Examineradio - The Halifax Examiner podcast

After two years and 95 episodes The Tideline is washing up but one last time. It's a bit of a format flip, featuring first guest and perennial mention Kat McCormack in the host chair, talking to Tara about the history of arts coverage in Halifax, the dire straits of the local music venue, the disconnection of the disciplines, and some fun stuff too! Thanks to the team at the Halifax Examiner and engineer/mixer Palmer Jamieson for a fine little podcast. And especially thanks to you for listening.

Halifax poet laureate Sue Goyette, an early-run Tideline guest, returns one last time to discuss her new book Monoculture, out in October. Neither poetry nor fiction, its hybrid form imagines a near future where Nova Scotia's last living forest has become a tourist attraction and explores our relationship to trees and the land through the website's comments section. It's ever evocative and poignant and at turns funny, enraged, and in awe of its surroundings. Sue speaks to its creation, her deep relationships to the elements, and the deplorable way they've been treated.

The debut feature of Halifax hyphenate Koumbie — known as an actor for the stage and screen, a writer, and a director — will have its world premiere at the Atlantic International Film Festival on September 22. Bystanders tells the story of a lifelong friend group rocked to its foundation by accusations of sexual misconduct against one of their own. He's their friend, brother, even ex-boyfriend — so now what? As Koumbie puts it, "What do you do when someone you love does something you hate?" A thoughtful conversation that digs into the grey areas of so-called cancel culture, how it is to be an actor directing actors, and what the filmmaker hopes you'll take away from the experience.

The multi-hyphenate Jackie Torrens — we're talking writer, director, actor, broadcaster, icon — stops by ahead of the Atlantic International Film Festival screening of her murder mystery doc Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langille, which had its world premiere at Hot Docs this spring. Between the military, the time (50 years ago), intergenerational family trauma, and advances in science, Torrens has crafted an intriguing and emotional look into one man's search for answers. She speaks to all of this plus the innovation of using miniature sets to recreate the scenes of the day.

The Halifax-based poet and university professor Annick MacAskill has crafted a beautiful (and beautiful to touch thanks to Gaspereau Press) ode to a common but still stigmatized subject matter: pregnancy loss. Shadow Blight considers the pain of pregnancy loss through the classical myth of Niobe, whose grief for her dead children was so monumental she turned to stone. MacAskill speaks to the process of crafting and presenting such intimate, personal thoughts and the lack of popular culture on the subject, among other things. Plus a song from the new Klarka Weinwurm album.

The Halifax Fringe Festival is celebrating its first full in-person festival since 2019, which itself was cut short by hurricane Dorian. And that's not all—after seven festivals, executive director Lee-Anne Poole will head out the revolving door of Halifax arts org leaders and hand the reigns over to Sara Graham. Both are on the show this week to talk entrances and exits, why they do the work that they do, the festival's present and future, and all the details you need to attend. Plus a song from the new surprise Hello Delaware album.

What is there to say that hasn't been said 100 times (probably more) about Halifax's most famous animal? Gus—the de facto mascot of the Museum of Natural History—has been with the museum at its two locations since 1942, after being purchased in Florida for fiveAmerican dollars. This weekend there are six chances to celebrate his life and sing happy hatch day to the oldest known living gopher tortoise in the world — Tara burrows into her love for him and his enduring place in the city's tapestry.

To sleep, perchance to dream—in this humidity?! Shakespeare By The Sea's production of Hamlet—its first staged tragedy since 2019— opens on August 5, and director Drew Douris-O'Hara and the man himself, Deivan Steele, stop by the show before rehearsal to chat. Topics include: Climate change's effect on outdoor theatre, the timelessness of Shakespeare's most popular work, the failure of funding models in all times (not just COVID), and the resilience of squirrels.

Author Andre Fenton returns to the show with a new book, The Summer Between Us: It's a complex, empathetic YA story about teens on the cusp of adulthood in the under-examined summer between high school and university, an expansion of the characters explored in his debut, Worthy of Love. He reveals his writing process, how his personal mission to unpack toxic masculinity dovetails with his hero's, and what inspires him to write. Plus the lead track from the brand-new Aquakultre album out this week.

