Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Channel Details
Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Big laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts & entertainment stories of the day, in 30 minutes or...
Recent Episodes
533 episodes
Weekly wrap: Oscar predictions!
Sinners and One Battle After Another are dominating the most exciting Oscar race in years. Plus, the best actor field is wildly competitive between Mi...
Will Ticketmaster face accountability for the 'broken' concert industry? And, The President's Cake
A recent case brought forward by the U.S. Department of Justice claims the ‘concert industry is broken’ and that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are to b...
Book bans in Alberta schools, and Timothée Chalamet's Oscar campaign
Last fall, Alberta’s education minister ordered schools across the province to remove books containing explicit depictions of a sexual act from their...
Spotify is cracking down on AI streams, and the unexpected joy of Angine de poitrine
At the end of last year, several prominent artists lost millions of streams from the Spotify bot crackdown including Doechii, Davido and BTS' Jimin. T...
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers returns her Toronto film critics award, and Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride!
Almost half of the Toronto Film Critics Association's members have resigned after it was revealed that actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ recent acceptanc...
Weekly Wrap: Harry Styles’ ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘Deadline’
Harry Styles’ ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’ and BLACKPINK’s ‘Deadline’ are beckoning us back to the club with two very different takes on d...
How 'Rap Essentials' changed Canadian hip hop, and why we can't stop watching Friends Keep Secrets
Rap Essentials was a series of Canadian compilation albums released in the late '90s and early 2000s. The series gave fans access to new music, and in...
Nova Scotia's proposed arts cuts hit deep, and Scream 7
The Nova Scotia government announced they're making massive cuts to grants to arts and culture programs in the province. And for some artists and orga...
A new Bruno Mars album, and F1's Drive to Survive is back
Bruno Mars is one of those artists who produces hit after hit. He's the king of collabs and now he's back with a solo album 'The Romantic.' Culture cr...
Industry S4 finale, and why are Canadian films struggling in theatres?
Industry, the HBO drama set in the highest echelons of finance and power, presents a truly toxic tangle of relationships, politics and greed. As the s...
50 seasons of Survivor
With the 50th season of ‘Survivor’ kicking off this week, guest host Amil Niazi is joined by fans Jael Richardson, Ashley Ray and former contestant Om...
Social media is facing a landmark court case, and Stan Douglas's 'Tales of Empire' photo exhibit
Meta and Google’s YouTube are currently on trial in Los Angeles to face a lawsuit that claims the company’s platforms were deliberately designed to en...
Eric Dane's powerful final message on Famous Last Words, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finale
On the Netflix show Famous Last Words, people are interviewed about their lives knowing the conversation won't be shared until after their deaths. The...
In the wake of the BAFTA's controversy, what does accountability look like?
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and BBC have apologized for airing a racial slur during Sunday’s BAFTA award ceremony. It happ...
Olympics wrap + Space Cadets review
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games have come to an end and it’s time to look back on golden moments, national disappointments and internet memes. Sports jo...
Weekly Wrap: women's hockey, American vs Canadian Olympic ads, and the Wasserman fallout
Writer/rapper Rollie Pemberton, Sirius XM host Tara Slone, and entertainment reporter Teri Hart join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about the 2026 Olympi...
How Rev. Jesse Jackson shaped culture, and new music from Jill Scott and J. Cole
Elamin is joined by culture critics Pablo The Don, Jay Smooth and A. Harmony to discuss new albums from Jill Scott and J. Cole, and the legacy of poli...
Does Tyra take enough accountability in the ANTM docuseries?
A new Netflix docuseries looks back at the cultural force that was America’s Next Top Model. Tyra Banks, its creator and host, sits down to face the r...
Ben Bankas and why outrage comedy sells, and Is Fanfiction about real people ethical?
Ben Bankas is a Canadian comedian who’s selling out venues throughout North America with his hate-filled stand-up routine, including jokes about Renee...
Feist and Wolf Parade are capturing the hearts of younger fans, and how Quebec rap group Muzion changed hip-hop
The year might be 2026, but for fans of Canadian indie music, it’s starting to feel a lot like 2005. Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” has gone...
