Ethical Porn with Gender Troubles

May 17, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Kyla and Kristen join Eva and Emma of team Gender Troubles to kick off their Porn Month with a chat about whether porn can be ethical, and what ethical porn looks like in practice. Gender Troubles is a podcast dedicated to debunking, demystifying and making accessible the world of academic feminism. Topics: Kristen and Kyla think Bridgerton is porn; Kyla eats a banana; what are the labour rights of folks in the porn industry; is big tech ruining porn with surveillance capitalism; how to support creators directly; legalizing the sex work industry; what policy makers should do next.

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Gender Troubles recommend: "Porn Work: Sex, Labor and Late Capitalism" by Heather Berg
They also recommend checking out their Patreon!

Pullback is produced and hosted by Kristen Pue and Kyla Hewson. Logo by Rachel Beyer and Evan Vrinten.

May Day 2022 with Emily Leedham

May 03, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Kristen and Kyla celebrate May Day with special guest Emily Leedham, Prairie Reporter for Press Progress, and editor of Shift Work, a weekly newsletter round-up of national labour news, strikes, lockouts and new organizing across Canada.
Some of the topics covered in this episode include the current state of labour and unions in Canada, discussing how companies employ anti-union tactics (calling out Uber and Amazon specifically), how COVID has and will continue to affect labour in Canada, how the current state of journalism hurts the labour movement, and how workers can become empowered to protect themselves in a world that is becoming increasingly difficult to work in. Emily recommends the Organizing For Power Course, as well as Jane McAlevey’s No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age and Eric Blanc’s Red State Revolt to learn more!

Fashion Revolution With Erin Polowy

April 19, 2022 by Kristen Pue

It’s Fashion Revolution Week! Kristen and Kyla are joined by special guest Erin Polowy, Partnerships and Programming Lead with Fashion Revolution; the founder and editor of My Green Closet, a YouTube channel, blog, and community for slow fashion; and the author of Quit Fast Fashion. Topics: what is Fashion Revolution; what are the problems within the fashion industry; what solutions are activists working on; how to engage with fashion activism.

Climate Grief with Corey Hardeman

April 05, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Kristen and Kyla are joined by special guest Corey Hardeman, painter, presenter, and certified Death Doula who also hosts workshops on climate grief. She holds a BSc in biology and is trained in both architectural drafting and classical drawing. Her art combines elements of traditional illustration and technical drawing, with a love of tonal painting and an eye for tension and movement.
Corey discusses what forms grief may take, how it manifests in relation to the climate crisis, and what listeners can do to help mitigate the anxiety and grief they may be feeling in our turbulent present.

Avocados

March 22, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Kristen and Kyla take on the world’s most iconic millennial food: the avocado! Tune in to hear a little of the history of the avocado (Kyla’s brain explodes when she realizes avocados are berries), as well as some of the modern issues facing farmers today, including cartel violence driven by lax American gun control laws and the war on drugs.

Cruise Ships Part Two: Planet

March 10, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Is it ethical to take a cruise? In the second half of this two part episode, Kyla and Kristen discuss the effect the cruise industry has on the environment, looking at what gets dumped into the oceans, the emissions of a ship, and the effect on marine life with a focus on whales.

Cruise Ships Part One: People

March 08, 2022 by Kristen Pue

Is it ethical to take a cruise? In the first half of this two part episode, Kyla takes Kristen sailing around big cruise, discussing tax evasion, vague labour laws, illness outbreaks, and the effects of the industry on port communities.

Disabilities Justice

February 22, 2022 by Kristen Pue

“Kyla's been an imaginary dictator for 10 seconds and she's already got a revolt on her hands.”

Kristen and Kyla are joined by Megan Linton from Invisible Institutions, a documentary podcast exploring the past and present of institutions for people labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Canada. They discuss the current state of institutions, how persons with disabilities are treated within the system, why institutions are run as they are, and what could replace the system.

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Energy Transitions

February 08, 2022 by Kristen Pue

“What's hard is there's a policy cognitive dissonance, where you don't want to put money into the system you're trying to leave; but if you don't do that you risk that system becoming more fragile, and then risk the political consensus you've built in order to actually get the motion to decarbonize in the first place.”

