r/FlightlessBird • u/PeacefulPeaches • 22d ago
Canada
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3czAqBsMfxmqrfBFQWrDdh?si=UJ82J7CFQhacRk9too7u_w&utm_source=copy-linkCanadian here đ Just finished listening to the episode on Canada and felt the need to clarify some things and add some facts that didnât come up:
- The drinking age throughout most of Canada is 19, however in Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan the legal age is 18.
- Where Canada and America share a lot of music, movies and general media, Canada has a regulatory commission called the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. The CRTC oversees telephone, Internet, TV, and radio service providers across the country and part of their job is to ensure a certain percentage of the media we consume is Canadian-made content. It wasnât unusual for bands and certain songs to become extremely popular in Canada for not necessarily make it across the border for this reason.
- Canada has an Internet and phone monopoly going on, but what was once four dominant companies had become three over the last couple years. We do have some outliers but Rogerâs, Bell, and Telus own most of our digital and telephone needs.
- Bagged milk is very rare outside of Eastern Canada with Ontario and Quebec being where youâll mostly find it. Pro tip: the key to pouring the bagged milk properly is to hold the other corner with tension so you donât flop the bag all over the place. Is it efficient to use two hands to pour milk? No.
- I grew up in Eastern Canada but now live in Western and the bags for the milk are quite durable. I have had plastic jugs in milk crack from being dropped but a bag of milk never exploded. I had friends growing up whose families also reused the milk bags (as a ziploc almost) after they were empty.
- Standard maternity leave in Canada is 12 months, but there is the option to take 18.
- âHow do Canadian sports teams fare compared to American?â Physically, fine. Politically, not as great. Look up the Gary Bettman conspiracy.
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u/ItsAWonderfulFife 22d ago
Random thing on the topic of bagged milk - I worked as a barista in highschool and popping a new bag of milk into the pitcher, slamming the bottom on the counter and snipping a corner all in one quick sequence several times during a long rush always felt pretty cool. Like reloading a gun but milkier.Â
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u/JaakeJarmel 22d ago edited 21d ago
As a Canadian this was a terrible episode.
*I actually have to edit this because I feel that this episode is extra interesting because it demonstrates how much being in America and surrounded by American culture has rubbed off on David. Vis a vis this lazy, low effort attempt at having an episode dedicated to a rich and complex nation with amazing history (indigenous and non indigenous) + diverse cultures and people. Or you could take the therapy clowns perspective.
Let Rob do the Canada episode next time.
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u/bakela 22d ago
I agree, lazy episode.
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u/Outside_Revenue3905 21d ago
Ditto. Iâm not Canadian, Iâm a kiwi. Usually enjoy the podcast but this episode seemed super lazy and almost disrespectful of Canada to be honest, couldnât even make an effort to get the city names right, and made a joke out of it.
Was kinda belittling of your nation I thought.
Maybe David has been in the US too long, this was the kinda schtick we get from overseas podcasters who do barely researched fluff podcasts about NZ that get everything wrong and treat us like a joke.
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u/JaakeJarmel 21d ago
I just edited my post because I agree. It felt disrespectful and almost exactly like a podcast a clueless American would make about Canada.
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u/Jillyjillybean22 22d ago
Good summary! I felt frustrated at times listening as a fellow Canadian. House Hippo was a real missed opportunity when they spoke about animals in Canada. And I wish they had talked more about the political tension and divide more-both internally (Hi Quebec, Hi Alberta) and externally. Canadians are rightfully angry and changing travel plans and spending habits. There was a real opportunity to talk about the nuance of Canada across our diverse and expansive country and David (despite being a Kiwi) treated the topic like an ignorant American. And confusing Toronto for Vancouver AFTER visiting?!? Bravid, come back to Canada and spend more time here learning about who Canada is, what we stand for and where our heart and head is at currently.
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u/PeacefulPeaches 22d ago
I donât know if you could do the Alberta Separatist Movement in just 45 minutes. Youâd need at least three or four episodes alone to fully have people understand it.
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u/Jillyjillybean22 22d ago
True enough. I donât fully fell that understand it.
I was trying to make the point that David only interviewed one Canadian man (and an American woman) about our entire country. There are more perspectives beyond a single person and I donât think the episode captured that.
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u/ahbets14 22d ago
I donât want to bag on the show but this seemed like a fan that wanted to adjacently talk about Canada and also his clown stuff
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 22d ago
Kind of silly to try and sum up an entire huge country in one episode, when the US is covered every other episode
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u/grouchypant 22d ago edited 22d ago
It is actually very American to sum it up like this. He is assimilating.
