Calgary Journal Podcasts

In this episode, Ace Jakeman explores fundraising in Alberta aimed at improving the lives of children with cancer and their families. He speaks to Marlee Higginson, the outreach program coordinator at Kids Cancer Care, and associates Aren Godberson and Madison Tutt. Jakeman also speaks to Gage Sweeney, a first-time participant in a Kids Cancer Care fundraising event that saw participants take to the racetrack. You can read more from Ace Jakeman about a Kids Cancer Care fundraising event called Ride of A Lifetime here: (link to Journal story)

In this episode, Quinn Curtis speaks in-depth to two transgender Albertans about what life is like for them in this province. Faust was raised in Fort St. John, in B.C. and now lives in Calgary. April Friesen is president of the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA), whose mission is to be a witness to and a voice for matters concerning trans-Albertans. You can read more from Quinn Curtis on the role misinformation is playing in the lives of transgenered people here: (link to her Journal story)

In this episode, Charlotte Vos talks to Mount Royal University's Telaina Sewers about training available on campus on how to safely administer the drug naloxone to help prevent opioid overdoses. Naloxone is a drug that only works on opioids. It comes in kits, and are administered with vanish point syringes to ensure safety. The interview includes an exploration of the kits and information on where to find them on campus. MRU students can sign up for training here: https://events.mtroyal.ca/event/733-harm-reduction-naloxone-training

In this episode, Mia Bare explores the social and structural stigma that surrounds getting help with drug addiction. She interviews a mother who lost her son to Alberta's opioid poisoning crisis. She also speaks to David Lewry, the executive director and addictions counsellor at Freedom's Path Recovery Society in Calgary. Albertans are increasingly dying of opioid drug poisoning. In 2016, 554 Albertans lost their lives. In 2023, the number of deaths climbed to 1,411 people within eight months, according to Alberta's substance use surveillance data.

This podcast on the Cornerstone Youth Centre discussed on the organization has stood against the odds and employed creative methods to raise funding while keeping the youth as their priority. 

Welcome to the Calgary Journal Podcast. I'm your host Scott Rowan. According to a study by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union (CFNU), 36 percent of registered nurses screened positive for depression, and 26 percent of registered nurses suffer from anxiety. Clinical burnout, PTSD, and panic disorder are other reported illnesses. Given the stress, burnout, and PTSD, why would anyone want to become a nurse in the modern day? Today I'm here with two second year nursing students at Mount Royal University, Mido Ibrahim and Neha Shake to figure out exactly how they feel about their stress and why they want to be nurses.

International students, Sid, Terreese and Tom chatted with Let's Talk hosts Scott Rowan, Halluma Seklani and Noah Wilson about what it's like to be an international student and being a part of the International Student Support Centre (ISSC) at Mount Royal University (MRU).

In this podcast episode, Calgary Journal reporters Marco Palomino, Abby Parker and Ashley Pfeifer, sit down with Gabriella Wong Ken from The Hatch and Meaghon Reid from Vibrant Communities Calgary to explore the small and large scale solutions combatting food insecurity.

This episode follows student journalists, Gurleen Jassal and Hannah Papke, as they discuss with James Gamage about the Social Impact Lab and how their business is making day-to-day more affordable for Calgarians. This story also follows the Good Neighbour store in downtown Calgary where their pay-what-you-can business model is on full display in the community. This episode was produced by Matt DeMille.

In hockey, there have been problems of bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination (BAHD) for decades.

There is no shortage of news about problems — social problems, political problems, climate problems. But what about the solutions? We believe the solution side of the equation is just as important as the problem. In the Journal's ongoing podcast series, we take a vexxing problem each episode and talk to experts who are solving that problem.

There is no shortage of news about problems — social problems, political problems, climate problems. But what about the solutions?We believe the solution side of the equation is just as important as the problem. In the Journal's ongoing podcast series, we take a vexxing problem each episode and talk to experts who are solving that problem. 

Our Solutions Podcast is back for another season. This episode, we're talking about Middle Eastern representation in Canada's entertainment industry.

The third episode is a 'sisters' panel, in which we are joined by five MRU students and Alumni: Suha, Fatima Nyei, Muna Samantar, Reem Amin, and Aliza Fouad. They speak about their experiences during the month of ramadan, the challenges of being away from home, and the traditions they enjoy.

The second episode features a 'brothers' panel, we are joined by four MRU students: Abdulmuiz Abdullahi, Fawaz Saleem, Mohammed Mahdi Mir, and Abdullah Ibn Ozair. As well as a cybersecurity expert and recent convert to Islam: Dario. They shed light on their experiences, and what it's like to be muslim in Calgary (and abroad) during ramadan.

