Episodes

Author/Journalist Shawn Micallef talks about moving from Windsor to Toronto in 2000, co-founding Spacing Magazine, morphing from writing for Eye Weekly to the Toronto Star, using psychogeography as the backbone of his first book STROLL, the immense ongoing changes in Toronto that led to his recently revising that book, his thoughts on Toronto Star colleague Edward Keenan/urbanist Richard Florida/Mayor Olivia Chow, and why he believes Toronto is like an infinite onion whose layers simply need to ...

Elevate CEO Lisa Zarzeczny talks about the upcoming Elevate Festival, curating their 200+ speakers/thought leaders, Michelle Obama’s in-person presence [and her ‘driving directly onto the stage’ security requirements], recommending that Al Gore use the UP Express as a transit alternative, the surreal experience of grooving to The Fugees ‘Killing Me Softly’ in front of Wyclef Jean, the ‘super-smartness’ of Eric Schmidt and Sam Altman, the possibility of leveraging her relationship with Martha Ste...

Canadian High Jumping legend Debbie Brill talks about developing the 'Brill Bend,' comparisons to the 'Fosbury Flop' [and her relationship with Dick Fosbury], jumping [and breaking world records] into her 50s, her positive interview experiences on the CBC with Adrienne Clarkson and Peter Gzowski, reaching that zen place of being ‘one with the jump,’ sharing a good chuckle with Queen Elizabeth, and why jumping ridiculously high was essentially “just this trick I could do for fun!” Debbie will be...

10x National Champion/3x World Champion/3x Olympic Medalist Patrick Chan talks about retiring at 27 as Canada’s most decorated figure skater, his transition to a decade of touring the world with Stars on Ice, training for his next career as a Financial Advisor, whether Kurt Browning chews his ear off about Reverse Mortgages, thriving through ‘six minutes of pressure’ at three different Olympic Games, his ‘pinch me’ moment meeting Roger Federer, receiving courtside honours at a Raptors game, keep...

Bond Bakery Brands CEO Nicolas Mulroney talks about the influence of his late father Brian [the 18th Prime Minister of Canada], growing up at 24 Sussex Drive, speedboating with President Bush, why he lives in Toronto but still loves the Habs, the entrepreneurial mentorship of Paul Desmarais Sr, building his portfolio of family-run bakeries within the Bond Bakery Brands platform, why NAFTA is a great name for a free-trade agreement but not so much for a bakery, the ‘Ozempic trend’ overtaking the ...

Longtime Music & Entertainment Reporter Rudy Blair talks about working overnights at The Fan 590 while doing weekends at All Hits 680 CFTR, his transition from pushing buttons to getting in front of the microphone/camera, his induction into TWO Halls of Fame, his favourite interviews [Phil Collins, Barry White], his *ahem* less enjoyable interviews [Steven Seagal, Adrien Grenier, Jewel, Gene Simmons], and his exceptional interactions with Dustin Hoffman/Gordon Lightfoot/Lionel Richie/Shakira/Mic...

Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 CEO Scott Moore talks about his face time with Harry and Meghan, how the event is akin to Prince Harry’s Paralympics for Veterans, the 550 athletes from 23 countries competing in 11 sports, making use of legacy venues from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics [and the plans to leave behind their own $5MM financial legacy], the obvious reasons why they use whistles instead of starting guns, why everyone will gain inspiration from watching Heart of Invictus on ...

Sprinter and 4x100m Relay Olympic Gold Medalist Robert Esmie talks about why if you're Canadian you have to love Saturday nights in Georgia, a breakdown of that immortal 4x100m relay to win gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, his 'forever bond' with Donovan Bailey/Bruny Surin/Glenroy Gilbert/Carlton Chambers/Don Wittman, his interactions with PM Jean Chretien/Gordie Howe/Wayne Gretzky/Ron MacLean/Pinball Clemons/Carl Lewis/Michael Johnson, why HE is actually faster out of the blocks than Ben John...

