Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

By CBC

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Category: Society & Culture

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Subscribers: 178
Reviews: 2
Episodes: 265

Reed
 Mar 15, 2025
Great progressive discourse on pop culture, movies, books, tv shows, internet culture and politics with a focus on inviting guests who don't get a seat at the table in other podcasts. Elamin is a great interviewer who really listens.


 Apr 17, 2022

Description

Big laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts & entertainment stories of the day, in 30 minutes or less.Subscribe to Sounds Good: CBC's Podcasts newsletter for the finest podcast recommendations and behind-the-scenes exclusives.

Episode Date
Trump's Kennedy Center takeover, and why some are paying $1000 to see Denzel Washington in Othello
Apr 01, 2025
Sum41, Anne Murray, Nemahsis, and Canadian pride at the 2025 Junos
Mar 31, 2025
Should Canadian musicians tour in the U.S.?
Mar 28, 2025
How the trade war could affect Canada's book industry, and Family Guy is a gateway to Anne Murray
Mar 27, 2025
A new Hunger Games novel, and an update on No Other Land
Mar 26, 2025
How The Studio pokes fun at the inner workings of Hollywood, and the new memoir The Tell
Mar 25, 2025
The Severance finale, and why you kind of recognize every actor in The White Lotus
Mar 24, 2025
The whole Snow White controversy explained, and the winners of Canada Reads
Mar 21, 2025
What happened to The Hudson's Bay Company?
Mar 20, 2025
Netflix's Adolescence and the radicalization of boys, and change at Loewe and Balenciaga
Mar 19, 2025
Come From Away hits different now, and HBO's The Pitt
Mar 18, 2025
How does Top Chef: Destination Canada represent our food?
Mar 17, 2025
Watch or skip: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Can I Get a Witness? & The Electric State
Mar 14, 2025
Does algospeak like 'seggs' and 'unalive' affect free speech? And the blockbuster Ne Zha 2
Mar 13, 2025
Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17, and the problem with Law & Order Toronto's episode about encampments
Mar 12, 2025
Tory Lanez and the politics of recording an album in prison
Mar 11, 2025
Does it make sense to revoke Buffy Sainte-Marie's Juno Awards and Polaris Prizes?
Mar 10, 2025
Lady Gaga returns with pop album, Mayhem
Mar 07, 2025
How can artists meet Canada's new patriotism moment?
Mar 06, 2025
Small Achievable Goals and menopause on the screen, and G-DRAGON's big comeback
Mar 05, 2025
Meghan Markle’s big rebrand, and Anora’s portrayal of sex work
Mar 04, 2025
Anora wins big, and other big moments and snubs from the Oscars
Mar 03, 2025
P.K. Subban and the state of the NBA, and the new doc series Court of Gold
Feb 28, 2025
Is the pop culture narrative about the ideals of journalism still true? And the show 'A Thousand Blows'
Feb 27, 2025
Can fashion shows meet the moment? And Xavier Trudeau's new song
Feb 26, 2025
What the new Amazon deal means for 007, and China's Korean culture ban
Feb 25, 2025
Will Tate McRae's new album launch her onto pop's A-List, and Christie's first all-AI art auction
Feb 24, 2025
The race for Best Picture and the politics of Oscar campaigns
Feb 21, 2025
Kennedy Center cancellations, and the film Morningside
Feb 20, 2025
The White Lotus S3, and hockey nationalism
Feb 19, 2025
Captain America: Brave New World is a mess
Feb 18, 2025
Dog Man, Paddington in Peru, and Lilly Singh's return to YouTube
Feb 17, 2025
Drake and PartyNextDoor's collab album, and Bridget Jones is back
Feb 14, 2025
Where do we go from here with Kanye West, and the season finale of Mo
Feb 13, 2025
Two new docs spotlight Jamaican music, and the Juno noms are out
Feb 12, 2025
