Educational Resources

Ep. 01 - Ken Moffatt: Art, Politics, and Activism

November 18, 2022  I  46 min.

In this first episode Ben McCarthy interviews Ken Moffatt to discuss the sweep of the podcast series, some key themes and how we need art to create change.

Ep. 02 - Alex Bierk: 'You Can Call Me Al...'

November 25, 2022  I  39 min.

In this episode Ken interviews Alex Bierk. Bierk is a self-taught artist, and advocate, who lives in Peterborough, ON with his wife and three children. His career as an artist is interconnected to community work. He has a personal connection to the drug crisis and has become active in outreach work as a result of his own lived experience with addiction. He was recently elected as a City Councillor to represent the residents of downtown Peterborough at City Hall. Alex us represented by General Hardware Gallery in Toronto.

Ep. 03 - Kiké Roach (part 1): Selby Street: A Social and Activist History

December 2, 2022  I  29 min.

Kiké Roach (she/her) is the Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Toronto Metropolitan University. She has served as an Executive Member of: the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, the Women’s Coalition for Employment Equity, and Mpenzi: Black Women’s International Film and Video Festival. As a civil rights lawyer, she has advocated for accountability and reform in policing and detention for many years, representing community organizations. She was a regular commentator on current and legal affairs for CTV News and has appeared as a spokesperson on a variety of issues. She is co-author of the book Politically Speaking. Kiké has designed and led workshops for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the United Steel Workers among others. She has addressed audiences across Canada and in the United States on issues of anti-racism, feminism, and progressive change..

Ep. 04 - Kiké Roach (part 2) An Actor In The System As Designed

December 9, 2022  I  30 min.

This is part 2 of Ken's interview with Kiké and the last episode of season one. Please watch this channel for a second season coming up in the new year.

Roach (she/her) is the Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Toronto Metropolitan University. She has served as an Executive Member of: the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, the Women’s Coalition for Employment Equity, and Mpenzi: Black Women’s International Film and Video Festival. As a civil rights lawyer, she has advocated for accountability and reform in policing and detention for many years, representing community organizations. She was a regular commentator on current and legal affairs for CTV News and has appeared as a spokesperson on a variety of issues. She is co-author of the book Politically Speaking. Kiké has designed and led workshops for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the United Steel Workers among others. She has addressed audiences across Canada and in the United States on issues of anti-racism, feminism, and progressive change.

Ep. 05 - Ben McCarthy: Sound, the Demon, and the Archive

June 16, 2023  I  48 min.

In this episode, Ken interviews Ben McCarthy, cocreator, editor and composer of Downstream from What.

Ben McCarthy’s compositional practice takes found sound as source material. Sometimes using text or audio documentary underscored by synthesizers and voice, his compositions and installations raise questions about acoustic epistemologies specifically around the social and economical conditions that produce the listening subject.

McCarthy has been recording music for 15 years as a solo artist and collaborator. He won the Dora award for Outstanding Sound Design and Composition in Independent Theatre in 2019. His work with art video game collective SpekWork has been shown at the Venice Biennale, Amaze Berlin, and Mayworks’ Nightshift. Recent digital and interactive works have been included in the Social Distancing, Vector and Cluster Festivals.

Ep. 06 - Samantha Wehbi: Home is a Complex Proposition

June 23, 2023  I  37 min.

In this episode, Ken interviews artist and social worker Samantha Wehbi.

Samantha Wehbi (MSW, PhD, MFA) is a professor, author, artist, and award-winning educator. Her research and practice interests have focused on international issues and grassroots community activism and organizing in Canada and abroad including Lebanon, her country of origin. Her creative practice relies on photography to explore our relationship to the communities we inhabit. Her work has explored the complexities of urban landscapes and issues of displacement, postcolonialism, translocality and social change. Her scholarship explores interdisciplinary intersections of art, community practice, and pedagogy.

Ep. 07 - Winnie Ng: The Struggle of Memories Against Forgetting

June 30, 2023  I  36 min.

In this episode, Ken interviews Winnie Ng.

Winnie is a labour rights activist and scholar with a deep commitment to anti-racism, equity and worker empowerment. She is Chair emeritus Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Toronto Metropolitan University, the first and only union-endowed Chair at a Canadian university.

She began her activist work in the labour movement in 1977 as a union organizer with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union; and later on with HERE Local 75. She served as the Ontario Regional Director with the Canadian Labour Congress for 8 years before returning to the academy to complete her doctoral program at OISE/University of Toronto.

Winnie’s research focuses on reimagining the labour movement from a decolonizing and anti-racism perspective, and the physical and mental health impact of global labour market re-structuring, plant-closure and precarious employment on racialized, immigrant and migrant workers, and in particular women workers.

