UNLOCK 36.1 Asking Liberals: “Do You Condemn Imperialism?”

UNLOCK 36.1 Asking Liberals: “Do You Condemn Imperialism?”

Following up on my conversation with Toronto comedian Nour Hadidi: I'm haunted by one detail from the harassment campaign against her. It's about how she posted the clip of Al Jazeera bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh refusing Christiane Amanpour's question, "Do you wish Hamas had never committed October 7th?" by dismantling its premise entirely. I look at Adam Johnson's research on the "Do you condemn Hamas" formula as a media disciplining strategy, Frantz Fanon's analysis of the colonized intellectual required to perform Western values before being heard, Charles Cobb's history of the nonviolence demand inside the civil rights movement, and communications scholar Zohar Kampf's empirical study of adversarial ethnopolitical interviews. Kampf identifies six options for interviewees facing the condemnation ritual, and only one of them doesn't feel like caving.  SOURCES Al Jazeera Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh Slammed CNN — YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UmkvOYMco] Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi — Citations Needed podcast [https://citationsneeded.com/] Noura Erakat — Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine — Stanford University Press [https://www.sup.org/books/law/justice-some] Frantz Fanon — The Wretched of the Earth — Grove Press [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/118753/the-wretched-of-the-earth-by-frantz-fanon/] Charles Cobb — This Nonviolence Stuff'll Get You Killed — Duke University Press [https://www.dukeupress.edu/this-nonviolence-stuff-ll-get-you-killed] Zohar Kampf — "Do You Condemn?" chapter in The Discourse of Indirectness — John Benjamins [https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.331] Edward Said — Covering Islam — Penguin Random House [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159777/covering-islam-by-edward-w-said/] Ramzy Baroud — My Father Was a Freedom Fighter — Pluto Press [https://www.plutobooks.com/9781783714124/my-father-was-a-freedom-fighter/] The Onion — Dying Gazans Criticized for Not Using Last Words to Condemn Hamas [https://www.theonion.com/] Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/] * Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/matthewremski.bsky.social] * Instagram: @matthew_remski [https://www.instagram.com/matthew_remski/] * YouTube: @antifascistdad [https://www.youtube.com/@antifascistdad] * TikTok: [@antifascistdad] * Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast [https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast] * Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/]

37. Enough is Enough w/ Dean and Matt of The Magnificast, pt 1

I'm joined today by Dean Dettloff and Matt Bernico, co-hosts of The Magnificast podcast and the authors of a brilliant new book, Enough is Enough: Degrowth, Capitalism, and Liberation Theology, out now from Fortress Press. We start with some basics: what the Magnificat is and why secular leftists should care about it, what "enough is enough" actually means across its political, economic, and spiritual dimensions, and why working within a contradictory religious tradition might be a lot like keeping one's faith in leftism. Also: was St. Francis of Assisi a proto-socialist? Was he neurodivergent? And how about the Global South rise and Global North suppression of liberation theology? In this era of Pope Leo: does the church still metabolize radical ideas into liberal poetry?  Cool stuff for anyone trying to understand the antifascist religious left that JD Vance doesn't want you to know exists. * Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/matthewremski.bsky.social] * Instagram: @matthew_remski [https://www.instagram.com/matthew_remski/] * YouTube: @antifascistdad [https://www.youtube.com/@antifascistdad] * TikTok: [@antifascistdad] * Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast [https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast] * Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/] SOURCES Enough is Enough: Degrowth, Capitalism, and Liberation Theology — Bernico and Dettloff, Fortress Press [https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9798889830795/Enough-Is-Enough] The Magnificast podcast [https://themagnificast.com/] Christianity on the Spectrum podcast [https://christianityonthespectrum.podbean.com/] A Theology of Failure — Marika Rose, Fordham University Press [https://fordhampress.com/a-theology-of-failure-hb-9780823284078.html] Vampyroteuthis Infernalis — Vilém Flusser, University of Minnesota Press [https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816678228/vampyroteuthis-infernalis/] The Silencing of Leonardo Boff — Harvey Cox [https://www.amazon.com/Silencing-Leonardo-Boff-Vatican-Christianity/dp/0940989352] People of God: The Struggle for World Catholicism — Penny Lernoux [https://www.amazon.com/People-God-Struggle-World-Catholicism/dp/014009816X] A Theology of Liberation — Gustavo Gutierrez [https://www.amazon.com/Theology-Liberation-History-Politics-Salvation/dp/0883441632] Laudato Si — Pope Francis [https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html]

