The Life Is Sweet Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Life Is Sweet Podcast
Episode 20 - Looney Tunes BackgroundsTalking About Our Grand Circle Road Trip - Feb/March 2023Arches/Canyonlands/Capitol Reef/Bryce Canyon/Zion/Vegas/Death Valley/Grand Canyon/Monument Valley/Moab area (again)/Colorado National Monument and places in between//Road Tripping With A Baby//The Weather//Chain Hotels > AirBnB//Southern Utah Is Very Mormony//Scenic Byway 12//Baby Carrier > Stroller//Hiking As An Older Regular Person//Essential Equipment: Micro Spikes//Elevation Is An Issue//Vegas Is An Unavoidable Giant Mall//Sunset In Death Valley//Hoover Dam Is Cool//The Grand Canyon Is Skippable//Meeting Friends On The Navajo Nation//Things We'd Do If We Went Back//Newspaper Rock//Sego Canyon//Philosophy & Ethics Of Travel//
//Exiting Nugget Mode//Desert Skulking//Life Is Sweet Bingo Card//Baby High//Adventures In Sleep, Or Lack Thereof//Feeding Foibles//C Section Healing//Road Trip Baby//Itinerary//Film, Physical Media & Memory//Nobody Should Like Spreadsheets//Instagram Is Not The Point//Backpack Full Of Cameras//Prep Reading//Trying Not To Collect Stuff//What Is A Cyanotype//Always Making New Skeletons//
FInishing our mini series on The Red River Resistance.
Recap//Schultz Plots A Coup//Riel Arrests The Schultz Gang//Charles Mair: Forgotten Grifter//Thomas Scott Raises A Mob//Martyr vs Murderer//Canada First Puts Out A Bounty//Delegation To Ottawa//Birth Of Manitoba//Wolesely Arrives, Riel Flees//O'Donoghue's Failed Revolution//Riel Returns, Flees Again//Louis Riel, MP//Barred From Parliament//A Pardon For Lepine//Riel Is Committed//Exile To Montana//Canada Betrays The Metis//Metis Forced To The Fringe//Conclusions And Takeaways//
//Podcast Themes//Gary Lyndon//The Story Of How Liz Was Born//Breastfeeding Adventures//Baby Formula Should Be Free//Actually The Cutest Baby In The History Of The World//How Do You Live With A Newborn?//Post Partum Depression But For Dads//Families & Economics//Night Shifts//Things The Baby Likes So Far//Dr. Spock & Attachment Parenting etc.//Labour, Birth & Immeditately Afterwards//Instagram Parenting//2022 Spooky Season Movie Recs//
Youtube Prenatal Class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7YucfJuziU
Jon's Current Top 5 Spooky-ish Movies As Of Right Now: The Shining The Witch Mandy The Wicker Man (original) The Thing
We Got A New Couch!
//New Used Couch//Leaky Roof Saga//Rebranding As A Handyman//Manitoba's Foremost Natural Dyeing Podcast//Feelings On C Sections//Packing Your Baby Bag//Placenta Talk//Natural Birth//Being Aware Of Risks//Please Buy Jon Noise Cancelling Headphones//The Waiting Game//Manitoba's Fine Beaches//Maternity Media//
Note: The baby arrived 3 days after the recording of this episode. Baby and Mama are both healthy and happy and we're very excited to have everyone here! Jill likely won't appear on an episode in September but we'll check back once everyone is settled in.