The riotous gay rock band Partner—aka Lucy Niles and Josée Caron—beams into the show from Montreal ahead of its Sunday afternoon show at the Garrison Grounds for Halifax Pride. They dig into what it was like putting out an album in the pandemic, what pride means to them now, the lives they're still changing, and guitar solos. Plus Adam Reid from Halifax Pride returns to chat about this year's event, back to full strength for the first time since 2019. Plus a song from Jazz Fest headliner The Weather Station.

Martha Paynter is a registered nurse who works in abortion and reproductive health care. Her new book ABORTION TO ABOLITION (with illustrations by Julia Hutt) was published the same week Roe v Wade was overturned in the United States—her launch party was the dayafter—and couldn't be a more timely introduction to the history of abortion in Canada. She's on the show this week to talk about how different the two countries' laws and health care systems are, why reproductive justice is so tied up with abolition, and various provinces' wins and losses over the years.

Logan Robins (writer/director/composer) and Katherine Norris (star/composer) of the Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company are on the show this week ahead of their provincial tour of HIPPOPOSTUMOUS, Robins' musical exploration of invasive species, colonization, environmentalism, and history. Hear how Pablo Escobar's personal hippos have invaded and are ruining a section of Colombia, why Robins was intrigued to make a show about it, and all the places you can catch it this July. Plus Norris cracks out the banjolele to perform one of the show's songs. And the new jam from Beauts!

After a year's worth of singles and videos, the Halifax duo is finally releasing its first recorded project in the form of FLUTTER, a six-song genre-agnostic EP that's deeply personal and incredibly catchy. Art Ross and Aaron Green return to the show a year later to dish on their music-industry immersion, why Ross' sapphic lyrics strike all kinds of chords, and where you can see them this summer.

Juanita Peters is a former broadcast journalist and current icon who writes, acts, and directs, including her debut feature 8:37 Rebirth. A tough, dark drama about restorative justice and the grey of life, the film is up for four Screen Nova Scotia Awards on Saturday. She stops by to chat about the film's COVID shoot, her time as a reporter, what's in the works—plays! docs!—directing Diggstown, and being named ACTRA's Woman of The Year. Plus, a new song from Corvette Sunset. 

Dartmouth's annual theatre extravaganza Stages returns live to Alderney Landing this week for shows, works in progress, solo experiments, and all kinds of wild weirdness. That includes SHAKESPEARE'S TIME MACHINE by The Villains Theatre, a classically irreverent comedy by Dan Bray. Co-director Rebecca Wolfe and performer/producer Colleen MacIsaac are on the show this week to talk post-pandemic life in the theatre, their personal Stages picks, and more. Plus a new song from Good Dear Good!

Five years ago, an idea was born and named after a Barenaked Ladies song about how Halifax sucks. Hello City has been delighting Halifax audiences with its open, supportive, good-natured humour—heck, last summer they were the only pandemic entertainment in town—and friendly, charismatic cast. Liam, Stevey, Gil, Peter, Colin, and Henri—with regrets from Beth and Shahin—stop by for their fourth Tideline appearance (and sole improv-free visit) ahead of this weekend's sold-out anniversary show at the Bus Stop. Find out how they all met,got started, and keep going.

Singer-songwriter Willie Stratton has wandered a number of genre path, starting with raw acoustic folk as a teen phenom, moving through surf rock as Beach Bait, and landing in a Roy Orbison-style classic country on his new album Drugstore Dreamin'. Ahead of his release show at the Marquee on Friday, he stops in to explain why mixing influences makesthe best art, how he approaches the guitar, and what he likes about his day job as a barber.

Grace McNutt and Linnea Swinimer are the Minute Women, two Haligonians who host a podcast of the same name about Canadian history as seen through a lens of Heritage Minutes (minutewomenpodcast.ca). In a lively celebration of the show's second birthday, they stop by to reveal how curling brought them together in podcast — and now BFF — form, their favourite Minutes, that time they thought Jean Chretien was dead, and the impact their show has had. Plus music from brand-new ECMA winners Hillsburn and Zamani.

