Oxfam Inequality Report 2025: The takers not makers of billionaire colonialism
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In part one of this discussion, executive director of Oxfam Canada Lauren Ravon returns to discuss Oxfam’s latest report: . Ravon and Resh Budhu explore the extreme wealth and power of the billionaire class, this era of “billionaire colonialism” and what it will take to decolonize economies in Canada and throughout the world. According to Ravon: “I would say the highlight of this year's report is really well captured by the title Takers Not Makers, because we're focusing not just on this extreme and I'd say obscene wealth accumulation, not just the amount of wealth that's being...
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Do we need a new progressive alternative in Canada?
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In our season eight premiere, we welcome independent journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes, author, political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ricardo Tranjan and welcome back writer, social justice activist and former organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke. The group reflects on the current state of progressive politics in Canada, the Liberal legacy and the possibility of a Conservative win. They discuss the need for a new progressive alternative and wonder aloud what this could look like. Reflecting on...
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BRICS, de-dollarization and Canada in a multipolar world
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In our final episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, season seven, we are joined by author, professor and director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Radhika Desai, and author, professor and Chair of International Relations and Political Science at St. Thomas University, Dr. Shaun Narine. We discuss the shifting balance of power in global politics, BRICS, de-dollarization, the rise of Asia and the Global South, the challenges it poses to the rules-based international order of the Global North and Canada’s place within an inevitably...
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Who’s Hungry? More than ever before
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In episode six of the latest season of the Courage My Friends podcast series, co-executive director of Food Secure Canada, Marissa Alexander and executive director of North York Harvest Food Bank, Ryan Noble discuss the alarming outcomes of Toronto’s Who’s Hungry report, the growing food and poverty crisis in Toronto and across Canada and urgent actions that need to be taken by policy-makers and civil society in averting this ever-worsening crisis. Reflecting on reasons for the record number of food banks visits this year, Noble says: “It's not as if there's been a sudden shock over the...
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The Honourable Murray Sinclair: 2018 keynote address on Indigenous Ways of Knowing
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In 2018, the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College in Toronto welcomed then Senator and former head of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada, the Honourable Murray Sinclair as its keynote speaker. Through his poignant address about the impacts of Canada’s colonial history and the residential school system on the lives of Indigenous Peoples and the meaning of reconciliation, we experienced first-hand the brilliance, integrity, kindness and humour of this truly remarkable individual. The Honourable Murray Sinclair passed away on the morning of November 4, 2024. In his memory, we...
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Palestinian storytelling as resilience, recuperation and resistance
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In episode four, Palestinian storyteller Sarah Abu-Sharar joins us for our third annual Mouth Open Story Jump Out episode. Through Palestinian folktales and stories of her father, she reflects on the meaning and power of stories within Palestinian resilience, recuperation and resistance. Reflection on her journey into storytelling, Abu-Sharar says: “When I started storytelling, it had to be for Palestine because it was reclaiming my identity. It was a way of saying, the Occupation might have deprived me of my land, of my culture, but I will resist by telling our stories.” About today’s...
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EdTech, AI and platform capitalism in the classroom
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In episode three, researcher Dr. Rahul Kumar and political economist Dr. Tanner Mirrlees discuss the rise of education technology and artificial intelligence across colleges and universities, how they impact and disrupt teaching and learning, and how public post secondary education has become an incredibly lucrative business for privately owned EdTech corporations. Reflecting on the impacts of EdTech companies on education, Mirrlees says: “The very same business model that these corporations have developed and advanced in all facets of social life are now being advanced throughout the...
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Truth and reconciliation: How is Canada doing?
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Episode two welcomes research director of the Yellowhead Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, Eva Jewell and director of education, outreach and public programming at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Kaila Johnston. As we enter National Truth and Reconciliation Week, we discuss Canada’s progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and the meaning of reconciliation and reclamation in this settler-colonial state. Reflecting on Canada’s progress on reconciliation, Johnston says: “It's been the low hanging fruit or the easy Calls to...
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Climate and the city: Are we ready?
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In our season seven premiere, we welcome the managing director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy and former mayor of Toronto, David MIller. We discuss the crucial role of cities in “fixing” the climate crisis, what we can learn in building sustainable and equitable urban communities and explore the question of just how prepared Canadian cities are to meet the challenges of this crisis. Reflecting on the key role of cities in dealing with the climate crisis, Miller says: “The international community said, okay, climate change is a problem. And then they took 21 years...
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Scholasticide and solidarity: The mind and memory of Gaza
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For our fourth episode, Scholasticide and solidarity: The mind and memory of Gaza, we welcome University of Toronto professor, researcher and host of the Liberation Pedagogy Podcast, Dr. Chandni Desai and Mount Royal University professor, author and policy analyst with Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, Dr. Muhannad Ayyash. Discussing the months-long Israeli military onslaught waged on Palestinians, we focus on the destruction of Gaza’s educational systems, educators and students, the role of scholasticide within genocide and the global solidarity mobilizing across university and...
info_outlineIn episode three, researcher Dr. Rahul Kumar and political economist Dr. Tanner Mirrlees discuss the rise of education technology and artificial intelligence across colleges and universities, how they impact and disrupt teaching and learning, and how public post secondary education has become an incredibly lucrative business for privately owned EdTech corporations.
Reflecting on the impacts of EdTech companies on education, Mirrlees says:
“The very same business model that these corporations have developed and advanced in all facets of social life are now being advanced throughout the context of public education. Whereby platform capitalism is becoming the classroom. Surveillance capitalism is becoming the classroom. Data is being aggregated about all of the users of these services, teachers, learners, administrators, everyone.”
Describing the interminable cycle of EdTech and AI, Kumar says:
“Imagine a triangle where we have pedagogy, privacy and privatization. … pedagogy, we need to teach these things. Oh my goodness, we need graduates to be well versed in it. And that becomes the entry point. Well, you buy this piece of software, which is the private part. And it is going to lead to providing solutions. Meanwhile the tool is being used for surveillance, which allows for better improvements … which leads to that idea of more technology begets more technology.”
About today’s guests:
Rahul Kumar is an assistant professor at the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University. His current scholarship contributes to the discourse of AI’s role in higher education and K-12 system. He is an active contributor to several prestigious journals and a recipient of several internal and external grants for his research work. Prior to his academic post, Kumar worked in the IT industry and brings his theoretical and practical knowledge to understanding, promoting, and critiquing technology within education.
Tanner Mirrlees is a political economist of the communication, media and tech industries, and teaches in the Communication and Digital Media Studies program at Ontario Tech University. Mirrlees is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2024), Global Entertainment Media: Between Cultural Imperialism and Cultural Globalization (Routledge, 2013), Hearts and Mines: The US Empire's Cultural Industry (UBC Press, 2016), and EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age (Routledge, 2019). Mirrlees is also the co-editor of Media Imperialism: Continuity and Change (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), Media, Technology, and the Culture of Militarism (Democratic Communiqué, 2014), and The Television Reader (Oxford University Press, 2012).
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Image: Tanner Mirrlees, Rahul Kumar / Used with permission.
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.
Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.
Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.
Host: Resh Budhu.