No matter how many shows we do, the adrenaline — and butterflies — work overtime as we rush to get the live show on the air … and with the last show of the season, there’s the added tension of knowing there’s no do-better-next-time opportunity…
Well, this final show didn’t need a do-over: It was on time, it was full of colourful stories (from the Day of Pink to a black hole), and it went to air with near nary a stumble — a great way to end this winter season of Midweek!
Tension mounts as hosts Maz Atta and Lisa Johnson get set.
The International Day of Pink is a gesture of solidarity to celebrate diversity and stand up against homophobia, transphobia and misogyny. Midweek’s Katherine Lissitsa opened our show by speaking with a local high school vice principal who’s seen the tragedy that can come from a student feeling alone and shunned — and how a school can come together to fight that.
Eighty minutes later, Lisa Johnson (one of this show’s hosts) closed out this Midweek by speaking with Jeremy Dias, founder of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, about his own struggles and goals.
Speaking of struggles, Astara van der Jagt reported this week on one Carleton student’s effort to help a quadriplegic pal in Alberta whose home-care support has been slashed.
On that first photo-glimpse at what a black hole truly looks like, Midweek’s Joshua Weinberger spoke about the significance — and thrill — of the achievement with Heather Logan, a professor of theoretical particle physics at Carleton University.
In other news, reporter Dylan Parobec looked at the impacts of the consequential Israeli parliamentary election, Ryan Curley checked out a campus sustainability fair to see how Carleton is seeking to reduce its carbon footprint, and Astara van der Jagt reported on Ontario’s plan to allow beer and wine sales in more private stores.
Music producers Levi Garber and Ash Abraham cue the next track.
Dylan Parobec also took us to a National Tartan Day party on Parliament Hill with bagpipes and kilts galore! Then our look at world music continued as Maz Atta (our other host this week) spoke with a local woman about how joining a West African rhythm ensemble has been a learning — and healing — experience.
Speaking of healing, Maz also marked the passing of a well-loved Carleton community member, a therapy dog named Uncle Steven, by asking passersby in the university’s hallways and tunnels about dogs that had made a difference in their own lives.
MRP MRP! No, that’s not the Road Runner zipping by Wile E. Coyote — it’s the archnemesis that members of our Midweek team who are Master of Journalism students have been wrestling with for the past year: their Master’s Research Project, a major piece of journalistic investigation that’s their program’s capstone element.
On this final show, we asked each one in turn to come in and explain what they’d been digging into, what they’d found, and why it matters to the wider community.
Ash Abraham had traveled to South Korea to document the struggles and successes of women who have fled from the oppressive North Korean regime, while Levi Garber went to Germany to document the alarming rise of that country’s alt-right movement.
Tension gone! And so is the season…!
Lisa Johnson looked at how the death of bus service to many small communities in Saskatchewan brought out stark social divides that are easy to miss until suddenly those who can’t afford cars are left standing at the roadside, thumbs out and hoping.
Olivia Robinson had another look at undercover poverty and how libraries are emerging as social service hubs for the homeless and other poor who have few other safe havens, and Katherine Lissitsa broke down how the new Ontario government’s changes to the province’s sexual education curriculum could have a damaging effect on the most vulnerable and uncertain students.
And so, that’s that for another Midweek season. We’d like to thank you, our listeners, for tuning in, and we hope you found as much fascination and (sometimes) fun as we did experiencing these many, diverse stories.
This crop of Midweek reporters will now be graduating and moving on, but don’t worry, Midweek’s staying put. We’ll be back with a fresh crew of future radio journalists in the fall. Have a great summer!