Unmaking Saskatchewan

Feb 15 2024 29
Unmaking Saskatchewan Podcast artwork

Unmaking Saskatchewan is a proudly anticapitalist and anticolonial podcast series on how the province of Saskatchewan was made - and how it can be unmade. This series examines how this province's history impacts its present, and how we might be able to change its future.

Hosted by alex birrell (@abirlios), a queer settler, sometimes journalist, writer, and anti-capitalist from southern Saskatchewan.

Support the show and find transcripts at https://www.patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan.

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Devine Punishment: The Cost of Electing Conservatives (w/ Simon Enoch)

Feb 15 2024 45 mins  
In 1982 Saskatchewan elected the second Conservative government in the province's history. By the time the dust settled nine years later the province is $12 billion in debt, 12 members of the Devine government are convicted of fraud, and the Progressive Conservatives cease to exist as a political force in Saskatchewan ever again. Alex talks with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alter

The Church Must Gather: Anticipating the Rise of the Canadian Christian Right

Jan 13 2024 67 mins  
Evangelical Christians have impacted the social and political fabric of Saskatchewan for over a century, from fur-trade era missionaries to the temperance movement to the anti-trans "parent's rights" legislation. At the same time, the movement in Canada has tended towards moderation in comparison to their counterparts in the U.S. This episode examines the history of evangelicals in

Inside Saskatchewan's Evangelical Movement (w/ Dallas Verity)

Jan 01 2024 44 mins  
The evangelical movement is becoming increasingly salient in Saskatchewan politics, most recently with the passage of the anti-trans "parents' rights" legislation passed in fall 2023, legislation that had substantial backing from evangelical churches and organizations. Alex talks with Dallas Verity, a Regina resident who was raised in the church and worked as a youth pastor before

The Saskatchewan United Party

Dec 07 2023 59 mins  
The Sask United Party was registered as a political party in Saskatchewan in November 2022 and since then they've espoused a deeply fascist politic. SUP leader, Nadine Wilson, left the Sask Party caucus in September 2021 after lying about being vaccinated. The party ran its first candidate, oil executive and Evangelical Christian Jon Hromek, in the Lumsden Morse byelection in Augus

John Gormley is a Hack (w/ Jeremy Davis)

Nov 23 2023 74 mins  
More like GONE Gormley. On November 24th conservative hack and area goblin John Gormley will go off the airwaves for good after a quarter century of bloviating from the Rawlco studio. Jeremy Davis joins Alex to talk about Gormley’s legacy. Rest in piss, John!

LIVE AT BRIARPATCH'S 50TH - Is Fascism on the Rise in Saskatchewan?

Nov 09 2023 50 mins  
From the anti-trans "parents' rights" bill to the rise of the Sask United Party, the province is moving aggressively to the right. People are increasingly using the term fascism to describe what they're seeing. But fascism is a specific type of right wing politics, and it's not a term to be used lightly. So Alex dug in to the political philosophy of fascism to figure out whether th

Medicare's Lost Battle

Aug 31 2023 38 mins  
In 1944 the CCF was elected on a platform of implementing medicare. It would take 18 years for that promise to be realized...but the dream realized was a shadow of what had been proposed. How did we get here, what was the vision, and what did we lose? Find us on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan.

Lean in: Healthcare on the assembly line w/ Dr. Justin Leifso

Jun 14 2023 47 mins  
Hoshins? Check. Kaizens? Check. The support of actual healthcare professionals? No check. Lean management has been with the Saskatchewan health care system for over a decade and if we know one thing for sure, it's that health care workers hate it. This episode hears from University of Victoria professor Justin Leifso about how and why the government of Saskatchewan decided to try t

Medicare Before Tommy Douglas

Mar 13 2023 33 mins  
For better or for worse, Tommy Douglas is the figure most closely associated with Medicare in Canada. But long before the CCF was first elected in 1944, Saskatchewan people were organizing and strategizing to ensure their communities had access to doctors, nurses, hospitals, and infectious disease treatment. This episode looks at the evolution of public healthcare in the province b

Neil Stonechild and the Starlight Tours

Oct 28 2022 44 mins  
On November 29, 1990, the body of Neil Christopher Stonechild, a 17-year-old Saulteaux high school student, was found frozen in a field on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Despite his family's suspicions of foul play, less than a week after he was found, the Saskatoon Police closed the investigation into his death. It would take another 10 years - and two more freezing deaths - before N