drew Adamick walks me through what financial survival looks like when the system is built to exploit us. From RRSPs and pensions to credit traps and estate planning, we talk about how to navigate capitalism while still fighting to change it.
Support Drew’s work: https://divergentfp.ca
Find all my links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Kaytlin Bailey joins me to talk about the panic around sex work and pornography, how stigma shapes our culture, and why sexual freedom is always political. We dig into her work with Old Pros and the fight for decriminalization.
Here are the links to follow Kaytlin and Old Pros
https://www.instagram.com/oldprosonline/
https://www.instagram.com/kaytlinbailey/
And go to my linktree to follow me or support the show
In this episode I dive into the rising tide of authoritarianism and the corporate overreach fueling it. From Canadian soldiers flashing Nazi salutes, to mass surveillance spreading across the UK, to Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard in Chicago — the pattern is clear. Add in YouTube secretly altering creators’ videos and scraping billions for AI training, and it’s obvious we’re living in the tightening grip of authoritarianism. I also cover Canada finally admitting famine in Gaza, the Air Canada strike over unpaid hours, and the Trump DOJ’s bizarre deportation push.
Sources
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/soldiers-hateful-conduct-nazi-salute-1.7612928
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-clowns-arent-funny-anymore
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3ze0yxy0o
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-justice-department-2673919484/
https://apnews.com/article/uganda-us-deportations-criticism-692a6cbf61c96ac3ed837b567bf2d72c
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/23/kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-00521576
https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-deportation-uganda-ice-2bad172b72c4871bc20bfa221b49b8bd
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/25/kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-uganda-pause-judge
Mutual Aid/Support
Support KJ’s fight against a brain tumor — donate to the GoFundMe campaign for Eric’s nephew: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kj-with-his-battle-against-a-brain-tumor
Regina Cathedral Community Fridge — volunteer-run, 24/7 mutual aid fridge in Regina; feeding local neighbours every day. Help them here: https://www.cathedralcommunityfridge.com/
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) — offering medical care, food, and humanitarian aid to children and families in Gaza and the West Bank: https://www.pcrf.net/donate
https://linktr.ee/taylor_mcnallie Multiple ways to help people across Canada
Also check out https://bsky.app/profile/lefttexascongress.bsky.social
Support the show Patreon: patreon.com/skepticalleftist Substack: theskepticalleftist.substack.com Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/skepticalleftist Linktree: linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Borders divide people and enforce cruelty. In this conversation with Owen McDonald, we look at how the far right exploits immigration panic, how liberals reinforce the same narratives, and how austerity and capitalism depend on scapegoating migrants.
Owen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@owenmacdonald7428 •
Owen on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/owenmacdonald.bsky.social
Find all my links here: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Nick Girard came back on the show to talk about everything from Russian genocide rhetoric and Canadian arms exports to Gaza, to AI giving deadly advice, to workers fighting back against unpaid labor. It’s another week of capitalism’s most deranged stories, and why solidarity is the only way through.
Nick’s work: In the Beginning
Buy Nick’s book in Canada https://a.co/d/bbtJsT4
Buy Nick’s book in the US https://a.co/d/czu4Maw
Nick on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nickdgirard/
My links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Sources + Mutual Aid
Russia/Ukraine
Canada’s continued arms shipments to Israel
Journalists murdered in Gaza
Bad AI Medical Advice
AI Content Used to Spread Hate
Cuomo Sucks
Fires Spread Across Europe
Air Canada Flight Attendants plan to Strike - (we will cover the updated version of this on Aug 26)
Marjorie Taylor Greene is corrupt as fuck
Mutual Aid and support shout outs
Support KJ’s fight against a brain tumor — donate to the GoFundMe campaign for Eric’s nephew: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kj-with-his-battle-against-a-brain-tumor
Regina Cathedral Community Fridge — volunteer-run, 24/7 mutual aid fridge in Regina; feeding local neighbours every day. Help them here: https://www.cathedralcommunityfridge.com/
The European Heat Aid Great Walk (2025) — a grassroots campaign walking 20 marathons across Austria, Belgium, and Spain in August to provide heat relief and support to people experiencing homelessness. Donate, follow, or participate: https://www.homelessentrepreneur.org/en/solidary-projects/the-great-walk apartmenttherapy.com+6homelessentrepreneur.org+6donorbox.org+6
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) — offering medical care, food, and humanitarian aid to children and families in Gaza and the West Bank: https://www.pcrf.net/donate
Also check out https://bsky.app/profile/lefttexascongress.bsky.social
Democrats keep losing the narrative, and it’s costing them real political ground. I talk with writer Osita Nwanevu about why the party struggles to connect, what it would take to inspire voters, and how they could win people back by standing for something.
