This Is Your Mixtape

Your host, Michael Collins, gets interviewed! Michael talks about Ace of Base, Tori Amos, Massive Attack, Joanna Newsom, and Amanda Palmer.

Author, musician, and multimedia artist Gary Barwin [Yiddish for Pirates; Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted] on Vivaldi, Coltrane, Donkey Lopez, John Cage, and Ryan Barwin.

Journalist and pocaster Oriana Schwindt on the Spice Girls, Dispatch, Radical Face, Stephen Sondheim, and Billy Bragg and Wilco.

Sarah Walsh is a comedian, visual artist, and creator from Newfoundland who hosts The Odd Ends.

Chris Ross, EMT and chorister, on Donna Lewis, Hawksley Workman, Immaculate Machine, Jack Ü, and Robyn.

Lauren O’Neal and Niko Bakulich, hosts of the podcast Sunday School Dropouts, join Michael for a Valentine's Day special. They talk about their lives—and about King Brothers, Neutral Milk Hotel, St. Vincent, The Neighbourhood, and Niko's own music.

Marnie Breckenridge, operatic soprano, talks about her life—and Barbra Streisand, The Call, Annie Lennox, Richard Strauss, and Philip Glass.

Sam Branman, otherwise known as Ten Yards, is a fashion designer and occasional DJ living and working in Brooklyn. He discusses Malice Mizer, Sleater Kinney, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Bright Light Bright Light, and Carly Rae Jepsen.

’Tis the season for a Mixtape special! This time, hosts and friends of the Megaphonic podcast network gather together for a Holiday party! Michael asks five of them about a song they associate with this time of year. Enjoy, and have a happy holiday! See you next year!

Your host, Michael Collins, on the the song he chose to pose to for his bodybuilding competition.

Melissa Brizuela, food enthusiast and feeler of feelings, on Ewert and the Two Dragons, NEFE, Leif Vollebekk, Rachel Sermanni, and Ewert and the Two Dragons (again).

Paul Dean (writer, journalist, and co-founder of Shut Up & Sit Down) on The Pet Shop Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny, and Jason Isbell.

Music writer Ian Mathers on R.E.M., Mogwai, Low, SubRosa, and Bella.

Medievalist Suzanne Akbari on Cat Stevens, Blondie, David Sylvian with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Missy Elliott, and MIA.

Architect, body builder, and gay porn star Derek Bolt on Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Pink, Fall Out Boy, and Röyksopp ft. Robyn.

In this special episode, host Michael Collins takes you back to his preteen and early teen years, and talks about what it was like growing up a lonely closeted gay boy in rural Newfoundland, and how Tori Amos and the piano helped him make a sort of sense of it all. Regular programming will resume next week!

Writer and educator Andrés N. Ordorica on Selena, Death Cab for Cutie, Beyoncé, Disclosure ft. Sam Smith, and Julia Michaels.

Canadian horror movie podcaster Sarah Chamberlain on Ursula the Sea Witch, Malice Mizer, Lamb of God, Bauhaus, and Rivers of Nihil.

Writer Ryan Vance on Talking Heads, Fiona Apple, Death Cab for Cutie, Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett, and tUnE-yArDs.3

Sara (professional beer wrangler and host of the Xena: Warrior Princess podcast Warriors Bards 'n Brews) on The Rankin Family, Tori Amos, Sleater Kinney, Janelle Monáe, and Dessa.

Author Claire Biddles talks about A1, Manic Street Preachers, Rufus Wainwright, The 1975, and Troye Sivan.

Soprano Victoria Williams on Mint Condition, Alanis Morissette, Giacomo Puccini, The Clark Sisters, and Anita Baker.

Dan Kois, editor at Slate and author of several books, talks with Michael about R.E.M., Liz Phair, Yo La Tengo, Kacey Musgraves, and Lorde.

Composer Pete Gresser joins Michael to discuss songs by Yazoo, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo, Björk, and Anaïs Mitchell.

This Is Your Mixtape takes a little holiday break from its usual format. Michael, your steadfast host, tells the story of Christmas when he was twelve through the lens of some carols that are important to him. It's a story about encountering mortality, losing innocence, love, resilience, and the magic of unexpected gifts.

Melissa Beaupré, former academic, talks about Stompin’ Tom Connors, Nine Inch Nails, VNV Nation, Current 93, and A Tribe Called Red.