Kristen and Kyla talk with Rory Johnston, founder of Commodity Context, about the road to a just energy transition. Topics: what exactly is the energy grid; what are the economics behind decarbonizing; what is the reasoning behind continuing to invest in fossil fuels; what will the Alberta oil-sands look like over the next ten years; what are the local and geopolitics behind decarbonizing.

The Olympics

February 01, 2022 by Kristen Pue

"I'm just pulling up the Olympic sponsors list right now... oh yeah, it's a real axis of evil as far as corporations go."

Kristen and Kyla are joined by Abdul Malik of the Off Court Podcast to discuss what it would take to have an ethical Olympics. Topics include: effects on the environment, vulnerable citizens, and athletes; global politics; sponsorships; corruption; labour movements; the value of sports to our community.

Abdul recommends:
Bad Sport and Drive to Survive on Netflix
NOlympians by Jules Boykoff

Decarbonization

January 25, 2022 by Kristen Pue

"I think it's pretty on point that we're talking about decarbonization a little bit late into the podcast because we're also talking about decarbonization a little bit late into the climate crisis."

In this "better late than never" episode, Kristen and Kyla are joined by Robert Miller to finally look at what decarbonizing is and what it will need to look like in the next ten years in 5 major areas of greenhouse gas emissions: Energy, Transport, Industry, Building, Agriculture

Monopolies

January 11, 2022 by Kristen Pue

BIG announcement! Pullback has joined the Harbinger Media Network, a progressive Canadian podcast network. To celebrate, Kristen cooked up an especially dystopian episode exploring the history and current effects of monopolies on consumers, workers, and democracy.

End of Year Quiz 2021

December 28, 2021 by Kristen Pue

Kristen and Kyla are joined by previous pod guests Robert Miller, Samie Luc, and Jagen Johnson to revisit events of the past year on a special end of year quiz show.

Food Rescue

December 14, 2021 by Kristen Pue

Kristen and Kyla speak with Madison Maguire, Head of Operations for Ontario with Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue charity. Topics: what does the work of a food rescue charity look like, who do they serve, who benefits from expanding work in this area, and how has the pandemic improved Second Harvest’s digital presence?

Reacts: Just Eat It

November 30, 2021 by Kristen Pue

“Well as Prime-Minister-King I just outlaw all other grocery stores and grocery stores can’t be for profit anymore.”

As part of the ongoing series on food waste, Kristen and Kyla are joined by Robert Miller to discuss the documentary “Just Eat It”, and their second attempt at dumpster diving.

Food Justice

November 16, 2021 by Kristen Pue

In their most challenging challenge in a while, Kristen and Kyla go dumpster diving! Kristen shares her research on the topic of food insecurity, how it's been affected by COVID-19, why food waste is such a problem, and what we can do to improve access to food for all.

Cultural Appropriation

November 02, 2021 by Kristen Pue

Kyla and Kristen are joined by Panthea, Saliema, and Biraima to discuss cultural appropriation. Panthea is a television, film, and theatre actor, and founder and Managing Artistic Director of Medusa Theatre Society, and Saliema and Biraima are members of the Daily Dose of Blackness podcast and media group designed to centre and celebrate Black youth experiences and struggles.

Halloween Spooktacular

October 19, 2021 by Kristen Pue

“Now I’m picturing the Lorax with guns taped to his hands.”

In this special Halloween episode of Pullback Podcast, Kristen and Kyla are joined by activist Robert Miller to talk Squid Games and share spooky stories inspired by capitalism. Robbie shares a folktale based on his Welsh heritage; Kyla puts a modern twist on a classic ghost story; and Kristen tells a tale from the Gilded Age.

Ethical Giving

October 04, 2021 by Kristen Pue

Kristen explains donations to Kyla. How do you choose an organization to donate to, and how do you recognize a good charity from a bad one? What's the difference between non-profits, foundations, and charities? How do you know your money is being well used? What is the most effective way to support an organization you care about?

Meal Kit Services

September 21, 2021 by Kristen Pue

"Oh she has a vineyard! That's the third! I know three things about Martha Stewart."

This week Kyla and Kristen explore the ethics behind meal kits. Topics: How environmentally friendly are they? Does less food waste really make up for all that single-use plastic? How are workers treated in an industry experiencing explosive growth in a short span of time? Who are meal kits for?