About the Podcast

Reconsidering Canada is a podcast about settler myths, colonial truths, and what it means to live on stolen land.

Hosted by journalist and researcher Chris Bolster, the series invites listeners to take a second look at the stories Canada tells about itself—and the ones settlers tell ourselves to stay comfortable. From residential schools to reconciliation branding, from the RCMP to land acknowledgments, this podcast unpacks how colonial systems continue to shape our laws, institutions, and national identity.

But this isn’t a history lesson designed to make you feel guilty and stop there.

It’s an invitation to reckon honestly with what Canada is, how it got here, and what we owe. We explore uncomfortable questions:

  • What does it mean to be a settler in Canada today?

  • Why do so many of us resist that label?

  • What would it take to move beyond symbolic gestures and into real responsibility?

  • And what does “land back” actually mean—legally, politically, and relationally?

Reconsidering Canada doesn’t offer easy answers.
Instead, it tries to create space for honest reflection, grounded research, and the possibility of collective change.

This podcast is for settlers willing to sit with discomfort—not as an end point, but as a starting place.

Why Focus on Settler Colonialism?

A Note to Listeners—and Critics

You may have come across critiques of settler colonial theory that characterize it as a kind of ideological moralism—one that reduces history to binaries, shames people for their identity, romanticizes Indigenous cultures, or demands symbolic gestures without substance. These critiques, popularized by writers such as Adam Kirsch, raise genuine concerns about superficial activism, historical oversimplification, and elite virtue signalling. And in some corners of academia and public discourse, those concerns have merit.

But Reconsidering Canada is not interested in guilt or performance.

This podcast is rooted in the belief that Canada, as it exists today, is built on an ongoing process of dispossession—one that must be reckoned with not just emotionally, but legally, politically, and relationally.

We don’t pretend that “land back” is a metaphor.
We don’t equate truth-telling with self-loathing.
We don’t treat Indigenous peoples as archetypes or angels.
And we don’t assume that saying the right words is enough.

What We’re Actually Doing Here

  • We define settler colonialism as a structure, not a past event. That structure shapes laws, borders, economies, and identities—and continues to impact Indigenous communities today.

  • We are not historians, but we take history seriously. Our episodes draw on archival material, legal cases, survivor testimonies, and the work of Indigenous scholars and critics. We aim to offer clarity, not caricature.

  • We examine symbolic politics, such as land acknowledgments and institutional “decolonization.” When these gestures are disconnected from material justice or Indigenous sovereignty, we say so.

  • We don’t romanticize. Indigenous nations had political complexity, internal conflict, and power struggles—just like any other societies. That doesn’t undermine their rights. It makes them human.

  • We resist fatalism. This isn’t a podcast about eternal guilt or cultural suicide. It’s about facing uncomfortable truths so we can imagine—and fight for—a more just future, grounded in relationships and responsibility.

Why “Reconsidering”?

We’re not here to tear down for the sake of it.
We’re here to ask better questions about the stories settlers tell ourselves—and what those stories allow or erase.
We reconsider not because we’re ashamed of being Canadian, but because we believe a better Canada demands honesty.

If you have questions, critiques, or want to dig deeper, we welcome conversation. This is public work, and we don’t claim to have all the answers.

But we do think we need to start asking better ones.

—
Chris Bolster
Host, Reconsidering Canada