Podcasts about Kelowna

From a 400-person room to a 1,000-person room to twelve chapters in two countries, in nine years, on a formula nobody wrote down.That is the middle chapter of the GEDfest story, and this is the episode about how it actually happened. GEDfest is Gord Edgar Downie Fest. It was born in Calgary shortly after Gord Downie passed away in 2017, and it is now the largest fundraiser in his memory in the country. The jump from one hometown night to a national organization did not happen because somebody drew up a plan. It happened because people kept walking up and asking how they could help.Julie Johnson was in the audience on night one while Keith was on the drum stool, which means she saw something he could not see from up there. A woman came up to her in that tiny bar and started talking about a Canadian art gallery and all the images The Tragically Hip put into people's heads, and whether there was room for that next year. That was the first sign. There have been a lot of them since. This episode is Julie, Keith, Jaime McNichol, and Darcy McLeod trying to name the exact moment the snowball stopped needing to be pushed.WHAT ELSE IS IN HERE• Keith's confession about 'Courage'. It is not the confession you are expecting from a man who runs a Gord Downie tribute festival, and the night it changed is very specific.• Julie on the one thing you cannot do if you want to scale something like this. It is the opposite of what most organizations try.• The 2020 GEDfest. Masks, social distancing, two shows in one day, a capacity cut to the bone, and Dave Harris singing from inside a phone booth. Then the thing the host said afterward that opened the door to every chapter that followed.• Darcy on the green room at the Blind Beggar, and why beers that arrive without you asking are a bigger deal to a working band than they sound.• Jaime went to her first GEDfest in 2021 carrying something heavy, and found that a room full of people singing was the thing that helped. She says it plainly here.• Three different people give three different answers for when the tipping point was. One of them says the Palace. One says it was the moment a stranger in Kelowna described a night they had never attended, exactly.• The hip tribute band in the Netherlands who reached out, and the language barrier standing between them and a chapter.• How Neil got Edmonton, and how a guy from Manulife got Kelowna. Neither one involves a job posting.• Keith on the secret sauce, which is a two-word answer and is not the music.THE PANEL• Keith Dyck, co-founder of GEDfest and the drummer in Trickle Down, from Calgary. Reads 'the present' in "The Never Ending Present" as a double entendre, which is a level of thinking jD readily admits is above his pay grade.• Julie Johnson, founder of GEDfest, from Calgary. Keith's wife, and the one who was standing in the crowd the first night. Went way off the board with 'Fight' as her current favourite, and had a reason at the ready.• Jaime McNichol, GEDfest director, from Calgary. Julie's parents live next door, which is how she heard about a band called Trickle Down in the first place. Missed the first one because of the weather and has never quite gotten over it. Did three GEDfests last year.• Darcy McLeod of DC and The Struggle, from Calgary. Opener, after-party act, ambassador, and self-described jack of all trades. Came to The Hip through a friend in junior high who put on 'New Orleans Is Sinking' and was, in his words, the coolest cat.GEDFEST 2026GEDfest is Gord Edgar Downie Fest, and in its ninth year it runs in twelve chapters across Canada and, for the first time, in the United States. Every chapter picks a cause in its own community and raises money for it. Find your city at gedfest.ca. jD runs the Toronto chapter, playing the Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday, October 17, with Grace, 2 on stage, raising money for Campfire Circle and the Murphy Family Fund in Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer. Tickets and details at facebook.com/GEDfestYYZ.THE HIP HANDBOOKThe free, non-monetized archive of the discography, the lyrics, and the live performances lives at thehiphandbook.tthpods.com.YER LETTEROne email a month, no filler. Sign up at subscribe.tthpods.com.THE TIP JARIf you want to throw a couple of bucks at the shows, the jar is at buymeacoffee.com/tthtop40.FIND USHome: home.tthpods.comEmail: jd@tthpods.comFacebook community: community.tthpods.comInstagram: @tthpodsYouTube: youtube.com/@tthpodsYer Letter: subscribe.tthpods.com#TheTragicallyHip #GEDfest #GordDownie #Fundraising #podList #CompleteistsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Canadian Property Taxes: What Real Estate Investors Are Missing Property taxes might not be the most exciting part of real estate investing, but they can completely change the performance of a rental property. In today's episode of the Canadian Real Estate Investing Morning Show, Wayne and Gabby compare residential property taxes across 20 major Canadian cities and show just how dramatically the numbers can change from one market to another. Using the same $500,000 assessed property value in every market allows for an apples-to-apples comparison. The difference between the lowest and highest cities in the comparison works out to thousands of dollars per year and hundreds of dollars every month. For a real estate investor, that's cash flow. How Property Taxes Actually Work Property taxes aren't structured exactly the same way across Canada. Depending on the province and municipality, your bill can include