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These cross-border podcasters are finding reasons to laugh despite
political tensions

   londonMichelle Both
   | CBC News | Posted: January 25, 2026 10:00 AM | Last Updated:
   2 hours ago

   Neighbour or neighbor? Beanie or toque? In the Reverse Jackass
   podcast, both can be right

   Image | Reverse Jackass

   Caption: Nick Bognar of California and Evelyn Flanagan of
   London, Ont., host a cross-border podcast called Reverse
   Jackass. (Submitted)
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   In a time of heightened political tension between the U.S. and
   Canada, two podcasters from both sides of the border are
   teaming up to build a bridge with their cross-border
   neighbours.
   Their tool of choice? Humour.
   Reverse Jackass is the brain child of Evelyn Flanagan, a high
   school music teacher turned social media strategist in London,
   Ont., and Nick Bognar, a family and marriage therapist based in
   Pasadena, California.
   Dubbed "brave peace talks between North American neighbours"
   the conversational-style podcast is built on the pair bantering
   about topics from The Tragically Hip to NASCAR, all with the
   hope of finding just a bit more common ground.
   Or as they put it: It's what happens "when an American and
   Canadian risk it all to bring peace between their
   forced-together-by-geography situationship."

   Image | Reverse Jackass

   Caption: (Submitted by Evelyn Flanagan)
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   The pair set out to create something that was fun, yet not
   shallow, said Flanagan on CBC's Afternoon Drive, but it touches
   on something much deeper.
   "This for us is a way to practice staying connected, practice
   just being relational over being political," said Flanagan, who
   runs the business Flanagan Content.
   "Right now, it's never been easier to misunderstand each
   other," she said. "We can say that about Canada and the United
   States. We can say that about our next-door neighbour. We can
   say that about members in our family, people across the world,
   but misunderstanding each other is the easiest thing we can
   do."
   The pair met about four years ago through working on social
   media, and became good friends since, she said.
   LISTEN | Cross-border conversations featured in new podcast:

   Media Audio | Afternoon Drive :

   Caption: Evelyn Flanagan is a former high school music teacher
   in London and now a social media strategist at Flanagan
   Content. Nick Bognar is a family and marriage therapist in
   California. Both are hosts of a new podcast called "Reverse
   Jackass."
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   pages.
   "It's an opportunity for us to make fun of the lighter stuff,"
   said Bognar.
   "Canada and the United States have historically had such a
   wonderful relationship that it's easy to take it for granted,"
   he said.
   They hope their wonderful friendship can be a microcosm for the
   "neighbourship" between the two countries, he said.
   "I hope that we can help in this time when it's very easy to
   dehumanize and reduce people, that we remember that Canada is a
   country of millions of wonderful people and the United States
   is a country of millions of wonderful people," he said.
   "I hope that we don't lose that."

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