The recent TikTok drama between Sombr and one of his fans got a lot of people talking. The 20-year-old pop star responded to a 25-year-old fan after she called his show ‘cringe’ and said his jokes were immature. Music critic Emilie Hanskamp chats with Elamin about how the intragenerational fight played out, and what it says about the state of the internet and what we expect from young and up-and-coming artists.
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12:32
The memes of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and Canada in Eurovision?
How did a song about a shipwreck become one of the biggest songs of Gordon Lightfoot's career? Music critic and writer Niko Stratis and writer Conor Kerr join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about why the internet is flooded with memes of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out his vision for the future in this new federal budget this week. And that vision includes Canada’s participation in the Eurovision song contest. Wait. What? Why? How? Commotion's Eurovision correspondent Karen Fricker imagines how it might work.
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Canadian literary festivals are having urgent conversations, and Rosalia is redefining global pop stardom
Literary festivals bring people together who love books, and they also move a bunch of merchandise. But what’s the deeper work happening here? Stephanie Domet and Leslie Hurtig are both involved with running literary festivals and join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the special place these events have at this particular cultural moment. And music journalist Reanna Cruz looks at Rosalia’s bold approach for her latest album LUX, combining symphonic sounds, opera, and singing in thirteen languages.
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Halo is coming to PlayStation. Are the console wars over?
Tech culture journalists Alyssa Mercante and Jonathan Ore join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about Xbox’s decision to make its exclusive game, Halo, available on rival PlayStation consoles, and what that says about the state of the video-game industry right now.
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The heartbreak of fandom and why it's about more than baseball
If the World Series showed us anything this year, it’s that the game was about so much more than baseball. Elamin Abdelmahmoud sits down with Morgan Campbell, Kaitlyn McGrath and Joyita Sengupta to talk about why Canada's team came out on top, despite not winning it all.
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.Subscribe to Sounds Good: CBC's Podcasts newsletter for the finest podcast recommendations and behind-the-scenes exclusives.