Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud CBC Arts & Entertainment
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- Arts
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Big laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts & entertainment stories of the day, in 30 minutes or less.
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Commotion Introduces: Split Screen: Kid Nation
The controversial reality TV show known as ‘Kid Nation’, which borrowed its premise from Lord of the Flies, was cancelled shortly after its 2007 debut. Producers took 40 kids into a makeshift desert town to fend for themselves and create their own society. Was the series an opportunity to discover what kids are capable of? Or simply a ploy for ratings? With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/pOex8i6P
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The lasting influence of soul artist Jackie Shane
A new documentary tells the extraordinary story of Jackie Shane, a trailblazing transgender singer from the south, who had a flash of fame in Toronto in the early 1960s. But just as she was about to become a star, she vanished. Rodney Diverlus and Ravyn Ariah Wngz talk about Jackie Shane's legacy, and why she still matters so much today.
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Unpacking the Shōgun finale, and can we Scrabble Together?
As the epic series "Shōgun" airs its final episode on Disney+ this week, TV critics Inkoo Kang and Kaiya Shunyata talk about what sets this adaptation of James Clavell’s novel apart from others before it, and how its emphasis on Japanese dialogue over English enriches our understanding of the story. Plus, Elamin is joined by Slate’s Dan Kois to discuss the backlash to ‘Scrabble Together,’ a more inclusive alternative to the iconic board game that is reportedly inspired by Gen-Z's demands for non-competitive board game options.
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Do true crime stories help or exploit? And unpacking Drake's new diss track
It's been ten years since the first episode of the hit podcast Serial came out, and we've been riding this wave of true crime entertainment ever since. Sarah Weinman and Karen K. Ho join Elamin to talk about how the genre has grown over the last decade, and where it still falls short. Plus, David Dennis Jr. reacts to Drake’s latest Kendrick diss track entitled ‘Taylor Made Freestyle,’ and talks about how the use of AI in this song and throughout this particular rap feud is raising new concerns about its use in pop music.
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How theatres are being tricked by AI, and the dark comedy The Sympathizer comes to TV
Guest host Ali Hassan speaks with theatre critic Aisling Murphy to talk about her recent article in The Toronto Star where she outlines how some theatre companies have been duped by AI-generated reviews, and what that says about the role of criticism today. Plus, Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote his novel The Sympathizer as a response to movies about the Vietnam War like Apocalypse Now, which sidelined Vietnamese voices. Ali also talks to Inverse entertainment editor Hoai-Tran Bui about how the dark comedy thriller translates to TV.
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Diving into Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department
Culture critics Tyler Foggatt, Cassie Cao and Adam Sternbergh join guest host Ali Hassan with their thoughts on the latest album from Taylor Swift and the new series Conan O’Brien Must Go.
Customer Reviews
Such a good person/host and show
El Amin’s big heart, passion, insight, deep care, great rapport, all make this show just absolutely bangin’. I love it. One of the few cbc shows I will Always catch up on podcasts if I miss it live. Love this dude, and all the guests and convos.
Awesome 🤩
Everything elamin abdelmahmoud touches turns to gold. He gets the best out of his guests and he’s so personable. He’s CBC’s true Gem 💎
My source of pop culture critiques.
Preface: I LOVE THIS SHOW I discovered this show one time I had the radio on and thank goodness that I did. I love Elamin. He feels like a friend talking through the radio. The guests are hilarious and I find myself stifling laughter as I listen on the train. I frequently have not heard or seen what they are talking but they do such a great job of quickly explaining it that I always feel like I understand what’s going on. And when I do know what they’re talking about, the explanations don’t feel cumbersome to the conversation.