Novelist Brad Dunne talks about Red Hot Chili Peppers, NOFX, Joe Pass, The Beastie Boys, and Metallica.

Medievalist Lochin Brouillard on Peter Gabriel, Bruno Pelletier, Malajube, Kate Bush, and Iggy Pop.

Podcaster Adam Clarke on Akira Ifukube, John Carpenter, Devo, Stereolab, and Goblin.

Comics artist John Allison on Scritti Politti, Aimee Mann, The Beach Boys, The Microphones, and Tenement.

Michael’s friend Catherine on Depeche Mode, Frédéric Chopin, Jimi Hendrix, Fever Ray, and The Night Terrors.

Author Peter Coviello on the Jackson 5, the Mountain Goats, Sam Cooke, Los Campesinos!, and Sylvan Esso.

Angelo Muredda on The Cranberries, Radiohead, Joanna Newsom, Pixies, and Talking Heads.

Writer David Demchuk on The Carpenters, Thelma Houston, This Mortal Coil, Nina Simone, and Florence and the Machine—and on monsters, gay Winnipeg in the 70s, AIDS, the relentless task of mourning, and playing euchre with leather daddies while the Hells Angels keep you safe.

Mikaela Dyke is an actor and writer from St. John's currently working as an artistic producer with Circlesnake Productions, a Toronto indie theatre company known for their experimental genre shows. Her solo shows, Dying Hard and Epic Pitch, have toured all across North America to critical and audience acclaim. You can see her online in the webseries Couchsleeps dot com (Folkstar Productions) coming soon. Mikaela and Michael talk about love songs, road trips, performance, systemic oppression, and how anger is necessary yet futile.

Anthony Oliveira is a writer, cultural commentator, and trash raccoon with a PhD. He can be found on Twitter at @meakoopa, where he tweets (incessantly) about the arts, politics, and LGBTQ culture, or on his podcast, The Devil’s Party, where he's giving Milton’s Paradise Lost the queer reading it has long been wanting. Anthony and Michael discuss the ideology of the Muppets, the closet, vampires, liking 'girl music', Catholic school, the superiority of queer love, and the value of kindness.

Vivian Withnail on Red Hot Chili Peppers, Howlin' Wolf, Dawes, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and Tom Lehrer—and on discovering your identity, the joy of bad movies, dealing with grief, what makes humanity redeemable, and the fun side of nuclear holocaust.

Novelist Libby Cudmore joins Michael to discuss Men at Work, The Smiths, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, and Steely Dan—and Star Wars, being a goth before Hot Topic, discovering crime fiction, friend breakups, and vinyl addiction.

Austin Wong on Frankie Valli, New Order, Oasis, Lady Gaga, and Madonna.

Alison Dennis on the Drifters, Francis Poulenc, dios (malos), Janelle Monáe, and Counterfeit Madison.

Juanita Critch on Dick Nolan, Limp Bizkit, The Killers, Jimmy Buffett, and Kanye West.

Kari Bentley-Quinn on The Monkees, Tori Amos, Britney Spears, Joanna Newsom, and St. Vincent.

Beth Martin on Enya, Björk, Animal Collective, Philip Glass, and Anohni.

Drew Brown is a freelance writer living in St. John's, Newfoundland. He grew up in Grand Falls-Windsor, a small town in Central Newfoundland. Once upon a time he was a PhD candidate in political science, writing a dissertation about affect theory and the Canadian museum of history. He has since quit grad school to write for money. He and Michael discuss growing up in a small-scale apocalypse, angry teen boys who fall for Ayn Rand, epiphanies on public transport, quitting PhD programs, and whether there is cause to hope for the future (probably there is).

Ned Raggett on Kermit the Frog, Madonna, The Veldt, Marc Almond, and Tracey Thorn.

Michael Lee Richardson on The Little Mermaid, the Spice Girls, Patrick Wolf, Girls Aloud, and Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.

Paul Fowler on Willie Nelson and Ray Charles, Savage Garden, Metallica, Captain Beefheart, and The Mystery Lights.

Anna Wilson on Paul Simon, The Doors, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, and Hamilton.

Community organizer Nadia Halim on Pete Seeger, Duran Duran, Matthew Sweet, Andrew Bird, and Alvvays.

Musician and podcaster Chris Piuma on the Beatles, Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, John Cage, Celesteville, and Julius Eastman.

What was your favourite song when you were a kid? a teen? a young adult? Each episode, Michael asks a guest to describe their lives through five songs.