Big Shiny Takes

We are back, and have an episode for you that we recorded in person!
Jeremy came back to the very nice and fun city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a visit, so instead of hanging out we recorded an all-timer episode. We were joined by the amazing Bronwen Tucker (@bronwentucker) from Climate Justice Edmonton and the incredible Stefan Hostetter (@Steho)_ of Green Majority Radio to talk about Canadian punditry's pathetic attempts to talk about the climate.
The first column we cover this week is one written by Jesse Kline. Kline desperately attempts to use the Liberal Party's new environment minister Steven Guilbeault as a way of framing the current government's environmental policies as radical. Of course, this is pure fantasy.
We then dive into a Rex Murphy climate change denial column, but that's in our bonus feed. For as little as $3 a month, you can get access to that episode, and our entire back catalogue of Big Shiny Bonus Takes!
Plugs and Recs
Six hours of oil and gas CEOs getting owned in CongressMorgan Campbell: If Edward Rogers referred to Masai Ujiri as 'arrogant,' he gave the game away

Dan Darrah: “Foreign Investors” Aren’t Causing Canada’s Housing Crisis. Capitalism Is.

Follow us on TwitchMarino's inferior TwitchJeremy's Substack

Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.
If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!

If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

The Big Shiny Takes Institute is back with a great episode with the incredible Aaron Giovannone. We read a lot of terrible columns, but we rarely get to take a deep dive into the psyche of one of the country's more established columnists.
Aaron brought an essay Rosie Dimanno wrote in the late 90's about growing up in Little Italy in Toronto. We go into it, and talk about the points she fixates on, and the points she may have missed.
This is a super fun episode and you shouldn't miss it!
Plugs and Recs
The Breach - Aaron Giovannone - Leonard Cohen, Cold War Troubadour
Green Majority Radio - The Substance and Spectacle of Climate Talks
CBC - WE Charity misled donors about building schools in Kenya, records show

Kino Lefter - Mayor Pete: Liberal ASMR with Alex from Haus of Decline
Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.
If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!

If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

It's our opinion at the Big Shiny Takes Institute that billionaires have it too hard. Yeah sure they have unlimited access to resources, are able to shape policy to benefit themselves and have the power of small nation-states – but have you considered how difficult it must be to have someone be mean to you on the internet?
Paris Marx (@parismarx), host of Tech Won't Save Us (@techwontsaveus) explains why there should be room for criticism of all billionaires while we read through one of the most tedious pieces of unfettered PR for Elon Musk that has ever been written. It's a piece in the Guardian by Canadian Gen X icon (lol) Douglas Coupland, so we're allowed to make fun of it.
Plugs and Recs
Tech Won't Save UsThe Appel Orchard (Jeremy's Substack, everyone subscribe!)
Worst Columnist in Canada Contest (Final begins Monday!)
Rawan Abdelbaki: Erin O'Toole is no ally of labour - he's a con-man
Robert Hiltz - The Communist Party Benefits Us All
and of course, Spiderman 2

If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

This week we've got Rob Rousseau (@robrousseau) on the show to talk about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after taking a detour through volunteer scabs, Calgary Herald ace Licia Corbella and who Rob thinks will take home the gold in our Worst Pundit contest.
Former British soldier David Mack writes in the Globe and Mail that the U.S. must stay in Afghanistan for at least another 20-30 years, crying crocodile tears for all the Afghans who will now be under Taliban rule.
We've let down Afghans, he says, ignoring completely everything that's happened in the past 50 years that contributed to the Taliban's rise.
If you'd like to hear part two, where we discuss automation by way of a piece in Rob's hometown paper and decide which is worse, sign up for our Patreon to have it in your feed next week.
Plugs and Recs
Marino joins Haus of DeclineThe Rob Rousseau ShowEduardo Galeano: Open Veins of Latin America
Jeremy: Can Systemic Racism In Policing Be Fixed?
Kim Stanley Robinson: a climate plan for a world in flamesImperial Newz on Twitch Big Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.
If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!

If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.

Aliya Pabani of the Encampment Support Network, and host of We Are Not the Virus, joins us to talk about Toronto Mayor John Tory's "reasonable, firm, but compassionate" war on homeless encampments in the city.
We come by this through a column from newly-minted National Post ghoul Adam Zivo, who writes that the violent displacement of unhoused people from the city's encampments, like the one at Lamport Stadium, were in fact a victory for the working class, as if no working people are unhoused.
In case you're wondering what kinda guy Zivo is, he describes himself as an LGBTQ activist, "with a focus on incremental change and private sector sponsorships."
Plugs and Recs
Support the Encampment Support Network!Follow our Canada's Worst Columnist contest!We Are Not the Virus

Brett Story: How Does It End? Story and the Property FormVincent Bevins: The Jakarta MethodDanielle Paradis: The UCP Knew the Inequitable Impacts of COVID-19 All AlongThe Bottlemen: Victims of Victims of CommunismBig Shiny Takes is a proud part of the Harbinger Media Network. Theme music is by Jack Dump.
If you like our show, give us a follow on social media, @bigshinytakes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, or give us some money at Patreon to unlock bonus content!

If you enjoyed this episode make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
For more Big Shiny Takes, sign up to our bonus feed here.