Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
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Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
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...
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'Famesick' and Lena Dunham's polarizing pop legacy.
Thanks to her new memoir ‘Famesick,’ Lena Dunham is all over our feeds after being out of the spotlight for awhile. Slate’s Scaachi Koul and Vulture’s...
And the winner of Canada Reads 2026 is...
[SPOILER ALERT]
In the finale of Canada Reads 2026, the win went to the historical novel 'The Cure for Drowning' by Loghan Paylor...
Afrika Bambaataa's problematic hip-hop legacy + What's driving Canada's current box office boom?
New York City rapper/producer Afrika Bambaataa was one of the most pivotal figures in the early evolution of hip-hop in the early ‘80s, thanks to an A...
What DTF St. Louis says about male bonding + How K-pop's Plave are taking the virtual band to new levels!
DTF St Louis is one of the most original shows on TV right now – Critics Michel Ghanem [MEE-shell GAH-nim] and Vinson Cunningham join Elamin Abdelmahm...
Euphoria is back! + Justin Bieber returns to Coachella
A lot has happened in the four years since the last season of Euphoria -- for both the show’s characters and its cast members. Vulture TV critic Roxan...
Artemis II is a vision of humanity we need right now
With NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years coming to an end, Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by ‘The Nature of Things’ co-host Anthon...
The Summer House scandal, and a bittersweet K-Pop shakeup
Summer House is a reality show set in the Hamptons that’s been full of drama for 10 seasons. But the scandal happening off screen is what has got fans...
How Epstein became a meme, and Dan Levy's series Big Mistakes
Memes featuring convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are all over the internet, and an online game called ‘Five Nights at Epstein’s' has gone viral...
The big twist in The Drama, and should theatres get rid of age-based ratings?
'The Drama' starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya hits theatres on April 3. The movie hinges on a dark secret that's already stirred up controversy be...
The Ben Johnson story arrives on TV, and Canadian music history you won't find on the internet
Elamin is joined by CBC entertainment reporter Jackson Weaver and filmmaker Kwame Mason to discuss the new TV series ‘Hate The Player: The Ben Johnson...
Who gets to write working class stories in Canada?
A new anthology series 'Bread Alone: What happens when we run out of working-class writers?' edited by Kate Pasola begs the question: who gets to have...
Tomson Highway's Rose, and the Goo Goo Dolls become the epitome of 90s nostalgia
A new musical by the legendary Cree playwright Tomson Highway is on stage in Ottawa. Theatre critic Aisling Murphy and Alessia Passafiume with the Can...
Broadway play Giant explores Roald Dahl and his antisemitism, and Riz Ahmed in Bait
A play about the children’s author Roald Dahl opened to rave reviews on Broadway – it delves into his antisemitic views, which were exposed by journal...
How Black & Jewish-America shaped pop music as we know it
With the release of the groundbreaking PBS docu-series ‘Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History,' Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by Professor G...
Who showed up at this year's Junos and what it tells you about this moment
The Juno Awards, Canada’s biggest night in music, went down in Hamilton, Ontario last night. Elamin is joined by music critics Emilie Hanskamp, Alex N...
Weekly Wrap: Robyn, Jack Harlow & Raye
The group chat weighs in on Robyn’s new pop album ‘Sexistential’, Jack Harlow’s controversial remarks that he “got Blacker” making his R&B album ‘Moni...
Why did the Bachelorette cast Taylor Frankie Paul? And Dhurandhur 2
Last week, ABC cancelled the latest season of the Bachelorette, three days before its premiere. This came after a 2023 video surfaced of the Bachelore...
The Hannah Montana special, and the Lindy West fiasco
Hannah Montana is marking 20 years with a massive anniversary special on Disney+ . Music journalist Emilie Hanskamp and television reporter Ethan Shan...
Hamilton is hosting a big awards show amid a crisis. Plus, the Peaky Blinders movie
This week, the Juno Awards touch down at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum, the newly renovated arena that’s been attracting A-list entertainers like Paul McCart...