Red River Resistance, Part 1
All content warnings apply //Resistance or Rebellion?//HBC vs Canada: Feudalism or Capitalism. Why Not Both?//Revenge For Seven Oaks//Oppression As Corporate Policy//Cross Racial Solidarity//Metis Rally For Guillaume Sayer//Monopoly Breaks//Scramble For The Northwest//Red River People Left Out//Metis Concerns & River Lots//A Plague Of Wasps//The Original Orange Men//The Fenians//William MacDougall & Manitoulin Island//Military Surveyors Trespass//Riel Stares Down Canada//Lepine Turns Back MacDougall//Napkin Tacked To A Fencepost//J.S. Dennis: Keeper Of The Peace/Head Dispossessor//How Canada Steals Your Land//J. C. Schultz: Racist Fake Doctor//Canada First//Thomas Scott: Erratic Thug//HBC: Just Minding The Store//William MacTavish: Loyalty To Family Or Employer?//Metis Invited To Fort Garry//Declaration Of The People Of Rupert's Land//Provisional Government Established//
Good Apocalypse Humour//A Wall-e But For Podcasts//Summer Holidays//Gestational Diabetes//Overenthusiastic Placenta//Looking Very Buddha//Summoning The Baby//Notorious Snorer//Star Trek Is Too Disturbing For Fetuses//Feeling Neutral About Being Pregnant//Uterus Coming Through//Feminine Knowledge Pipeline//Hormones In Play//Circle Of Support//Birth Is Traumatic//Parental Leave//Prepping For B Day//Little Hungry Nugget//Buying A Pack Of Baby Suits//Bookpile//Finding The Mother Tree//Matrix//Beeswing vs Bee's Wing//Richard Thompson//Fairport//Not Being One Of The Cool Music Kids//Graham Nash Is A Dunce//Pretending You're Mysterious Makes You Look Like An Idiot//Art Builds Communities//A Band Is A Way To Practice Friendship//Yurts Are Good//Manitoba: Cursed By God, Blessed By Water//
Jon Reads Clearing The Plains: Chapter 6, Part 1
Canada, The Northwest, And The Treaty Period, 1869-76
Episode 15: Garden Babies
Mennonites And Pride//More Baby Stuff//Middle Class Mindset vs Sharing Economy//Community Baby Supply Pool//Parental Leave For All//Having Babies During Worsening Economic & Climatic Conditions//Cold Weather People//Summer Toodles//We Live In A Forest//"I Saw A Cat And I Didn't Like It"//Inflation In Vet Bills//Looking For Birds To Watch//Coot Enthusiast//Gas Rationing//Garden Time//Former Cecil Rhodes School Renaming Story//The Northman Is Good//
Our technology glitched out around 19:20, so you'll hear a weird edit, please don't be alarmed.
Cover photo: Pinball Wizard Alium
Cecil Rhodes School Renaming Links: Jill's original petition https://www.change.org/p/winnipeg-school-division-board-and-trustees-rename-cecil-rhodes-school-in-winnipeg-manitoba
Despite what the headline says, the name wasn't "stripped." The community democratically decided to change the name of their school, and the Winnipeg School Division board voted to approve it. The main body of the article has good info though. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/keewatin-community-prairie-school-cecil-rhodes-new-name-1.6441093
Jon's Teleharmonium music: https://teleharmonium.bandcamp.com/album/serpent-of-the-sea-ep
Clearing The Plains Chapter 5: Expansion Of Settlement And Erosion Of Health During The HBC Monopoly 1821-1869
Clearing The Plains: Chapters 1 - 4 Recap
James Daschuk, Clearing The Plains https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains
Nick Estes, Our History Is The Future https://www.versobooks.com/books/2953-our-history-is-the-future
Howard Adams' book, Prison Of Grass, is currently out of print. Hopefully that changes soon, but in the meantime, check your local library. If you're in Canada, it's likely they have it, and if they don't they can transfer it in from another library.
Jesus Christ Superstore
Picking up where ep 13 left off, hunkering down in last April's blizzard, waiting for Spring...
//Kung Fu Movies//Sci Fi Roundup//Baby Mobile vs Batmobile//Crafting Through The Blizzard//Winnipeg Transit Isn't So Bad If You Don't Need To Be At Work On Time//Ultrasound Week//What Being Pregnant Is Like//Abolishing Easter As A Bit//Evangelical vs Heathen Easter//Verboten Jesus Movies//Hiding Chocolate In The Dryer//Catholic Holidays Are More Fun//Easter Is About Killing God//Ham Rules//Jill's (Secretly Jewish?) Ukrainian Family//Great Grandmother Owned A House And Worked On The Railroad//Convincing Your Husband To Move To Saskatchewan//All Family History Is Told By Unreliable Narrators//
Episode 13, Part 1: One's On The Way
We were stuck inside during the (previous) April blizzard so we hit record on the ole podcast machine and hung out on the couch all afternoon. This is part 1, with the Big News, and we'll post the back half sometime in the next few weeks. Enjoy!
