Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

With Jay-Z making his return to the concert stage at this year’s Roots Picnic and Serena Williams also announcing her return to the tennis court, Elamin is joined by culture critics Jay Smooth, Taryn Finley and Ian Kamau to react to these moments and what they might tell us about the role retirement plays in the lives of our great performers.

Recruitment in the Canadian Armed Forces is seeing a bit of a boom right now. It’s at a 30-year high. That could be because of a new sense of nationalism or the economy. But another part of this equation could be the Forces’ new recruitment videos. Fast-paced and action-packed, the videos are heavily coded with gaming culture and Hollywood movies. Writer Kawika Guillermo talks to Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how these videos pull on pop culture – and how the real-life call of duty is intertwined with video games.

Pop Culture Jeopardy! crowns a new champion this week. The game show is like regular Jeopardy without the science, history and serious stuff. Elamin Abdelmahmoud asks real life quiz master Jessica Sorrentino what goes into crafting a Jeopardy spin-off, and why the pace of pop-culture news adds a whole new dimension.

The literary world is in an uproar after a prize-winning short story was accused of being AI-generated. But was it? How easy is it really to tell if a piece of creative writing is AI? Writers Innocent Chizaram Ilo and Jen Sookfong Lee join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the environment of fear and paranoia around AI in the writing world.

Plus, the new Bell Fibe 1 TV series ‘Destination: Oshawa’ presents a humorous portrait of an eager city worker’s attempt to transform the beleaguered Toronto satellite city into a hip tourist destination. Musician and Oshawa's own Wayne Petti discusses what makes the show successful as both a satire of and love letter to the city.

Heated Rivalry wins big at the Canadian Screen Awards, taking home 16 awards. Elamin is joined by film critic Radheyan Simonpillai and filmmaker/culture critic Sonya Ballantyne to talk about the wins, losses and surprises from the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards and what this year’s broadcast might say about the state of film and television in Canada right now.

Plus, when Kane Parson was 16, his short horror film ‘The Backrooms (Found Footage),’ went viral not too long after it was posted to YouTube. About a year later, he was brought on by A24 to direct ‘Backrooms,’ a new film anticipated to have the studio’s biggest opening weekend ever. But the idea of the backrooms isn't new, it traces its roots to user-generated images and stories shared across forums and subreddits. Today, journalist Andrew Lloyd joins Elamin to talk about the film, and the eerie online phenomenon that led to it.

The vibe shift around Artificial Intelligence is happening. The Pope released his manifesto warning that AI poses a threat to humanity. Meanwhile, our social feeds are filled with graduates booing mentions of AI at their commencement speeches. And more celebrities are speaking up. Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks with culture writer Amil Niazi and religious studies professor Judith Ellen Brunton about the cultural reset that seems to be well and truly underway.