The Imposter

Throughout season two of The Imposter, Aliya Pabani has explored the poetics and politics of comedy in her attempt to become a standup comedian.  She's considered what makes us laugh and why, explored the implications of Improv's "yes, and" philosophy in a time of #MeToo, and asked whether comedy is worth funding as art. She's also been workshopping her jokes about racism, but the challenge of implicating her audience without losing them has her feeling unsure whether it's possible to make meaningful jokes that are actually funny. Is comedy a tool to placate the masses, or can it be used to cut deep? In this—very Imposter—final live show, Aliya takes to the Second City stage to perform her final stand-up set in this live-podcast-meets-The-Voice mashup featuring comedy and critical feedback from judges Nick Nemeroff & Brandon Ash-Mohammed, and a live score by Johnny Spence. Will Aliya bomb or solve racism with jokes? Find out in this final episode of The Imposter.  This episode is sponsored by Hello Fresh and EndySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born in Philadelphia, Glenn came to McGill in the 60s to study music. He fell in love with Canada, released some albums, sang alongside musicians like Bruce Cockburn, and became a regular on Mr. Dressup. Recently, his self-released album Keyboard Fantasies was rediscovered. He's since returned to the stage with a new band, pulling music from his extensive catalogue of jazzy folk, classically-influenced soundscapes and electrified negro spirituals. Now in his 70s, Beverly Glenn-Copeland reflects on some of the moments that shaped his musical path, including his love of Star Trek, a pianistic rivalry with his dad and the experience of moving through the world as a trans man.    This episode is sponsored by Sonos and EndySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With less than a month left until her final set on the Second City stage, Aliya realizes that she's not totally sold on standup. So she talks to Sandra Battaglini, a comedian who's petitioning the government to recognize comedy as an art form that's worth funding, and the art duo Life of a Craphead who discuss the evolution of their jokes, from mixing a chemical weapon onstage to dumping a colonial sculpture into the Don River.   Sign a petition to get comedy recognized as art Buy tickets to The Imposter Presents: The Last Laugh  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Montreal is home to the backend of the online porn industry, where IT gurus have been running A/B tests on desire. Stories about porn often focus on the morality and the economics of the industry, but we seldom talk about porn as a creative practice. Esther Splett was fresh out of a creative writing undergrad when she got hired as a script writer for the premium adult film brand, Brazzers. She wanted to write porn that was inspired by her favourite classic genre films, but she found herself spiralling as the high fantasy, performative world of porn permeated her everyday life. While working on the archives of feminist porn pioneer, Candida Royalle at Harvard, Allie Oops discovered a lifetime of diary entries that allowed her to see a long future in sex work. These days, she collaborates with her friends to make raw, DIY porn out of her Montreal apartment, and she pays them a living wage to do it. Learn more about Veronica Vera's School for Boys Who Want to be Girls   Sound design on this episode is by Jesse PerlsteinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erin Gee created Project H.E.A.R.T; a virtual reality game that uses your emotions to power a holographic pop star, who has to sing for combat soldiers so they don't get too depressed to fight. Since the early internet, Skawennati's been trying to make sure Indigenous people are present online; from the first Cyber PowWow in a 2D graphical chat room called The Palace, to an island in Second Life where she builds movie sets to reimagine Indigenous histories—and futures. Visit AbTec Island  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A near-fatal health condition put Annie Koyama out of commission for over a decade. One day, while taking her pain medication, she had an epiphany—someone was making a lot of money selling those meds. Soon, Annie was playing the stock market, turning her savings into a small fortune.    Once she was on the mend, Annie sought out exciting emerging comic artists and gave them money to publish their first books. Her passion project became a small publishing house, and over the course of 10 years, Koyama Press became one of the most well-respected publishers in indie comics today.    The concept of "no strings attached" may seem too good to be true, but so is Annie.   Look at 126 different artist interpretations of Koyama Press' Kickass Annie logo. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We consume a lot of noise, but we rarely get the opportunity to reflect on how it affects us. This is the third in a series of 5-minute immersive noise meditations by four different artists. The sonic tone Ut from the Gregorian scale is said to alleviate guilt and free the listener from anxiety and fear. In this meditation, we wallow in Ut.  