municipal taxes, provincial education taxes, regional authorities, transit, fire protection, waste collection, school taxes and other local levies. The terminology and assessment systems can also differ between provinces. The important lesson for investors is that looking at a property's purchase price isn't enough. You need to understand the actual assessed value, applicable tax rates and any additional charges specific to that municipality. Why Assessed Value Matters Property taxes are generally calculated using the municipality's assessed value of the property, which isn't necessarily the same as the purchase price or current market value. That distinction becomes especially important when buying a recently renovated property, adding a legal secondary suite, building a garage or completing another improvement that could increase the assessed value. If the municipality hasn't yet incorporated those improvements into the assessment, the existing tax bill may not accurately represent what you'll eventually pay. Vancouver Has the Lowest Rate in the Comparison One of the biggest surprises in today's episode is Vancouver. Using the rates discussed on the show, Vancouver had the lowest combined percentage among the 20 cities compared. On the standardized $500,000 assessed property used throughout the episode, the approximate annual property tax was $1,682, or about $140 per month. Surrey, Kelowna and Victoria were also near the low end of the comparison. Wayne discusses an important reason why percentage rates alone can be misleading. Markets with very high property values can use lower percentage rates while still generating substantial tax revenue because those percentages are being applied against much larger assessed values. Edmonton vs. Calgary Property Taxes The Edmonton-Calgary comparison was particularly interesting. Using the same $500,000 assessed property: Calgary: approximately $3,325/year Edmonton: approximately $5,182/year Difference: approximately $1,857/year That's roughly $155 per month in additional expenses for the Edmonton example. But Wayne stresses that this doesn't automatically make Calgary a better real estate investment. Purchase price, achievable rent, insurance, utilities, cash flow, tenant profile and other operating expenses all have to be considered together. A lower property-tax rate can't compensate for an investment that doesn't otherwise produce the returns you're looking for. Windsor Had the Highest Rate in the Comparison At the other end of the list was Windsor. Using the figures discussed during the episode, a $500,000 assessed property produced an estimated annual property-tax bill of approximately $10,483, or about $873 per month. Compare that with approximately $1,682 annually in Vancouver. That's a difference of roughly $8,801 per year, or about $733 every month. For a rental-property investor, an expense difference of that magnitude can completely change the economics of a deal. Why You Can't Just Compare Mill Rates This episode isn't intended to suggest that investors can simply take a city's headline tax percentage, multiply it by a purchase price and call it done. Assessment systems aren't standardized across Canada. Different jurisdictions can have separate school taxes, regional levies, parcel taxes, waste charges, borough-specific taxes and other fees. Properties can also fall into different classifications. That's why investors need to research the actual property they're considering. Wayne's 5-Step Property Tax Due-Diligence Process When analyzing a new rental property or unfamiliar market: Get the property's actual previous tax bill. Don't rely exclusively on an MLS listing or what the seller tells you. Determine whether the current assessment reflects recent renovations, additions, secondary suites or new construction. Look for separate charges including school taxes, regional levies, parcel taxes, waste fees, stormwater charges and local improvement charges. Verify the property's tax classification and whether your planned use or renovations could change it. Stress test the deal. Don't assume today's property-tax bill will remain unchanged for the next 10 or 20 years. Property Taxes and the 5% Rule This is another reason Wayne emphasizes cash flow. A property that barely works using today's expenses can quickly become a bad investment when property taxes, insurance, maintenance or other costs increase. The 5% Rule™ cash flow test is: (Annual Cash Flow ÷ Down Payment) × 100 5–6% = sufficient 7–9% = strong 10%+ = excellent Cash flow isn't simply money to spend. It's part of the financial buffer that allows an investor to absorb unexpected changes while continuing to hold the property for the long term. Search "The 5% Rule by Wayne Hillier" on Amazon to learn more. REI Masters Mentorship Special Through October 3, 2026, anyone who joins the REI Masters Mentorship Program receives 24 months of mentorship for the price of 12. New members will also be able to attend the upcoming REI Masters Retreat in Edmonton on October 16–17, 2026. Learn more: www.reimasters.ca Canadian Real Estate Investing Morning Show Hosted by Wayne Hillier and Gabby Hillier. Live every weekday at 7:00 AM Mountain Time from Edmonton, Alberta. Sponsors Calvin Realty – Edmonton Investor-Focused Realtor Team www.calvinrealty.ca Finngo Bookkeeping & Tax Specialized bookkeeping and tax services for Canadian real estate investors. www.finngo.com/rei Kirkwood & Brennan Mortgage Group Investor-focused mortgage planning for Canadian real estate investors. www.kbmortgages.ca keaton@kbmortgages.ca  