Spoons’ Gord Deppe talks about doing double duty as guitarist for A Flock of Seagulls, their 1982 breakthrough at the Police Picnic at Exhibition Stadium [Police, English Beat, Joan Jett, Oingo Boingo, Talking Heads], Nile Rodgers taking a liking to them while opening for Boy George & Culture Club, catching grief for that Thrifty’s ad campaign [‘Tarnished Spoons’], working with Daniel Lanois before he was Daniel Lanois, and wondering aloud why they can’t get a major auto manufacturer to use Roma...

Ex-City of Toronto/TTC Communicator Brad Ross talks about putting out a shingle and opening up his own firm, collaborating with Seth Rogen on TTC public service announcements, the most grievous cases of poor TTC rider etiquette [fornication! toenail clippers!], his adventures working under various Mayors [Lastman/Miller/Ford/Tory] and TTC Heads [Webster/Byford/Upfold/Leary], and why we have it much better with the TTC than we think we do! For his Substack Hot Takes and everything else Brad Ross...

Glass Tiger founder/original drummer Michael Hanson talks about how two bands merged into Glass Tiger, opening up for Culture Club/Journey/Tina Turner/Moody Blues, why Tiger Beat magazine compared him to pinup pretty boy David Cassidy, the ‘Boy George Incident,’ his celebrity interactions at the Juno and Grammy Awards [Roger Daltry! Paul Simon! Celine Dion! Peter Cetera! Don Johnson! Peter Gabriel! Stevie Wonder!], being too busy to play Wayne Gretzky’s Royal Wedding, how he got Bobby Orr to aut...

HOVER founder Cameron Rowe talks about autonomous drone deliveries, his pitch on Dragons’ Den [turning DOWN an investment offer!], piggybacking on the investment injected into drone deliveries by Amazon and Google, his experiences in the Techstars startup network, acquiring his drone pilot’s license, the challenges behind landing in ‘unsecured delivery areas,’ and why he is counting on his drones to support his upcoming swim across Lake Ontario for SickKids! For everything Cameron and HOVER, pl...

Three-time Olympic Medalist/Eight-time World Championship Medalist/Canadian Hockey icon Vicky Sunohara talks about jumping on the backyard rink at two years old, getting BANNED from the boys leagues due to gender, earning a scholarship to play at Northeastern University, donning PINK jerseys at the inaugural IIHF Women’s World Championships, her Olympic experiences at Nagano/Salt Lake City/Turin, returning to the University of Toronto to earn her degree and become the first full-time coach of th...

Canadian tennis legend Daniel Nestor talks about his 12 Grand Slam doubles titles, his coming out party as a 19 year old defeating world #1 Stefan Edberg at the 1992 Davis Cup, winning his 2000 Olympic Gold Medal with Sebastien Leroux at the Sydney Games, winning [and loving the atmosphere--one million pounds spent just on FLOWERS!] at Wimbledon, playing a Pro-Am tournament where he was the ‘Pro’ and The Great One Wayne Gretzky was the ‘Am,’ his interactions with David Beckham/Donovan Bailey/Car...

Television PxP voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning Dave Randorf talks about his time at TSN, Saturday nights at Hockey Night in Canada, finishing his 4th season calling Lightning games with Brian Engblom, heading to the arena in flip-flops & then being back in his swimming pool 30min after the game ends, catching up with the Hulkster while sunbathing on Clearwater Beach, Jon Cooper remembering him from Vancouver’s Sports Page, the amazing-ness of HHOFer Phil Esposito, and the PTSD he still suffers ...

Love bowling? Love the music of the 80s? Ed Sousa talks about his love for BOTH, his signature trilby hat, turning a one-night charity concert with Honeymoon Suite & the Spoons into the largest indoor music festival in North America, growing up 5 minutes away from radio station CFNY, Curtis Joseph’s wife’s adoration of When In Rome, learning the value of intimate artist/fan interaction from Randy Bachman, why his dream show would be booking Simple Minds, spending time with Midge Ure/Martin Fry/G...