James Goddard makes music as Skin Tone.  Meditation begins at 2:00. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An incident at the bar after improv class makes Aliya question the wisdom of upholding the "yes, and..." mantra at the core of improv, while our culture grapples with issues around consent.  Aliya asks professional improvisers Kayla Lorette, Becky Johnson, Alia Rasul and Ann Pornel what they do when other players' unconscious biases take over the scene.  Intimacy Director Siobhan Richardson explains how she eliminates the guesswork from onstage love scenes by choreographing them like fight sequences.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Affirmation is the key to improv. It's a way to become more spontaneous, creative, and achieve true collaboration. But at a time when Keith Johnstone's foundational text, Impro is also on Peter Thiel's employee reading list, at what point does "yes, and..." become a tool for blind compliance?     In this episode, Aliya examines three iterations of comedian Chris Locke's joke about going to therapy to understand why improv is the multitool of comedy. After taking an 18-hour improv intensive, Aliya hires four improvisers to improvise her improv class, and Misha Glouberman remembers the days when improv was punk.        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We consume a lot of noise, but we rarely get the opportunity to reflect on how it affects us. This is the second in series of 5-minute immersive noise meditations by four different artists. Let the noise from this meditation weave together with the noise in your environment; this one's meant to seep in.          Jeremy Young makes instrumental and electroacoustic composition for recording and live performance, reel-to-reel tape collage, sound-poetry and audio-visual scoring. Find more here.      Noise meditation starts at about 1:40. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last time Lido Pimienta was on the podcast, she was about to release La Papessa, and it ended up winning her the $50,000 Polaris Prize.  We wanted to hear her predictions for the future, so we spoke to her again. On this episode, Lido talks about Latina pop star tropes, fat shaming, and how Steve Harvey's incredible Miss Universe gaffe inspired her next album.  Music on this episode by Kaleema, Mas Aya, and Lido, remixed.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We consume a lot of noise, but we rarely get the opportunity to reflect on how it affects us. This is the first in a series of 5-minute immersive noise meditations by four artists exploring how noise alters our state of consciousness. Listen with with headphones for the full effect.       Find more about Jen Reimer and Max Stein at reimerstein.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sexcoven.mp3 is a sound file that was uploaded to the internet on July 26, 1996. It was described as a "6-hour atonal drone". According to Slammer Magazine, listeners reported "cascading feelings of dread, fear and euphoria." The track circulated among teenagers and by 2001, "covencrawls" had become a teen trend, which resulted in several deaths and injuries. Some thought the track contained subliminal messages; others believed that it triggered the prefrontal cortex in a way that caused temporary insanity. The source of the file is still unknown. Jillian Tamaki wrote a short story about Sexcoven in her recent graphic novel, Boundless. Our exploration of the Sexcoven phenomenon leads us from the quietest place on earth to a group of Montreal sound artists who are working with a mental health practitioner to stimulate altered states of consciousness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cadence Weapon was a nineteen-year-old in Edmonton, battle rapping on the internet when he released his first mixtape, Breaking Kayfabe. He wanted to make “the most fucked up rap anyone's ever heard.” And it was. It got him a record deal with a major American label, and helped bring Canada's rap underground to light.      Since then, he released two more albums, and was anointed the poet laureate of Edmonton. He just released his fourth album, the self-titled Cadence Weapon. On this episode, we talk about how Canadian radio failed Canadian hip hop artists, Cadence's legendary DJ dad, and why he's rapping about Pinot Grigio these days.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the height of the New Age movement, there was a lot of music for plants, but there was only one Plantasia.  On this episode, we look at how a 1973 New York Times bestselling book of controversial experiments on plants inspired generations of artists to try to communicate with plants through sound. We hear about what it was like to grow up with pioneering electronic musician Mort Garson, whose early synthesizer album Plantasia went from being a free gift with a mattress purchase from Sears to a $150 dollar used CD on Amazon.    