Canadian Property Taxes: What Real Estate Investors Are Missing Property taxes might not be the most exciting part of real estate investing, but they can completely change the performance of a rental property. In today's episode of the Canadian Real Estate Investing Morning Show, Wayne and Gabby compare residential property taxes across 20 major Canadian cities and show just how dramatically the numbers can change from one market to another. Using the same $500,000 assessed property value in every market allows for an apples-to-apples comparison. The difference between the lowest and highest cities in the comparison works out to thousands of dollars per year and hundreds of dollars every month. For a real estate investor, that's cash flow. How Property Taxes Actually Work Property taxes aren't structured exactly the same way across Canada. Depending on the province and municipality, your bill can include municipal taxes, provincial education taxes, regional authorities, transit, fire protection, waste collection, school taxes and other local levies. The terminology and assessment systems can also differ between provinces. The important lesson for investors is that looking at a property's purchase price isn't enough. You need to understand the actual assessed value, applicable tax rates and any additional charges specific to that municipality. Why Assessed Value Matters Property taxes are generally calculated using the municipality's assessed value of the property, which isn't necessarily the same as the purchase price or current market value. That distinction becomes especially important when buying a recently renovated property, adding a legal secondary suite, building a garage or completing another improvement that could increase the assessed value. If the municipality hasn't yet incorporated those improvements into the assessment, the existing tax bill may not accurately represent what you'll eventually pay. Vancouver Has the Lowest Rate in the Comparison One of the biggest surprises in today's episode is Vancouver. Using the rates discussed on the show, Vancouver had the lowest combined percentage among the 20 cities compared. On the standardized $500,000 assessed property used throughout the episode, the approximate annual property tax was $1,682, or about $140 per month. Surrey, Kelowna and Victoria were also near the low end of the comparison. Wayne discusses an important reason why percentage rates alone can be misleading. Markets with very high property values can use lower percentage rates while still generating substantial tax revenue because those percentages are being applied against much larger assessed values. Edmonton vs. Calgary Property Taxes The Edmonton-Calgary comparison was particularly interesting. Using the same $500,000 assessed property: Calgary: approximately $3,325/year Edmonton: approximately $5,182/year Difference: approximately $1,857/year That's roughly $155 per month in additional expenses for the Edmonton example. But Wayne stresses that this doesn't automatically make Calgary a better real estate investment. Purchase price, achievable rent, insurance, utilities, cash flow, tenant profile and other operating expenses all have to be considered together. A lower property-tax rate can't compensate for an investment that doesn't otherwise produce the returns you're looking for. Windsor Had the Highest Rate in the Comparison At the other end of the list was Windsor. Using the figures discussed during the episode, a $500,000 assessed property produced an estimated annual property-tax bill of approximately $10,483, or about $873 per month. Compare that with approximately $1,682 annually in Vancouver. That's a difference of roughly $8,801 per year, or about $733 every month. For a rental-property investor, an expense difference of that magnitude can completely change the economics of a deal. Why You Can't Just Compare Mill Rates This episode isn't intended to suggest that investors can simply take a city's headline tax percentage, multiply it by a purchase price and call it done. Assessment systems aren't standardized across Canada. Different jurisdictions can have separate school taxes, regional levies, parcel taxes, waste charges, borough-specific taxes and other fees. Properties can also fall into different classifications. That's why investors need to research the actual property they're considering. Wayne's 5-Step Property Tax Due-Diligence Process When analyzing a new rental property or unfamiliar market: Get the property's actual previous tax bill. Don't rely exclusively on an MLS listing or what the seller tells you. Determine whether the current assessment reflects recent renovations, additions, secondary suites or new construction. Look for separate charges including school taxes, regional levies, parcel taxes, waste fees, stormwater charges and local improvement charges. Verify the property's tax classification and whether your planned use or renovations could change it. Stress test the deal. Don't assume today's property-tax bill will remain unchanged for the next 10 or 20 years. Property Taxes and the 5% Rule This is another reason Wayne emphasizes cash flow. A property that barely works using today's expenses can quickly become a bad investment when property taxes, insurance, maintenance or other costs increase. The 5% Rule™ cash flow test is: (Annual Cash Flow ÷ Down Payment) × 100 5–6% = sufficient 7–9% = strong 10%+ = excellent Cash flow isn't simply money to spend. It's part of the financial buffer that allows an investor to absorb unexpected changes while continuing to hold the property for the long term. Search "The 5% Rule by Wayne Hillier" on Amazon to learn more. REI Masters Mentorship Special Through October 3, 2026, anyone who joins the REI Masters Mentorship Program receives 24 months of mentorship for the price of 12. New members will also be able to attend the upcoming REI Masters Retreat in Edmonton on October 16–17, 2026. Learn more: www.reimasters.ca Canadian Real Estate Investing Morning Show Hosted by Wayne Hillier and Gabby Hillier. Live every weekday at 7:00 AM Mountain Time from Edmonton, Alberta. Sponsors Calvin Realty – Edmonton Investor-Focused Realtor Team www.calvinrealty.ca Finngo Bookkeeping & Tax Specialized bookkeeping and tax services for Canadian real estate investors. www.finngo.com/rei Kirkwood & Brennan Mortgage Group Investor-focused mortgage planning for Canadian real estate investors. www.kbmortgages.ca keaton@kbmortgages.ca  