She is the recipient of numerous distinctions, including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Leadership Award, the United Farm Workers’ Cesar Chavez Black Eagle Award and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award. She is a founding member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance and Asian Canadian Women’s Alliance, and the former co-chair of the Good Jobs for All Coalition.

In her retirement, Winnie serves as the Co-Chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China and volunteers with the International Domestic Workers Federation, a global union that represents over half a million members worldwide.

Ep. 08 - Natalie Wood: 'This Is A Wakening!'

July 6, 2023  I  39 min.

In this episode, Ken interviews Natalie Wood.

Natalie is an award-winning Trinidadian-born, Toronto-based visual and media artist, a PhD student in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University and a tenured Professor at George Brown College (GBC) where she specializes in teaching social innovation and social economies and is seconded to the role of Black Futures Coordinator.

She is a cofounder of the Environmental and Urban Change Black Caucus, fellow at Black Lives Matter’s Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism, founder of the Blue Devil Posse and co-founder of the GBC Social Innovation Hub. Her educational pathway includes an MA in Art Education from the University of Toronto and studio courses at OCADU.

Her PhD is a research-creation project that explores the practice of Black Futures in Black Queer diasporic resistance in Caribbean Carnival. Her multimedia art-work cohabits the areas of popular culture, education and historical research and explores her fascination with counter-narratives, healing cultures and icons that liberate Black and Queer communities.

Selected awards include a SSHRC grant, several York University, Ontario Graduate Scholarships and Fellowships, a Canada Council creation grant 2020, a Black Leadership Award from the Black Student Success Network at GBC 2017, Community Based Research Award of Merit, from the Centre for Urban Health Initiatives & the Wellesley Institute 2007, the New Pioneers Award for contribution to Arts and Culture 2006, and the City of York Civic Recognition Award for using the Arts to support marginalized communities 1997, a Nourbe Se Philips Arts recognition grant and numerous grants and awards from Toronto, Ontario and Canada Arts Council. Her artwork is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art.

Ep. 09 - Simone Schmidt(part 1): The Utility of Metaphor

July 14, 2023  I  35 min.

This is part 1 of Ken's interview with Simone Schmidt aka Fiver. Please watch this channel for part two coming shortly.

Simone Schmidt is a musician and multidisciplinary artist who recently moved to so-called Sackville, New Brunswick for work. Schmidt grew up as a settler in Toronto during Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution and has been involved in resisting austerity since grade school. Schmidt's musical practice involves research-based songwriting, improvisation, analog recording, and a deep fascination with form. They have performed with units like The Highest Order, One Hundred Dollars, and their solo project, Fiver. Their chapter in Displacement City (U of T Press, 2022) describes the City of Toronto's organized abandonment of housing-deprived people during the early pandemic, from their perspective as a community organizer.

Ep. 10 - Simone Schmidt(part 2): Of Course None Of Us Are Free

July 21, 2023  I  38 min.

This is part 2 of Ken's interview with Simone Schmidt aka Fiver.

Simone Schmidt is a musician and multidisciplinary artist who recently moved to so-called Sackville, New Brunswick for work. Schmidt grew up as a settler in Toronto during Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution and has been involved in resisting austerity since grade school. Schmidt's musical practice involves research-based songwriting, improvisation, analog recording, and a deep fascination with form. They have performed with units like The Highest Order, One Hundred Dollars, and their solo project, Fiver. Their chapter in Displacement City (U of T Press, 2022) describes the City of Toronto's organized abandonment of housing-deprived people during the early pandemic, from their perspective as a community organizer.

Theo Nazary

Theo Nazary is an Associate Director at Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre responsible for Strategic Planning & Partnerships. Since joining the Centre in 2017, Theo has worked collaboratively to plan, design, develop, engage and implement various mandates and projects undertaken by the Centre, including the Spirit Garden (Fall 2024). A graduate of McMaster University and the University of Toronto with a professional certificate in Project Management, Theo has been involved with research on the Impact of Digital Technology on First Nations Participation and Governance (McMaster University, 2015) and the Internet Voting Project for Ontario (UToronto, 2014). Concurrently, Theo is completing his Doctoral Studies in the School of Public Policy & Democratic Innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University (Fall 2026).

Council Fire's All Nations Juniors Drum Group

Council Fire’s All Nations Juniors Drum Group is a First Nations Pow Wow style youth drum group started 8 years ago to bring empowerment and identity to the youth. The Group consist of youth that come from many different nations and communities across Turtle Island. These nations include Dakota, Ojibwe, Chippewa and Cree singers and drummers. The drum started with just one singer and now has many singers of all ages teaching each other new and old songs. The Group have been recognized as an honorable drum in our communities and continue to share their songs with people of all backgrounds.