"Not even water?" is the question Muslim-Canadians hear most often during the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month in the lunar calendar and consists of 30 days in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. But this is a very surface level understanding of what Ramadan really is, so we started this podcast to give people a slightly deeper look into the month. Episode one is an educational episode with Ustadh Omar Al Bastami, to answer the question of "what is ramadan?"

The Green Podcast focuses on environmental concerns with host Cassie Hearn and features expert guests who will talk about their experience tackling climate change. This episode features Calgary adventure bloggers Annalise and Cailynn Klingbeil. The sisters co-write a blog called Go Outside, giving Calgarians advice on how to fully embrace outdoor activities that exist within their backyard. Recently, Annalise and Cailynn have discussed exploring Calgary in a “car-free” way, enticing Calgarians to ditch the car, lace up a pair of sneakers, and adventure the city on foot. According to the World Health Organization, choosing to walk instead of driving reduces greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions, while also supporting one's mental well-being. Annalise Klingbeil studied communications at the University of Calgary and is the co-founder of Champion Communications and PR. A freelance journalist and editor, Cailynn Klingbeil has written for many publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Globe and Mail.

Oftentimes, the global climate crisis can feel like a problem for other parts of the world, as opposed to an issue Calgarians should be concerned about. According to Abacus Data, 54 per cent of Albertans believe there's either “conclusive” or “solid” evidence that the earth is warming. On this episode of the Green Podcast, I sit down with Troy Burnett, a professor at Mount Royal Royal University in the department of earth and environmental sciences.  Burnett discusses global warming, why Calgarians should take part in positive climate actions and how small impacts can make a huge difference. Links discussed:For those wanting to dive deeper into climate action and discover how they impact the planet, Burnett recommends calculating your ecological footprint using an online tool. Burnett studied economics and environmental studies as an undergraduate student and holds a doctorate in geography and has been teaching for roughly 15 years. 

The Green Podcast focuses on environmental concerns with host Cassie Hearn and features expert guests who will talk about their experience tackling climate change. This episode features Green Calgary coordinators Grace Wark and Mafe Barrera, who will be discussing living a zero-waste lifestyle. With Waste Reduction Week in Canada having occurred from Oct. 17 to 23, now is the time to learn some recycling tips to practice throughout the year! Before joining Green Calgary, Wark completed studies in environmental science and geography and is now focused on creating a sustainable Calgary. Barrera has a passion for animals and plants, spending many years volunteering with organizations in Columbia that focused on preservation. Barrera has studied environmental remediation and hopes to study environmental sciences in the future.

Music: Jolly Snowy Night by Skye Jordan

Music: Jolly Snowy Night by Skye Jordan

Music: Jolly Snowy Night by Skye Jordan

With Episode 4 of Clubs of MRU, Podcast Editor Sam Chipera spoke with a club of mystery to see how some people came together under the guise of conspiracy theories. Sam spoke virtually with Cougars Unsolved, a club that looks into the mysteries of the world. Whether it's through entertainment or investigation, this club is focused on what hidden secrets are lurking around them. Be sure to check out calgaryjournal.ca for more stories, alongside our social media.

In Episode 2 of Clubs of MRU, Podcast Editor Sam Chipera virtually spoke with one of Mount Royal Universities most populous clubs, to learn just how high-volume clubs such as this one, operate with their own passions during COVID-19. To tell you more, MRU Club N3rd's executive, Maria Mikova, spoke about how the club fosters a warm and friendly atmosphere for all those who enjoy gaming, in any form that may take. Be sure to check out calgaryjournal.ca for more stories, alongside our social media.

Welcome to the Calgary Journal Podcast's new podcast series: Clubs of MRU. Sam Chipera, the Podcast Editor for the Calgary Journal, dives into Mount Royal Universities clubs to discover their passions, impacts and latest developments. In Episode 1 of the series, Sam sat down with the vice-president of MRU's Women's Rugby team and learned how this club connected her with life-long friends, while also talking about what they've been up to this semester, having cancelled their rugby season due to COVID-19. Be sure to check out calgaryjournal.ca for more stories, alongside our social media.

In Episode 3 of Clubs of MRU, Podcast Editor Sam Chipera took a look into a club of support and nurturing, to see how some clubs goals are to just make university life a lot smoother for our students. Sam sat down with the MRU branch of Best Buddies, a club that supports those who may be struggling and pairs them up with a ‘buddy' to help create a safe environment for those who need it. Be sure to check out calgaryjournal.ca for more stories, alongside our social media.

