Changing On The Fly
20 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsChanging On The Fly dives deep into social justice issues in hockey, looking at themes such as colonialism, sexism, and racism on the ice. The podcast aims to bring together interviews with athletes, sports scholars, and hockey commentators whose work aims to create radical social change, both inside and outside the arena.
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Episodes
Hockey Has a Reckoning Moment
June 24, 2020 17:12 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBThe hockey world, especially at the NHL level, has been extremely quiet on racial justice issues for too many years - until now. The Black-led uprising for Black Lives Matter following the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 finally prompted an outpouring of statements from the NHL and several high profile players. We have never seen anything like this in professional hockey before. To help us make sense of the moment, we hear from two of the finest journalists reporting on sports and...
Matt Hern and the Creative Beauty of Hockey
January 16, 2020 05:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBHappy new year! This is our first episode of 2020, and it's nice to have you with us for a new decade of hockey and resistance :) Our esteemed guest on the show today is Matt Hern. Matt lives in Vancouver, where he’s an activist, scholar, and writer. While he writes on a variety of fascinating topics ranging from free schools to global warming to parenting, he’s one of the most exciting and engaged radical sports philosophers that I know. Matt put out a book back in 2013 called “One Game a...
Hockey Has a Racism Problem, Courtney Szto is Trying to Fix It
December 16, 2019 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBWe are at a watershed moment in hockey history right now. Many of us know that hockey has had a racism problem for a long time, but now the conversations are coming to the surface in ways that they never have before. And Courtney Szto is one of the most important people driving those conversations. She's our guest on this episode of Changing on the Fly, and we got to talk about everything from Hockey Night in Punjabi to the changing face of hockey today. Follow Courtney Szto on Twitter Li...
#DonCherryFired
November 11, 2019 21:27 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBIt's official. Don Cherry, the long time host of Hockey Night in Canada, has been fired. FINALLY. It comes after his most recent racist tirade (far from his first) on live TV against immigrants in Canada. We break down Don Cherry and his penchant for biggotry with Kristi Allain. Kristi teaches in the department of sociology at St-Thomas University in Fredericton, NB, and has penned several articles and studies on Cherry's hate-spewing rhetoric. Find her on Twitter @Kristi_Allain. Plus we h...
Decolonization, Reconciliation & Hockey w/ Chief Wilton Littlechild
October 25, 2019 05:00 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBWilton Littlechild is a Cree chief from Maskwacis, Alberta. He is a lawyer, a former hockey player, a residential school survivor, and more recently he was one of the commissioners of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He joins us as a special guest on this episode of Changing On The Fly to talk about his own life story, how we can use hockey to promote nation to nation dialogue and understanding, and how we can move towards decolonizing sport, particularly through the Calls to A...
The State of Women's Hockey w/ Erica Ayala
September 30, 2019 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34 MBWelcome back to Season 2 of Changing on the Fly! Our guest on this episode is Erica Ayala. Erica is an NWHL analyst, broadcaster, and an expert on women’s hockey. We talk here about the women’s hockey strike in Sweden, the Dream Gap tour in women’s hockey in North America, and so much more. Follow Erica on Twitter @elindsay08 If you like this podcast, then support us! www.patreon.com/changingonthefly Read Hemal Jhaveri's article about Auston Matthews here.
Fred Sasakamoose: An Indigenous Hockey Trailblazer
June 15, 2019 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBThis is our last episode of Changing On The Fly for season 1! We'll be back with season 2 in the fall. So as we head out for the summer, we leave you with this very special episode. Fred Sasakamoose is a Cree elder from the Ahtahkakoop Cree reservation in central Saskatchewan. He famously became one of the first Indigenous people to ever play in the NHL, putting on a Chicago Blackhawks jersey and playing 11 games for the team in the 1953 season. But the road to there was paved with trauma,...
Pucks, Punks, and Politics w/ Propagandhi
May 28, 2019 13:36 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBOn today’s episode, we’re finally bringing you part 2 of a 2 part series called Pucks, Punks, and Politics - conversations with punk rockers on hockey, radical politics, and the art of getting loud. Our first part of this series was with Chris 2 from Anti-Flag, and if you missed that you can go back and listen to Episode 10. Today’s episode is with Jord Samolesky, the drummer of the seminal Winnipeg punk band Propagandhi. Aside from being a very busy touring musician for the last few decade...
From #OneLeague to #NoLeague: The Future of Women's Pro Hockey in Canada
April 16, 2019 14:36 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBOn episode 11 of Changing On The Fly, we tackle the devastating news that the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) is shutting down its operations after 12 seasons. The announcement from the league came just one week after the Clarkson Cup championship match, and the day before many players from the league were set to fly overseas to Finland for the women's world hockey championships. Bad timing to say the least. We break down and analyze what this all means with two of the most passionate...
Drop Pucks, Not Bombs with Anti-Flag
April 01, 2019 18:59 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBChris Barker (aka Chris #2) from the long-standing Pittsburgh punk band Anti-Flag joins us on this episode to talk hockey, punk, and politics! Chris is a busy guy, and is often found playing bass and singing for Anti-Flag, recording album after album, and touring the world playing to hundreds of thousands of fans. But while he's not on stage, he looks for every opportunity he can get to play or watch hockey. Chris came on the podcast to talk about his working-class Steel City, the anti-fasci...
