Stay ConnectedBig 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 less.
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At the 2026 Academy Awards, Paul Thomas Anderson finally won his Oscars, everybody cheered for Michael B. Jordan's best actor win and a big night for the Canadian talent behind 'Kpop Demon Hunters' and 'Frankenstein.' Entertainment reporter Teri Hart, Vulture film critic Bilge Ebiri and comedian Ashley Ray recap the big night with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud.
Sinners and One Battle After Another are dominating the most exciting Oscar race in years. Plus, the best actor field is wildly competitive between Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Wagner Moura. But maybe Ethan Hawke pulls out a dark horse win? Film critics Rad Simonpillai, Adrian Horton and Jackson Weaver join Elamin Abdelmahmoud with their Academy Award hopes and predictions.
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 blame. Policy expert Vass Bednar and musician Rollie Pemberton join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the case, proposed settlement and what this means for the price of your concert tickets.
The President’s Cake, a debut film from Hasan Hadi, takes place in the 1990s in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s regime. It follows a nine-year-old girl tasked with baking a cake for the dictator's birthday. Film critic Dalia Al-Dujaili talks to Elamin Abdelmahmoud about what makes this film important and its impact on the Iraqi film industry.
Last fall, Alberta’s education minister ordered schools across the province to remove books containing explicit depictions of a sexual act from their libraries and classrooms. Over 150 titles have been removed from shelves, including the graphic novel version of Margaret Atwood’s 'The Handmaid’s Tale' and George Orwell’s '1984.' Ira Wells, author of the book 'On Book Banning' and the president of PEN Canada, talks with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud about why we’re seeing more book bans in schools in Canada and the U.S. right now.
Plus, Timothée Chalamet is taking heat for comments he made about the relevance of opera and ballet. Hunter Harris and Ariella Garmaise talks about what it could mean for his shot at the Oscar and why the world suddenly seems to be turning on Hollywood’s golden boy.
At the end of last year, several prominent artists lost millions of streams from the Spotify bot crackdown including Doechii, Davido and BTS' Jimin. The move has sparked conversations online around the impact of artificial intelligence and inflated statistics. Music industry insiders Michelle Santosuosso and Kevin Amougou talk to Elamin Abdelmahmoud about what all of this means for the future of music.
Angine de poitrine is a music duo from Saguenay, Quebec that's gone viral for performing in big masks, polka-dotted costumes and speaking in gibberish. Culture writer Dominic Tardiff explains why their music is such a surprising hit.
Almost half of the Toronto Film Critics Association's members have resigned after it was revealed that actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ recent acceptance speech was edited to remove her support for Palestine. Canadian Press reporter Alex Nino Gheciu tells Elamin about the fallout. You can find more on this story, including the TFCA's full statement, here. Plus, film critics Hanna Flint and Kayleigh Donaldson join Elamin to unpack whether Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! works as a feminist take on one of horror’s most iconic but seldom explored characters: the bride of Frankenstein.
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 dance music. Culture critics Lucy Ford, Louise Bruton, and Michelle Cho share their thoughts with Elamin Abdelmahmoud.
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 inspired so many artists. Rap Essentials 2001 was particularly influential. To mark the 25th anniversary of that album, Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by Canadian music industry insider Craig "Big C" Mannix and journalist/publicist Dalton Higgins, to dig into the Rap Essentials series, and how it shaped culture. And Vulture’s Fran Hoepfner talks about what’s drawing people to the Benny Blanco and Lil Dicky’s talk show Friends Keep Secrets.
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 organizations these cuts will be catastrophic. Poet and culture critic El Jones and novelist Stephanie Domet join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to explain what’s on the line. And Scream 7 is the number one movie at the box office right now. Film critic Teri Hart shares her thoughts on the franchise’s latest entry and some of the controversy around the film.
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 critic Pablo The Don and musician/tv producer Romeo Candido dive into it and his pop legacy with Elamin Abdelmahmoud. And the Netflix documentary series ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ has returned for its eighth season, taking viewers behind the scenes of Formula 1 racing. Producer and show super-fan Michelle Jobin explains why this show has kept audiences intrigued, particularly viewers who wouldn’t otherwise care about car racing.
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