//The Big News//Tiny House Logistics//Give Us Your Used Furniture//The Secret To Being Able To Own A House//Testing Positive For Baby And Covid At The Same Time//Of Course Long Covid Is Real//Spring Break//Getting Back Into The Teaching Swing//
*Some of the views expressed in the song, "One's On The Way" by Loretta Lynn, may not necessarily reflect the podcasters' own views on child rearing.
//Hibernation//Garden Vibes//We Were A Table Family//Snow Drifts Above My Head//Flood Of The Century//Flood and Drought In The Same Year//The Floodway//Sandbagging McMansions//Bird Talk//Big Owl Year//The Scout Goose Has Landed//Movie Roundup//Boredom Is Severely Underrated//Coaching Kids Basketball//Substitute Teacher Survival Rate//
Ig & twitter @xmas_tomato (Jon)
I (Jon) attended two rallies related to the Russian war on Ukraine on March 6, 2022. One I attended on purpose, the other, accidentally.
I thought it was a good opportunity to try to show how ordinary people can use the tools we were talking about in the previous episodes - awareness of history, class consciousness, and a united front strategy - to understand more deeply what's happening at these types of political rallies and how ordinary people can safely participate in them.
Jon ig & twitter xmas_tomato
Canada flouting international law by continuing Saudi arms sales, report says https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-flouting-international-law-by-continuing-saudi-arms-sales-new/
Details emerge about alleged human-smuggler, amid questions about one family’s ‘desperate decision’ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/21/manitoba-border-deaths-details-emerge-about-alleged-human-smuggler-amid-questions-about-one-familys-desperate-decision.html
More local podcasts on this topic: Victor's Children, Episode 15: Understanding Russia Today https://soundcloud.com/user-737267994/episode-15-understanding-russia-today
Solidarity Winnipeg Podcast, Episode 14: Russia Out Of Ukraine and No To NATO Too! https://soundcloud.com/solidarity-winnipeg-sw/swpod-ukraine-ep-final
Talking about the aftermath of the far right occupation in Manitoba, Clara Zetkin's strategy for a united front against fascism, and how we can build resistance to far right influences in our families, communities, and workplaces.
Twitter@LifeIsSweetPod
Canada Goose Union: a recent, local, real life example of how ordinary people can start building a better world for all! Every one of us is capable of following their example and doing the same in our workplaces and communities! https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/A2r4i
Clara Zetkin, The Struggle Against Fascism (speech excerpt) https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1923/06/struggle-against-fascism.html
Clara Zetkin, Fighting Fascism, How To Struggle And How To Win https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1088-fighting-fascism
Follow up to the previous episode on the Freedom Convoy, Mennonites, & Fascism.
What is the far right and why are there so many Mennonites there? We'll explore this question while meandering through Russian Mennonite history.
