10,000+ listens on Below the Radar!

Our podcast Below the Radar has officially hit over 10,000 listens! In just over one year, we have accumulated thousands of listens over our collection of episodes. We have and continue to amplify ideas that are flying below the radar, and share them across the globe.

To celebrate this milestone, here is a list of ten featured episodes from Below the Radar. The selected episodes cover a wide range of topics, including the climate emergency, the Vancouver housing crisis, SFU’s world famous soundscape research, the psychoanalytic of love, and so much more!

The episodes feature expert guests in their respected field, such as Indigenous scholar Glen Coulthard, documentary filmmaker Astra Taylor, and Indian author Amitav Ghosh. There is also a plenty of SFU representation, include professors Tiffany Muller Myrdahlt, Milena Droumeva, Svitlana Matviyenko, Geoff Mann and Samir Gandesha.

Check out these popular episodes below, and listen to the conversations that intrigue you!

10) Do we really know what democracy is? — with Astra Taylor

Democracy is a term that’s been used, misunderstood, and taken for granted by many — so what does democracy really mean? In this episode we chatted with activist and filmmaker Astra Taylor about how people interpret ‘democracy’ and how we can better understand it.

Listen to the episode here.

9) Making Our Cities More Inclusive — with Tiffany Muller Myrdahl

When it comes to making decisions about how things happen in our cities, who has the power to make those decisions? Tiffany Muller Myrdahl, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Urban Studies Program, asks this question in her work and research. Tiffany spends a lot of time navigating the inequalities that exist and looking for ways to make cities more inclusive, particularly for LGBTQ2S people and women. In this episode, we talked to Tiffany about why this work is necessary and the ways in which Tiffany challenges her students who do this work as well.

Listen to the episode here.

8) Listening to the World Around Us — with Milena Droumeva and Brett Ashleigh

When it comes to understanding the world around us, we can look and observe change with our eyes. But what about using our ears to listen to the ways in which our environments change? This is the type of work that Milena Droumeva and Brett Ashleigh do. Milena is an assistant professor of sound studies and Brett is a PhD student. Both of them work and research at SFU’s School of Communication, which is quite world famous in the areas of sound studies and soundscape research thanks to the work of R. Murray Schafer, Barry Truax and others. In this episode, we sat down with Milena and Brett to talk about how listening can offer a unique insight into the ongoing changes around us that we might otherwise miss.

Listen to the full episode here.

7) Cyberwar and Revolution — with Svitlana Matviyenko

On this episode of Below the Radar, we chatted with Svitlana Matviyenko who is an Assistant Professor of Critical Media Analysis at SFU’s School of Communication. We discussed her work and research on digital militarism, the impacts of cyberwar on users today, and what is in store for the future of cyberwar.

Listen to the episode here.

6) Keynesian economics and the hope for climate X — with Geoff Mann

Political Economist and SFU Geography Professor, Geoff Mann, joined us for our 13th episode of Below the Radar to discuss Keynesian economics in accessible language for all audiences. We discussed Mann’s books: “In the Long Run We Are All Dead,” and “Climate Leviathan,” (co written by Joel Wainwright).

Listen to the episode here.

5) The Great Derangement — with Amitav Ghosh and Olive Dempsey

Climate change is a very real issue that we as a society are grappling with. But interestingly enough, climate change denial is particularly strong in the Anglosphere — in English speaking countries. Indian author Amitav Ghosh found the link between movement, the English language, and climate change to be quite interesting, and that is the focus of his book “The Great Derangement.” This episode features Amitav in conversation with our host Am Johal and special guest host Olive Dempsey from the podcast Big Bright Dark.

Listen to the episode here.

4) Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition — with Glen Coulthard

On this special live recorded episode of Below the Radar, we sat down with Glen Coulthard to chat about his work surrounding Indigenous Politics. Glen is an associate professor in the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. He is also the author of the acclaimed book “Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition” from University of Minnesota Press.

Listen to the full episode here.

3) Building Socialist Architecture — with Architects for Social Housing

Even though this episode was released over six months ago, the city of Vancouver is still experiencing a housing crisis. In this episode, we talked to Architects for Social Housing about a potential solution to this crisis: socialist architecture. Co-founders Geraldine Dening and Simon Elmer joined our host Am Johal to discuss the pillars of socialist architecture, housing as human rights, and why this is the way forward out of our housing situation.

Listen to the episode here.

2) Psychoanalyzing love and desire — with Hilda Fernandez

Another one of our popular episode features Hilda Fernandez, a clinical psychoanalyst and former president of the Lacan Salon, a group that meets bi-weekly to read and discuss the work of Freud and Jacques Lacan. On this episode, she talked to us about love and desire from a psychoanalytical perspective — the stages of love, how it is sustained and reinvented, and break-ups and the hatred that can come along with it.

Listen to the episode here.

1) Understanding the neoliberal personality — with Samir Gandesha

The final episode we would like to mention features Samir Gandesha of SFU’s Institute for the Humanities. Samir sat down with us to discuss the ‘neoliberal identity,’ what contributes to it, and how this impacts our current political world order. Samir is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities at SFU, and specializes in modern European thought and culture.

Samir recently completed editing the book “Spectres of Fascism: Historical, Theoretical and International Perspectives” with Pluto Press. Our office is co-presenting the book launch on April 30, 2020. You can find more info about the launch here.

And you can listen to the podcast episode here.

We hope one or more of these episodes caught your attention, and that you are able to give them a listen (or re-listen!)

Below the Radar is a bi-weekly podcast that touches upon environmental and social justice, arts, culture, community-building and urban issues with featured guests. Please subscribe wherever you find you podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Player FM.

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