Listen to Plant Material from houseplant enthusiast Castle If. Watch Amanda White's video of a plant next to a window, listening to a radio show made by the plants outside.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The synthesizer has become so ubiquitous that you can download them as apps, but in the mid-sixties, less than thirty people owned one. One of them was a pioneering electronic composer named Mort Garson, who used it to soundtrack the CBS live broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing. In this episode, we look at the electronic musicians who used early analog synthesizers to construct what the future sounds like. Listen with headphones, this one's a trip.   More: canadalandshow.com/imp  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2002, a low budget mockumentary about two headbangers from Alberta premiered at Sundance. That film was FUBAR, and it became an instant classic. But these beer-swilling simpletons weren't the only hoser characters to achieve cult status in Canadian film and TV history.    In this episode, we talk to the people behind FUBAR—and their fans— to figure out what makes these kinds of characters so seductive.   Watch the new Viceland series, FUBAR: Age of Computer or peruse The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A vague email from a Yahoo user leads to a budding mentorship with one of Canada's most beloved comedians, Aliya performs her first 5-minute set, and the woman who helped propel Toronto's alternative comedy scene into the mainstream gives Aliya some tough love.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alanis Obomsawin is an Abenaki filmmaker who's been challenging Canada's image of itself for the last 50 years. And she got funding from the National Film Board to do it.  For more information, visit: canadalandshow.com/imp     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of this season, Aliya will do a live comedy set onstage at Second City. But first—she needs to learn how to tell a joke. On the first episode of this harrowing journey, Aliya recalls the 1968 comedy that ruined laughter for her, phones her dad up to talk about brownface, and goes to standup school.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Operatic tenor Jeremy Dutcher takes turn-of-the-century field recordings out of the museum and back to their original community by fusing them with new, avant-garde compositions.   For more information, visit canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A DJ goes crate digging unearths a trove of rare Indigenous music folk, rock and country music. The re-issue Native North America Volume 1 turns the spotlight back on trailblazing musicians from across the continent. But it also raises questions about when music is considered art and when it becomes an artifact.   This episode featured contributions by Maya-Roisin Slater and Katie Jensen.   For more information, go to canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the new season of The Heart podcast, Kaitlin Prest gets men to open up about that time when they didn't get consent, but did it anyway. We ask how she pulled it off.   TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions and depictions of sexual abuse   Go to canadalandshow.com/imp for moreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From experimental DJs to punk bands and soul singers, a surge of artists are creating modern, groundbreaking Indigenous music.   Ziibiwan is an experimental electronic producer living in Toronto. He breaks down his Time Limits EP.   Jarrett Martineau talks about how Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) evolved from an online community to a cutting-edge record label. He and his skeleton crew are working to bring modern, experimental Indigenous music to a wide audience. Go to RPM's website for news, interviews, podcasts and more information about the label. Jarrett will be hosting the show Reclaimed on CBC starting July 4th.   This show also featured clips from the songs: "If Only" by Teeks, "Stadium Pow Wow" by A Tribe Called Red, feat. Black Bear, "The Carny" by William Prince, "How to Steal a Canoe" by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, "Glenn" by Uyarakq and "Don't Tell Me" by WEEDRATSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Officer has been chronicling Black Canadian stories in documentaries like The Skin We're In and Unarmed Verses, which just won the best Canadian Feature Documentary award at Hot Docs. But when he started out, he just wanted to make fiction. And he still can't get those projects funded.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For two weeks in 1974, the CBC broadcast ten hours of field recordings from across the country on their flagship documentary show, Ideas. The recordings were collected by a group of twentysomething composers and a famous avant-garde acoustic ecologist. They were trying to capture Canada through sound. On this episode, composer and scholar Mitchell Akiyama asks whether that's even possible.   