Speaker: Josh DoolSeries: The Meaning of Life

After immigrating to Canada as a young girl, Audrey Surrauo takes us from her first memories of Canada, to living the Canadian dream of running 5 successful restaurants in Kelowna, BC.  My wife's cousin has been a role mentor and someone she's always looked up to.  Find out why on this episode of Now For Someone Completely Interesting!  

This episode follows DrewCouver, an independent journalist documenting homelessness, addiction, mental health, and street-level drug use across Vancouver and beyond. Graham and Darren press him on what he is seeing on the ground, and the conversation widens into treatment policy, organized crime, NGOs, and what recovery should actually look like. Drew brings a highly personal perspective too. He talks about his own history with addiction, injury, recovery, group homes, and the way those experiences shaped the camera work and interviews he now does in the downtown east side and across British Columbia. Independent Journalist. Content Creator. Independent Reporting To create more awareness about the homeless issues, mental health and addiction issues, and the misinformation about the people that live in their addiction. Support: http://drewcouver.com/donate.php https://www.drewcouver.com/ https://x.com/DrewCouver56 Key topics Drew shares his background growing up in BC, moving to Vancouver at 18, getting into nightlife and drugs, surviving severe addiction, and eventually getting sober. He explains how back injuries, opioid prescriptions, and a bad COVID-era spiral pushed him into a new round of dependence before he chose to get clean again. The discussion centers on Vancouver's downtown east side, where Drew says harm reduction has become disconnected from recovery and public safety. Drew argues that treatment in BC and Alberta often keeps people on methadone, Suboxone, hydromorphone, or fentanyl rather than pushing abstinence. He contrasts Alberta's approach with BC's and says Alberta is at least less rigid about forcing people off harm-reduction medication in treatment. The conversation turns to open-air drug markets, apps used by dealers, and cross-contamination in the cocaine and fentanyl supply. Drew describes the hollowing out of downtown cores across BC cities such as Prince George, Vernon, Kelowna, Smithers, and others. He claims NGOs and nonprofit networks have become a major money channel, especially around housing, homelessness, and Aboriginal-focused organizations. The episode digs into how funding, grant writing, and identity-based programs can create systems that protect institutions more than they help addicts. Drew makes a broad case for returning to tougher recovery standards, more consequences for crime, and a stronger role for 12-step programs and personal accountability.   To gain access to the second half of show and our Plus feed for audio and podcast please clink the link http://www.grimericaoutlawed.ca/support. For second half of video (when applicable and audio) go to our Substack and Subscribe. https://grimericaoutlawed.substack.com/ or to our Locals  https://grimericaoutlawed.locals.com/ or Patreon https://www.patreon.com/grimericaoutlawed   https://www.skool.com/audiobooks THE GRIMOIRE Audiobook Club and Library https://pegsandjokers.ca/ Family and Friends Cards and Pegs Boardgame online https://www.simulationmaps.com/#products Disaster Maps, Volcano Sim, Asteroid Sim, Shipwreck Map, UFO Map etc Support the show directly: https://open.spotify.com/show/2punSyd9Cw76ZtvHxMKenI?si=ImKxfMHgQZ-oshl499O4dQ&nd=1&dlsi=4c25fa9c78674de3 Watch or Listen on Spotify https://grimerica.ca/support-2/ Our Adultbrain Audiobook Podcast and Website: www.adultbrain.ca Check out our next trip/conference/meetup - Contact at the Cabin www.contactatthecabin.com Join the chat / hangout with a bunch of fellow Grimericans Https://t.me.grimerica grimerica.ca/chats   Discord Chats Darren's books www.acanadianshame.ca Sign up for our newsletter http://www.grimerica.ca/news InstaGRAM https://www.instagram.com/the_grimerica_show_podcast/ Purchase swag, with partial proceeds donated to the show www.grimerica.ca/swag ART - Napolean Duheme's site http://www.lostbreadcomic.com/ MUSIC Tru Northperception, Felix's Site sirfelix.bandcamp.com   Timestamps 00:00 - Intro to DrewCouver and his street-level reporting 03:10 - Drew's addiction history and recovery journey 05:28 - Traveling BC and the UK to track similar crises 07:53 - Why Alberta's treatment model looks different from BC 10:34 - Cocaine, fentanyl, and the ease of ordering drugs 12:21 - A friend dies after taking cocaine in the car 13:31 - The Van Doo drug-testing grant story and dark web sourcing 16:24 - Organized crime and port control claims 18:20 - Downtown cores hollowed out across BC cities 21:10 - How AA used to work and why treatment changed 23:34 - Amputations, infections, and the cost of staying high 24:12 - Harm reduction as public health versus community harm 30:11 - The Prince George health center story 32:56 - SROs, ex-hotels, and the cost of housing 36:18 - Deindustrialization, the Sacklers, and drug dependency 39:40 - Cannabis legalization, easy access, and who profits 43:35 - Cocaine in the UK and the changing drug economy 47:32 - Church decline, social breakdown, and historical patterns 50:22 - NGO fraud, funding webs, and BC's nonprofit concerns 58:16 - Grant-funded programs and changing definitions of youth 65:57 - Incentives to quit and the welfare system 67:26 - Why Drew says politics and law need to change 71:12 - Public drug use, hospitals, and jail 73:21 - Treatment centers like Baldy Hughes 79:16 - 12-step traditions, anonymity, and recovery 83:31 - Why Drew believes AA still matters 85:53 - Where to find Drew and his reporting 86:18 - Attacks, investigations, and free speech concerns                  

The provincial election halts ICBC's review of it's no-fault insurance policy The fight to save Kelowna's Prospera Place The call for reform after the Tumbler Ridge Tragedy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of World Footy Shorts, Plugger from Plugged Into Sports takes us through the sights and sounds of the 2026 49th Parallel Cup at Rutland Recreation Park in Kelowna, British Columbia. Check out Plugged Into Sports @pluggedintosports

Contact Marko Gelo, he's a Mortgage Broker!604-800-9593 cell/text Vancouver403-606-3751 cell/text CalgaryCall Marko via WhatsApphomefinancingsolutions.caIf you're not a Canadian citizen or PR and you're eyeing a home in Vancouver, Victoria, or Kelowna, there are two rules to be aware of. A lot of buyers clear the first hurdle and assume they're done, only to find out the second one applies completely independently. I break down exactly who's exempt from what, in BC and in Alberta, in this week's episode.CLICK HERE to be redirected to the blog version of this episode.CLICK HERE to be redirected to Mortgagenomics Canada Podcast YouTube ChannelCLICK HERE to download Marko's award-winning Mobile Mortgage App! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker: Josh DoolSeries: The Meaning of Life

