Pivot Points

Wednesdays, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm | Hosted by Asad Chishti

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A weekly current issues and news panel centred in Alberta’s capital city, hosted by CJSR. 

Bringing together locals “in the know” with honesty and curiosity.

This show is for folks, who:

  • are excited by real conversations – not hot takes or platforming

  • understand rights go along with responsibilities 

  • don’t see themselves represented in the media in a just way

Hosted by Asad Chishti

 

 

EPISODE 11 | Reckoning with two levels of healthcare 

A conversation with Friends of Medicare Executive Director Chris Gallaway and Parkland Institute‘s Research Manager Rebecca Graff-McRae centring on Bill 11 and Alberta’s shift towards a two-tier healthcare system. 

 

Chris Gallaway
A community organizer and advocate. He is the Executive Director of Friends of Medicare, a non-profit working to protect and strengthen healthcare in Alberta and across Canada. Chris has been sounding the alarm on this issue for months.

Rebecca Graff-McRae
A researcher and writer. She is the Research Manager for the Parkland Institute. Focusing on public healthcare and services, seniors’ care, Rebecca has co-authored about Bill 11 and if it means the end of Canadian medicare.

 

 

EPISODE 10 | Reconciliation, extraction & Alberta separatism

A conversation with Dani Paradis centring around media, extractive journalism, Reconciliation and her new podcast, Separation Anxiety, with Tim Querengesser.
 

Dani Paradis
A journalist and educator. Her byline appears in the Walrus, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, APTN and more. A proud member of Alberta Métis Nation, she teaches journalism at MacEwan University. 

Additional voices who’ve been on the show previously:

 

 

EPISODE 9 | Public spaces & punishing the poor

A conversation with Katy Ingraham centering on the Edmonton Public Spaces Bylaw which is up for review by City Council, along with insights from lawyer Chris Wiebe on new data on transit fines and transit bans.

 

Katy Ingraham
A local advocate and organizer. She is a longtime Edmontonian and parent. Katy speaks to a variety of justice-related topics from police accountability to housing justice and more.

Chris Wiebe
A lawyer working with clients against police, peace officers and prisons. Prior to law school, he was a housing worker. Chris worked with others to release data from the City of Edmonton on transit tickets and bans under the Access to Information Act.

 

 

EPISODE 8 | Safety vs. discomfort: Antisemitism and public accountability

A conversation with Jeremy Appel about a recent campus report on antisemitism, the Edmonton Police Commission cancelling in-person meetings and more.

 

Jeremy Appel
A journalist and author. He regularly publishes The Orchard and his byline appears in places like the National Observer, the Tyee and more. Dark Phoenix, published by Dundurn Press, is his next book.

ALSO HEARD ON THIS EPISODE…

Maksen Hocine
A political science student and organizer. He studies at the University of Alberta and organizes with their Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. 

Michael Litwack
An educator and organizer. He organizes with the Edmonton chapter of Independent Jewish Voices. He is also a member of the Alberta Chapter of Faculty for Palestine.

Additional voices who’ve been on the show previously:


EPISODE 7 | State of the unions: Edmonton & beyond

A conversation with Cole Rockarts, Alyson and Anna on labour and unions’ impact on employments rates, affordability, health and safety.

 

PANELISTS

Alyson 
A parent and long-time union organizer. Alyson is Chief Shop Steward at Civic Service Union 52 (CSU52). She balances this work with her “day job” as well as other roles. She’s been active in the union since 2014.

Anna 
A city employee and cat person. Anna is 2nd Vice President at CSU 52. She was elected in 2024.

Cole Rockarts 
A labour educator and organizer. They’ve worked in unions in Canada and the US since 2016. Fired Up About Unions is their debut book and published by Between the Lines.

 

 

EPISODE 6 | Local universities suppressing their students 

A conversation with Euan Thomson and David Slater about their reporting for The Breach on Edmonton and Alberta’s role in a secret network across post-secondary institutions suppressing students. We also hear from students and alumni who were targeted for their on-going advocacy about the war on Gaza and support for Palestinian lives.

 

PANELISTS

Abraar Al Silwaadi
A writer and artist. Abraar is originally from the West Bank. She co-founded Palestinian Student Alliance (PSA) at MacEwan University. 