For a show (and cult film) out of the mid-1970s, The Rocky Horror Show was  ahead of its time in its depiction of queerness and gender and—save a handful of instances—has aged surprisingly well enough to fit into this contemporary time. Neptune Theatre's production opens this week (running through June 26) and director Jeremy Webb and actors Allister MacDonald (Dr. Frank N Furter) and Breton Lalama (Riff Raff) squeeze in a chat between tech run-throughs to dig into how they've updated (and produced) the show with 2022 eyes—namely an intimacy director and active consent between characters—and whether they're prepared for the rare theatre audience that talks back. Plus a new song from Nicole Ariana.

In 1994, Elizabeth Murphy, Patrick Christopher Carter, and Jean Morpurgo staged a now-legendary, free production of Twelfth Night in Point Pleasant Park. On that summer weekend, Shakespeare By The Sea was born, anchoring every summer in Halifax with a slate of Shakespeare and a company-created family show. As its 28th season dawns, Murphy—the surviving co-founder who's been running the company with Jesse MacLean—has decided to step away from SBTS. Her retirement tour stops by the show this week for a deep dive into the company's history, challenges—hurricanes! fires! beetles!—its legacy in the theatre community, and her next act. Plus a new song from Rich Aucoin.

It's been a few years since Halifax had a dedicated queer theatre festival, but that changes April 26 with OutFest. Produced by Page1 Theatre, the event's goal is to "provide a platform for multi-disciplinary artists to create stories that reflect our community, both past and present." Page1's artistic director Isaac Mulè stops by to give an overview of this year's program and chat about the festival's origins in Kitchener ON. Theatre maker Katie Clarke is also on board to dig into Can You Remember How We Got Here, the one-person show they wrote and are starring in (maybe).

Wonder World is the story of Isaac, who leaves a lonely decade in Halifax to return to the conservative Manitoba community—and father—that rejected him. Upon his arrival he's surprised to learn that his hometown is queerer than he ever realized, and he discovers some secrets that reframe his entire life, and possibly his future. Halifax author KR Byggdin stops by to discuss the novel's genesis, how much of it connects to their own life, the prospect of going home as their full self, and how queerness moves even in religious, rural spaces. Plus a brand-new track from Aquakultre.

The Halifax-shot, Yarmouth(ish)-set feature Night Blooms stars Jessica Clement as Carly, a high schooler who becomes embroiled with her best friend's (Alexandra MacDonald) father (Nick Stahl). Clement and writer-director (and fresh Canadian Screen Award winner) Stephanie Joline are Tara's guests this week, digging into the grey areas around relationships, the film's conception and production, and its theatrical bow Friday at Park Lane.

Halifax's reggae queen Jah'Mila is wasting no time getting back on stages around the province. This Friday and Saturday she'll perform the works of her hero Nina Simone with Symphony Nova Scotia, a progression across the past few years of one-off SNS appearances into her own headlining show. She stops by to talk about her life growing up in Jamaica, how she became part of the Halifax scene, the way the pandemic has pushed her to look at her music career, and what she'll be wearing on stage at the Cohn.

Fellow awards show and movies obsessive Lisa Buchanan returns to chat with Tara about the Oscars' full-scale return to pre-pandemic times—including the usual pre-pandemic mess! They dig into this year's attempt to bring in viewers (it will fail, it always fails) and how that decision has alienated a swath of craftspeople, Jane Campion's record-setting nominations—and perhaps award-losing comments—Kristen Stewart and Jessica Chastain, the dominance of international films, and all manner of spoilers. Plus a new song by Keeper E.

Amy Sherman-Palladino is both a thrilling and confounding creator of television—best known for Gilmore Girls, she also helmed a single season of the much-missed Bunheads, and has seen the biggest success of her long television career with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a 1950s-set series starring Rachel Brosnahan as an upscale New York woman who becomes a (gasp!) stand-up comedian. Tara is joined by her friends Denise Williams and Holly Gordon for a dissection of the just-aired fourth season, including all the Gilmore universe people who showed up (some VERY unwelcome), Susie's sexuality, ASP's blind spots as a writer, production budgets, and that time they were spoiled for  Gilmore by the Warner Brothers studio tour. Plus a new song from Don Brownrigg!