An Update On Our Family reveals the troubling side of family vlogging, and Disco's Revenge is here
Feb 11, 2025
How Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show landed, and remembering Irv Gotti
Feb 10, 2025
The global struggle to hold back American cultural dominance
Feb 07, 2025
Trinidad Killa and an Inuit slur, and BookTok hit I Who Have Never Known Men
Feb 06, 2025
Boycotting America and the meaning of cultural resistance in Canada
Feb 05, 2025
Tariff uncertainty and what it means for Canadian studios and creators, and Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here
Feb 04, 2025
Highlights and big moments of the 2025 Grammys
Feb 03, 2025
Emilia Pérez star embroiled in controversy over offensive tweets, and The Weeknd's new album is here
Jan 31, 2025
YouTube star Ms.Rachel's move to Netflix, and highlights of Sundance 2025
Jan 30, 2025
How Tom Green changed TV
Jan 29, 2025
Rebecca Yarros dominates with Onyx Storm, and a new Broken Social Scene documentary
Jan 28, 2025
The Brutalist's AI accent controversy, and rewatch podcasts
Jan 27, 2025
Oscar noms are out, SZA and Keke Palmer's buddy movie, Mac Miller's new record
Jan 24, 2025
Canada Reads 2025 books reveal
Jan 23, 2025
Is Spotify good for music? And the Australian Open serves animated tennis
Jan 22, 2025
The cultural significance of Trump’s inauguration
Jan 21, 2025
TikTok’s uncertain future and Severance season 2
Jan 20, 2025
Remembering David Lynch, The Last Show Girl, and the Robbie Williams biopic
Jan 17, 2025
Why everyone is raving about Nickel Boys and how Neil Young tried to change streaming
Jan 16, 2025
Why aren't more TV shows and movies taking on climate change?
Jan 15, 2025
'The Culture' exhibit and how hip-hop is valued in major art institutions
Jan 14, 2025
The end of fact checking on Meta, and the future of social media
Jan 13, 2025
Bad Bunny's new album, and how the relationship between artists and fame has changed
Jan 10, 2025
How the comedy series North of North depicts Inuit culture in a new way, and the latest Wallace & Gromit movie
Jan 09, 2025
What Justin Trudeau’s relationship with pop culture tells us about the moment
Jan 08, 2025
WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw enters its Netflix era
Jan 07, 2025
Awards season kicks off with surprise wins at the Golden Globes
Jan 06, 2025
What Bob Dylan experts are saying about A Complete Unknown
Jan 03, 2025
Beyoncé at the Grammys, Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl: The music stories we're watching for in 2025
Jan 02, 2025
What we're watching in 2025: Severance, Star Trek and more
Jan 01, 2025
Canadian literature's tumultuous year
Dec 31, 2024
Celebrating L.M. Montgomery's 150th and the many lives of Anne Shirley
Dec 30, 2024
The most underrated movies and TV shows of 2024
Dec 27, 2024
Squid Game is back at last — but can season 2 deliver on expectations? (No spoilers)
Dec 26, 2024
Does Get Millie Black get Jamaica right?
Dec 24, 2024
The big stories in fashion that shaped 2024
Dec 23, 2024
The winners and losers of pop culture in 2024
Dec 20, 2024
How YouTube is changing kids TV, and why authors are still boycotting the Giller Prize
Dec 19, 2024
Balatro and the highs and lows of gaming in 2024, and Jamie Foxx's Netflix special
Dec 18, 2024
Canadian music in 2024 and who ruled our playlists
Dec 17, 2024
Snoop Dogg teams up with Dr. Dre again, and why The Brutalist is getting awards season buzz
Dec 16, 2024
What Hawk Tuah and the tradwife trend tell us about the internet in 2024
Dec 13, 2024
The potential consequences of the Jay-Z allegations, and the TV adaptation of Interior Chinatown
Dec 12, 2024
One year after the Buffy Sainte-Marie investigation, what has changed for Indigenous artists?