Find some of this compelling work at canadalanshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guy Delisle's new comic Hostage isn't the typical kidnapping story, full of torture and guns. The book uses minimal colour and slow, repetitive action to pull you into the psychology of Christophe André, who spends most of the 400+ pages alone in a room.   Artists at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival talk about the charged experience of trading work. The artists recommended in the piece are:   Find links to their work at canadlandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darcy Spidle uses a jaw harp to play his insides. Aisha Sasha John studied clown to become a poet.   Music on this episode: Selections from malform by Chik White "Tired Ariadne" by Old Girl   Find more of their work at canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode initially aired on October 19th, 2016. We blur the line between reality and fiction with this homage to WireTap. Jonathan Goldstein is the former host of CBC's WireTap. He now hosts the podcast Heavyweight on Gimlet Media. Rap Master Maurice will revenge rap Jonathan Goldstein or any of your other enemies for $17. If you want a friendly rap, it'll cost you more. Joshua Karpati didn't want us to tell you anything about him. Howard Chackowicz is a cartoonist and musician in Montreal. He wants you to know more about The Ren & Stimpy Show's creator John Kricsfalusi.  Billy Mavreas makes comics and poetry. He runs a curiosity shop in Montreal called Monastiraki.  Additional music on this show came from WFMU's Free Music Archive: Proton Beat by Gangi Kosmiche Slop by AnenonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On last week's episode, we featured Jonathan Rotsztain, a comic artist who makes idiosyncratic comics about his job handing out Metro newspapers at subway stations. His goal was to get them printed in Toronto's Metro, so that he could get paid to distribute his own work to commuters. We asked for your help, and although he didn't get into Metro Toronto, something even stranger happened. You can still support Jonathan by tweeting @metrotoronto with the hashtag #hurtjae demanding that they publish Jonathan's metro comics. Follow jrotszta on Instagram and tag @metronewsca in the comments.   This interview originally aired on January 11th, 2017 Cassils is a performance artist living in Los Angeles. Watch a video about their performance Inextinguishable Fire, in which they set themselves on fire. Here's the 1969 Harun Farocki film about napalm that influenced the work. Here are some images from "Cuts: A Traditional Sculpture" featuring the image that was banned in Germany. Watch the video for "Telephone", where Cassils is seen making out with Gaga. Read the article about it in Out Magazine, "Heather Cassils: Lady Gaga's Prison Yard Girlfriend."   Music on this episode: "Move Like a Mystic" by A l l i e. Listen to more of her work on Soundcloud. "Slipping Away" by Diana (Bad Channels remix). Listen to more of Diana's work here and more by Bad Channels here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonathan Rotsztain distributes newspapers for Metro Toronto, and makes comics about it. His goal is to get his comics about the Metro printed in the Metro, so that he can have the pleasure of distributing his own artwork on the job. With your help, we can achieve this goal together.  Tweet @metrotoronto with the hashtag #hurtjae and demand that they publish Jonathan's metro comics! Follow @jrotszta on Instagram and tag @metronewsca in the comments! Look at Jonathan's website! Music on this episode: "So Far So Cool" and "Bright Future" by Peter Kalyniuk.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Century Egg composes Chinese pop songs by Email. And a war is brewing in the Canadian art world. It's a war of loverz, haterz and haterzhaterz.   Century Egg makes Chinese pop music in Halifax. They just wrapped up a mini-tour of central and eastern Canada. They talk about their peculiar approach to writing music. River God, the title track off their latest release, was written in 20 minutes, while singer Shane Keyu Song and guitarist Robert Drisdelle waited for their rice to finish cooking.   Anonymous meme accounts have started a war in the polite, Canadian art scene. @CanadianArtWorldHaterz's memes call out artists and gallery owners across the country, tackling issues of representation and power imbalances in the art world. @CanadianArtWorldHaterz quickly spawned reaction accounts, including @CanadianArtWorldHaterzHaterz and @CanadianArtWorldLoverz. Sholem Krishtalka of Toronto's infamous critical art zine, Art Fag, reflects on his days writing his own anonymous, and whether anything's changed.   Music on this episode: "River God," "All This Unpleasantness" "Sunshine Realise" and "Day That Didn't Exist" by Century Egg "Never Trust a Storyteller" and "Inter-Mission" by Obuxum. Find more of her music here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sabrina Jalees knows the work side of comedy. She's been doing standup since she was a teen and has been on TV almost as long. But she's still waiting for that dream job. She talks to Aliya about her long game and how joking about being Muslim has changed since her early, post-9/11 days. You can catch Sabrina this week on the Just For Laughs Roadshow in Markam, Milton, Burlington or Kingston.   