Notes & Corrections - - Around 1:28:19 when I refer to the Russian army, I meant to say the German army. (fixed) - When I refer to 1 Indigenous peson arrested, in fact 2 Indigenous people were detained. - When I refer to a Mennonite colony in Mexico, the situation I'm referring to actually occurred on a colony in Bolivia. The Miriam Toews book, Women Talking, was based on those events and was set in Mexico. - At the end when I mention the popular front, I actually mean the united front. I had the two confused. I will update the audio for this soon, as this is an important distinction. We'll be talking about the united front next episode, not the popular front. (fixed)
Twitter @LifeIsSweetPod Links:
Battle Of Billings Bridge - Ordinary People Successfully Block And Repel Convoy! https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/battle-of-billings-bridge-attracts-hundreds-of-volunteers-traps-convoy-for-hours
Winnipeg Police Detain Two Indigenous Counter Protesters (Correction - I said 1 person was arrested when 2 people were detained.) https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/two-indigenous-counter-protesters-detained-by-winnipeg-police-1.5781394
RCMP Arrest Armed Protesters At Coutts Blockade https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/mounties-arrest-11-armed-militant-protesters-at-coutts-blockade
Canadian Special Forces Personnel In The Freedom Convoy https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/what-were-members-of-canadas-special-forces-doing-at-the-freedom-convoy-occupation
The Hard Right And The Far RIght https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-far-right-the-hard-right-and-our-fight-against-them
Systematic Sexual Abuse in Mennonite Colony in Bolivia - I mistakenly referenced Mexico when I was referring to this situation. https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-48265703
Mennonite Central Committee & Nazi Collaboration - https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/mcc-initiates-research-historical-connections-national-socialism
https://mcccanada.ca/media/resources/12017 (link to a page to download a pdf)
Winnipeg Based Mennonite Fascist: J.J. Hildebrand - explores fascist conceptions of sex and racial purity https://anabaptisthistorians.org/2017/04/27/mennonite-fascism/
Battle At Old Market Square - Fascists And Mennonites in Manitoba in 1934 https://stopracism.ca/content/battle-old-market-square-winnipeg
American Fascists by Chris Hedges - a good read on the history of the American evangelical movement. Predicts many of the conditions leading to the rise of the far right today. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Fascists/Chris-Hedges/9780743284462
Thoughts on the Freedom Convoy, fascism, and the role of Mennonites from Southern Manitoba in the far right. Exploring the roots of home grown reactionaries.
For anyone concerned about the continued slide to the far right among people in their communities and wondering what ordinary people can do about it.
Correction - Candice Bergen (nee Hoeppner) was born in Morden, Mb and represents the riding of Portage-Lisgar. Portage La Prairie is in this riding.
Twitter @LifeIsSweetPod
Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” Is a Front for a Right-Wing, Anti-Worker Agenda https://jacobinmag.com/2022/02/canada-freedom-convoy-conservative-right-wing-anti-worker-anti-vaccine
Police arson unit probes Ottawa fire allegation in heat of anti-mandate protest https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/02/07/police-arson-unit-probes-ottawa-fire-allegation-in-heat-of-anti-mandate-protest.html
Clara Zetkin: The Struggle Against Fascism https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1923/06/struggle-against-fascism.html
Fighting Fascism, How to Struggle and How to Win by Clara Zetkin https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1088-fighting-fascism
Teaching During Omicron//Birthday Sweaters//More Seeds & Dyes//Pandemic Fads//Wordle//Designer Games//Going Outside In Winter Is Actually Good//Jill Breaks The Wholesome Rule//
Departures (2008-2010) Two friends visit parts of the world tourists usually pass over. Think Anthony Bourdain but he's two hosers. Unexpectedly educational, humane, and heartwarming. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320363/episodes?ref_=tt_eps_sm
Chapter 4: Despair And Death During The Fur Trade Wars, 1783-1821
Prison Of Grass by Howard Adams https://www.fifthhousepublishers.ca/search-results?q=prison+of+grass&LEAP_SearchSubmit=Submit Take it out from your local library or ask them to carry it.