Dec 11, 2024
The online reaction to the suspect in the insurance CEO killing, and Interstellar is back in theatres
Dec 10, 2024
How the Eras Tour changed everything – for Taylor, and for the music industry
Dec 09, 2024
The maple syrup heist TV show, and what makes a Christmas movie work
Dec 06, 2024
What Disney gets wrong about Moana
Dec 05, 2024
Brain rot and this moment in online culture
Dec 04, 2024
Why some Canadian screenwriters are pushing back against AI, and Dune: Prophecy is here
Dec 03, 2024
How AI is shaping the future of book publishing, and the Céline Dion musical Titanique
Dec 02, 2024
Does Moana 2 deliver on the hype, and viral celebrity lookalike contests
Nov 29, 2024
The barriers facing Canadian Black artists, and Silo season 2 is here
Nov 28, 2024
Kendrick's surprise album, and Drake's surprise legal action
Nov 27, 2024
Why people can't stop talking about Emilia Pérez
Nov 26, 2024
Our relationship with 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', and Rust premieres
Nov 25, 2024
Gladiator II and Wicked are finally here
Nov 22, 2024
Shawn Mendes leans into folk on comeback album
Nov 21, 2024
My Old Ass charms audiences, and do we still need the Sexiest Man Alive?
Nov 20, 2024
Author Ian Williams on the Giller Prize and navigating the tensions in CanLit
Nov 19, 2024
Jake Paul v. Mike Tyson, and Say Nothing and its depiction of the Troubles
Nov 18, 2024
What happens when Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour comes to town?
Nov 15, 2024
Are reality shows keeping their contestants safe, and what X looks like post-election
Nov 14, 2024
What the Grammy nominations tell us about pop music right now, and the Megan Thee Stallion documentary
Nov 13, 2024
Heretic gives us a sinister Hugh Grant, and Somebody Somewhere's final season
Nov 12, 2024
Filmmaker Steve McQueen tackles race and class in World War II film Blitz
Nov 11, 2024
What Yellowstone tells us about America right now
Nov 08, 2024
Tyler the Creator at the top of his game, and My Dead Mom
Nov 07, 2024
What Trump's win says about pop culture's role in Presidential races
Nov 06, 2024
The brilliance of Quincy Jones
Nov 05, 2024
Kamala Harris on SNL, Tom Hanks's new film Here and the Hallmark Christmas movie season has started
Nov 04, 2024
Three CBC defenders respond to calls to defund the CBC
Nov 01, 2024
Tony Hinchcliffe and mixing comedy and politics, and Indigenous horror
Oct 31, 2024
Three critics on the future of the CBC
Oct 30, 2024
The legacy of Vince Carter, and the backlash to WWE's Bad Blood
Oct 29, 2024
Beyonce at the Kamala Harris rally, and a new Martha Stewart documentary
Oct 28, 2024
Does the Vatican thriller Conclave preach to our times, and Hasan Minhaj's Netflix special
Oct 25, 2024
The horror movies haunting our spooky season
Oct 24, 2024
Why Andrew Garfield's sincerity is working
Oct 23, 2024
Anora is already an Oscar frontrunner, and Fan Bingbing’s return to acting
Oct 22, 2024
How The Daily Wire's film Am I Racist? shapes the culture war, and Han Kang's translation
Oct 21, 2024
How Liam Payne's death has been covered
Oct 18, 2024
Two Palestinian artists reflect on how the war has affected their art
Oct 17, 2024
Dragons' Den goes viral over boba tea, and Culinary Class Wars
Oct 16, 2024
Who gets to claim Fred Perry? And The Franchise
Oct 15, 2024
K-os's iconic album Joyful Rebellion turns 20
Oct 14, 2024
Alfonso Cuaron's new show Disclaimer is finally here, and Ali Wong's new special
Oct 11, 2024
Kamala's interview on Call Her Daddy, and the Slow Horses finale
Oct 10, 2024
The Tragically Hip docuseries and who defines the legacy of the Hip
Oct 09, 2024
Mustafa's new album, Dunya, is a masterpiece
Oct 08, 2024
Jewish creators reflect on Oct. 7 and how art shapes memory
Oct 07, 2024
The film Saturday Night, and SNL's ongoing identity crisis
Oct 04, 2024
Wrestling with Vince McMahon's legacy, and The Death Tour brings wrestling to the north
Oct 03, 2024
Ellen DeGeneres' farewell to comedy, and the steamy new medical drama Doctor Odyssey
Oct 02, 2024
How the TV series So Long, Marianne reimagines the muse, and a new South Asian category at the Junos
Oct 01, 2024
How Indigenous Futurism is changing the conversation
Sep 30, 2024
Megalopolis is divisive, and the return of George Clooney and Brad Pitt
Sep 27, 2024
What the Diddy allegations mean for the music industry, and the allure of The Wild Robot
Sep 26, 2024
What Will & Harper gets right, and how Sally Rooney became a brand
Sep 25, 2024
Trudeau's late-night TV debut with Stephen Colbert, and the adaptation of My Brilliant Friend
Sep 24, 2024
Mr. Beast's reality show is a mess, and the dominance of Penguin Random House
Sep 23, 2024
How The Substance tackles aging in Hollywood, and Katy Perry's messy album rollout
Sep 20, 2024
The exploitation of Black artists, and recycled red carpet looks
Sep 19, 2024
HBO's The Penguin is finally here, and LL Cool J's new album
Sep 18, 2024
How an onstage fight ended the Jane's Addiction reunion tour, and how is Raygun ranked No.1?
