Audio podcast is here: https://pod.link/1836532152
Cold Open
Jimmy Kimmel just got suspended by the FCC for saying something mean about Charlie Kirk. In the “land of the free” — I’m air-quoting here — that’s apparently grounds for exile. Meanwhile in Canada, our regulators are busy arguing over whether a guy in a toque lip-syncing Drake counts as CanCon. So who’s actually more free… the land of the free, or the land of the regulated?
“Pulling a TV show in 2025 is like revoking someone’s Blockbuster card… technically scary, but who cares.”
Belize Shout-Out 🇧🇿
Before we dive in: hello, Belize! Mystery solved — a Canadian documentary filmmaker demanded her crew listen to Politics Is Broken. We love your dedication. We also love that it worked.
What Happened With Kimmel?
Kimmel’s comment (paraphrased): that MAGA voices were “desperately trying to characterize the kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
FCC chair Brendan Carr called it “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and Kimmel’s show was suspended.
Trump cheered the move because… ratings, and because he said Kimmel said a “horrible thing.”
Context: live TV audiences are shrinking. Kimmel’s show averages ~1.7M nightly… but his YouTube channel has 18M+ subscribers and clips rack up millions of views fast.
Our take: this wasn’t about decency. It was political. And that’s the problem.
“In principle it’s awful. In practice, the clips live on… where the audience actually is.”
TV vs. The Algorithm
Old world: a regulator can yank your broadcast.
New world: an algorithm can quietly bury your clip.
The people under 40 aren’t staying up to watch monologues; they’re catching three minutes the next morning on their phones.
Which is more dangerous? The regulator with a gavel… or the recommendation engine you’ll never see?
Is Canada Doing The Same Thing?
Short answer: no.
The CRTC tends to regulate structure and standards (CanCon quotas, discoverability, decency).
Bill C-11 expands oversight to streaming to promote Canadian content and funding.
Bill C-18 forces platforms to compensate Canadian news outlets.
Bill C-63 (proposed) targets online hate/extremism.
You can argue about mission creep — we do — but there’s no modern Canadian example of a political critic being yanked off the air for mocking a leader. Don Cherry wasn’t a government censorship case; that was a broadcaster dealing with discriminatory remarks.
“In Canada we’re regulated in principle… freer in practice. In the U.S. it’s free in principle… censored in practice.”
So… Is Canada More Free?
For political comedy and commentary? Weirdly… yes.
Nobody’s pulling shows for mocking Trudeau or Poilievre.
Our limits are mostly about hate speech and industry rules, not protecting political egos.
Where Canada is less “free”:
We have actual hate-speech laws.
The CRTC can nudge what gets promoted.
Our worry isn’t a sudden axe — it’s slow, boring mission creep that eventually becomes meddling.
Where the U.S. is less “free”:
A regulator can be weaponized by political power to punish criticism… loudly, and on TV.
Canada vs. USA — Quick Hit
USA: Free speech maximalism… until the wrong person in power decides you can’t.
Canada: More rules… but they aren’t usually wielded as political weapons.
Real bottleneck everywhere: The algorithm. If the tech bros cozy up to power, discoverability becomes censorship by other means.
Bits We Liked Saying Out Loud
“Don’t make me defend Jimmy Kimmel.”
“Smacking a Walkman out of someone’s hand in 2025.”
“Canada is a helicopter parent… but mostly about CanCon.”
“The only place you’re really free is a three-minute YouTube clip wedged between a cat video and slime.”
Listener Homework (light, Canadian)
Tell us if your For You Page shows any Canadian politics creators. If not… what does it show?
Should the CRTC push more Canadian voices into our feeds… or keep their hands off the algorithm?
Is promoting culture the same as suppressing speech?
Comment here or email: politicsisbrokenpodcast@gmail.com
Belizeans go first. It’s only fair.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to BRITTLESTAR to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