Retired Police Superintendent and now Author Keith Merith talks about his 31 years of service for the York Regional Police, the messages of truth/pain/optimism/perseverance delivered in his new memoir, his six principles of success, his fantastic experiences with Bernice and the late Herb Carnegie, and why his retirement has been so fabulous that it can only be best described as DELICIOUS! A Darker Shade of Blue: A Police Officer’s Memoir is available from ECW Press at https://ecwpress.com/prod...

Media Triple Threat/Author Bruce Dowbiggin talks about co-writing with his son Evan [he’s like a sports ‘Rain Man’], the imminent integration of fellow sports journalist Eric Duhatschek into his own family, shuttling between Calgary and the 'Winter White House' in Florida, why newspaper columnists used to be the ‘Princes of the Pressbox,’ his career-changing investigative journalism into disbarred lawyer/former head of hockey players' union/convicted felon Alan Eagleson, why he doesn’t trade hol...

International Best Selling Author Hannah Mary McKinnon talks about the imminent release of her latest suspense thriller ONLY ONE SURVIVES [‘sharing the spotlight can be murder!’], how a professional crisis saw her pivot from high-powered business executive to becoming an author [‘I’ve read a lot of books, so shouldn’t I be able to write one??’], aligning herself with the OTHER author Mary McKinnon, admiring Roger Moore from afar but Jeffrey Archer from up-close, why she’s a ‘plotter’ who intervi...

Winnipeg Jets/NY Rangers Swedish superstar Ulf Nilsson talks about his jump to the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets in 1974, why The Golden Jet Bobby Hull was both such a great player AND a great teammate, why The Hot Line [Hedberg/Nilsson/Hull] SHOULD be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, winning faceoffs against Gordie Howe in Houston, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering [collusion? racketeering?] that saw him and Anders Hedberg jump to the NHL’s NY Rangers as free agents, the ‘Potvin Sucks’ legacy of his...

The ‘Father of Vehicle Return Insurance’ Vince Beretta talks about his trademarked/copyrighted WALKAWAY protection, his Jerry Maguire-like bedtime epiphany following an enlightening meeting with car dealer Michael Croxon, the product blowing up for Hyundai USA after Jeff Bridges’ voiced-over TV commercials aired in prime time, Nav Bhatia jumping aboard with his FOUR point play [even better than a trey!], his entrepreneurial partnership with Robert Varga, and a passionate defence as to why the au...

Chef Guy Rubino talks about Toronto’s 'fraternal foodies' The Rubino Brothers [along with past podcast guest Michael], starring in/producing 39 episodes of Made To Order on The Food Network [24hrs of footage shot got trimmed to 24min on TV], working out on a treadmill alongside Madonna, his first proper kitchen job at Nobu in NYC, his interactions with Sir Richard Branson/David Bowie/Natalie Portman/Sting/Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, an ugly misunderstanding with Nelly Furtado’s posse [you did NOT...

Toronto International Festival of Authors Director Roland Gulliver talks about the 'multifaceted monster' that is TIFA, their MOTIVE crime and mystery festival coming up in June, their flagship Fall festival coming in September, making his career move from Edinburgh to Toronto just 3 weeks before the pandemic shut everything down, Linwood Barclay as a celebrity author [and former Toronto Star columnist], and why he STARTS a lot of books with the best of intentions! The third annual MOTIVE Crime...

Television news anchor and journalist Kevin Newman talks about retirement after a 40 year career, his tough decision to choose between attending Hamburger or Western University, interviewing Leonard Nimoy for UWO’s CHRW campus radio, his first job getting coffee for the late great Peter Truman, his work at CBC/Global/CTV in Canada, heading to the Big Apple to join ABC World News [and subsequently Good Morning America], inspiring times working with Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel, his respect for P...