At last, the return of BTS. Does Arirang deliver?
After being on hiatus for almost four years, BTS has finally reunited to release new music. In celebration of their album 'Arirang,' the K-pop supergr...
Weekly wrap: Project Hail Mary, The Things You Kill & AI Val Kilmer
Ryan Gosling stars in the space adventure movie 'Project Hail Mary,' the Turkish-Canadian thriller 'The Things You Kill' finally lands in theatres and...
Do we care that 'Love Story' blurs fact with fiction? And, the country musical 'Shucked'
People can’t stop talking about ‘Love Story,’ a Ryan Murphy dramatization about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks to tel...
Did we need to know Banksy's real name? And, the heist game 'Relooted'
Reuters reported last week that they discovered the true identity of the world famous street artist, Banksy. Culture critic Hanna Flint and 'Monumneta...
Louis Theroux's 'Inside the Manosphere,' and the Canadian horror film 'Undertone'
Understanding the growing popularity of online influencers who present a toxic view of masculinity, promoting misogyny and putting down others is the...
The Oscars were last night!
At the 2026 Academy Awards, Paul Thomas Anderson finally won his Oscars, everybody cheered for Michael B. Jordan's best actor win and a big night for...
Weekly wrap: Oscar predictions!
Sinners and One Battle After Another are dominating the most exciting Oscar race in years. Plus, the best actor field is wildly competitive between Mi...
Will Ticketmaster face accountability for the 'broken' concert industry? And, The President's Cake
A recent case brought forward by the U.S. Department of Justice claims the ‘concert industry is broken’ and that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are to b...
Book bans in Alberta schools, and Timothée Chalamet's Oscar campaign
Last fall, Alberta’s education minister ordered schools across the province to remove books containing explicit depictions of a sexual act from their...
Spotify is cracking down on AI streams, and the unexpected joy of Angine de poitrine
At the end of last year, several prominent artists lost millions of streams from the Spotify bot crackdown including Doechii, Davido and BTS' Jimin. T...
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers returns her Toronto film critics award, and Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride!
Almost half of the Toronto Film Critics Association's members have resigned after it was revealed that actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ recent acceptanc...
Weekly Wrap: Harry Styles’ ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘Deadline’
Harry Styles’ ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘Deadline’ are beckoning us back to the club with two very different takes on d...
How 'Rap Essentials' changed Canadian hip hop, and why we can't stop watching Friends Keep Secrets
Rap Essentials was a series of Canadian compilation albums released in the late '90s and early 2000s. The series gave fans access to new music, and in...
Nova Scotia's proposed arts cuts hit deep, and Scream 7
The Nova Scotia government announced they're making massive cuts to grants to arts and culture programs in the province. And for some artists and orga...
A new Bruno Mars album, and F1's Drive to Survive is back
Bruno Mars is one of those artists who produces hit after hit. He's the king of collabs and now he's back with a solo album 'The Romantic.' Culture cr...
Industry S4 finale, and why are Canadian films struggling in theatres?
Industry, the HBO drama set in the highest echelons of finance and power, presents a truly toxic tangle of relationships, politics and greed. As the s...
50 seasons of Survivor
With the 50th season of ‘Survivor’ kicking off this week, guest host Amil Niazi is joined by fans Jael Richardson, Ashley Ray and former contestant Om...
Social media is facing a landmark court case, and Stan Douglas's 'Tales of Empire' photo exhibit
Meta and Google’s YouTube are currently on trial in Los Angeles to face a lawsuit that claims the company’s platforms were deliberately designed to en...
Eric Dane's powerful final message on Famous Last Words, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finale
On the Netflix show Famous Last Words, people are interviewed about their lives knowing the conversation won't be shared until after their deaths. The...
In the wake of the BAFTA's controversy, what does accountability look like?
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and BBC have apologized for airing a racial slur during Sunday’s BAFTA award ceremony. It happ...
Olympics wrap + Space Cadets review
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games have come to an end and it’s time to look back on golden moments, national disappointments and internet memes. Sports jo...