Introducing Elbows Up

A new podcast for Canada, right now.

As you’ll soon hear if you listen to the first episode of this little project I’m unveiling today, I was recently talking with someone about civil defence and serving one’s country.

The word ‘defence’ I think, rings a lot differently in Canadian ears today than it did back in November. And it should, a lot has changed—and there’s probably a lot more change coming. But still, join a ‘civil defence corps’?! What am I going to do, learn to properly fire a gun?! Pilot a drone?!

No. Hence the ‘civil’. What everyone can and should do for their country in times of trouble and uncertainty is use the skills they have to try to make things better. (If we’d done more of that in times of no trouble and certainty we might now be where we are today, but I digress.)

It is in the spirit of doing what we can that we bring you a podcast. It’s called Elbows Up—you can probably guess why. You can listen on your podcast platform of choice right here. And of course you can find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or just at this website. And I’ll probably post the episodes here as well, at least until you tell me to stop.

So what is it? No, it’s not a news show. If there is one thing that has given me some peace the past several weeks of Big News All Day Everyday, it has been not making a living trapped in the endless wheel of reacting then retracting, of trying to tell people What it All Means before what it all is changes again. It has been a blessing to sit this one out. Truly.

But that doesn’t mean the news doesn’t make me anxious. Or scared. Or, more often, furious. It doesn’t mean I’m not deeply concerned about what happens to us if our biggest and most powerful friend really does become our enemy.

This podcast isn’t about what just happened, or who we blame for it (except Trump). It’s a show about what the fuck we do now. No recriminations here for years of coasting that left us in this spot—that was done under Liberal and Conservative governments alike.

Just this: What should we do to make Canada strong and self-sufficient? What do Canadians need right now, from the leaders, their neighbours and their independent podcasters? And how—practically and emotionally—do we grapple with a world shifting rapidly under our feet?

That’s why we made this show, and we hope it’s useful. We’ve also made it quickly, so we would love (really we need it!) your constructive feedback on how it can be more useful to you. You can email us at hello.elbowsup@gmail.com.

And if you like this show, please do share it. There’s no network or money behind this, it’s a labour of love from myself, Laura Palmer and Mat Keselman, who simply felt this was a podcast we needed to hear. And since nobody else was making it, we are.

Thank you in advance for any support, feedback, promotion, etc. And especially the feedback. We hope you like it!