Aaron Pete is a First Nation Chief, law graduate, and host of the Nuanced podcast. Through hundreds of conversations across Canada’s political, cultural, and ideological divides, he has earned a reputation for approaching disagreement with curiosity rather than certainty.

We begin by exploring what shaped Aaron’s approach to dialogue and what he has learned from speaking with people across the political spectrum. From there, we discuss reconciliation, Indigenous governance, economic development, land and title, and why he believes Indigenous policy should ultimately be judged by whether it helps communities become healthier, stronger, and more prosperous.

This is a conversation about listening well, thinking carefully, and searching for practical paths toward reconciliation.

Aaron Pete/Tim Thielmann debate on reconciliation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3Ktn4iEkc

Aaron’s links

Website:

https://aaronpete.com/

X:

https://x.com/Aaronpete_

Nuanced:

https://www.youtube.com/@NuancedwithAaronPete

The Canadians Links

Website:

https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/

Support Page:

https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians

Follow us on X:

https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod

Subscribe on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod

Conversation recorded on May 14, 2026

Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Modern society has become very good at communication and increasingly poor at understanding.

In this solo minisode, Jared Michael explores the difference between listening and simply waiting for our turn to speak. He reflects on disagreement, dehumanization, curiosity, and why recognizing another person’s humanity may be one of the most important skills a healthy society can cultivate.

A reflection on listening, not as a communication technique, but as an act of recognition, empathy, and perhaps even love.

The Canadians Links

Website:

https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/

Support Page:

https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians

Follow us on X:

https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod

Subscribe on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/75wxT42gEPMiOBGTFFU4D4

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bad-canadians/id1785300184

Subscribe on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod

Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.

Stephen Jenkinson is a culture worker, author, and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School. He holds master’s degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the University of Toronto and is the author of numerous books, including Die Wise and his most recent work, Trembling, Still.

This conversation began as an attempt to discuss Stephen’s earlier work on death and grief, but quickly moved elsewhere. Instead, we found ourselves talking about culture itself: what it owes, who it serves, and what happens when people inherit a world that no longer provides reliable ways of belonging, remembering, or understanding their obligations to one another.

We discuss Canada as a country shaped by immigration, displacement, and reinvention, the role of ritual and elderhood in modern life, the tension between freedom and obligation, and the challenge of building wisdom in an age increasingly detached from inherited forms of meaning.

Finally we turn to his new book, Trembling, Still, written in the wake of a serious neurodegenerative diagnosis, and Stephen’s reflections on illness, identity, and the possibility of becoming a stranger to oneself.

Stephen’s Links

Orphan Wisdom School:

https://orphanwisdom.com/

Trembling, Still and Other Books by Stephen Jenkinson:

https://orphanwisdom.com/books/

The Canadians Links

Website:

https://www.thecanadianspodcast.ca/

Support Page:

https://buymeacoffee.com/thecanadians

Follow us on X:

https://x.com/TheCanadiansPod

Subscribe on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheCanadiansPod

Conversation recorded on April 22, 2026

Opening Song: Aria 51 by MicroBongo Soundsystem, used with permission.