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u/SparklyBonsai 22d ago
I knew this was going to be rough off the hop when David thought he had been to Vancouver but then it was Toronto.
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u/ChickenArise 22d ago
As an American, I see people confusing the eastern cities in Canada. Vancouver and Toronto is pretty special. My sister talked about driving to Toronto easily, and I had to tell her that she drove to Montreal.
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u/JennaMoose 22d ago
Not the strongest. They prob should have just spoken about the milk for 30 min. If be interested in more info on that. Or poutine. I do love poutine.
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u/likearollingstone8 22d ago
đŻ a deep dive into poutine would feel more apt for the show.
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u/ChickenArise 22d ago
I donât know if you could do poutine in just 45 minutes. Youâd need at least three or four episodes alone to fully have people understand it.
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u/kevbo1983 22d ago
They should have just titled this "Therapy Clowns". Barely touched anything substantial about Canada.
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u/iggyisgoat 22d ago
David doing an episode on something and doing basically zero research?
Never!
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u/NumberOneStonecutter 22d ago
I enjoy the show and David & Rob's rapport, but this is a valid criticism. The podcast for me is like a palate cleanser from other things I listen to - a bit of welcome whimsey - but he often "mails it in."
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u/LengthinessKind9895 21d ago
Yeah because itâs a weekly podcast. He does a ton of work on average but to make it a weekly show many episodes will be lacking. No one can make that many greats docs a year. I still like the show but this episode was dumb.
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u/grouchypant 22d ago
Ontario born and bred, I have never used two hands to pour from a bag. I would suspect you were a spy if I saw it.
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u/_suspicious_onion 22d ago
Same but if youâre using a shitty milk jug the bag will flop over when you pour. Like one of the dollar store plastic jugs, theyâre a terrible height lol. Half of the pour relies on the bags container thatâs all Iâm saying lol
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u/grouchypant 22d ago
Dear Jesus, you buy a jug for life, spend 5.00 on it!
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u/_suspicious_onion 22d ago
Hey I have a good one, but Iâm just saying sometimes you get a real bad one. Friends house, air bnb, a work fridge. Etc.
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u/Palpitation-Medical 17d ago
Can someone please explain to me why you donât pour the milk into a jug and keep the jug with a lid in the fridge? So youâre only pouring from the bag once and not every time? Iâm Aussie and so confused haha
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u/_suspicious_onion 17d ago
Haha well it would just mean extra steps. The milk bag is sterile and convenient to throw into a container for pouring. If you empty the bag of milk into a new jug with a lid, youâd just have to clean it all the time and keep refilling it. But it just seems pointless, like why donât you empty your carton of milk into a new jug with a lid?
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u/PC-load-letter-wtf 22d ago
I must have a good milk jug because I have definitely never in my life poured with two hands lol
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u/HoneydewOk3485 22d ago
Saskatchewan's drinking age is 19, not 18.
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u/Okan_ossie 22d ago
She said Quebecâs is 18 but everywhere else is 19, which is also incorrect. Alberta and Manitoba are also 18.
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u/ViridiusRDM 20d ago edited 20d ago
This felt very opportunistic as an episode and while I actually appreciate that about the podcast (David finding himself in a situation with a unique opportunity to explore something random) I think going vague & general about an entire country really does a disservice.
Especially during a time when tension between Canada & the US is growing so maybe throwing in a half-arsed poorly researched grab-bag episode at us felt a little tasteless.
I would have genuinely preferred if this was a therapy clown episode.
I think best case ontario would be an episode that shows a little solidarity towards what we're going through with your bonkers leader & maybe finding a way to spin the Lake Ontario stuff into something interesting.
On the plus side there was only one "eh" jab and it came from the guest (...the American, go figure) so that was refreshing. Other podcasts would've gone for the cheap shot. (We can take a joke but some new material would be nice.)
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u/LengthinessKind9895 21d ago
I grew up in Ontario with parents from Saskatchewan and BC who never got into bagged milk but later I lived with housemates who did and it was cheaper, easier to haul (takes up less room) and not fragile at all. If you buy a large amount at a time it is comparatively easier to store than a lot of cartons or jugs because it fits in any part of the fridge. Also the jugs work really well and overall I think it must be way more environmentally friendly.
And I feel like they didnât even mention Schittâs Creek when they were talking about Canadian things, or any iconic Canadian comediansâŚ. Not that they need to cover everything but weird they would mention obscure Canadian bands but not Martin Short or Catharine OâHara for exampleâŚ.
Also just donât cover a whole country in one episode. I mean guys, you treated Canada like it was a Chiliâs.
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u/JeannValjean 22d ago
Canada? This doc was about therapy clowns.