Sep 17, 2024
Highlights from the 2024 Emmys, and a surprising winner at TIFF
Sep 16, 2024
Beyoncé’s CMA snub, Kendrick at the Super Bowl, Linkin Park’s new singer
Sep 13, 2024
TIFF in 12: The controversy over the Russians at War documentary
Sep 13, 2024
TIFF in 12: The profound horniness of Babygirl, and the dilemma of Canadian movies
Sep 12, 2024
The eliminated Juno categories, and The Perfect Couple on Netflix
Sep 12, 2024
TIFF In 12: How body horror shows up in films like Nightbitch, The Substance, and The Shrouds
Sep 11, 2024
Why the U.S. presidential debate made for great TV, and Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala
Sep 11, 2024
What the Netflix movie Rebel Ridge gets right, and the fight to release The Apprentice
Sep 10, 2024
TIFF in 12: Emilia Pérez is the surprise at the festival, and The Bibi Files documentary
Sep 10, 2024
TIFF In 12: Rad & Teri's chaotic weekend, Anora, and Paying For It
Sep 09, 2024
How APTN changed Indigenous film and television
Sep 09, 2024
What you need to know about TIFF 2024, and Beetlejuice returns
Sep 06, 2024
The controversy surrounding ELLE Canada’s list of influential Canadian women
Sep 05, 2024
The English Teacher tackles woke culture in the classroom, and a new era in MILF cinema
Sep 04, 2024
The brilliance of Pachinko, and champion eaters Chestnut and Kobayashi go head-to-head
Sep 03, 2024
All the fall TV shows you need to know
Sep 02, 2024
Why is Ronald Reagan so hard to capture in film? And, Only Murders in the Building returns
Aug 30, 2024
The Paralympic Games start in Paris, and Netflix's Worst Ex Ever
Aug 29, 2024
What we can learn from the end of Bennifer 2.0, and the surprising history of Krautrock
Aug 28, 2024
Don't look back in anger: the Oasis reunion is happening. How we got here.
Aug 27, 2024
Why don't men read fiction, and are the Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial plays actually good?
Aug 26, 2024
The Crow reboot, and what Lil Jon, Jason Isbell and the DNC performances mean for the election
Aug 23, 2024
How racism shows up on book covers and what this says about the publishing industry
Aug 22, 2024
Chappell Roan, Halsey, and when fan culture goes too far
Aug 21, 2024
Looking back on the legacy of daytime TV pioneer Phil Donahue
Aug 20, 2024
Anna Marie Tendler's new memoir digs deep into her own mental health and past relationships
Aug 19, 2024
Post Malone's turn towards country music, and the Eras Tour resumes again
Aug 16, 2024
The backlash towards that John Krasinski Rogers ad, and Tyler Perry's latest film
Aug 15, 2024
The rise and fall of 90s TV psychic Miss Cleo, and the Kneecap movie
Aug 14, 2024
It Ends With Us and the Colleen Hoover fandom, and Industry’s season 3
Aug 13, 2024
A star-studded Olympics wrap
Aug 12, 2024
Why celebrities are celebrating Vybz Kartel's prison release
Aug 09, 2024
Will Kamala's Hollywood glow hurt her on election day, and the prison drama Sing Sing
Aug 08, 2024
Dirty Pop doc and the fraud behind your favourite 90s boy bands
Aug 07, 2024
House of the Dragon finale, and why everyone is talking about Didi
Aug 06, 2024
How The Matrix shaped our relationship to technology and politics
Aug 05, 2024
Some fans are mad that Robert Downey Jr. is back as Doctor Doom. Will it pay off for Marvel?
