The Library Vintage staff have fun while posing for a group photo in the store.

The campaign to keep The Library Vintage thriving and vibrant

This episode features Banah el Ghadbanah, communications manager at The Library Vintage in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a community hub for the queer and trans community. Ghadbanah discusses the library’s decision against non-profit status and highlights its diverse events, inclusive resources, and current GoFundMe campaign to support ongoing initiatives.

Talking community and post-Chumbawamba music with Danbert Nobacon

Woodstein Media Podcast season four launches with Danbert Nobacon chatting about community, the importance of play, and what an artist can expect to achieve through art. Danbert reached the height of his fame as a member of Chumbawamba, but he continues to create high-quality thought-provoking protest music.

United Way Perth-Huron responds to challenges facing local businesses due to “very dumb” tariffs

“Our community is facing the potential of very tough times ahead,” said United Way Perth-Huron Executive Director Ryan Erb. “We want local companies to know that, just as they have been there supporting United Way over many years, we’ll be there for them.”

Woodstein Media Podcast Season Two kicks off with a conversation with Perth-Wellington Liberal candidate, Ashley Fox

The first episode features a conversation with Ashley Fox, the Liberal Party candidate for Perth-Wellington. In this conversation, we discuss why a focus on health care is essential for the overall well-being of the province, transportation in rural communities, how the decline in the relation with the United States will affect Canadians at all levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal, how hard reduction should be approached in Ontario and the importance of not only listening to but hearing and acting on concerns raised by students, parents, and educators in the education system.  

A pilgrimage to the streets of Philadelphia

A road trip to Philadelphia on Presidents Weekend mixed historical exploration, delectable vegan cuisine, and a thrilling concert experience. The journey included visits to the Mütter Museum, Edgar Allan Poe’s house, Eastern State Penitentiary, indulging in vegan delights and attending an exhilarating concert featuring YDI, Flag of Democracy, and The Dead Milkmen. The trip encapsulated a rich blend of history, culture, and entertainment.

Pussy Riot execute a history of anti-Putin activism in Riot Days

The stage of the Axis Club in Toronto was transformed into the landscape that ended up focusing the global eye on an artistic band of Russian activists. Although Pussy Riot has yet to topple Putin’s regime, the notoriety they achieved in 2012 has made them an activist force to be reckoned with.

Riot Days is a play based on the memoir of Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina. Although the performance maintained the original Russian language, the story of resistance, repression and revolution has been cleverly presented in a multi-media blitz that even allows those of us who are unfortunate monolinguists to follow along and feel a part of the concert, rally, theatre and political happening. After all, as they say, “anyone can be Pussy Riot.”

Grassroots activists unite to educate and Take Action for Palestine

More than 600 people joined Take Action for Palestine Webinar hosted by Resource Movement, Independent Jewish Voices, and Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Toronto on Oct. 24. Though it may have been one tiny drop in an ocean of global solidarity with Palestinian liberation movements, it was packed with seeds of knowledge, and motivation.

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 25: UK musician, poet, and activist Joe Solo on socialism, antifascism, and community building

On this episode, award-winning musician, writer, poet, activist, broadcaster and washing machine engineer Joe Solo speaks about spreading his message of social justice, anti-fascism, and socialism in his music and books from Scarborough. Not the Scarborough that will jump into the minds of people raised in southern Ontario, but the one across the Atlantic on England’s North Sea coast.

Solo began his musical journey in 1987 and has seen him leaping around with pop-punk upstarts Lithium Joe or his solo albums hammering out his unique brand of Folk, Punk and Blues. His songs bring to mind great lyrical thinkers like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joe Hill, and Billy Bragg.

No luxury emissions on a dead planet: Activists disrupt JRA Heliport Airport in New Your City to say “end fossil fuels now”

At 3:20 pm on Wednesday, September 13th, activists from Extinction Rebellion disrupted private helicopter takeoffs at JRA West 30th Street Heliport Airport, disrupting flights the same way severe storms would. The main entrance was blocked for over 90 minutes and six people were arrested. 

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 22: StreetWorks director Talia Storm on harm reduction, supervised consumption, safer supply

This episode spotlights harm reduction services provided by Positive Living Niagara.  Talia Storm, Director of StreetWorks Services, discusses supervised consumption, safer supply and other services that have saved lives during the toxic drug crisis. As Storm says, the staff at StreetWorks are just the passengers, and the individuals accessing the services are driving the car because harm reduction is an aspect of the treatment continuum that aims to empower and respect a person’s right to self-determination.

There were 36,442 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in Canada between January 2016 and December 2022.

A total of 7,328 apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurred in 2022. This is an average of 20 deaths per day. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of deaths per day was 10. The average number of deaths per day peaked at 22 in 2021. However, based on current national data, analyses show no significant decrease in trend, and rates remain high.