UNLOCK 35.1 “AI for All” of Carney’s Friends

Update episode on the Carney government's national AI strategy, "AI for All," released June 4, 2026. The document's most-used word is "sovereignty" — appearing 51 times — while "emissions," "climate," "consent," "Palantir," and "Amazon" appear nada. I trace the political etymology of "sovereignty" from First Nations liberation discourse through working-class populism to its current deployment by the Davos class as branding for capital accumulation. I also examine AI Minister Evan Solomon's performance on CBC Front Burner, where he dodged nine accountability questions in thirty minutes using the word "trust" as a revolving door. Finally, a look at Dr. Jason Edward Lewis's Indigenous AI epistemology framework and the concept of "data colonization." Because the familiar crime now reanimated against Indigenous communities through AI infrastructure is a template for what is coming for us all. SOURCES Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All [https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/canadas-national-artificial-intelligence-strategy-ai-all] CBC Front Burner: Minister Defends Canada's New AI Strategy — Transcript [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/minister-defends-canadas-new-ai-strategy-transcript-9.7224834] DeSmog: Carney Allowed Gas-powered AI Data Centres After Lobbying From Alberta Energy Company [https://www.desmog.com/2026/02/25/carney-allowed-gas-powered-ai-centres-after-lobbying-from-alberta-energy-company/] Project Ploughshares: Setting the Record Straight on Canada's Arms Exports to Israel [https://www.ploughshares.ca/publications/ploughshares-statement-setting-the-record-straight-on-canadas-arms-exports-to-israel] CJPME: Canada's Record-Breaking 2023 Military Exports to Israel [https://www.cjpme.org/pr_2024_06_04_military_exports_data] APTN News: What's Behind Canada's Sovereign AI Plan? [https://www.aptnnews.ca/infocus/infocus-whats-behind-canadas-sovereign-ai-plan/] Intercontinental Cry: Ancestral Intelligence — How Indigenous Knowledge Informs AI and Data Ethics [https://icmagazine.org/ancestral-intelligence-how-indigenous-knowledge-informs-ai-and-data-ethics/] Policy Options: AI Threatens Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Digital Self-Determination [https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/05/ai-indigenous-data/] Assembly of First Nations: Brief to Parliamentary Committee on Bill C-27 [https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/INDU/Brief/BR12885140/br-external/AssemblyOfFirstNations-e.pdf] Canada's National Observer: Three Quarters of Data Centre Sites Planned in Alberta Are in High Water Stress Areas [https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/investigations/alberta-data-centres-water-supply] The Intercept: Philly Cops Admit They're Tracking First Amendment Activity Critical of AI [https://theintercept.com/2026/06/01/ai-data-center-protest-police-surveillance/] Abacus Data: Canadians Split on AI Data Centres [https://abacusdata.ca/canadians-split-on-ai-data-centres-as-cost-concerns-and-local-opposition-emerge/] Abundant Intelligences Project — Dr. Jason Edward Lewis, Concordia University [https://www.concordia.ca/research/indigenous-futures.html] * matthewremski.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/matthewremski.bsky.social] * @matthew_remski [https://www.instagram.com/matthew_remski/] * @antifascistdad [https://www.youtube.com/@antifascistdad] * @antifascistdad [https://www.tiktok.com/@antifascistdad] * antifascistdadpodcast [https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast] * Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/]

