Hockey, housing, hurricanes, havens, Halloween and a whole heck of a lot of other topics on this edition of Midweek, with hosts Mayson Maharaj and Ali Khaleghi (who out of an abundance of caution dug out the masks once again when a slight sniffle reappeared).
Show producer Joy SpearChief-Morris watches the hosts through the studio glass and tracks timing on the screen above. (Photos by Alex Dines)
We opened with reporter Constantina Varlokostas getting perspective from leading sports journalist Ian Mendes on the latest complaints about nastiness and bigotry among some hockey pundits. Then Hafsatou Balde reported on progress to get those in need back into the Cornerstone Housing for Women’s residence on Booth Street, two months after a fire drove them out.
Host Mayson Marharaj spoke with an activist from Horizon Ottawa about outgoing mayor Jim Watson’s testimony at the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings, and Catlin Redmond found out what a federal boost to weekly work-hour limits for international students could mean for their chances to survive and succeed.
The diabetes drug Dapagliflozin turns out to be an effective treatment for chronic kidney disease too, and Midweek’s Lahari Nanda spoke with a medical expert about why this is unexpected but very good news. Something else worth singing about is the Bytown Sea Shanty Collective’s fundraiser for the Canadian Red Cross’s efforts to help those hit by Hurricane Fiona, and Hafsatou returned with more on that.
There’s been lots in the post-pandemic news about the battered state of the nursing profession in Canada as burnout and frustration drive many from the field, but reporter Jodie Applewaithe found one young woman heading the other way: She’s transferred from health sciences into nursing at the University of Ottawa because she sees the need and wants to make a difference.
Joy SpearChief-Morris captains the show, while audio technologist Dave Sarazin handles the controls and music producers Mariana Tawil and Ben Skene supply the tunes.
The crowded stacks and shelves at the Haven Bookstore near Carleton University have given way to a bright social space, and host Ali Khaleghi found out how the latest tech has enabled the business to do this while still keeping up brisk sales of textbooks.
Speaking of books, host Mayson Maharaj brought us an interview with the co-author of a book about Project Naming, an initiative at Library and Archives Canada to connect names to the faces of thousands of previously anonymous Inuit in their archival photographs.
Jingyao Yu updated us on the public transit issues that bubbled up during the municipal election campaign, and Jodie Applewaithe followed up with a look at the same election’s debate over Ottawa’s cycling infrastructure.
Midweek’s Wafa El-Rayes took us to the Fresh Meat Theatre Festival’s first full in-person iteration in two years, and Ali Khaleghi spoke with an avid Ottawa Senators fan and podcaster about what promising fresh meat could bring to the Sens this NHL season. No one did a story on the need for harsh laws against painfully corny attempts to link item topics in blog posts.
Three ancient relics captured in one photo, from left: an Otari MX-50 reel-to-reel tape machine, exec producer Dave Tait, and Kermit, our reliable spare-pen holder since long before the turn of the century.
Yes, it’s Midweek and not The Mayson Maharaj Show, but Mayson was back yet again with a documentary on how one of Ottawa’s most experienced piercers makes body modification an experience to remember — for the right reasons.
And it’s autumn in Ontario — that time of year when the dusk-time thoughts of drivers turn to LOOK OUT FOR THAT DEER!!! Midweek’s Shriya Balachandran got some sensible and also surprising advice from a safety expert on how to avoid collisions with deer on country roads, and on what to do — and not do — if you can’t.
Finally, we went with reporter Ben Skene to meet some locals who go all-out with their Halloween decorations every year to find out what it takes to attain true next-level spookiness — and why that’s important to them.
Humdinger of a show (just to work in one more H-word!)…