EPISODE · Feb 6, 2026 · 39 MIN
Interview - Marcello Di Cintio and Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers
from Canada Reads American Style · host Canada Reads American Style
Rebecca welcomes award-winning Canadian author Marcello Di Cintio for his third podcast visit to discuss his latest book, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, published by Biblioasis in September 2025. A Globe 100 Best Book of 2025 • One of The Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Books in 2025 • Winner of the 2024 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers/ In 2023, after weeks of investigation, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused, intimidated, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. In Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields, bathe our elderly, and serve us our Double Doubles, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance, resilience, and humanity, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity. Please check out Rebecca's previous interviews with Marcello: January 11, 2021 - Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine June 28, 2021 - Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers https://www.instagram.com/marcello.di.cintio/
What this episode covers
Rebecca welcomes award-winning Canadian author Marcello Di Cintio for his third podcast visit to discuss his latest book, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, published by Biblioasis in September 2025. A Globe 100 Best Book of 2025 • One of The Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Books in 2025 • Winner of the 2024 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers/ In 2023, after weeks of investigation, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused, intimidated, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. In Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields, bathe our elderly, and serve us our Double Doubles, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance, resilience, and humanity, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity. Please check out Rebecca's previous interviews with Marcello: January 11, 2021 - Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine June 28, 2021 - Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers https://www.instagram.com/marcello.di.cintio/
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Interview - Marcello Di Cintio and Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers
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