The podcast where you get dirt on your hands, err, ears? Phone mic? In the final part of Thoughts From Montréal 3, Pete spells out why he supports Québec independence, reacts to the results of the QS co-spokeswoman race (while drawing a very favorable comparison between its winner and a certain former Maine state senator), and talks about the impending trainwrech that is the 2024 US presidential election. There's also a live reveal at the end that you do not want to miss, especially if you like Québec French swear words. If Pete sent you this podcast via Facebook, feel free to skip ahead to 35:29 and have a seat. He had the audience scoot over with their chairs and set up a seat for you. The reaction at the end of the episode is inspired by a Tiktok that went viral during the NHL playoffs a few years back. You can find a detailed explanation (with auto-translated English subtitles that hilariously translate sacre as "coronation") here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBfiVshbADU As usual, there's a Google Doc with all the stuff Pete mentioned here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlVIHHoSiegXQhPRANw1_dDcUrAcZfNgesCTdBU5kbk/edit?usp=sharing#WhiteWineProphecy

So you're a refugee of Trump In this part, Pete talks about the leadup to and the first two days of the QS convention in November 2023, along with the protests against possible cuts to transportation funding in Montreal. He also talks about his struggles with the French language as he dives head first into a way more Francophone milieu (haha see what I did there?) than he's used to in his day-to-day life working in tech. As usual, there's a Google Doc with all the stuff Pete mentioned here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlVIHHoSiegXQhPRANw1_dDcUrAcZfNgesCTdBU5kbk/edit?usp=sharing

TL;DR: All hammer and no sickle makes for fashy time In the first of a three part episode recorded in October-November 2023, Pete, Arjuna, and RoboG talk about Pete's ongoing involvement in Québec Solidaire, arguably the best left party in North America, as their election for co-spokeswoman approaches. He also discusses what happened to Cornel West's presidential campaign in the months after Thoughts From Montréal 2 came out, and spills some tea on a spinoff group of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). This episode will leave your mouth watering for a poutine Québecoise from Chez Claudette as you move on to part 2, where he talks about meeting Ruba Ghazal (pictured in the thumbnail) for the first time at his local QS association meeting before the big convention in November. As usual, there's a Google Doc with all the stuff Pete mentioned here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlVIHHoSiegXQhPRANw1_dDcUrAcZfNgesCTdBU5kbk/edit?usp=sharing

Sit back, relax, and picture the sounds and feelings of a flowing stream in this meditation episode of ThoughtsCast. There is an important news alert for today, February 28th, near the beginning, so don't relax too fast.

Another Blues Podcast In the most political ThoughtsCast episode since Thoughts From After the Election, Pete, Arjuna, and RoboG react to Cornel West's run for President. Because they can't talk about politics on just one side of the US-Canada border, they also discuss the leadership race for co-spokeswoman of Québec Solidaire (QS) and the three candidates who are running: Christine Labrie (who represents the same Sherbytown from Thoughts From Sherbytown in Quebec's parliament), Emilise Lessard-Therrien, and Ruba Ghazal (who represents the neighborhood Pete records in). Since Pete can be a member of QS even though he isn't a citizen yet, he gets to decide whether to get involved in the party and who to support in this race. This episode still has all of the themes you've come to expect from ThoughtsCast, like ketchup Cheetos, cheese omelettes, and alt-J parodies. Pete compiled so many links for the description that it needs its own separate Google Doc, which you can check out here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eJ8ATyV37IVqPWnU_tvFLL80qorp-ukKNg_GKZ2vQLA/edit?usp=sharing

A Blues Podcast 

Pete, Arjuna, and the RoboGonzales 9001 have finally made the big move to Montréal and their new apartment in the neighborhood of Mile-By-God-End (the By God is very important, and most people forget it), where Pete works for a small indie studio nobody has heard of called Ubisoft.  In this episode, they talk about life in Canada, their future plans, and have a very important confrontation with a certain politician's digitized conscioussness.  If you don't listen to anything else in this episode, check out the segment starting at 22:20, especially if you live in the US or the UK.   

• A Lesson From the Blues - Dr. Cornel West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-u-Cxry4Jc 
• Dr. Cornel West - Blues for Smoke - MOCA U - MOCAtv - Ep. 17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uVK4EQK7L4 
• Doorbell sound effect is from https://freesound.org/people/kwahmah_02/sounds/275072/ 
• Quebec Solidaire's English language Platform https://v.fastcdn.co/u/7dad2151/62412696-0-QS-Platform-2022.pdf 
• If you live in Quebec, help out Guillaume Cliche-Rivard's campaign in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne! https://appuyez.quebecsolidaire.net/guillaume-cliche-rivard/en 
• 2 Days in the Kamouraska Region, Quebec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTWLfUuNQA Pete's lake in Kamouraska https://goo.gl/maps/o1cVg1DFxiXXmTxN7 
• Intro music is bluenotes by airtone (c) copyright 2021 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/64427