Chris Morrow
An Edmonton-based activist as well as DJ and artist.

Find Chris on Instagram

David Slater
An Edmonton-based journalist focusing on institutional accountability and data journalism. A former musician, he’s finishing up a journalism placement at The Tyee.

Euan Thomson
Halifax-based writer and editor. He investigates the intersection of policing and drug policy for Drug Data Decoded. Euan is a plaintiff in an ongoing lawsuit against the Calgary Police Service and University of Calgary. 

Eve Aboualy
A poet and organizer. Eve organizes with Palestinian Student Alliance (PSA) whose work focuses on MacEwan University and across the city.    
   

Nour Salhi
A journalist and writer. Nour is an advocate for collective liberation and is working towards ending institutional violence.  

 

 

EPISODE 5 | Policing from there to here

A conversation with former cop Dan Jones, advocate Kelsey Lyseng and long-time journalist Samira Mohyeddin hinging on surveillance, militarism and “justice” overseas creeping into Canadian cities and onto campuses. 

 

PANELISTS

Dan Jones
A criminologist and former police officer with the Edmonton Police Service. He resigned from the police commission in recent years and focuses on victim-offender overlap.

Find Dan on LinkedIn

Kelsey Lyseng
A nurse and human rights advocate. She’s been using videos to focus on healthcare, Palestine, with an Edmonton-specific lens.

Find Kelsey on Instagram 

Samira Mohyeddin 
A journalist and filmmaker. She left the CBC in November 2023 to found On the Line Media. Mohyeddin works to deliver critical and contextual journalism.

Find Samira on Instagram

 

EPISODE 4 | Belonging in Alberta

 

A discussion with Shiza Wasi, Henry Sir and Sarah Hoyles hinging on what it means to be Albertan, the current state of governments and special interests.

 

PANELISTS

Henry Sir
A comedian and writer. He’s been posting videos about politics and government – based on both sides of the 49th parallel.

Shiza Wasi
An organizer and convenor. She works with both YEG Muslim Vote to increase civic literacy and Public Interest Alberta to make policy more accessible.

Sarah Hoyles
Long-time journalist and CJSR’s station manager. She’s survived being in the journalism industry for more than two decades in a variety of roles.

 

 

EPISODE 3 | The language of data centres and Alberta’s referendum

 
A conversation with Gabrielle Barber and Kayla Piccinin hinging on public literacy on data centres and the Alberta referendum questions. We also go to Sturgeon County to hear from Albertans concerned about the proposed data centre there. 

 

 

PANELISTS

Gabrielle Barber
An anthropologist and soon-to-be graduate student. She’s been making educational videos about the Alberta referendum. Calgary-based.

Kayla Piccinin
An advocate and parent. Part of the Olds Transparency Project, she credits a proposed mega data centre next to her home for raising all sorts of alarms and flags on due process. 

 

 

EPISODE 2 | Do Land Back and separatism pivot the same?

 
A conversation with Matthew Wildcat, Leah Hennig and Tim Shoults orbiting around Alberta Separatists, First Nations rights, media responsibility + more.
 

 

PANELISTS

Leah Hennig
A journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Gateway. This is her second year at the helm of the newspaper as E-in-C.

Tim Shoults
The publisher of the St. Albert’s Gazette and vice-president for Great West Media’s northern division. 

Matthew Wildcat
A member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, he is a professor at the faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Where he is also the director of Indigenous Governance. 

 

 

EPISODE 1 | How do we pivot together?

A conversation with Haruun Ali, Jeremy Appel and Karen Unland hinging on Edmonton Police Service, climate responsibilities, the city budget, our news diet + more. 

 

PANELISTS

Haruun Ali
An advocate and organizer. He resides on Treaty 6 and has spent years working on issues affecting Edmonton-at-large, his family, and himself personally.

Jeremy Appel
A journalist and author. He’s written several books and regularly published The Orchard digital newsletter. Appel’s work is in the New York Times, the Toronto Star, National Observer, Tyee, Alberta Views, and more.
Karen Unland
A journalist and publisher. She is the co-founder of Taproot publishing and the editor-in-chief of Taproot Edmonton. Before founding Taproot with Mack Male a decade ago, Unland worked in newspapers and podcasting.

 

 

 



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