Anna Quon is the author of three novels. The first two, Migration and Low, also feature the characters of Joan and Adriana, sisters of a sort. In her third, the brand-new Where the Silver River Ends (Invisible Publishing), Quon centres a wandering Joan in Bratislava, Slovakia, on the heels of a sudden exit from Budapest. There she meets a young Roma man who guides her through the city, and helps her find a job all while dealing with constant racism against his people. It's a story of of mixed-race identity, systemic oppression, family reconciliation, and forging one's own path. Anna stops by the show to discuss the book's writing—beginning with a summer in Slovakia 30 years back—using sensitivity readers, and what's next.

March 8 marks International Women's Day, and Music Nova Scotia has put together a day of programming topped by a huge live show at the Marquee. Pop artist Izra Fitch is on that lineup, and she stops by the show to talk about her gradual and full acceptance of the genre she loves (and loves to play), the women who inspire her, the evolution of her stage act, and that time she was Tara's student. Plus Dana Beeler from MNS phones in to chat about why this day remains important to a certain sector of its membership.

The sixth annual Halifax Black Film Festival returns with 73 films from more than a dozen countries, screening online from Thursday to Sunday. Lead programmer Joyce Fuerza beams into the show from Montreal to break down this year's program—including the two local filmmakers on the docket—as well as discuss the challenges of putting together film festivals in COVID times, which have also affected filmmaking and film distribution as a whole. Plus a brand-new single from Safeword.

Alex MacAskill, once known as Fishbone Prints and now known as the man behind Midnight Oil Print and Design House, stops by the show to talk about how he ended up in the poster game early in life, his stint in Nashville at the historic Hatch Show Print, how many beer cans he's designed for 2 Crows, how he feels looking at posters on Halifax lampposts, and how his love for cats and birds turned into art. Plus the lead single from a brand-new band, We Should've Been Plumbers.

It's been a pandemic full of learning and experimenting for Gabrielle Papillon, whose latest record Shout is an art-pop celebration of self. That includes building and producing from a home studio, mentoring with producer friends, composing and presenting an original musical (very common), and managing to squeeze in a UK tour in between lockdowns. She stops by to chat about all of this, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the uncertain future.

Here at the top of February things are normal: It's freezing, the sidewalks are a mess, and Nova Scotia Power wants to the hike the rates. Neil Young threw a big punch at Spotify that actually landed, but was it for the right reasons? (Spoiler alert: LOL.) No one can stop talking about Euphoria, the HBO show that single-handedly revived a dead film stock and set a record for non-pornographic full-frontal male nudity — that also happens to be made by the son of an Oscar-winning producer and director (it's always the hardest-workingones who succeed). W. Kamau Bell bravely waded into The Discourse with his searing, can't-miss series We Need To Talk About Cosby, and in our only bit of joy news, Mitski finally returns with Laurel Hell (just in time for Bandcamp Friday's triumphant comeback). That's a lot for one week! Plus songs by Mo Kenney, Terra Spencer, and Aquakultre.

This week offers a rare case of Tara chatting with someone she's known and seen play for a long time, but somehow has never interrogated in a journalistic capacity. Norma MacDonald—call her classic country, folk, Americana, singer-songwriter—released her latest album Old Future one month into the pandemic, when we all thought this thing might be short-lived. Multiple cancelled release shows later (she eventually nailed it), she stops by to chat about these past few years, her day job as a nurse, what the (new) future could look like, ASMR, and an odd defense of Hotmail.

Josh MacDonald is a veteran of stage and screen, familiar to Halifax audiences through films and shows like Diggstown, Spinster, Little Grey Bubbles, and Sex & Violence. As a screenwriter his works include the horror film The Corridor and the coming-of-age story Faith, Fraud and Minimum Wage, which was based on his play Halo. He's got his playwright's hat on when he visits the show this week to discuss #IAmTheCheese, his adaptation of Robert Cormier's 1977 bestseller. On January 30, he'll discuss its evolution along with the show's director, Ann-Marie Kerr, as part of Eastern Front Theatre's Early Stages Festival.