Aug 02, 2024
How Cigarettes After Sex became the cult band of the moment,and why surfing is so boring to watch on TV
Aug 01, 2024
How streaming and TikTok have changed the Olympics
Jul 31, 2024
Commotion Introduces | Olympic FOMO: Canada's Golden Girls
Jul 30, 2024
NewJeans, Hybe, and the battle at the heart of K-pop, and Rema's new album HEIS
Jul 30, 2024
How Miranda July's All Fours became the book of the summer, and College Football 25
Jul 29, 2024
Can Deadpool and Wolverine end the Marvel slump? And the return of the Olympics
Jul 26, 2024
Childish Gambino's new album, and a look at Donald Glover's career
Jul 25, 2024
Apple's streaming service has the best shows, why is no one watching? And K-pop goes primetime
Jul 24, 2024
Kamala Harris and the meme campaign, and breakdancing at the Olympics
Jul 23, 2024
Twisters makes Glen Powell a star, and the millennial midlife crisis
Jul 22, 2024
The photo of Trump’s assassination attempt, in pop culture and memes
Jul 19, 2024
Katy Perry's botched comeback, and the New York Times best books of the 21st century
Jul 18, 2024
Dozens of Canadian writers protest the Giller Prize’s relationship with Scotiabank
Jul 17, 2024
Eminem's legacy and the death of Slim Shady
Jul 16, 2024
American politics is broken, what's the role of late night and political satirists?
Jul 15, 2024
Is Nicolas Cage's Longlegs the scariest movie of the year so far?
Jul 12, 2024
Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us video, and Hollywood turning its back on Biden
Jul 11, 2024
Like many of her characters, Alice Munro betrayed her own daughter
Jul 10, 2024
How Despicable Me became a juggernaut franchise, and Emma Stone's freak era continues in Kinds of Kindness
Jul 09, 2024
Why some artists are turning to OnlyFans
Jul 08, 2024
The year in music so far, and what is the song of the summer?
Jul 05, 2024
Is Will Smith's comeback complete?
Jul 04, 2024
Why Fancy Dance is a turning point for Indigenous cinema
Jul 03, 2024
Kanye gutted a house by a famous architect, and The Last Timbit musical
Jul 02, 2024
Carley Fortune brings out Canada's romantic side
Jul 01, 2024
The Bear is back, what does it tell us about friendship?
Jun 28, 2024
How Slave Play changed the conversation around theatre, and Céline Dion's new doc
Jun 27, 2024
How Joni Mitchell shaped how we talk about music
Jun 26, 2024
A new podcast about the internet's most viral moments, and why aren't people wearing headphones?
Jun 25, 2024
Living in Charli XCX's Brat world, and how the alt-right is co-opting dance music
Jun 24, 2024
Bonus: How to celebrate National Indigenous People’s Day all summer long
Jun 21, 2024
Remembering Donald Sutherland, highlights at the Indspire Awards and the new cheerleading movie Backspot
Jun 21, 2024
What Hollywood gets wrong about age-gap relationships, and the new Black Barbie documentary
Jun 20, 2024
How Tubi became a streaming giant, and A24's film Tuesday
Jun 19, 2024
Celebrating Céline Dion ahead of her upcoming documentary
Jun 18, 2024
Getting ready for summer theatre season, and Wu-Tang Clan's rare album finally sees the light
Jun 17, 2024
Does Inside Out 2 make puberty fun? And the new action/comedy Hit Man
Jun 14, 2024
Presumed Innocent and why everything seems to be getting a reboot
Jun 13, 2024
Does the true crime genre do justice to the story of Reena Virk's murder?