Episode 10 - Paradise Below Zero
//The Inevitable Omicron Wave Ranting (Less Wholesome Than Usual - Skip Ahead About 25 mins If You're Not Into Covid Stuff Right Now)//Do Things In Real Life//Canada Goose Union//Good Vibes//Calvin Rutstrum//Winter Is Fun Actually//Hobbies, Just Hobbies//SnowShoes//Childhood Christmases//Christmas Movies//etc//
Movies Discussed: The Lion In Winter, It's A Wonderful Life, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, Paddington 2
The Canada Goose Union Interview Jon mentions: https://soundcloud.com/solidarity-winnipeg-sw/episode-12-canada-goose-union?si=cb156e759152489b941c6ac77fa8e818&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
More Canada Goose Union Info: https://linktr.ee/CGWorkersUnited
Jon Reads Clearing The Plains: Chapter 3
Early Competition And The Extension Of Trade And Disease, 1740-82
Seven Years War//Emerging Canadians//Endonyms And Exonyms//Peter Fidler//Alcohol, Misinformation, Manufactured Famine And Other Innovative Business Strategies//
Episode 9 - Life Is The Curriculum
//No Full Frankenfurters//Halloween Report//Chronological November//Dune Is Good//Brain Swaddling//Flooding And Pipeline Stuff In BC//The Ends Of The Earth//New Adventures In Natural Dyeing//Colonial History And The Textile Industry//Secret History Of Colour//Getting Comfy In Your Rabbit Hole//Life Is The Curriculum//Getting Sick Thinking About Monetizing Your Hobbies//I'm Not Oppositional, You're Oppositional//Loving/Hating The Cat//Adopting A Mentor Cat//The Beatles Ruined My Life//Nobody Likes To Hang Out At A Jam//Time Team Golden Period//Saxons, Iron Age, Bronze Age > Romans//British Stealing Their Own Antiquities//Vicarious Embarrassment Through Alan Partridge//
Kanopy - Website & App. High Quality Ad Free Streaming With Your Library Card https://www.kanopy.com
Ends Of The Earth Documentary http://www.endsoftheearth.co.uk/ABOUT.htm
RCMP Raid Wet’suwet’en Pipeline Blockade, Arrest 15 Land Defenders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljg-k4vLJo
The 100-year-old decision that contributed to Abbotsford, B.C., flooding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQdsRd77Gmo
Coquihalla flooding removes Othello road, Hope BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMuZKwt6yw
Jon Reads Clearing The Plains: Chapter 2
The Early Fur Trade: Territorial Dislocation And Disease
Jon Reads Clearing The Plains: Chapter 1
Indigenous Health, Environment, And Disease Before Europeans
Questions or comments idontwannabeasoldiermama at hotmail.com
Episode 8: Wouldst Thou Like To Live Sweetly?
cw/ chewing noises, talking with your mouth full, meal prep noises, general eating, cat nonsense, etc
Full Body Fall Experience//Building Therapeutic Rapport With The Cat/Thanksgiving//A Pumpkin You Can Wear//Kids Listen to Roky Erickson//Halloween At Church//Trick Or Treating While Old//Can You Conjure A Ghost?//Ernest Scared Stupid is Truly Horrifying//Pretending To Be A Dracula//Insurance Doesn't Cover Hell Portals//Verboten Costumes//Getting Good Candy At The Student Union Food Drive//Doing The Rocky Horror Thing//Kubrick Bro & Barry Lyndon Guy//Cat Prints In My Pizza//The Exorcist Is A Documentary//DIY Exorcism Books At The MCC Thrift Store//The Ring Ruined My Life//Lamb, The Sequel To Pig//Halloween Is About Confronting Death//Vlad's Path Of Destruction//Annie Dillard's Dad Is In Night Of The Living Dead//No Body Horror Please//
Most of the movies mentioned, in no real order: Hocus Pocus, The Craft, Ernest Scared Stupid, Sleeping Beauty (Disney), Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Ring, Candyman, Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life, Beetlejuice, The Shining, Barry Lyndon, Witch, Lamb, Pig, The Exorcist, The Haunting Of Julia, Don't Look Now, Hereditary, The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, Night Of The Living Dead, 28 Days Later, The Wicker Man, What We Do In The Shadows, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Fly, Saw, Friday The 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, The Lost Boys, Creature From The Black Lagoon
The Haunting of Julia is called Full Circle in some other countries. And Candyman is set in Chicago, not New Orleans
Jon Reads Clearing The Plains: Introduction
Talking about the reasons why I want to read this book, a bit about the author, and some of the main ideas in the opening sections. Next episode, Chapter 1.