Speaker: Josh DoolSeries: The Meaning of Life

Coming Down the Pipe... [0:00] - The intro montage for Season 22 of The Pipeline Show [1:14] - Guy sets the table for the episode this week with a couple of News and Notes before the guest list is revealed. Which 6 WHL teams (and their respective GMs) are in the spotlight this week? [9:07] - The lead off guest on this week's episode was the last to record with me but worth the wait. Jake Heisinger's Victoria Royals are going to be very competitive thank to some agressive trades, drafting and recruiting. [32:53] - If you're making a pre-season shortlist of WHL contenders this year, the Saskatoon Blades have to be on it. General Manager Colin Priestner shares why his club is going to be a handful for everyone this coming season. [1:08:18] - The Brandon Wheat Kings should be one of the better teams again this year but they are in a division that most expect to be very competitive. GM Marty Murray shares his thoughts on the way the roster is shaping up. [1:35:21] - In Calgary, the Hitmen have shown the ability to overhaul their roster by mining players from various places including south of the border. Cass Bruni is the new GM of the Hitmen and he joins me to talk about taking over the job and getting prepped for the new season. [2:00:35] - It's a familiar name but a new face as Curtis Hamilton takes over the reins of the Kelowna Rockets from his father Bruce Hamilton. A new era starts in Kelowna and we'll get lots of insight into the current roster and the plan for the season after hosting the Memorial Cup in 2026. [2:33:56] - The Prince George Cougars are back to take another run at a division title but do they have the horses to pull it off? Mark Lamb is the General Manager and he joins the show once again to preview his team ahead of the coming season.

VPD Officer Kal Dosanjh charged with large fraud after an extensive covert investigation. The Lindsay Clancy case has been decalred a mistrial. Where do the courts go from here? A Kelowna man is facing deportation after attempting to smuggle meth in pickle jars. Guest: Michael Shapray - Criminal lawyer with Stern Shapray Criminal Lawyers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker: Josh DoolSeries: The Parables of Jesus

Dayton breaks down his time in Kelowna at the Ogopogo GT and a quick check in on Northern Wastes and the state of the meta. 

Political science Lecturer Stewart Prest comes on to help us unpack Peter Milobar's new centre-right party. The Pacific Salmon Commission initially estimated that about 7.7 million Fraser River sockeye would return. Instead, that estimate has been slashed to just 2.8 million fish. The mayor of Kelowna, B.C., has written to the federal health minister asking for authorities to deny the renewal of a supervised consumption site operating in the city's downtown core. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker: Lucas GriffinSeries: Jesus Said What?

Hosts Greg Bridges, Troy Thompson, and Adam Gomolinski, are joined by special guest Dan Sarbacker, Head of International Program, USAFL to preview this weekend's 2026 49th Parallel Cup in Kelowna, British Columbia. They cover the rivalry's history, travel challenges, squad makeup and selection approaches for both countries. The team podcast will provide you with an update and discuss the latest results and news from around the world.

Kelowna, Canada based pianist and improvising wizard Jordan Leibel shares how letting the musical cat out of the bag opened up a pathway to expression, confidence, and a license to live and play loudly. Find Jordan's music on Bandcamp here.Check out his new Rotary Crew song Daylight Foster Wallace with previous guest Ethan McKibben.Follow Rotary Crew on Instagram.Check out the Salad Bowl Jam on Instagram.Share your thoughts on this episode in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Write Songs You Love Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ group.To join the Write Songs You Love Member calls, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://writesongsyoulove.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ to expand and nurture your creativity!

Canada's four-year housing slowdown is beginning to produce a consequence that could reshape the market for years to come: the country is building fewer homes at precisely the time long-term supply remains one of its biggest challenges.New housing starts fell 5% month-over-month and a striking 22% from a year ago. British Columbia's numbers are even more dramatic, with starts down 14% in a single month and 47% year-over-year. Strip out rental construction and housing starts intended primarily for end users are now sitting at a 26-year low. Single-family completions have fallen to levels not seen in 35 years.Real estate operates with a significant lag. Projects abandoned today represent homes that will not reach the market several years from now. Early signs of that tightening are already emerging: new listings are rolling over and active inventory is down roughly 5% year-over-year in both Vancouver and the GTA.The rental sector, which became a lifeline for developments that no longer worked as for-sale projects, is beginning to face its own economic reality.A proposed 20-storey Kelowna tower containing 176 below-market rental homes has been cancelled after BC Housing determined the project no longer represented an effective use of public funds. Falling rents played into an increasingly difficult financial equation. With a record pipeline of purpose-built rentals still under construction and rental rates declining, projects once considered the safer alternative are becoming harder to justify.National resale data, however, is beginning to show tentative signs of improvement. Canadian home sales increased for a fourth consecutive month in July, although activity remained 5.3% below last year. New listings declined for a third consecutive month, months of inventory fell to 4.7, and the national Home Price Index edged 0.1% higher—the first monthly increase since November 2024. It is hardly a housing recovery, but the market is slowly tightening.Inflation adds another layer. Canada's headline rate increased to 3% in July, driven heavily by a 25.7% surge in gasoline prices. Yet core inflation remained around 2%, while shelter inflation slowed to just 1.3%. That could give the Bank of Canada room to remain patient, with markets overwhelmingly expecting rates to remain unchanged at the September meeting.Financial stress nevertheless continues to build. Consumer insolvencies approached 13,000 in June, up 11.8% year-over-year and representing the second-highest June on record. On a rolling 12-month basis, Canada has reached approximately 146,000 filings—the highest level since the Global Financial Crisis. Bankruptcies increased 14%, while the dollar value associated with them jumped more than 40%.Another major real estate story is unfolding far from Canada's largest cities. Billionaire investor Mark Walter, recently connected to the record-setting sale of the Los Angeles Lakers, is also linked through a company to significant agricultural land purchases around Dunster, B.C. Reporting suggests approximately 3,500 acres may have been accumulated since 2008.With less than 5% of British Columbia considered farmable, the purchases are reigniting debate around foreign ownership of agricultural land, transparency, food security and whether farmland is increasingly becoming a financial asset rather than primarily a productive resource.For Vancouver real estate, the immediate picture remains challenging. Sales continue to grind below already weak 2025 levels, while prices show little momentum.But the longer-term story may be developing somewhere else entirely.Canada spent years arguing that it needed dramatically more housing. Now sales are weak, developers are pulling back, rental economics are deteriorating and new construction is falling sharply.Housing demand can change relatively quickly. New supply cannot.The homes Canada decides not to build today could become one of the most important forces determining prices, rents and affordability several years from now._________________________________ Contact Us To Book Your Private Consultation:

In this episode of The Birth Lounge Podcast, HeHe gets real about one of the most uncomfortable and misunderstood parts of postpartum life: intrusive thoughts. If you've ever had a scary, unwanted thought pop into your head after having a baby and immediately wondered, “What is wrong with me?!”, you are absolutely not alone. HeHe sits down with Špela Grašič, a registered clinical counselor and new mom who has lived with OCD herself, to unpack the difference between common postpartum intrusive thoughts and postpartum OCD. They talk about why so many new parents experience unwanted thoughts about something happening to their baby, and why having an intrusive thought does not mean you want it to happen or make you more likely to act on it. Špela shares her own experience with vivid postpartum intrusive thoughts and explains how OCD can be sneaky, showing up not just through obvious behaviors, but through mental compulsions, reassurance-seeking, checking, avoidance, and constantly trying to make sure you're a “good enough” or safe parent. Together, HeHe and Špela explore how hormones, sleep deprivation, hypervigilance, stress, and the enormous responsibility of caring for a tiny human can all contribute to postpartum intrusive thoughts. They also share practical ways to respond when those thoughts show up, including naming and externalizing them, grounding, breathing, values-based strategies, and finding a therapist who actually understands OCD and perinatal mental health. Most importantly, this episode is about taking the shame out of thoughts you never asked for. Postpartum OCD can be misunderstood or mistaken for anxiety or depression, so knowing what to look for and getting the right support matters. If you've ever been afraid to tell someone what your brain is doing because you're scared they'll judge you, this conversation is for you. You deserve support, you deserve answers, and you do not have to navigate the weird, scary, overwhelming parts of postpartum alone. Chapters: 00:00 You Are Not Broken 01:24 Why Mental Health Feels Taboo 03:12 Meet Špela and Today's Goals 05:55 Taboo Intrusive Thoughts Explained 07:04 Real Postpartum OCD Stories 10:45 Reassurance and The Data 12:03 Host's Bank Trigger Moment 16:01 Why Intrusive Thoughts Happen 19:19 Hypervigilance and Bias Battles 30:12 Birth Lounge App Break 34:29 Back to OCD Postpartum Changes 34:43 Postpartum OCD Flareups 35:19 Miscarriage Intrusions Explained 37:47 Compulsions and Leniency 42:09 Reassurance Versus Exposure 48:26 Support and Resources Wrap   Guest Bio: Spela Grasic is a new mom and a Registered Clinical Counsellor from Kelowna, BC (Canada). Her journey into mental health started over a decade ago when a friend said, “maybe you should talk to someone.” (Yes, like the book.) She did and, over time, transformed her relationship with herself and her thoughts. She now sits with others as they learn to hold, untangle, and tend to all the messy, painful stuff. Spela holds a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University and a Master of Arts in English from the University of British Columbia (Okanagan). Her S.S.H.R.C funded MA (English) research explored the novel as a space where communities can explore intergenerational trauma encapsulated in everyday interactions, institutions, and languages. Professional qualifications aside, Spela is a quirky, sometimes awkward, new mom, partner, sister, daughter, and friend navigating the messiness of a rich and fulfilling life. Connect with Spela: https://www.instagram.com/spelagrasiccounselling/ https://bcacc.ca/counsellors/spela-grasic/ https://alivecounselling.com/team/spela-grasic/ SOCIAL MEDIA: Connect with HeHe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tranquilitybyhehe/  Connect with Spela on IG: https://www.instagram.com/spelagrasiccounselling/    BIRTH EDUCATION: Want prep delivered straight to your phone? Download The Birth Lounge App for bite-sized birth and postpartum tools you can use anytime, anywhere: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/app Learn how to stay in control of your birth and reduce the risk of unnecessary interventions in our Avoid a C-Section Webinar. HeHe breaks down the cascade of interventions, explains what's really happening in the hospital, and shares practical strategies to protect your birth plan, advocate for yourself, and navigate labor with confidence. Perfect for anyone who wants a positive, informed hospital birth experience: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/csection LINKS MENTIONED: Listen to our episode on intrusive thoughts w/ Dr. Kat:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivM-Iqv1qK0  international iCBT foundation: https://icbt.online/  International OCD Foundation:  https://iocdf.org/ The Happiness Trap: https://thehappinesstrap.com/ https://www.instagram.com/anxietyocdtreatment/ Postpartum Support International: https://postpartum.net/