In 1996 a movie dropped out of nowhere and revolutionized an exhausted genre—the slasher film—with a wit and self-awareness that's become commonplace now, but at the time was fresh and surprising. That movie was Scream, and over the past 26 (!) years it's spawned multiple sequels, a TV series, countless imitators, a marriage and divorce (Courteney Cox and David Arquette), and made a star out of a young Canadian called Neve Campbell. Musician Trevor Murphy and filmmaker Kevin Hartford are two Scream superfans and they join Tara on the eve of Scream 5's release (January 14) to get into all of this and much, much more.

Art Pays Me's founder Duane Jones kicks off the new year with hope and advice as he details his journey from failed accounting student to founder of Halifax's favourite streetwear line. He beams into the show to chat about his years at NSCAD, what happened when he realized his talent was being exploited, and how he turned that into a brand that demonstrates his personal ethos. Plus he and Tara discuss the series finale of Insecure, and whether Issa's choice was the right one.

It's been a wild and confusing year, but there was always—somehow—art. We take a spin through 2021's interviews and uncover resilience, surprises, and victories even in the face of multiple setbacks, shutdowns, and cancellations. Featuring Erin Costelo, Mo Kenney, the creatives behind The Crevice and Fat Juliet, Zuppa Theatre, Christy Ann Conlin, Deborah Young, Gus the Gopher Tortoise, Jane Kansas, Bretten Hannam, Stephanie Domet, Vinessa Antoine, Steve Murphy, and Hello City.

Amidst an auspicious and downtrodden record week in Nova Scotia, the leaders of its arts sector organizations drop by the show to discuss 2021 in full. Screen Nova Scotia's executive director Laura Mackenzie has perhaps the best news of all—a record year in the film industry. Music Nova Scotia's ED Allegra Swanson returns to report on her first Nova Scotia Music Week, and what musicians will need to make it in 2022 and beyond. And Dr. Cat MacKeigan, brand-new executive director of Theatre Nova Scotia, discusses the highs and (multiple) lows of the year in theatre, which has just been handed another shutdown. It's not fun exactly, but it IS informative!

A dozen local songs to score the holiday season! Some classic, some brand-new, and a handful of originals to spice up your nog. Featuring:Breagh Isabel, "Winter Wonderland"Meaghan Smith, "It Snowed"Terra Spencer, "Melt"In-Flight Safety, "Last Christmas"Ria Mae, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"Smaller Hearts, "Christmas At Home"Waants, "Another Fckn Christmas"Reeny Smith, "Dear Santa"Villages, "Writing a Letter (This Christmas)"Hilary Adams, "Sending Love"Jenn Grant, "I'll Be Home for Christmas"Quiet Parade w/Dance Movie, "The Christmas Song"

Keeper E  has made one of the most auspicious debuts in recent memory — even picking up new artist of the year at Nova Scotia Music Week last months—in the form of The Sparrows All Find Food, seven thoughtful and catchy bedroom pop songs she produced at home inSackville, NB, while drifting away from a classical piano degree. The artist also known as Adelle Elwood stops by to chat about finding her real artistic voice, being a child non-prodigy, and her first year navigating the music business (spoiler alert: it's going well).

The young singer-songwriter Braden Lam has already got a pair of EPs under his belt, which he made in between getting a degree at Dal, starting his own business, and falling in love. For the holidays he's dropped a fresh cover of Joni Mitchell's "River," and stops by theshow to talk stalled momentum, the musical ice age caused by the pandemic, why land acknowledgments are important to him, and his slate of December shows.

The legend Steve Murphy will retire from on-air life on November 30, but not before stopping by to chat about the state of journalism past and present, big stories from Nova Scotia's history, and whether he and Tara will go to driver's ed together. The CTV icon loves alongform interview and is a choice one himself, as you'll hear here.Plus brand-new holiday music from Catherine MacLellan.