Calgary's municipal election is now behind us and the mayor and council are getting up to speed in their roles. Podcast editor and host Sam Chipera spoke with Rachel Timmermans, SAMRU's external vice president, and Duane Bratt, a Mount Royal University political science professor about the results and what they mean. Bratt says that the new government has a whole, “host of challenges,” due to the change in seats on council and with a new mayor. However, Timmermans says that she looks forward to the new open minded council to support Calgarians and to hold a conversation on how best to improve the city.

This is Episode 3 of Calgary Journal Recap, where host Dean Cordero takes you through the Journal’s hottest stories of the last few weeks. This episode, we meet book club owner Sue-Shane Tsomondo, discuss a recent spike in opioid overdoses over a COVID-dominant year, and talk to counsellor Gio Delcecore. Calgary Journal Recap is produced by Dean Cordero with special thanks going to the Calgary Journal team and to Lee Rosevere for the music. Keep an eye out for more stories by checking out calgaryjournal.ca, and by following us across our social media.

This is Episode 2 of Calgary Journal Recap, where host Dean Cordero takes you through the Journal’s hottest stories of the last couple weeks. This episode, we look at Calgary’s Little Free Libraries program, meet urban developer Jack Olson of Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, and get to know bridal designer Morgan Rochon of Rochon Designs. Calgary Journal Recap is produced by Dean Cordero with special thanks going to the Calgary Journal team and to Lee Rosevere for the music. Keep an eye out for more stories by checking out calgaryjournal.ca, and by following us across our social media.

This is Episode 1 of Calgary Journal Recap, where host Dean Cordero takes you through the Journal’s hottest stories of the last couple weeks. This episode, we look at male victims being left out of the domestic violence conversation, decolonizing mental health, and meet musician Kate Melvina and her band Tendavillage. Calgary Journal Recap is produced by Dean Cordero with special thanks going to the Calgary Journal team and to Lee Rosevere for the music. Keep an eye out for more stories by checking out calgaryjournal.ca, and by following the Journal across our social media.

In this episode, Grace Heavy Runner and Emmanuella Kondo look into racial issues in Calgary that still persist. Hear from two Calgarians as they explain how their race plays a role in their daily lives.

In this episode, Mackenzie Mason and Zachary Poole explore Calgary’s plan for replacing the Saddledome with a new arena being built in 2021. It talks how this will affect the amount of traffic Calgary gets from larger touring artists versus how this will impact Calgary’s already booming live music scene in smaller venues. We spoke to Ian Low, President of Central Canada for LiveNation, and BJ Downey, a booking agent for venues around the city like Broken City and the Palomino, to see what they had to say for the future of Calgary’s live music scene.

After graduating high school, there are two common paths one will take: get a job, or get a post-secondary education. The vast majority consider university to be the better option in the long run, but fail to consider the potentially long-lasting health effects that could impact students for years to come. Spencer Yu and Gage Smith talk to two students at Mount Royal University to get their takes on the issue.

Ethan Ward and Zach Weil take a deep dive into why exactly the participation rates in youth sports are declining. Through Interviews with two time Olympic gold medalist Catriona Le May Doan, and the CEO of Kidsport Calgary Kevin Webster, we get to hear two unique perspectives on why this problem is happening. Webster and Le May Doan both offer unique perspectives into what the City of Calgary and their respective organizations are doing to combat this problem.

In this episode of Calgary Canvas, reporters Sam Chipera and Eric Tanner take to the local hip-hop and electronic scene to talk to two veterans of the art. Rick Cruz and Jonathan Stoddart, both better known by their stage names DJ C-SIK and Ricca Razor Sharp respectively, know a thing or two about the local scene. With both musicians having 10 plus years of experience under their belts, they reminisce about their start-ups, trends that have come and gone, and what more has to be done by the city to embrace local acts.

Calgary Journal reporters Anosha Khan and Chloë Chapdelaine look into nipple and areola reconstruction and tattooing after breast cancer surgery. They are joined by breast cancer survivor Ann who has gotten the tattooing done and paramedical tattoo artist, Jody Stoski to get their side of the story.

Calgary Journal reporters Dean Cordero, Tristan Oram and Sam Lefleur investigate the issue of sexual assault within the cosplay community both within Calgary and across the world. They talk to Calgary cosplayer Natalie Emmanuel and Joe McGuire from Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse to get an insider take on the issue.

Calgary Journal reporters Alli Mack and Zachary Worden take a look into the decline of participation in youth sports. They are joined by Karri Dawson, the Executive Director of the True Sport Foundation and Kevin Webster, the Executive Director of KidSport Calgary to get some expert opinions. 

The cost of drugs in Canada is a perpetual election issue. In this episode, Noel Harper, Christian Kindrachuk and Solaya Huang , look more closely at the issue and why this year may be a turning point for national pharmacare.

