thepublicradio

[thepublicradio]

With the Democratic party abandoning the working class, and the devastating effects wrought by globalization, Noam Chomsky accurately warned a  demagogue like Trump could rise to power in America over 6 years ago...

http://bit.ly/2fFZrth

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 6: Lindsay Zier-Vogel & Jeremy Fisher

Lindsay Zier-Vogel is the creator of the very heart-warming community art initiative The Love Lettering Project.

The project is now in its 8th year, and for much of it, she alone undertook this mission to spread love. She would write love poems about the things big and small she most appreciated and enjoyed about Toronto,  seal these handcrafted poems in airmail envelopes, and then place them anonymously around the city to be discovered by strangers.

This year she decided to expanded the project, and encourage other to also express their love for Toronto. So all summer long she's been setting up booths around the city and inviting passers by to stop, take a minute to reflect about those things that they most love and appreciate about about the city, and write their own note of affection. 

You can find out more about Lindsay and her project, as well as stay in the loop about upcoming Love Lettering events at http://loveletteringproject.com/

Also on this show, Juno nominated folk musician Jeremy Fisher joined me to discuss his brand new (and wonderfully catchy) fifth album Mint Juleps. 

It was such a pleasure to talk to Jeremy since even aside from his musical talents he is an impressively creative and adventurous person. To just give you one example, he's biked across Canada touring and performing along the way on no less than three occasions. 

He is also quite the talented film and video artist. He started out experimenting making stop-animation music videos for his own songs (such as this video for his hit song Cigarette). But soon he found himself enjoying the process so much that he now creates music videos for other artists such as Imaginary Cities and Hannah Georgas.

Here is a video of Jeremy performing an acoustic version of his song Built To Last off of Mint Juleps.

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 5: Linda McQuaig

Journalist Linda McQuaig has been writing and speaking out about issues of economic and societal inequality ever since she first started working as a reporter in the 70s.

She has authored nine books on matters of politics and economics. And although these aren't normally thought of as the most compelling subjects for a good book, thankfully for us her writing  more like a true-life detective story than an academic paper.

Without oversimplifying or glossing over important details, she spells the practical, but largely opaque ways, in which the political and economic interests of the wealthy are able to shape government policy in their favour- in everything from the tax code, to business regulations.

In her most recent book The Trouble With Billionaires she details in compelling form some of the negative social and economic consequences of a highly unequal distribution of wealth. I sat down with Linda in her Toronto home to discuss The Trouble with Billionaires, her life as a journalist, and some of her early political influences.

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 4: Jonathan Goldstein

CBC Radio's Wiretap has long been one of my absolute favourite radio programs and podcasts. It combines fictive, humourous, and reflective elements in a way that's both  entertaining as well as thought-provoking.

The show is hosted and produced by Jonathan Goldstein, who also produces pieces as a contributing editor for This American Life (he also worked at TAL as a full time producer from 2000-2002).

But interestingly Jonathan didn't originally set out to be in radio - his main creative passion for most of his life has been writing. I sat down with Jonathan to ask him about his life as a writer, his journey in public radio and the advantages and drawbacks of looking at life with an outsiders perspective.

Season 9 of Wiretap starts soon, and if you haven't already been won over, I highly recommend you check it out. You can find out more about the show and subscribe to the podcast at http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 3: John Ralston Saul

John Ralston Saul is perhaps Canada's best known public intellectual. He is the author of many groundbreaking works on matters of society and politics from On Equilibrium to Voltaire's Bastards, and the book of his 1995 CBC Massey Lecture The Unconscious Civilization received the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction.

In this episode of The Public, a full hour conversation with John Ralston Saul, on corporatism, reclaiming a sense of citizenship and his early days as a writer.

Listen on SoundCloud or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: http://thepublic.libsyn.com/rss

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 2: Daniel Cross and Rick Salutin

Episode two! Filmmaker Daniel Cross speaks about the recent culture cuts by the federal government and what it means for the future of documentary filmmaking in Canada, and writer and Toronto Star Columnist Rick Salutin shares his thoughts on democratic renewal.

[thepublicradio]

The Public Episode 1: Activist Judy Rebick

The premiere episode of The Public! A full hour with writer, activist and feminist Judy Rebick, on occupy, social movements, and the formative years she spent traveling around the world.