A brand new year…a new Midweek production team of senior students in Carleton University’s bachelor and master of journalism programs…and three new Midweek podcasts to get things going!
Podcast 1: While lots is new…we’re still dealing with the same old pandemic, and hosts Jennifer Prescott and Hana Sabah introduce us to three stories this week about its impacts.
In the first, Midweek reporter Sam Campling tells us about the importance of the semi-annual veterinary clinics in northern Saskatchewan and the challenges they now face due to the pandemic.
Hana then speaks with Nour Henien, manager of the local music group GUISE and Toronto-based Naiim, about how Ottawa’s performing scene has been been hard hit and how artists are trying to keep some sort of revenue stream going.
And Jennifer ends this podcast by showing us what coming home after a long shift at work really looks like these days for one ER nurse at a local hospital.
This podcast was produced by Avanthika Anand and Ciaran Morgan.
Podcast 2: The Rideau Canal Skateway reopened less than a week before we packaged our shows, and podcast co-host Meaghan Haldenby spoke with Ottawa residents and the National Capital Commission’s Bruce Devine about the truncated and complicated season ahead.
And while lockdowns and health worries have put live music venues on thin ice, co-host Erika Ibrahim found out from Judy Perly, owner of the Free Times Café in Toronto, that it isn’t all bad news as businesses like hers adapt.
The Ottawa Senators are back in full swing, but the new hockey season is going to be missing a lot. Midweek reporter Max Bakony spoke about what’s ahead with some knowledgeable observers, including journalist Ian Mendes, who’s been covering the Senators for 20 years.
Carla Salazar moved to Ottawa from Lima, Peru, three years ago — and has launched a blog called “Ottawa is not boring.” Midweek reporter Emilie Warren spoke with Salazar to discover more about her inspiration to start the blog and her love for her new home.
This podcast was produced by Jeff Pelletier and Max Baknoy.
Podcast 3: Statistics show that three out of four stories on this third podcast are about the pandemic — but the one that’s not is a really cool story about surfing. Which isn’t to say the other three aren’t cool too, by the way.
Host Eden Suh starts us off with an interview about OC Transpo’s one-day Operation Mask Up blitz to enforce mask wearing on all its routes and facilities.
Then reporter Kayla Christoffer got some frank talk from a dog breeder about impulse adoptions — and captured the joy of one family that was finally able to find a new dog after losing theirs back early in the pandemic as demand for puppies went skyrocketing.
Now here’s where we take that break from COVID-19 and hit the surf: Reporter Angelica Zagorski introduces us to Danielle Greig, one of the few female surfers on the Great Lakes around Southwestern Ontario. Grieg shares her experiences with self-doubt while on the water, and also how she’s learned to put men who dismiss her in their place.
Nice while it lasted…but now back to the pandemic. Sigh. But personal trainer Andrew Bradford actually has some good news — and good advice — about how online workouts can be a positive change from the gym. He tells podcast co-host Sarah West that camera-off, at-home Zoom workouts can be liberating, and Bradford says now more than ever, exercise is something to run to, not from.
This podcast was produced by Natasha Bulowski and Raylene Lung.