36. Stand-up for Gaza w/ Nour Hadidi

I sit down with Jordanian-Canadian comedian, writer, and podcaster Nour Hadidi to talk about standup as survival, solidarity with Gaza, and what it means to do political comedy in a liberal industry that wants your watermelon emoji but not your actual politics. We discuss her journey from a finance 9-5 to standup, to standup in a radical register that helped her discover who she was and what her values are. She also tells few jokes. SOURCES Nour Hadidi — The Noursletter on Substack [https://nourhadidi.substack.com] Nour Hadidi Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/nourhadidi] Comedians for Palestine on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/comediansforpalestine] Al Jazeera Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh Slammed CNN — YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UmkvOYMco] Vivian Silver Impact Award — New Israel Fund Canada [https://www.newisraelfund.ca] Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto — Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/pymtoronto] Global March to Gaza — Coalition Against Israeli Occupation [https://www.globalmarchtogaza.org] Anera — Gaza humanitarian aid [https://www.anera.org] UNRWA — United Nations Relief and Works Agency [https://www.unrwa.org] Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/] * Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/matthewremski.bsky.social] * Instagram: @matthew_remski [https://www.instagram.com/matthew_remski/] * YouTube: @antifascistdad [https://www.youtube.com/@antifascistdad] * TikTok: [@antifascistdad] * Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast [https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast] * Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/]

UNLOCK 34.1 Looks Like Jonathan Haidt Did a Moral Panic

Jonathan Haidt recently padded his bestselling career by telling worried parents that their kids' anxiety was caused by smartphones and social media — and that the fix was bans. I always thought the argument was depoliticized, correlational, and suspiciously convenient for parents who'd rather blame a device than interrogate the world they've handed their children. Now the research is catching up. Psychologist Jen Lumanlan's challenge in Psychology Today exposed the romanticized and racially selective "golden age" childhood Haidt keeps gesturing toward. A major NBER working paper from Allcott et al. studied over 1,300 US schools using Yondr pouches and found near-zero academic effects. A Dutch study by Vanluydt et al. in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence found that full bans may actually undermine school belonging, especially for girls. Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas does what Haidt won't: it plants digital technology inside a structural critique of platform capitalism. That's the conversation I want to have. * Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/matthewremski.bsky.social] * Instagram: @matthew_remski [https://www.instagram.com/matthew_remski/] * YouTube: @antifascistdad [https://www.youtube.com/@antifascistdad] * TikTok: [@antifascistdad] * Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast [https://www.patreon.com/antifascistdadpodcast] * Order Antifascist Dad [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/] SOURCES Jen Lumanlan, "What Research Really Shows About School Phone Bans," Psychology Today, July 2025 [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parenting-beyond-power/202507/what-research-really-shows-about-school-phone-bans] Hunt Allcott, E. Jason Baron, Thomas Dee, Angela L. Duckworth, Matthew Gentzkow, and Brian Jacob, "The Effects of School Phone Bans: National Evidence from Lockable Pouches," NBER Working Paper No. 35132, April 2026 [https://www.nber.org/papers/w35132] E. Vanluydt, R. van den Eijnden, L. Vonk et al., "Disconnect To Reconnect: How Variations between Types of Smartphone Bans Influence Students' Well-being and Social Connectedness in Dutch Secondary Education," Journal of Youth and Adolescence 55 (2026): 551–569 [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-025-02313-6] UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, "Phone Bans in Schools Are Spreading Worldwide as the Policy Debate Rages On," March 2026 [https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/en/articles/phone-bans-schools-are-spreading-worldwide-policy-debate-rages] Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas (encyclical on artificial intelligence and human dignity), May 2026 [https://time.com/article/2026/05/25/pope-leo-encyclical-ai-magnifica-humanitas/] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Penguin Press, 2024) [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/727131/the-anxious-generation-by-jonathan-haidt/]