If you'd like to read along with me, the book is: Clearing The Plains: Disease, Politics Of Starvation, And Loss Of Indigenous Life by James Daschuk
Borrow a copy from a friend or the library, get it at your local used book store or new book store, or order directly from the publisher: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains
Questions or comments idontwannabeasoldiermama at hotmail.com
//Time To Cat//Back To School With No Ventilation//Fall Projects//Household Roles//The Sadies At Blue Note Park//Live Music Is Better Inside//Harvest Moon Festival//Bat Detectors//Roger Miller Rules//Demise Of The $40 Superstore Tent//Co-operation Makes The World Go Round//Small Town Festivals//Future Episode Ideas//Read Along With Jon? Stay Tuned...
//Thunder Bay//End Of Summer Projects//Making Tapes With Lava Rendezvous//Summer Reading Update//Going To University Is Not The Same As Learning//Being Able To Do What Works For You Makes You Happier//Being Unemployed Actually Makes You More Productive//Foraging Cats Like Mushrooms//The Pig Movie Was Not As Advertised//Getting Married For Emigration Purposes//It's Not The End Of The World To Live Without Alcohol//Fighting About Who Makes Salad//
Listen to Lava Rendezvous https://lavarendezvous.bandcamp.com instagram: lava_rendezvous
//Feral Jon//Jill's School Year In Review//Bill 64 Rant//Summer Plans//Camping At Adam Lake//Thumbs Down To Star Mound//The Art Of Dyeing//Tolkien's Nanny//History For Ordinary People//
Bill 64 Resources & Information: https://www.mbschoolboards.ca/localVoices.php https://www.facebook.com/RuralMbVoices/ https://www.protectedmb.com/resources-1 https://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/42-3/pdf/b064.pdf (text of entirety of Bill 64)
Star Mound Info: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/starmound.shtml https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/country-crossroads/celebrate-canadas-past-visit-manitobas-star-mound-school/
Farms Mentioned: Longway Homestead https://www.longwayhomestead.com Ferme Fiola https://www.fermefiolafarm.ca
Books Mentioned: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell On Time And Water by Andri Snaer Magnason Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer The First Kingdom by Max Adams A People's History Of The World by Chris Harman
Talking religious fantasies, conspiracy theories, and magical beings who fascinated/terrified us in our impressionable years and shaped our psyches for good and ill.
//aliens//local crop circles//black triangle over the grain elevator//haunted houses we've lived in//the rapture for atheists//sasquatch//exorcisms over the radio//the travelling prophet tour//syncretism is dialectic//buy a baptismal font for your boyfriend//the evangelical christianity to socialism pipeline//
The Falcon Lake Incident: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/falcon-lake-incident-book-anniversary-1.4121639
Video of outro: https://youtu.be/kAAtzF1SwsE
//Good News First//Keeping It Cummings With Good Moustache Vibes//Grief In The Time Of Covid//There But For The Grace Of Universal Healthcare//When Your Cat Turns Yellow, Take Them To The Vet//The Material Basis For Weathering Trauma//If You're Depressed Your Plants Are Depressed//Depression Era Relationship To Possessions//Riding The 3rd Wave In Southern MB//
Book your vaccination in Manitoba: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/finder.html
instagram - xmas_tomato email - idontwannabeasoldiermama at hotmail
//Hammock Odyssey//Getting Vaccinated//Gene's Clown Collar//Ruddy Ducks//They Militarized The Value Village//Leviathan Wakes//Wuthering Heights the song//
Recorded April 26, 2021
Jill and Jonathan are trying to live the sweet life in Winnipeg during the Covid-19 pandemic.
//Mike Leigh movies - High Hopes, Life Is Sweet, Naked//Books - Janis by Holly George Warren, The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson//Music - Roger Fakhr's album Fine Anyway, Turn It On Again by Genesis, When I Get To The Border by Richard & Linda Thompson, Locomotion by The Bunch//
Recorded April 11, 2021