Hockey Riot in Canada
March 18, 2019 20:16 - 54 minutes - 50.8 MBA History of Le Smashy-Smash There have been at least 8 recorded hockey riots in Canadian history. While often dismissed as simply drunken hooliganism, these events actually reveal important social & class tensions, and we can learn a lot from them. On today's episode of Changing on the Fly, we walk you through a brief history of hockey riots, starting with the Maurice Richard Riot in Montreal on March 17, 1955, and ending with the most recent, the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot of June, 2011. ...
Arenas on Stolen Land - Edmonton's Rogers Place & Gentrification
March 04, 2019 00:38 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBToday on the podcast, we go to Alberta. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are sworn enemies on the ice, their rivalry known as the 'Battle of Alberta'. And off the ice, the way these cities approach their hockey infrastructure couldn't be any more different. Calgary residents recently voted in a referendum to refuse the city's bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the city is also adamantly refusing to pour public money into building a new arena for the Flames. Meanwhile 3 hours up...
Making Hockey History w/ Jessica Platt
January 30, 2019 05:00 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBOn this episode of the podcast, we bring you an exclusive and candid conversation with Jessica Platt of the Toronto Furies! On January 10, 2018, Jessica made history when she came out as the first trans pro hockey player in Canada. And she did so in a beautiful message posted to Instagram, encouraging other young trans athletes to be their true selves, and follow their dreams. In our interview, Jessica tells us her story about growing up, falling in love with hockey, her struggles that force...
Episode 6 - McGill Redmen: Change The Name
January 10, 2019 02:59 - 27 minutes - 25 MBOn this episode of Changing On The Fly, we kick it with Tomas Jirousek, an Indigenous student athlete at McGill University in Montreal. He's a rower & former hockey player hailing from the Kainai First Nation in Alberta, and he's been leading the charge to get McGill to change their racist varsity team name - The Redmen. The McGill admin is poised to make their final decision on the matter in January, so shit is about to get historic. Then we take you to a recent demonstration held at McGil...
Episode 5 - Toxic Masculinity, Homophobia and The Prime-Minister of Saturday Night
December 03, 2018 06:00 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBOn this episode of Changing on the Fly, we take on the double-headed beast of toxic masculinity and homophobia in hockey. We start by looking at the greatest and oldest fountain of toxic masculinity in hockey broadcasting, Don Cherry of Coach's Corner. But then, to look at something uplifting and inspiring, we'll hear about one of the most widespread activist movements to combat homophobia in sports, the You Can Play project. Our guests on today's show are: -Dr. Kristi Allain, professor of s...
Episode 4 - Power Play: How Feminism is Changing Hockey
November 12, 2018 05:04 - 1 hour - 56.5 MBChanging On The Fly is going live! On this episode, we'll hear a round-table discussion called "Power Play: How Women Can Change Sports Journalism and Hockey". The event was recorded in the Feminist Media Studio of Concordia University on January 31st, 2018. The guests are: -Meg Hewings, General Manager of Les Canadiennes -Robyn Flynn, sports reporter for TSN 690 and The Athletic -Safia Ahmad, former sports reporter for The Link, and current Media Relations Manager for Les Canadiennes **Li...
Episode 3 - Gritty: The Anti-Fascist Hockey Hero
October 31, 2018 04:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBHow did Gritty, the new mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers, become the new mascot for the American anti-fascist movement? Gritty is a huge, ugly, scary orange monster, who comes to us at a time when there is an equally huge, ugly, scary orange monster in the White House. We're joined on this episode by Mark Bray, history professor & the author of "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" to talk about Gritty, hockey, and what the antifa movement actually is. Since we're talking about Pennsylvania ...
Episode 2 - Race & Racism in Hockey
October 17, 2018 14:48 - 32 minutes - 30 MBIf you look at the face of hockey, it's about as white as the ice the game is played on. But if you start to scratch the surface, you start to notice that not only is the game much more diverse than you think, but also that people of color have a long and celebrated history in the sport. Yet still, racism and racial discrimination run rampant throughout the sport today. On this episode of Changing on the Fly, we take on the topics of race and racism in hockey. We'll hear about the amazing hi...
Episode 1: This Game We Love, On Stolen Land
October 03, 2018 15:13 - 37 minutes - 25.4 MBWelcome to the very first episode of Changing on the Fly, a podcast about hockey and social justice! On this episode, we lace up the skates and hit the ice to talk about colonialism in hockey, and the Indigenous hockey experience. What does it mean to call hockey "Canada's game" while Canada is a country built on stolen Native land? We're gonna take a deep dive into hockey's role in Canada's residential schools, the presence of Native mascots in sports, and the changing role of Indigenous ho...
Podcast Preview
September 18, 2018 21:36 - 2 minutes - 2.07 MBThe new podcast series Changing On The Fly hits the ice October 3, 2018! Here's just a small taste of what you'll hear :) **Want to support this podcast and get some great perks in return? We've got a Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/changingonthefly **Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or follow us here on Soundcloud! Featuring the voices of Damon Kwame Mason, Shireen Ahmed, Don Cherry (barf), Kristi Allain, and Robyn Flynn. Music by The Kendallz. Artwork by Loki Design. ww...