Music on this episode: "Haberdash" by Phèdre. "St Lucia" by Bernice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comedian Fatima Dhowre recounts her many near death experiences and breaks down her first comedy set.   Fatima is performing at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival April 6th to 9th. Betty Lambert was a writer based in Vancouver. Crossings was the only novel she published, but she also wrote plays, radio plays and short stories. That piece featured the voices of writers Anakana Schofield and Claudia Casper, Betty's daughter Ruth Lambert and Betty's sister, Dorothy Beavington. Thanks to Lee Beavington and Arsenal Pulp Press for their assistance. Mourning Coup is the musical project of Chandra Melting Tallow. Brad Ross is a man who knows Chad Kroeger   Find links to more of their work at canadalandshow.com/imp   Thank you to CIVL Radio and the podcast Cited for bringing us to the University of Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, where this show was originally performed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A ten-year-old leads the revolution on Youtube. An interview with two child screenwriters goes badly. A dad and daughter review Mac DeMarco's old band.   Sceneable is a Youtube channel by a ten-year-old from Quebec named Dylan. He vlogs about things like communism, women's rights and growing fish. Cave Small Cave Big is a surreal short film that was written by Madeline Lee Harker and Adelaide Shwartz when they were five. It was directed by Joële Walinga. Follow Cave Small, Cave Big on Facebook for updates about upcoming screenings, currently planned for Brooklyn, Albuquerque, Chicago and Los Angeles. Contributors: DandD Listens, Katie Jensen   Music on this episode: "Slush Puppy Love" and "Heat Wave" by Makeout Videotape. The Cave Small Cave Big music comes from the film's soundtrack, written by Carl Didur, Thom Gill and featuring "solo" by Madeline Lee Harker.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fader's Anupa Mistry on a strange early clip of the Weeknd, new music you should pay attention to and why you should stop talking about the 6ix.   Anupa Mistry is the Canada editor at The Fader and she's written for outlets like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and CBC Music. She writes about music and pop culture. We brought her in to talk about some of the stuff she's been into lately. Here's that video clip of The Weeknd that surfaced and @the6track Twitter account where Anupa found it. Nav is a rapper/producer from Toronto. You can listen to his music on Soundcloud and see the video for his song "Some Way" here. French duo The Blaze makes music and directs videos. Here's the video for "Territory."   Follow Anupa on Twitter: @_anupaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kapwani Kiwanga sends a message to Saturn. SlowPitchSound goes to Wonderland. Rajni Perera launches the deities into space.   Kapwani Kiwanga is a multimedia artist born in Hamilton and based in Paris. She talks to Aliya about the Sun Ra Repatriation Project, her attempt to contact jazz musician Sun Ra on Saturn. Her first exhibition in Canada is going on right now at the Power Plant in Toronto. Rajni Perera is a Toronto-based artist whose work contains elements of science fiction, mythology and sexuality.   Music on this episode: An excerpt from WNDRLNDED by SlowPitchSound, who calls himself a "scifi-turntablist." His new album THK SKIN is released this Friday, March 10th. The interview with Kapwani featured clips from "Looking Outward," "Outer Nothingness" and "Nebulae" by Sun Ra.   We're coming to Abbotsford, BC for a FREE live show on March 18th! Get the details on our website: canadalandshow.com/imp See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katie Stelmanis, AKA Austra, talks about her awkward CBC dance party, her time in an ostracized riot grrrl band and owning her music.   Austra's new album is called "Future Politics." You can stream it on Bandcamp. Find more of her stuff at our website: canadalandshow.com/imp   Songs on this episode: "Future Politics," "Utopia" and "43" from Future Politics. "Painful Like" from Olympia.   The Imposter is hosted by Aliya Pabani and produced by Kevin Sexton. Follow us on Twitter: @IMPSTR / @AliyapabaniSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Folk songs from a 19th-Century asylum for women, collected by the alter ego of Simone Schmidt.   Simone Schmidt performs as Fiver. Her new album, Audible Songs from Rockwood, is a collection of songs based on the mid-19th century archives of the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane, complete with contextual liner notes by her ethnomusicologist alter ego, Simone Carver. The album is out April 21st.   