Episode one digging into the variety of programming being offered at Suoni Per Il Popolo 2022. Hosts, Kiva Stimac, Penny Pattison, Amy MacDonald,  Louise Burns and Alex Moskos discuss the history of the festival, what it is like coming out of a pandemic, themes from the artists work and more.

SUONI SESSIONS 2022 EPISODE ONE AN AURAL PROGRAMME GUIDE

On this program we hear from long time community activist Helen Hudson speaking about migrant justice organizing post 9/11 in Montreal and more broadly in North America. This interview is focused on understanding the lineages of organizing between this period and contemporary social movement work taking place to challenge repressive actions against migrant communities taking place today. Helen is a long term community organizer who has a lot to share about grassroots organizing networks and community initiatives in Montreal. 

This interview particularly focuses on understanding the context around self-organized migrant communities who were struggling against deportations post 9/11 including the Non-Status Refugees Action Committee (CASS) of Algerian refugees, the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees and the Action Committee of Pakistani Refugees which formed to fight the detention and deportation of members of their communities post 9/11. These forces were central to the formation of Solidarity Across Borders in the city.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

272, Community organizer Helen Hudson reflects on acting against war and racism post 9/11

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from celebrated Indigenous photographer Martin Akwiranoron Loft. Martin speaks about a series of recent projects, including a street photography series, also print making workshops focused on Indigenous community members. 

Martin also speaks about Indigenous cultural legacies and how they continue to influence and shape a city like Montreal. Finally we learn about language revitalization projects taking place in Indigenous communities today, particularly in Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawake.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

273, Indigenous photographer Martin Akwiranoron Loft

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from political researcher and analyst Guillaume Hébert on populist right wing exploitation of economic inequality in Quebec and beyond.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

274, Guillaume Hébert on populist right exploitation of economic inequality in Quebec and beyond

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Mariana Martínez Balvanera speaking on the Cocina Colaboratorio project working in Mexico City and beyond, described as a project that "a mobile and on-site project that brings farmers, scientists, creatives and chefs together around the kitchen." This project is active in Mexico City but also has organized spaces beyond. It focuses on lifting up alternative readings of food justice struggles as connected to legacies of Indigenous identities and also the role of social movements, today and in the past.

More information on the project here: 
https://colaboratorykitchen.com

Thank you to artist and curator Beatriz Paz Jiménez for suggesting this interview focus point.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

275, Mariana Martínez Balvanera speaks on Cocina Colaboratorio in Mexico City and beyond

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from historian and educator Lloyd Tomlinson speaking on the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia, a critically important labour strike and movement of coal miners taking action for collective work place justice. Lloyd works with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum which has been a central player in the region to lift up the under-told stories of coal miners striking for justice in the early 20th century. Info: https://wvminewars.org

Thank you to Dwight at Crash Symbols records for the pointer on exploring this important topic of labour history.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

276, Historian Lloyd Tomlinson on the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia

This edition of Free City Radio is the first in a two editions that are focused on reflecting on the Voices beyond lockdown zine project, an initiative of Free City Radio that highlights the voices of community activists and artists responding to the pandemic lockdown. 

For these two editions I invited people who attended the launch of the zine in Montreal in the fall of 2024 to share their reflections on the publication and the sustaining importance of the political, social and cultural lessons of the pandemic lockdown period. As the zine held a particular focus on the experiences of communities already experiencing marginalization (economic and political) before the pandemic began, the voices featured look to collective action and community organizing that took place to address power imbalances and injustices during the pandemic. 

In this conversation community activist and artist Damaris Baker shares their reflections on the zine project. 

Learn more about the zine and download a free PDF via the Justseeds artists cooperative here: https://justseeds.org/voices-beyond-lockdown-zine

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

277, Damaris Baker on the Voices beyond lockdown zine

This edition of Free City Radio features the second in a set of programs focused on hearing community voices from Montreal who engaged with the Voices beyond lockdown zine project of Free City Radio. The zine was launched in the fall of 2024 and focuses on the ways that community activists and artists responded to the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, particularly people directly from, or directly working with, communities that were already experiencing systemic persecution or discrimination before the pandemic began. 

