POLcast has always been politics free but now… it’s impossible to stick to this rule. So much is happening in Poland with daily protests on the streets, both in big cities and in small towns. Referred to as STRAJK KOBIET (Women’s strike), it did start as a protest against making already very strict abortion law in Poland even stricter, but has since developed into a lot more than that – it’s an unprecedented movement for human rights, respect for the rule of law, and against the populist Polish government. ‘A backlash against a patriarchal culture’: How Polish protests go beyond…
Author: Malgorzata P. Bonikowska
This story is featured in Episode 76 – YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE B’nai Brith Canada is Canada’s oldest Jewish advocacy organization, with roots going back to 1875, tracking antisemitism trends in Canada for decades. On August 6th B’nai Brith revealed (“COVID-19 Created by “Organized Jewry,” Toronto Newspaper Claims”) that “Głos”, a Toronto-based Polish-language newspaper, published an article “Coronavirus, or the Fake Pandemic,” blaming COVID-19 on an imagined Jewish conspiracy. The text contained numerous instances of strongly antisemitic content. In fact, the article appeared twice in two issues of the paper – in March and April. B’nai Brith filed a criminal complaint…
In Episode 76 we are talking about antisemitism in two Polish language newspapers published in Canada. You will hear three interviews with: • Michael Mostyn, the Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, • Matthew Samulewski, an activist in the Polish Canadian community, mostly its younger generation, • Thomas Lukaszuk, a Polish-born Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, who served in the provincial cabinet and was the Deputy Premier of Alberta. See: Legality, morality, and freedom(s) – antisemitism in Polish language newspapers
This story is featured in Episode 75 Quo Vadis Conferences Canada and the Polish Students’ Association (PSA) at the University of Toronto have teamed up to co-host an online conference just for students! • Connect with all Polish student clubs across Canada • Learn about available internships and scholarships during your studies • Get inspired to get involved with Polish clubs at your post-secondary institution • Learn about travel and study opportunities in Poland Saturday, June 27 1pm – 4pm (EST) Location: Zoom Check out the event here! https://www.facebook.com/events/1143527579345020/ POLcast is happy to be the event’s media patron. Listen to…
In Episode 75 you will hear: Interviews: • Students connect in a coast-to-coast event Quo Vadis Conferences Canada and the Polish Students’ Association (PSA) at the University of Toronto have teamed up to co-host an online conference just for students! POLcast is happy to be the event’s media patron. POLcast talks to with Sophia Orfanakos (PSA’s president) and Ericsson Sing (PSA’s vice-president). • Grammy Award nominee’s passion for jazz In February I conducted this carefree – pre-COVID-19 – interview with Kinga Heming, an amazing Polish Canadian jazz singer, who was born in Poland, moved to Ottawa when she was five…
This story is featured in Episode 75 In February I conducted this carefree – pre-COVID-19 – interview with Kinga Heming, an amazing Polish Canadian jazz singer, who was born in Poland, moved to Ottawa when she was five and now resides in the small town of Kelowna in the Canadian province of British Columbia. I had just seen (and loved) her performance at the Kabaret pod Banką’s annual Kabareton (Cabaret Night) but most of all – she had been nominated for coveted Grammy Award. By age thirteen, Kinga had studied classical piano and voice theory, and began immersing herself classical…
This story is featured in Episode 74 Mental health is a very important, yet not sufficiently discussed face of the COVID-19 crisis. I talk to Dr. Ewa Antczak, a child psychologist, who deals with the emotional/psychological impact of the pandemic on kids. Dr. Ewa Antczak is a registered psychologist in the Province of Ontario. For many years, she has been working as a child and youth psychologist in the private practice and at Toronto Catholic District School Board. Dr. Antczak provides psychological assessment, consultation and counselling services to children, adolescents and their families. She is the founder of The Idealme…
The pandemic… Every day brings us new numbers – every single one of them represents someone whose life has been affected by this horrifying pandemic that has changed our world in ways we could not have imagined or predicted. Someone infected or deceased. Those numbers keep growing every day and we all pray or wish for the day when we hear that they have begun to drop. In POLcast episode 72, I presented to you my conversation with Dr. Rafal Kustra, Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. This was your encounter with science. …
This story is featured in Episode 73 In my last POLcast episode 72 I presented to you my conversation with Dr. Rafal Kustra, Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. This was your encounter with science. Today – the pandemic as experienced by someone who risks her life every day, a front line worker. Izabella (Bella) Tinc lives in the Kitchener-Waterloo area and works in a long-term care facility. She is a mother of 5 (3 boys and 2 girls) – two of her children are from foster care.
This story is featured in Episode 73 Tomorrow is Easter Sunday – we are going to spend it in ways that no-one has ever experienced before… At the beginnig of March, long before we realized the full scope of what was going on around us, I recorded a conversation with Maria Różanska of Just Be Cooking about Polish Easter traditions, which are all about being together, having the easter basket blessed in church, sharing hard boiled eggs with family members and relatives the same way we share oplatek (the wafer) before Christmas Eve dinner. None of this is going to happen…