Find Osita here: https://x.com/ositanwanevu | https://bsky.app/profile/ositanwanevu.com | ositanwanevu.com Support my work and find all my links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
In this episode, I talk with Tori Glass about the rise of Christian fascism in the U.S., how evangelicals laid the groundwork for Trumpism decades ago, and how media manipulation, nationalism, and artificial scarcity all play a role in keeping people compliant. We also get into Canada’s role in this mess, some harsh truths about social media, and why it's not enough to gloat when people start changing their minds. We need real compassion, even when it's hard.
https://www.instagram.com/gohomebible/ https://www.instagram.com/whitehomework/ https://bsky.app/profile/toriglass.bsky.social
Support my work & get full episodes early: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Gaza is starving and the aid isn’t getting through. Trump wants to jail the unhoused and pretend it’s compassion. And some tech startup let an AI delete live code, then lied about it with fake test results.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Follow AnComSciComm: https://twitter.com/AnComSciComm
Sources:Israel - Palestine
Trump’s anti-homeless people executive order
US may abandon trade talks with Canada
This story has some new developments as the August 1st deadline came and went with Trump saying that he can’t negotiate with Canada because Parliament voted to acknowledge the state of Palestine under various conditions. Here is a video from Rachel Gilmore about it
Trump, Epstein, and the Search for the Truth That Never Comes
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-turned-down-invitation-epsteins-island-2025-07-28/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/23/trump-epstein-photos
https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-justice-department-bondi-e7a5e41ba4fa3a88736cc384078c3215
https://time.com/7305146/trump-name-epstein-files-republicans-maga-supporters-react/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/7/epstein-no-client-list-died-suicide-justice-department-says
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Donald_Trump_and_Jeffrey_Epstein
Replit’s AI Coding Tool Deletes Database and Lies About It
Danish Registry Study Shows Most Mental Illnesses Occur Without Familial Links
Canadians Say Reconciliation Is Progressing—Poll Suggests Disconnect
Mutual Aid: Help KJ: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kj-with-his-battle-against-a-brain-tumor Oxford Mutual Aid: https://www.oxfordmutualaid.org Indigenous Climate Action: https://www.indigenousclimateaction.com Regina Cathedral Community Fridge: https://www.cathedralcommunityfridge.com
Solidarity is the strategy.
In this episode, I sit down with my friend Eric, a blue-collar poet and Indigenous worker living just across the border in North Dakota. He opens up about what it means to struggle under a system that fails working people—from being denied healthcare to watching lawmakers vote against free school lunches.
Eric reads his poem Tax Me More for Freedom and shares a heartfelt vision of a better world built on community, care, and solidarity.
Support Eric and his family:
GoFundMe – Help KJ with his battle against a brain tumor Instagram – @standing348
YouTube – @ericstanding9898
Facebook – facebook.com/eric.road
My links and support options: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
What if Sam Harris is completely wrong about free will? In this episode, I talk with Damien Marie AtHope about why the hard determinist view doesn’t hold up, and why believing in change is not only possible but necessary. Damien shares his own story of transformation, breaks down the difference between biological pressures and actual control, and gives a crash course in emotional intelligence, axiology, and why therapy works. We’re not robots — we’re just bad at using the will we do have.
Links:
ICE raids in LA are starting to look more like kidnappings, agents in masks, no ID, no accountability. We break down what’s really going on and how it fits into a system in decline.
Also: Mamdani wins in NYC, Bezos’s wedding antics, and the WEF’s dystopian wishlist.
Co-host: @ancomscicomm.bsky.social
Support the show: linktr.ee/skepticalleftist
Sources
https://thenarwhal.ca/trouble-in-the-headwaters-documentary/?mc_cid=e57e3cde1c&mc_eid=4476f4fb86
https://zeteo.com/p/breaking-zohran-mamdani-wins-nyc?r=17zg6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_York_City_Democratic_mayoral_primary
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2025/06/26/the-march-to-war/
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/06/michael-hudson-why-america-is-at-war-with-iran.html
https://therealnews.com/why-venetians-want-jeff-bezos-to-choke-on-his-wedding-cake
Watershed Security Fund (British Columbia)https://watershedsecurityfund.ca/Supports Indigenous-led flood resilience and watershed restoration across B.C.
KTown for All (Los Angeles)https://www.ktownforall.org/donate Legal aid, groceries, and protest support for unhoused and immigrant residents.
Aquí Para la Comunidad / InnerCity Strugglehttps://www.innercitystruggle.org/donate Mutual aid and organizing in Boyle Heights—supporting undocumented families.
Mutual Aid LA Network (MALAN)🔗 https://linktr.ee/mutualaidlanetwork
Decentralized hub coordinating food, housing, and protest solidarity efforts
Graphic artist and leftist content creator Lucretia McEvil joins me for a deep and honest conversation about escaping the corporate grind, building a media practice rooted in storytelling, and rediscovering revolutionary optimism in a system designed to crush it. We talk about what it means to sell your labor but not your soul, how office life shapes our thinking, and why mutual aid and media are powerful tools for reclaiming collective power. Plus: Zohran Mamdani, class betrayal, and why “they don’t want you to feel free” might be more literal than it sounds.
Follow Lucretia:YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@lucretia_macevil Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lucretia.mcevil/ SoundCloud – https://soundcloud.com/mamacakes Patreon – http://patreon.com/lucretiamcevil
Support the show:https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist