In this episode of 'Don't Call Me Resilient', Nisrin Elamin, Assistant Professor of Anthropolgy and African Studies at the University of Toronto, paints a grim picture of life in Sudan today. She says the current war, which exploded on April 15, 2023,  is devastating both rural and urban communities. Elamin also identifies small pockets of hope. In the absence of a properly functioning government and looming famine, grassroots groups are stepping in to help people survive.

Since last April, Sudanese people in both rural and urban areas have been caught in the middle of a violent conflict between two warring military regimes - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Human rights groups say the RSF and allied militias are responsible for large-scale massacres targeting specific ethnic groups in the capital Khartoum and the region of Darfur.

As a result of the war, more than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes, making Sudan home to the largest displacement of people in the world. A new report by a Dutch think tank says that if no changes occur on the ground, 2.5 million Sudanese people could die of famine by September.

Elamin explains how the current war is part of a long legacy of corrupt military rule and land dispossession that have plagued Sudan since its independence from British rule in 1956. 

She also urges Canadians to pay attention to Canada's possible role in Sudan's war. "This is big business," she says. In fact, she says Canadians are likely complicit in most wars occurring in 2024. "We are complicit...through our pension funds, our university endowments, some of our personal investments. This is big business. I think a lot of people aren't paying attention to what's happening in Sudan because they feel like it's so far removed and it has nothing to do with them. But that is a lie. It does, and it might be closer than you think it is. "

We’re bringing you an extra episode this week. This episode comes from The Conversation Weekly,  our sister podcast from The Conversation UK. The episode, which we're running in full, centres around medically assisted dying. 

In Canada, medical assistance in dying (Maid) became legal in 2016. 

And the government intends to extend eligibility to people whose sole reason for ending their life is mental illness. But that planned expansion, now twice delayed, is deeply controversial. 

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Gemma Ware speaks with Karandeep Sonu Gaind a leading psychiatrist from the University of Toronto about why he's a vocal opponent of the law’s expansion. Canada's expansion of its medically assisted dying law to people whose reason for wanting to end their life is mental illness. 

Gemma starts the episode with The Conversation Canada’s Health and Medical editor, Patricia Nicholson, who explains how assisted dying works in Canada. 

In this conversation, Professor Gaind explains the intersectional factors around this issue, including race, class and gender.

If you’re interested in hearing more conversations like this one, subscribe to The Conversation Weekly wherever you get podcasts.

Currently the largest electorate in history is heading to the polls in India, where - of course - politicians and political parties are trying their best to influence voters.  Film and popular culture have always provided a reflection of the country's political culture, but  in this election, they are being used more than ever to *sway* voters - especially by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP.  Vinita sits down with two scholars who look at the intersection of politics and popular culture to uncover how Bollywood is creating storylines that support Modi's BJP - and how big a role it might play in the outcome of the world's largest election. Political scientist Sikata Banerjee is Professor Emeritus of Women’s Studies at the University of Victoria She looks at Indian politics through the lens of cinema. And Rakesh Sengupta is Assistant Professor in Department of English and Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto. 

Collectively, the global student protests demanding university divestments from Israel are one of the largest mass protests in recent history. Student protesters are risking their futures as they demand their institutions financially divest from Israel and companies connected to supplying weapons and technology to Israel’s government.

Last week, in Calgary, police descended on the University of Calgary campus with riot gear, using shields, batons and rubber bullets, to forcibly remove a group of protesters from an encampment set up on campus.

On today's podcast, Vinita speaks with Pratim Sengupta, professor of learning sciences at the University of Calgary. Sengupta was there the night police engulfed the protesters and says the violence he saw shook him to his core. Also on the podcast is Sarita Srivastava, a university leader of a much smaller arts and design campus in downtown Toronto. Srivastava (sister to Vinita) is a sociologist by background and author of the recent book, "Are You Calling Me a Racist?" Together, they look back on what's been happening on campuses amid this mass protest but also plot out a new - gentler - way forward than the one we've been witnessing.

As we approach the start of gardening season, we figured it’s a good time to bring you one of our most talked-about episodes  about the complicated, colonial roots of gardening - which have affected what we plant and who gets to garden.