This week on Enjoying Orange Slices with Jeff & Ian

On Aug. 7, Todd Shapiro was just finishing dinner in Summerland, B.C., when a wildfire outside the town “exploded” and prompted an immediate provincial emergency evacuation order. The former Montrealer, who had just moved to the Okanagan area last summer, grabbed his passport, a jar of peanut butter and some toilet paper, rounded up his teenage son and family dog, and fled the region. Shapiro is one of 20,000 residents of Summerland ordered to leave their homes as the fire, the size of the city of Burlington, Ont., is still out of control more than a week later. After an anxious journey, he shared, “I was kind of freaking out”, facing closed highways and uncertain of where to go. Shapiro and his family made it to Kelowna, where they were invited to sleep at the home of Jewish community leader Abbey Westbury. She runs a winery, but also is a Jewish Federation of B.C. “community connector”, who also has close ties to the local synagogue and the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre. Westbury has been making food for evacuees and the first responders fighting the wildfire. The smoke and ash from Summerland has been blanketing Kelowna, too, and made it difficult to just be outside. Despite suffering an asthma attack this week, local Chabad Rabbi Shmuly Hecht, with his wife, Fraidy, turned their Chabad of Okanagan centre in Kelowna into a supplies depot for evacuees and hosts. They've kept their summer camp running but switched to indoor activities. In Penticton, just up the road from Summerland, local Jewish resident Tami Bray, who works for an environmental organization, has been running a city-wide relief centre, but feeling frustrated that politicians aren't using the words “climate change” to describe what has caused this summer's devastation. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner hears from these four Jewish residents on the front lines of the out-of-control Bald Range fire. Related links: Learn more about how to donate to the Jewish Federation of B.C.'s Wildfires relief fund and to the Chabad of Okanagan's Fire relief efforts fund. Watch Rabbi Shmuly Hecht's supplies depot video Read about the August wildfire in 2023 that came within metres of Kelowna's Okanagan Jewish Community Centre, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izizie Helenchilde (produder and video editing), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

As wildfires continue to burn across the province, we heard guidance on how to protect homes and communities using the FireSmart program.Reporter Brady Strachan joined the show for a wildfire update live from Kelowna.

In May, Jewish residents in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island were invited to celebrate the festival of Lag BaOmer around a bonfire. On Aug. 6, a kayak paddling excursion on Burnaby's Deer Lake attracted 30 members of that city's Jewish community. Coming up on Aug. 23, Jewish residents of Squamish and Whistler are planning a boat cruise to spot wildlife, followed by a brunch. These different events around British Columbia have something in common: they're part of a new project underway in the province in response to the measurable shift of Jewish people moving away from Vancouver's traditional Jewish corridor. Whether for affordability reasons or lifestyle choices, the populatin of Jews living outside Vancouver grew by 60 per cent, according to official figures. Jewish communities like Victoria are seeing tremendous population growth, while the Okanagan region is growing, too. That is why Vancouver's Jewish Federation officially changed its name this summer to the Jewish Federation of B.C., to better reflect the territory they intend to represent. As part of an annual budget of $1.2 million, they have hired nearly a dozen local Jewish leaders whose job it is to help boost Jewish life in places without easy access to a synagogue, kosher food and the like. Funding is also available for events and outreach, and plans are underway to hire another “community connector” for Prince George. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner checks in with two curent community connectors: Jessica Benoualid, a former Montrealer stationed in the Comox Valley, and Jenny Reznik, serving in Burnaby/New Westminster, who's fighting political battles at City Hall; and we speak with Mijal Ben-Dori, who oversees the entire outreach program and says other Jewish federations in Canada are taking notes. Related links Read more about the June 26 gathering in Whistler of B.C.'s small Jewish communities who are participating in the Jewish Federation of B.C.'s new connector program, in The CJN . Hear the Jewish Federation of B.C.'s Okanagan community connector Abbey Westbury, interviewed about Jewish life in Kelowna several years ago, on The CJN's “Yechupetzville” podcast. Learn how to contact Jewish Community Connectors in your part of British Columbia. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