This interview set is an opportunity to hear reflections in the current context, in 2025, on the sustaining relevance and importance of understanding how this period impacts the present. Also the ways that focusing on activist and artist voices in regards to how to both conceptualize and frame the sustaining relevance of this period, is important.

On this edition Jordan Arseneault, researcher, performer, musician and community activist shares their reflections on the zine. Jordan underlines the ways that the realities of the pandemic lockdowns in the winter 2020 were driven by neoliberal policies. Jordan also underlines that the pandemic can be considered a topic that was is over discussed while still certain realities were excluded from those discussions, like those faced by undocumented workers. Jordan references historian Mary Beard's work as interesting because this period of lockdowns, again pushed us toward the local, while different from past periods where only the local context mattered, in 2020 it was a local that was globalized. Jordan references Joyce Wieland's work as an interesting way to understand the layers involved in this presentation, with both the obvious political conclusions being present while there also existing multiple layers of meaning when we take the time to reflect and discuss.

Learn more about the zine and / or download a PDF via Justseeds:

https://justseeds.org/voices-beyond-lockdown-zine

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on :

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

278, Jordan Arseneault on the Voices beyond lockdown zine

On this edition of Free City Radio author, musician and community organizer Hubert Gendron-Blais reflects on 2012 student strike and current importance. This conversation looks at the contemporary political landscape in Quebec and the importance of looking to collective action to challenge some of the neoliberal oriented policies that are working to break any remaining environmental protection frameworks and undercut the sustainability of public institutions. Hubert also reflects on the role that grassroots collective action on the streets plays in creating political change in Quebec and beyond.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on:

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

279, Artist Hubert Gendron-Blais reflects on 2012 student strike and current importance

On this edition of of Free City Radio we hear from Rabab Abdulhadi an educator and long term Palestinian activist in the diaspora. Rabab speaks about the repression that has targeted Palestinian voices within academic institutions in the US during both the Trump and Biden administrations. Rabab speaks on the importance of internationalism and building a collective analysis that links struggles against colonization past and present, from Palestine to Indigenous struggles for decolonizing the Americans that persist today.

This interview program is supported in 2025 by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University. The music track is Passage by Anarchist Mountains.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan Christoff and broadcasts on:

CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal - Wednesdays at 11am
CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal - Wednesdays 8am
CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg - Tuesdays 8am
CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston - Wednesdays 11:30am
CFUV 101.9 FM in Victoria - Saturdays 7am
Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto - Fridays at 5:30am
CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa - Tuesdays at 2pm
CJSF 90.1 FM in Vancouver - Thursdays at 4:30pm
CHMA 106.9 FM in Sackville, New Brunswick - Tuesdays at 10am

280, Rabab Abdulhadi on the Palestine solidarity movement today

A mixtape by Stefan Christoff for a special broadcast of Funky Revolutions taking place at Maktaba bookshop on Saturday, May 31, 2-4pm live on CKUT 90.3 FM, ckut.ca

Track listing (artist name / track name)

1. Philippe Battikha - Lascia ch'io pianga, from Make Fuzz Not War compilation
2. ​​Nelly Bassily reading poems by Shahd Alnaami (Gaza) recorded at a community benefit for Sudan on April 27, 2025
3. anthéne - illuminated (excerpt)
4. A poet reading from Where the Hibiscus Still Blooms zine project
5. Hazy Montagne Mystique x Melina Spiga - Quand les voix se rejoignent au crépuscule (excerpt) from Make Fuzz Not War compilation 
6. Nadia Hawa Baldé performance with Rémi-Jean LeBlanc (excerpt)
7. Reading by Amber Rose Johnson
8. Ben Bertrand and Adriaan de Roover -  Bright Attic from NO SILENCE benefit compilation 
9. Amir ElSaffar - The People of Gaza Will Be Free from NO SILENCE benefit Compilation for Radio alHara


SUONI SESSIONS 2022 EPISODE ONE AN AURAL PROGRAMME GUIDE

CKUT 90.3FM