For months now, The Cascade’s arts editor has been bugging me to review my favourite podcast, Canadaland. And for months, I’ve refused. For one reason and one reason only: the controversy.
The editor, publisher, and founder of Canadaland, Jesse Brown — a former CBC journalist — has received plenty of criticism, and I can understand why. He’s far from perfect, but he not only created a revolutionary media company, he’s also done some genuinely impressive journalistic work.
Before getting into the criticisms, you might be wondering what the hell Canadaland is. So, a very brief overview: Canadaland is an independent news-podcast company focused on media criticism, it features conversations and interviews with journalists, politicians, and experts. Every major Canadian news story isn’t just reported — it’s dissected, debated, and spoken about in a way that’s interesting, nuanced, and full of personality.
Launched in 2013, it fought its way through a struggling news industry by betting on podcasting as a platform, asking listeners to actually pay for journalism, and spearheading a new model of journalism that was largely focused on criticising the media. It was groundbreaking.
They’ve done years of expert reporting — like their five year investigation into Indigenous deaths and politics in Thunder Bay. Brown himself did groundbreaking work back in 2014 when he broke the Jian Ghomeshi sexual-assault scandal, kicking off an infamous, years-long trial.
But for its founder, these career highlights have unfortunately been overshadowed in recent years by his remarkable ability to attract criticism and controversy.
The most recent controversy surrounding Brown stems from his insistence on speaking about the rise of anti-semitism that has come on the coattails of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians — an insistence that some interpret as detracting from the very real atrocities happening in Palestine. Canadaland lost nine per cent of its followers after what Brown himself called a “public meltdown” following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on Israeli citizens.
Yet, late last year, Brown continued to speak about it in a new series on the Canadaland platform called, What is Happening Here, — an analysis of the rise of anti-semistism in Canada which also focused on dissecting these issues within the Free Palestine movement. While much could be said about this (and has been said), I don’t see this as a case of absolutes. Anti-semism is rising, and Palestinians are being brutally attacked by Israel. We can hold those two truths at the same time. Brown isn’t perfect — he’s a reporter with bias, and I don’t think he’s ever shied away from that. What I appreciate about Brown and Canadaland is that they challenge the dominant narrative, that’s what the podcast is all about. What is Happening Here was heartbreaking and it deepened my understanding of the Jewish community itself, but I can recognize that it’s not a perfect example of journalism.
The reality is, Canadaland isn’t just Brown. It’s also Noor Azrieh, Sam Konnert, Julian Abraham, and all the other editors, producers, and members of the Canadaland team. While I can appreciate why Brown takes risks like this, I also understand that unfortunately, it puts his whole team at risk. Still, my love for this podcast hasn’t disappeared.
Konnert and Azrieh are two of my favourite hosts, bringing a young, infectious energy to the show and toCanadaland Politics. The episode “Carney So Nasty,” began with a remix — added beats and all — of Donald Trump calling our prime minister “nasty” after their October 2025 meeting in the White House. It’s so unserious, so clever, and it had me absolutely on the floor, proving politics doesn’t have to be boring.
Canadaland is currently running a “crowd-finding” campaign, featuring a starter kit, or “mixtape,” of some of their favourite episodes. This month’s mixtape includes an interview with UFV’s very own Dr. Wade Deisman, associate dean of social sciences, speaking on the Bishnoi gang and the extortion crisis in B.C. It’s not the first time a UFV professor has been a guest on the show: Dr. Noah Schwartz, associate professor of Political Science, was on “Guns N’ Greenland” discussing the national gun buyback program.
The Canadaland team even visited UFV back in 2017, when they recorded an episode of their series The Imposter in B101 in collaboration with CIVL, our campus community radio station.
So what do I like most about Canadaland? It’s the storytelling and the personality. We don’t need to bleach our news; it doesn’t need to be just a list of facts. Canadaland has made me a better journalist and citizen in this wild microcosm of the world that is ever-evolving Canada. It’s a breaking of the fourth wall of reporting and a lesson in media literacy. In a time of fake news, polarized critics, and news deserts, Canadaland is my imperfect friend who is damn intelligent, damn informed, and damn entertaining.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.