Weekly Wrap: Wuthering Heights, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie and James Van Der Beek
The new adaptation of Wuthering Heights is sexy, but Emily Bronte fans are wondering if they read the same book as director Emerald Fennell. Film crit...
The fake immigration prank going viral + the legacy of Steve's Music
With comedian Ben Palmer’s fake immigration hotline going viral on TikTok and YouTube, Commotion guest host Radheyan Simonpillai is joined by culture...
Queer romance Montreal, Ma Belle shows the city like never before, and the red carpet belongs to Chappell Roan
Joan Chen played a series of iconic, beautiful women in the 80s and 90s, from Wan Jung in the Oscar-winning film 'The Last Emperor' to Josie Packard i...
Springsteen, Jesse Welles, and protest songs that connect us to this moment
Musicians like Bruce Springsteen have quickly released anti-ICE protest songs, while folk singer Jesse Welles has become a viral sensation thanks to h...
Bad Bunny's historic Super Bowl Halftime show, and Aquakultre's album and why it's important to know your history
With Bad Bunny making history as the first artist to headline a Spanish-speaking performance at the Super Bowl Halftime show - Commotion guest host Ra...
Weekly Wrap: Charli XCX's The Moment, the Safdie brothers controversy, and Tate McRae's Olympic ad
Brat summer is resurrected in Charli XCX’s new mockumentary The Moment, which satirizes concert films, the pop music machine and Charli XCX herself. C...
The Muppets are back, and the symphony and pro-wrestling are the perfect marriage
The Muppets are back, again. The 50-year-old franchise originally created by Jim Henson has tried to reboot a few times. This time Kermit and Miss Pig...
Why so many people are obsessed with the Heated Rivalry fleece, and podcasts arrive on Netflix
People can't stop talking about the TV show 'Heated Rivalry,' and specifically the fleece Team Canada jacket that Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Wi...
What Nike got wrong about its MLK tribute shoe
LeBron James and Nike are under fire after unveiling a new sneaker meant to honour the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The shoe’s colour p...
Bad Bunny wins big and brings politics to the Grammys
Bad Bunny wins big. KPop Demon Hunters also a big winner. Culture critics Pablo The Don and Niko Stratis to discuss the big wins, the snubs, and big s...
How Catherine O’Hara made the whole world laugh
Catherine O'Hara is one of Canada's most beloved stars. She’s known for her roles in Schitt's Creek, Home Alone, The Studio, Beetlejuice, and also her...
Friday Wrap: Send Help, Kanye West's apology, and Juno nominations
Culture critics Radheyan Simonpillai, Emilie Hanskamp and Ashley Ray join the group chat to discuss the new Rachel McAdams thriller ‘Send Help,’ Kanye...
Bridgerton S4, and how Star Trek and Game of Thrones are trying to land new audiences
Season 4 of Bridgerton is here, with a Cinderella storyline and its first East Asian lead. And there are two new spinoff shows from the worlds of Star...
How dystopian art helps us understand Minnesota
Along with the images of the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota, this George Orwell quote is popping up everywhere, “The Party told you to reject the evid...
The rise of stylists, and why we need jazz-pop right now
It’s awards season and stylists are working overtime to make sure their A-list clients pull off career-defining looks, but that hasn’t always been the...
The streamer iShowSpeed toured across Africa. How did it land?
Pablo The Don, Matt Amha and Ivy Prosper join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the buzz around iShowSpeed’s African tour, and the successes and controve...
Friday Wrap: Canada Shore, Oscar noms and the Beckham family drama
The infamous late-2000s MTV reality show ‘Jersey Shore’ gets a Canuck spin but does the hot-mess spectacle translate north of the border? Culture writ...
Revealing the 2026 Canada Reads books and champions
The great Canadian book debate is back! The star-studded cast of Canada Reads 2026 is revealed on Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, along with the f...
Why are we yearning for 2016? and Hilary Duff's comeback
If Instagram feels like a time-machine right now, you’re not alone. A lot of people are waxing nostalgic for the lives we were living a decade ago. So...
The rise of Penske Media Corporation, and The Testament of Ann Lee
With Penske Media Company’s acquisition of several key publications and award shows, Commotion guest host Radheyan Simonpillai is joined by entertainm...