The Halifax indie-rock quartet No, It's Fine has released its second pandemic project—the first being a collection of covers that dropped in March—in the form of the full-length album I Promise. Mastermind Cailen Alcorn Pygott visits The Golden Palm to chat Cancon, words versus melody (and he uses a lot of words), and the influence of the Philadelphia scene on his band. Plus we hear two new tracks and hey did you hear Sarah Harmer is finally coming back to town?!

The trad quartet Villages recorded and put out its debut EP, Upon theHorizon, in the midst of the pandemic and subsequently had its releaseshow rescheduled twice. Since then they've already made a full-lengthbut now is the time—specifically November 13 at the Marquee—tocelebrate those songs. Matt and Travis Ellis—cousins, not brothers, asTara learned live on air, after 15 years of writing about them—drop byto talk about the recording process, the ways they access the Celticside of themselves, and how their indie-rock band Mardeen is notnecessarily over.

Music Nova Scotia's annual celebration of artists and industry returns to Truro this week with a new captain at the helm. Allegra Swanson, who became executive director of the organization last year after a lengthy stint with CARAS and the Juno Awards, drops by on her way to the Hub to talk planning for everything, her goals for the org moving forward, and her past life as an opera singer. Plus some jams from multiple nominees Keonté Beals and T. Thomason.

Gather round the campfire for our semi-annual Hello City special, this time all about that fakest but most commercially dominant of holidays, Halloween! Liam Fair, Henri Gielis, Colin McGuire, and Beth Poulsen bring some s'mores and spooky tales to the studio, all made up in the moment. It's rated G for Ghoulish. Stay for the stinger about the best Halloween candy!

Two Tideline favourites, Kat McCormack and Stevey Hunter, are the show's first repeat guests as they swan in to talk Fat Juliet, the Eastern Front Theatre/Shakespeare By The Sea production taking over Alderney Landing until the end of October. Writer/star Stevey and director Kat relay this show's five-year journey, how they threaded in a Billie Eilish moment, the ins and outs of Shakespeare, and the production's emerging team. Plus Kat reflects on a year at the helm of Eastern Front! Plus a new song from No, It's Fine!

The Halifax-set Diggstown, which launched its third season this week on CBC TV, was part of the wave of #NSFilmJobs able to shoot in the COVID-light province over the past year and a half, with the added bonus of being able to employ tonnes of local actors. Star Vinessa Antoine joins the show from Toronto to chat about Marcie Diggs' emotional evolution, what she learned from her years in soaps, and her favourite place to eat in Dartmouth. Creator Floyd Kane — a Dalhousie law grad before he moved into producing, writing, and directing — also beams in to talk about threading the pandemic into the current season, how the team fits so much story into such a short episode run, and what's up with that Fox broadcasting deal that was announced off the top of the year.

Tara's first boss and current life coach Stephanie Domet drops by the show to talk about AfterWords, the literary festival she co-founded with Ryan Turner. After an auspicious live debut in 2019, AfterWords is now marking its second—and hopefully final—round online with thelikes of Katherena Vermette, Sheila Heti, Ann-Marie MacDonald (marking 25 years of Fall on Your Knees), and many more, all at very reasonable prices with many free events. They also chat about the state of journalism—keep your finger near the volume button for that segment.

The Canadian television multi-hyphenate Sheri Elwood has spent thepast two summers down in Hubbards making Moonshine, asemi-autobiographical drama about the family that runs a summer resortand its adjacent venue (aka The Shore Club). In a spare 15 minutesfrom creating, co-writing, and directing the second season, she phonesin from the shore to talk about being "repatriated" from American TV(and the differences of working in it versus here), and why now feltlike the time for a show like this.

Bretten Hannam has been working on Wildhood, in one way or another, for the past decade, pausing to make multiple short films and their debut feature, North Mountain (2015), an experience that took years itself to recover from. Wildhood is the story of a Two-Spirit Mi'kmaq teen who sets off to find the mother he thought was dead, a gorgeously rendered, gentle journey of self-discovery. In 2020 it became the first feature film to shoot in Nova Scotia in a post-COVID world. Brett stopped in on their way to the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival to chat challenges, considerations of community, and opening FIN tonight.