Songs on this episode, all by Fiver: "Pile Your Silver" "Stable Song" "Worship the Sun (Not the Golden Boy)" "Carry on Warm"   The Imposter is hosted by Aliya Pabani and produced by Kevin Sexton. Find links to some of this work at our website: canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily M. Keeler listens to one song seven times a day, goes on Instagram and ends up in the Twilight Zone, and looks for gopher holes in poetry.   Emily is vice president of PEN Canada and editor of the Exploded Views series from Coach House Books. She also founded Little Brother Magazine. She recommends you check out: Naomi Skwarna's Instagram account. The essay "Mind No Mind" by Jia Tolentino. Rupi Kaur's poetry book Milk and Honey. Jana Prikryl's poetry book The After Party. The song "I Wish" by Skee-Lo. Emily's Twitter: @emilymkeeler   Find links to these people's work on our website, canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gif heritage with Sally McKay. Kiera Boult is the wizard of Canada's Brooklyn. The first movie star is from Hamilton.   Kiera Boult is a performance artist and retired stand-up comic. Sally McKay is an artist, curator and assistant professor at McMaster University. She helped run the now-deceased art magazine Lola, which was famous for its "shotgun" art reviews by non-writers. Florence Lawrence was a Hamilton-born silent actor who arguably became the first movie star. You can find some of her movies on Youtube. Shirley Hughes is one of the co-founders of the Toronto Silent Film Festival. The music on this show is by the band Zena.   This episode was recorded at Mills Hardware in Hamilton, Ontario.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artwork goes missing. A film hits an impasse. An artist feels stuck. They turn to fortune teller Cindy Mochizuki for guidance.   In addition to being a go-to fortune teller for artists, Cindy Mochizuki is herself an artist based in Vancouver. Her work spans from animation to sculpture, incorporating themes of history and memory. Her short films have screened around the world.   Every artist on this episode makes incredible work that you should check out. We have links on our website, canadalandshow.com/imp   Abbas Akhavan works in installation, drawing, video and performance. That work of his in The Guggenheim is called "Study for a Monument." Amy Lam is one half of Life of a Craphead, who host a livestreamed performance night called Doored. They made the movie Bugs, "a satire about bug society and its most powerful family." Walter Scott is a multi-disciplinary artist and creator of the Wendy comic books. You can hear a full interview with him on The Imposter episode 10, "Happy Lucky Accident Stories." Sojourner Truth Parsons is a painter who has exhibited work around the continent. There's a great profile of her in Canadian Art, where you can see a lot of her paintings. Nadia Belerique makes installations and works with steel. Her website looks like a xeroxed zine.   Music on this episode: That funky electronic track at the beginning of the show is "Sage" by Man Made Hill. Additional music is by Carl Didur.   The Imposter is hosted by Aliya Pabani and produced by Kevin Sexton. Follow us on on Twitter @IMPSTR / @aliyapabaniSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jess Salomon makes her comedy Great Again. Bruce McDonald goes to Washington. PJ Vogt lives inside a Weakerthans song. BJ Snowden loves Canada more than Canadians do.   Jess Salomon used to be a UN war crimes lawyer. Now, she's trying to get some regular comedy gigs in New York. She has videos of her stand-up on her website. Bruce McDonald is a filmmaker whose movies include Hardcore Logo, Highway 61 and Roadkill. His newest movie, Weirdos, will be in select theatres across Canada this spring. PJ Vogt hosts a podcast called Reply All. In one episode, he micro doses on LSD at work and in another he explores One Direction conspiracy theories. BJ Snowden is a songwriter living in Massachusetts. She writes songs about Canada, but also things like working as a school teacher and Judge Joe Brown.   Music on this episode: "Sailin' On" by Haolin Munk. "One Great City!" by The Weakerthans "In Canada" by BJ Snowden.   The Imposter is hosted by Aliya Pabani and produced by Kevin Sexton. Additional contributions on this episode from Katie Jensen and Chandler Levack. Follow us on Twitter: @IMPSTR / @aliyapabani . Visit our webiste: canadalandshow.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether he's talking about a book that changed his life or just his favourite brand of chips, author Pasha Malla approaches subjects with deep thought and insight. So we invited him on the show to talk about some of the stuff he's been into lately. Here are his picks:   The novel After James by Michael Helm. Living Hour, a psychedelic band from Winnipeg and their song "Seagull." The band Fake Palms from Toronto. Pasha picks the song "Melatonin." The face of basketball player Andrew Wiggins, who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Imposter is hosted by Aliya Pabani and produced by Kevin Sexton. Follow us on Twitter @IMPSTR / @aliyapabani Find links to work by the artists on today's show at canadalandshow.com/impSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.