In Bed with the Elephant

Todd Dufresne is a professor of Philosophy at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay Ontario. He’s the author of thirteen books including The Democracy of Suffering: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe, Philosophy in the Anthropocene. Dufresne is an expert on Sigmund Freud and the history of psychoanalysis. His latest book is entitled The Future Belongs to Those Who Fight: Climate Revolution for Beginners.
 
Todd thinks there must be a reckoning with climate disaster. He says we have to come to terms with the democracy of suffering enveloping the globe - the collective experience of suffering caused by climate change.  We need a bold new vision of a just future beyond capitalism.  Far from reform, he thinks we need a revolution. A climate revolution.

‘Tre'vell Anderson is an American journalist, critic and podcaster. They previously worked for the Los Angeles Times, Xtra, and Out. They’re  the recipient of  an NAACP Image Award and two GLAAD Media Award nominations for their writing. They co-host SEATED a podcast about Black cinema. 
They are also the author of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film and  co -author of Historically Black Phrases. They are currently the Executive Director of the Trans Journalists Association an organization that promotes accurate and nuanced journalism trans people and communities.  

The Halifax-born Shireen Ahmed is a multi-platform journalist, TEDx speaker, mentor, and an award-winning sports activist. She’s a co-creator and co-host of the feminist podcast “Burn It All Down.” She teaches Journalism and Sports Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, in Toronto, Canada. She covered the World Cup for the CBC as a senior contributor.  I spoke with her just before the quarter finals of the tournament began.  

Brett Popplewell travelled to Greenland in February to see how locals were responding to the US President’s threats to annex their country. He wrote a cover story about his experience for the June 2026 edition of the Walrus magazine.  It’s called “I Went to Greenland and Saw a Warning for Canada: How the resource rich Arctic territory braced for invasion.”
Popplewell is a multiple National Magazine award winning writer and Associate Professor of Journalism at Carleton University. He’s also the author of the best-selling book “Outsider: An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden path.  Full disclosure Brett and I are colleagues at the Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication in Ottawa.

After winning a decisive victory in the federal NDP leadership race in March 2026, Avi Lewis is now the head of a party that’s been experiencing hard times. The NDP hit rock bottom in the last federal election and were reduced to just 7 seats in the House of Commons, losing official party status – the worst result in its history.
As the new leader, Avi Lewis’ challenge is to reorient and revive the NDP by organizing new and old supporters… and lapsed ones too. A former CBC, Al Jazeera and City TV journalist, filmmaker and activist, Avi Lewis comes from a gilded pedigree. He’s NDP royalty. His grandfather David Lewis was leader of the federal New Democratic Party in the early 1970s. His father, Stephen Lewis, lead the Ontario NDP for nearly 8 years, was Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, and was one of the country’s most renowned orators and respected statesmen. His mother Michelle Landsberg was an influential journalist and pioneering feminist social activist, and his wife Naomi Klein is an internationally acclaimed journalist, public intellectual and best-selling author. Avi Lewis’ leadership of the federal NDP signals an unapologetic shift to the left for a social democratic party that veered to the political centre in the last decade, particularly during the tenure of former leader Tom Mulcair.
Under the leadership of Lewis’s predecessor, Jagmeet Singh, the NDP propped up a minority Liberal government in exchange for the passing of progressive legislation including a landmark national dental care plan and an anti-scab law in federally regulated industries. Yet, despite these legislative successes, the NDP saw its seat count collapse in the April 2025 federal election. The beleaguered party has been floundering ever since. Joining me now to talk about his plan to revitalize, reorganize and rebuild the federal NDP, and transform Canadian politics is NDP leader Avi Lewis.

JDM Stewart is an acclaimed educator and historian. His first book is called Being Prime Minister. His most recent effort is a sweeping account of Canada’s 24 prime ministers, from John A. Macdonald, a Scottish born immigrant, to Mark Carney, a native of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.  The book is entitled The Prime Ministers: Canada’s Leaders and the Nation they Shaped. 

Nader Hashemi is Director of the Al-Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University in Washing ton DC.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario he is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Carleton University and the University of Toronto . His books include,  The Syrian Dilemma, and Islam Secularism and Liberal Democracy: Toward A Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies.  

2026 marks a milestone for David Suzuki. In March the renowned Canadian geneticist, academic, author and environmentalist turned 90 years old.  An iconic broadcaster, and uncompromising advocate for the sustainable future of the planet, he’s been Canada’s most charismatic and influential public intellectual on television and radio for the better part of 6 decades.
 
He and his family were forced to endure the hardship and humiliation of spending the Second World War in an internment camp along with tens of thousands of their fellow Japanese Canadians.
Suzuki first gained prominence in the early 1960s as a hotshot Canadian-born but American trained scientist.  He eventually made the transition to become one of Canada’s most articulate and passionate science communicators.
In the early 1970s he became a broadcasting superstar as the host of the CBC Radio science program Quirks and Quarks and then CBC television’s The Nature of Things which he hosted for 44 years.
For decades David Suzuki has been unwavering in his commitment to speaking out about the unsustainability of the impact of human beings on the biosphere. He’s urged politicians and citizens, alike to act to preserve the earth for the generations to come .
While Suzuki has been called one of the greatest Canadians in history, he’s also been pilloried and vilified by his critics who have labelled him Dr. Doom and Gloom.  An enemy of progress.  An economic saboteur dedicated to destroying the country’s lucrative logging and fossil fuel industries. Suzuki insists that the ongoing reckless development of these extractive industries imperils our collective future as a species.
For a private person David Suzuki has lived a very public life. His most recent book is a memoir in which he reflects on his remarkable journey. It’s called Lessons From a Lifetime: Ninety Years of Inspiration and Activism.

Andrew Cohen is a journalist, author, and historian. He was a  professor of journalism at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Cohen has writ His books include A Deal Undone: The Making and Breaking of the Meech Lake Accord and Trudeau's Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. He also wrote a biography of Lester B. Pearson. He has worked as a journalist for the Ottawa Citizen, United Press International, Time, the Financial Post, Saturday Night, and The Globe and Mail. At the Globe and Mail, he was a member of the editorial board and a columnist and foreign correspondent in Washington, D.C. Cohen has won two Canadian National Newspaper Awards, three National Magazine Awards, and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.

Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, activist, independent journalist and host of the YouTube Channel “Reason to Resist” He’s the only Canadian-based journalist who has been actively reporting from Iran since war began in February.  Lascaris spent 11 days in Iran between March 20- March 31st travelling to 7 cities across a country the size of Western Europe.  We spoke to him just after he'd left Iran, from an airport terminal in Cyprus. Dimitri Lascaris. 
Since the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February 2026 over 5,000 Iranians have been killed. Thousands more have been injured.
 
The people of Iran like people everywhere are more than numbers They are human beings with thoughts, feelings, and fears, ordinary folks with hopes, aspirations and dreams. Complex, imperfect, individuals who are mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, fathers and brothers, all with unique stories to tell.  
 
What has been the impact of war on the people of Iran. How have they been coping?   I’m Adrian Harewood and this is In bed with the Elephant.
 
Journalism matters.  Particularly at a time of conflict and war. Having eyes and ears and feet on the ground to listen, to watch, to feel, to bear witness can help us to make better sense of our world. The stories that reporters bring back from the field can provide context, perspective, nuance and depth. They can help us to ask better questions and help us see the humanity of the other.