Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

[SPOILER ALERT]

In the finale of Canada Reads 2026, the win went to the historical novel 'The Cure for Drowning' by Loghan Paylor and championed by Tegan Quin. Set during the Second World War, the novel follows a nonbinary protagonist named Kit as they navigate wartime, a love triangle and sibling rivalry on their family farm in rural Ontario.

Tegan and Loghan joined Elamin Abdelmahmoud in the hours after their win to look back on the week and talk about why this book has resonated with readers across the country.

Thanks to her new memoir ‘Famesick,’ Lena Dunham is all over our feeds after being out of the spotlight for awhile. Slate’s Scaachi Koul and Vulture’s Fran Hoepfner [HOFF-ner] chat with Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how Lena Dunham became a polarizing cultural figure and the way she reflects on her past successes and failures now.

New York City rapper/producer Afrika Bambaataa was one of the most pivotal figures in the early evolution of hip-hop in the early ‘80s, thanks to an Afrofuturist aesthetic that thrust the music out from the streets of the Bronx onto dancefloors around the world. However, his reputation as a musical visionary and community leader was forever tarnished when allegations of child sexual abuse surfaced in 2016. In the wake of Bambaataa’s cancer-related death last week at the age of 68, Duke Black American Studies professor Mark Anthony Neal and hip-hop writer/broadcaster Jay Smooth grapple with the legacy of a problematic pioneer. Plus - it has been a long time since Canadian films did as well as they’re doing now at the Box Office. Globe and Mail film critic Barry Hertz joins Elamin Abdelmahmoud to explain WHY – and what it may have to do with Canadian pride.

DTF St Louis is one of the most original shows on TV right now – Critics Michel Ghanem [MEE-shell GAH-nim] and Vinson Cunningham join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about Sunday's finale and what the show reveals about male friendship in mid-life. Virtual K-pop group Plave just released their latest EP Caligo Pt. 2. It’s the follow up to last year’s Caligo Pt. 1 album that sold more than a million copies, a first for a virtual group. Michelle Cho talks with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud about Plave's success.

A lot has happened in the four years since the last season of Euphoria -- for both the show’s characters and its cast members. Vulture TV critic Roxana Hadadi [ha-DAW-dee] and OnlyFans creator Gwen Adora join Elamin to talk about where the show picks up in season three, its continued obsession with sex work and the controversies its weathered along the way. Plus - the biggest music festival in North America, Coachella, once again takes over the polo fields of Indio, California for two weekends of fun in the sun. CBC Music’s Natalie Harmsen fills us in on the buzziest performances from the event – including the long-awaited stage return of Justin Bieber.