Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Culture writers Sarah Kurchak and Sarah-Tai Black discuss the new season of CBC’s ‘The Assembly,’ where famous people like Hudson Williams and Zach Galifianakis field questions from a large group of autistic and neurodivergent fans, yielding more candid and unfiltered conversations than the typical celebrity Q&A allows.

Possible Love, the latest film by Korean director Lee Chang-dong, won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice and many critics are calling it one of the best movies of the year. Film critic Radheyan Simonpillai and East Asian studies professor Michelle Cho join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the film and why Lee Chang-dong is considered a master of blending social critique with poetic cinema.

Entertainment reporter Teri Hart, podcaster Vish Khanna, and comedy historian Paul Myers discuss the new documentary SCTV: The Greatest Show You Never Heard Of and reflect on the legendary sketch comedy show’s legacy, and also weigh-in on the wild new series from the current king of Canadian TV comedy, Jared Keeso, I Kill the Bear.

Film critics Radheyan Simonpillai, Hoai-Tran Bui, and David Ehrlich join Commotion with guest host Amil Niazi to review the new monster blockbuster, Godzilla Minus Zero, and John Malkovich’s latest turn in Wild Horse Nine. They’ll also discuss director Taika Waititi clapping back at reviews of his work and what it says about the role critics play today.

It’s being called the beginning of the end of the Trump era. Culture critics Alyssa Mercante and David Dennis Jr. break down the cultural implications of the midterm elections – and look ahead to how things could change in the years ahead.

Also, recently the world of techno music lost one of its founding fathers: Detroit producer and deejay, Juan Atkins. Elamin is joined by Julian Chambliss to look back on Juan Atkins’ pioneering legacy and why techno music was always a playground for Black futurism.