Jun 12, 2024
How a lawsuit could change the future of reggaeton, and the new doc How Music Got Free
Jun 11, 2024
Why are women still underplayed on Canadian radio? And Netflix's Dancing For the Devil
Jun 10, 2024
New Alec Baldwin reality show and "Wah Gwan Drake?"
Jun 07, 2024
The fight to make orchestras and music schools safer for women
Jun 06, 2024
What does the popularity of Tires on Netflix tell us about comedy?
Jun 05, 2024
Celebrating the Nelly Furtado-sance, and the Big Cigar
Jun 04, 2024
Is this the best season of Hacks yet? And a CSA recap
Jun 03, 2024
Ilana Glazer's new movie Babes, and Lizzo's name-drop on South Park
May 31, 2024
From Jennifer Lopez to The Black Keys, why aren't concerts selling well?
May 30, 2024
What's the way out of Hollywood's box office crisis?
May 29, 2024
Can 50 Cent be trusted with the upcoming Diddy documentary? And Netflix's big bet on Korean TV
May 28, 2024
The finale of the Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, and the King’s portrait
May 27, 2024
Did Apple Music's list of 100 Best Albums make you mad?
May 24, 2024
How Black Twitter changed the culture
May 23, 2024
Billie Eilish is a different kind of pop star
May 22, 2024
Megalopolis, Furiosa, and all the highlights from Cannes 2024
May 21, 2024
How Stax Records changed music forever
May 20, 2024
Bridgerton is back, and why no one seems to like the Amy Winehouse movie
May 17, 2024
Can Oprah make amends for her role in popularizing diet culture, and the new X-men '97 adaptation
May 16, 2024
Remembering Alice Munro
May 15, 2024
What needs to change when the WNBA comes to Canada, and soap operas done TikTok style
May 14, 2024
The most political Eurovision in recent memory, and Randy Travis's AI song
May 13, 2024
Baby Reindeer's real Martha speaks, and that Apple ad
May 10, 2024
Misogynoir underscores the Drake and Kendrick beef, and John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.
May 09, 2024
Is the music industry built for mothers?
May 08, 2024
The 2024 Met Gala highlights and Luxe Listings Toronto
May 07, 2024
The Fall Guy and the future of the blockbuster
May 06, 2024
Anne Hathaway's Idea of You, and Dua Lipa's star moment
May 03, 2024
Did Kendrick win the beef? And Seinfeld says the 'extreme left' killed comedy
May 02, 2024
MAILBAG: The Tortured Poets Department and this moment in Taylor Swift
May 02, 2024
What happens to TikTok now? And the new Bon Jovi docu-series
May 01, 2024
Why Burton Cummings is trying to stop his old band from playing his songs
Apr 30, 2024
Why people can't stop thinking about Baby Reindeer, and the plight of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi
Apr 29, 2024
Weinstein's court win, and Zendaya's moment in Challengers
Apr 26, 2024
Commotion Introduces: Split Screen: Kid Nation
Apr 25, 2024
The lasting influence of soul artist Jackie Shane
Apr 25, 2024
Unpacking the Shōgun finale, and can we Scrabble Together?
Apr 24, 2024
Do true crime stories help or exploit? And unpacking Drake's new diss track
Apr 23, 2024
How theatres are being tricked by AI, and the dark comedy The Sympathizer comes to TV
Apr 22, 2024
Diving into Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department
Apr 19, 2024
An Israeli artist's statement on the world's biggest art stage
Apr 18, 2024
Civil War is at the top of the box office, but what is it trying to say?
Apr 17, 2024
How covering O.J. Simpson reshaped entertainment
Apr 16, 2024
Kill Tony is one of the biggest comedy shows right now, and The People's Joker is finally out
Apr 15, 2024
Fallout, Netflix's Ripley, and J.Cole's diss track saga and whether artist rivalries make for better art
Apr 12, 2024
Scoop and the interview that ended Prince Andrew’s career
Apr 11, 2024
A searching conversation with Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha
Apr 10, 2024
Where did all the blunt cultural criticism go?, and trouble in the small press world
Apr 09, 2024
WrestleMania 40 was a turning point for WWE
Apr 08, 2024