How we garden is deeply tied to colonialism — from the spread of seeds and species around the world to the use of forced labour and slavery that went hand in hand  to the collection and commodification of plants. But there is a growing shift away from the  status symbol of the lawn and manicured gardens, in favour of pollinator-friendly native plants. And there is a growing understanding that centuries-old Indigenous knowledge and practices — like controlled burns — can help foster a more resilient landscape. With concerns about our climate crisis growing, one of the possible avenues for creating more sustainable cities may very well lie in our gardens. 

Could we have an impact simply by thinking a little differently about the seeds we sow and the "weeds" we pull?

Vinita gets into it all with researcher Jacqueline L. Scott and community activist Carolynne Crawley, who leads nature workshops that integrate Indigenous teachings into practice.

Research shows social media apps are designed to entrap children who are even more susceptible than adults to its harms. Plus, technologies are not neutral: They’re embedded with and actively reinforce structures of racism. A recent survey of Canadian children in grades 7 to 11 found nearly half of participants reported seeing racist or sexist content online, and youth from marginalized groups were more likely than others to encounter this type of content. So, what’s to be done? 

Five school boards in Ontario have recently sued the makers of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and  Snapchat for $4.5 billion, arguing the social media giants are causing mental health issues and other harms that are making the jobs of educators much harder. The Ontario Premiere has called the lawsuit a waste of time and money, and announced its government was doubling down on a 2019 ban on cellphones in schools as a way to address the problem. It also pledged $30 million to a surveillance program they think will help solve problems in school like cell phone and vape addictions. 

On today's episode, Vinita gets into it with two education researchers, both former teachers, who challenge the idea of a ban and think there are better ways to address the problem.

Over the last 30 years, there has been an exponential growth of Indigenous media and Indigenous media makers, especially here in Canada which has one of the largest repositories of Indigenous media. However, the road to get here hasn’t been easy. Indigenous filmmakers, producers, and artists have had to navigate the complex and often unfriendly terrain of Canadian media institutions and media production companies. Their negotiations -- and struggles -- have helped make space for a generation of Indigenous media-makers who are increasingly making shows and films on their terms, with their ideas.

Karrmen Crey who is Stó:lō from Cheam First Nation, is an associate professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and the author of “Producing Sovereignty: The Rise of Indigenous Media in Canada.” In this special  episode, recorded on-site with an audience in Vancouver at Iron Dog books, Karrmen speaks with Vinita about  the ways  Indigenous creators are using humour along with a sharp critique of pop culture to show just how different the world looks when decision-making power over how stories get told shifts and Indigenous media makers take control.

This episode was produced in front of a live audience at Iron Dog Books in Vancouver, in partnership with Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology and the Amplify Podcast Network. Simon Fraser student, Natalie Dusek performed tech duties. Theme music by Zaki Ibrahim, Something in the Water.

Image credit: Jana Schmieding plays Reagan, a member of the fictional Minishonka nation, on the sitcom, Rutherford Falls. (Evans Vestal Ward/Peacock)

Many news organizations have reported on the Israel-Gaza war. However, many journalists have criticized those same media organizations for how they have covered the conflict, and have spoken out against what they say is a stifling of Palestinian voices and perspectives. In today's episode, Vinita talks to Sonya Fatah and Asmaa Malik, associate professors of journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University whose research focuses on newsroom culture, global reporting practices and equity in journalism. They argue that these press freedom concerns go far beyond Gaza.

Around the world, people are being forced to leave their homes in droves.  We are seeing it happen in Gaza, as Israeli forces continue to wage war. And in Sudan, which has also been wracked by war.  Then there are the people fleeing political or economic strife - like those living in Haiti, or Venezuela.  Canada has various refugee programs designed to take in those seeking asylum from what's happening in their home countries.  But the problem is, they weren't all created equal.  In today's episode, Vinita talks to Christina Clark-Kazak, professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa.  Clark-Kazak says Canada's refugee system has always been politicized - but never more so than now.

The release of Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, was a much awaited event for a lot of us. There was much anticipation about this being a country album — and  a lot of talk about the resistance some radio stations had and still have to that idea. That’s because country music is considered  "white music," even though its Black historical roots  are well documented. But Cowboy Carter is about so much more than country music. It honours other Black musical legends — and challenges the segregation we still see and hear in the music industry today.  Vinita is joined by two experts to talk about it all. Alexis McGee is an Assistant Professor of Writing Studies at the University of British Columbia and author of "From Blues to Beyoncé: A Century of Black Women’s Generational Sonic Rhetorics." And Jada Watson is Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities at the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa. Her current research, called SongData, uses music industry data to examine representation in the country music industry.