Low income seniors face particularly difficult housing challenges. Daniel Gonzalez, Erika Maria and Julia Andrade dig deeper into the issue and speak to experts on the frontlines.

Our team this week — Hadeel Abdel-Nabi, Qassim Merali, Michaela Neuman and Isaiah Lindo — look at the problem of protecting queer kids at school why we may have eliminated the best vehicle to do that in Alberta.

This week, Michelle Huynh and Hayley Hynes examine child poverty in Canada and speak with two Calgarians who are making a difference. They are joined by Tanya Koshowski from Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids and Derryn Werth from CUPS.

This week, Nicholas Montpetit-Skuba, Leonie Fairhurst and Sam Phelps look at men's mental health and how to reduce some of the stigma surrounding it. They talk to Josh Beharry from Heads-up Guys and Calgary police Cst. Jeremy Shaw.

In this episode, Jessie Bach and Isaiah discuss political correctness with comedians Brett Forte, Brian Stollery, and Yuk Yuks roast champion Sam Walker. We aim to find out how PC culture is transforming Calgary’s comedy scene. We tackle the role free speech plays in creating and performing comedy, and how the comedians feel about it. In this podcast, both sides of the political spectrum are discussed from extremely clean comics to radically vulgar comics. This podcast attempts to bridge the cultural divided that has formed by showing both sides’ legitimacy and some of the problems surrounding the issue. Logo created by Adnen Kadri and BirVa Mehta of Noun Project. This episode was produced as part of the Winter 2019 session of COMM 3727. Special thanks to Ricardo Andres-Garcias for creating our theme song.

Qassim Merali and Hadeel Abdel-Nabi take a look at the two sides of female safety when it comes to travelling on public transit at night. A study done by the City showed that while over 50% of Calgarians are happy with the transit system, over 50 per cent of women don’t feel comfortable taking transit after 6:00 p.m. or avoid certain routes. Sarah Almquist tells her story of a terrifying night on transit and Brian Whitelaw tells us about what Peace Officers are doing to improve transit safety. Logo: Mind The Gap by Luis Prado and Beard by José Manuel de Laá of Noun Project. This episode was produced as part of the Winter 2019 session of COMM 3727. Special thanks to Ricardo Andres-Garcias for creating our theme song.

In the final episode of this season of Calgary Canvas, it’s time to dive into eSports in Calgary. The international phenomenon of competitive video gaming has inspired a few Calgarians to try and cultivate it, but will it take off in the near future, or will it take more time before its true potential is unlocked? Reporters Daniel Gonzalez and Dean Cordero speak with the Calgary eSports League and a long-time employee of The Node Gaming Cafe with their thoughts and plans for a local eSports community. Arcade machine on logo created by Lluisa Iborra of Noun Project. This episode was produced as part of the Winter 2019 session of COMM 3727. Special thanks to Ricardo Andres-Garcias for creating our theme song.

In the first episode of Season 2, Noel Harper and Christian Kindrachuk delve into safe injection sites in Calgary. They speak to both sides of the argument over Safeworks at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre, talking to Dr. Nicholas Etches with Alberta Health Services & Will Lawrence, co-owner of Shelf Life Books. Logo by kareemovic2000 and The Noun Project.

In this episode, Bailey Gingras-Hamilton and Marius Pintea explore the booming craft beer industry in Calgary. But how much beer can Calgarians drink -- and how many local breweries are too many? Interviews with Peter Johnston-Berresford from Olds College's Brewmaster program and Ben Leon from the Dandy Brewing Company. Logo by Shastry from Noun Project. This episode was produced as part of the Winter 2019 session of COMM 3727. Special thanks to Ricardo Andres-Garcias for creating our theme song.

‘No more kids in care’ by Ricardo-Andres Garcia, Brian Wells, and Nathan Woolridge This episode dives into the issues of separating Indigenous families — the crisis that Canada has created through Residential Schools, the Sixties Scoop and the Millennial Scoop among other events that took Indigenous children from their parents. Today, we are seeing it in the placement of First Nations children in foster care. The effects of such events have led to a cycle of inter-generational trauma — a legacy of children being separated from their families and flooding the foster care system. Indigenous children are over-represented in Canada’s foster care system, accounting for nearly half of all children cared for by the state, despite making up just seven per cent of all children in the country. The 2011 Statistics Canada data from still holds up. "I really believe that First Nation's communities are quite capable of looking after their own children.” -Roy Bear Chief To learn more about the Iniskim center at Mount royal University please visit: https://www.mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/FacultiesSchoolsCentres/IniskimCentre/index.htm This episode is created by: https://calgaryjournal.ca/ Intro music by Ricardo-Andres-Garcia