From 1998 to 2001, Lewis hosted CBC Newsworld's current affairs discussion show CounterSpin, where he presided over 500 debates. He was later the host of Counterspin Sunday. In 2004, Lewis and his wife Naomi Klein collaborated on The Take, a documentary that detailed the "recovered factory" movement in Argentina. The Take, winner of the International Jury Prize, was nominated for four Gemini Awards. Lewis began hosting The Big Picture with Avi Lewis in the autumn of 2006 and On the Map in 2007. He was a panellist on Canada Reads, which aired on March 2–6, 2009, where he presented, and successfully defended, the winning book, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes.[9]
On the Map
In June 2007, CBC Newsworld debuted On the Map with Avi Lewis, a daily (Monday-Thursday) half-hour of international news commentary. On the Map's half-hour time slot was replaced with a half-hour summary of the daily hour-long show Politics by Don Newman.[10] During the same time period on CBC Television, The Hour, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos aired.[11][12][13]
Lewis discussed such issues as the "Oil Law" that the United States wished Iraq to adopt, women in Afghanistan,[14] and what exactly is meant by the phrase "ungoverned spaces".[15]
Lewis conducted a June 11, 2007, interview with political writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali. After repeatedly and openly sniggering at Hirsi Ali's complimentary remarks about the United States, Lewis sharply questioned some of her views, including her denial of the existence of Islamophobia, her belief that Islam was inherently misogynistic, and her positive opinions concerning American democracy. Lewis compared Islamophobia to antisemitism, seeing both as equally real, to which Ali replied: "Racism is a universal trait, so is antisemitism, by the way. But I want us not to confuse a set of beliefs such as Islam, with ethnicity such as the hatred against Jews just because they are Jews, or against blacks just because they are black, or against gays just because of- it's something you can't do anything about. Whereas Islam is simply a set of beliefs, and it's not Islamophobic to say ... this is being done in the name of your religion."[16]
Documentary films
From October 8–18, 2007, Lewis hosted the ten-part international documentary series Why Democracy? in Canada.[17]
Inside USA was first telecast on Al Jazeera English on February 8, 2008, with the episode "Politics of Race". Al Jazeera describes Inside USA as "an in-depth look at the real issues at stake in the US presidential election."[20]
Politics Of Race, released on February 22, 2008, focused on the situation in New Orleans and the disenfranchisement of Black voters.[21][22]
Native Americans, released on March 1, 2008, focused on Lakota Siouxseparatism, social and economic issues surrounding the Lakota Sioux, Navajo and the Shoshone peoples.[23][24] The last few minutes were devoted to the role online videos play in the American election, including a clip from "Yes We Can".
Political career
Leap Manifesto
In September 2015, Lewis, Naomi Klein, and others launched the Leap Manifesto, which proposed broad changes to Canadian society and economics in order to respond to climate change through a policy framework that also addressed issues of wealth and income inequality, racism, and colonialism in hopes of influencing the policy debate during the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign.[25][26] In 2016, Lewis spearheaded a motion at the NDP's federal election which would have had the party endorse the manifesto. In the end, the motion was amended to refer the manifesto to constituency associations for debate. Lewis and other manifesto signatories launched an organization to promote the manifesto's vision in 2017, called The Leap, which operated until 2021 and was a key convenor of Canada's Pact for a Green New Deal in 2019.[27]
Avi Lewis is married to journalist and author Naomi Klein; his sister Ilana Landsberg-Lewis was the executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.[43] The couple have one son, Toma.[44]
Lewis was featured on the November 20, 2001, "Life & Times" episode of The Lewis Family.[45] Lewis' genealogical search was featured on the January 31, 2008, episode of the CBC's Who Do You Think You Are?[46]
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