  Episode: 140 Taking Charge After Stroke: Self-Determination and Recovery with Vivian Fu   In this episode you will discover: ● The Conversation Is the Intervention — A structured, facilitated conversation that centers a person's identity, hopes, and vision for their best day produces measurable improvements in quality of life and independence a year after stroke. Connection isn't soft — it's evidence-based. ● Reframe the Expert in the Room — Take Charge asks clinicians to resist offering advice, validation, or direction — and to trust that the person with stroke already holds the wisdom they need. The hardest part of the facilitator role is staying out of the way. ● Self-Determination Is Not a Luxury — When people with stroke are supported to set their own direction, outcomes improve, costs decrease, and the effects last for years. Building systems that protect that autonomy isn't idealistic — it's what the data demands.   Welcome to the Aphasia Access Aphasia Conversations Podcast. I'm Katie Strong from Central Michigan University and a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group, a community dedicated to supporting better aphasia care.   Today I'm speaking with Dr. Vivian Fu, a stroke neurologist living and working in Kelowna, British Columbia, the unceded territories of the Syilx / Okanagan people. Vivian trained in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she completed her PhD running the Taking Charge After Stroke trial. Take Charge showed that people with stroke who were supported to follow their own self-determination had much better quality of life and independence a year after their stroke. The second Take Charge RCT showed that two sessions about six weeks apart produce better outcomes than one session. Vivian strives to embed the Take Charge philosophy in her daily practice, and is focused on improving access to high quality stroke care for rural, regional, and underrepresented populations.   I have been looking forward to this conversation. What drew me to Take Charge was how it reframes the question entirely — from what does the clinician do for this person to what does this person want for their own life. That shift is deceptively simple, and as you'll hear, the evidence behind it is anything but.   Let's get into it.   Katie Strong:  Welcome, Vivian. Vivian Fu: Thank you so much for having me, Katie. I'd like to start off with my Pepeha. This is an introduction in Te Reo Māori, which is the indigenous language of the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, and I'll just translate each line. Nō Hong Kong ōku tīpuna. My ancestors come from Hong Kong. I tipu ake au ki Aotearoa. I grew up in Aotearoa, New Zealand. E noho ana au ki Ki-Low-Na. I live in Kelowna, British Columbia. Ko tēnei taku mihi ki ngā tāngata whenua o te rohe nei. I like to pay my deepest respects to the first peoples of this land. I live on the unceded territories of the Syilx and Okanagan peoples. Ko tēnei taku mihi ki ngā maunga, ki ngā awa, ki ngā roto, ki ngā Papatuānuku, o te rohe nei. I'd like to pay my deepest respects to the mountains, rivers, and the lakes, and to Mother Earth. All these important landmarks that have been here for millennia. Nō reira, tēna koutou, tēna koutou, tēna koutou katoa. Therefore, hello, hello, hello, Ko Vivian Fu tōku ingoa. Lovely to be here. Katie Strong:  Well, I'm so glad you're here. And I wanted to start off today asking about the Take Charge program that you've been working with, and talk to me about how that began. What was the origin of that? Vivian Fu:  Sure, so really this work began in probably the late 90s early 2000s when clinicians in Aotearoa New Zealand realized that there were different outcomes for people who were Māori compared with non-Māori, and I guess an important point to illustrate is that in Aotearoa society we view things in a very bicultural lens, and by that I mean Tangata Whenua, who are the people of the land, so indigenous people of the Māori and Tangata Tiriti, so everyone else are people of the treaty. It doesn't really matter where you come from, but you are a person of the treaty if you live in Aotearoa, and so it's a bicultural lens, and so we always look at things in that way, and that's how our kind of entire society is grounded upon that. And so when we look at health outcomes, what we could see back then, and unfortunately what we, in a way, still see now is that Māori were experiencing a stroke at about 20 years younger than non-Māori, and they were more likely to die from their stroke, and also more likely to be severely disabled. And so there was a difference in life expectancy, a difference in overall rehabilitation access, difference in overall outcomes, and so it started off with Professor Matire Harwood's work. She is Tangata Whenua, and in her PhD, she was looking at why there were these differences in outcomes and wanting to address them. And so that started off with the Māori and Pacific Stroke Study, which was essentially conducted in just Māori and Pacific people in Aotearoa, New Zealand, out of many different centers around the country. It was a four arm study.. It was a randomized control trial, and it looked at a conversation, which was labeled as the "Take Charge" session, but it was, it was really a connection and a conversation versus a professionally made DVD from the New Zealand Stroke Foundation about people's experiences and stories after stroke. And then the fourth arm of the trial was getting both of those interventions, and there was a control group. So there were three active groups in one control group. And what the researchers basically found was that anybody who had received this session of discussion and connection did much better a year after stroke in terms of quality of life, independence, and caregiver strain. And so that was the first sort of indication that there was something in that conversation that was really important. Unfortunately, it didn't really take off in terms of being able to be implemented, and so then Dr. Harry McNaughton, who was Dr. Harwood's supervisor wrote multiple grants and tried to get this session into much more of a bigger trial with some some type of implementation, and that's where I came along and we essentially did two things. We operationalized the intervention into something that had a bit of a framework, so with a bit of a booklet and a bit of a structure to follow. Really looking into what was it about that conversation that was so powerful and made such a difference to people, and tried to put those things into practice. Then, secondly, to conduct a second trial in New Zealand out of seven centers for people with stroke who were non-Māori and non-Pacific, because the struggle that we came across was that it was only shown to be effective in a small group of people, but not in everybody, and so we had to do things backwards. And so that was really where it all began, from these principles of self-determination, so Tino Rangatiratanga, which is a really important principle in Te Ao Māori, and in the world of Māori, but also knowing that Māori and a lot of indigenous peoples, we think of health as this concept called Te Whare Tapa Whā, for example, which is the house with four walls. So a person is never just their body and their physical health, there are other walls that keep the house upright. So mental health, spiritual health, and family health, whānau is so important, and feeling as though you have strong foundations in where you belong is also really important. So it's that really holistic look at health of an individual and how we can address all of those things in an intervention is really where it all came from. Katie Strong:  Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the backstory, and also just the idea of what you're thinking about from a holistic health standpoint. I know our listeners are probably curious, some of them might not have heard about Take Charge before, so this is the first time of them hearing about this, and so I was hoping, Vivian, you could give us an overview of what the intervention is, and then maybe walk us through what a session actually looks like in practice. Vivian Fu: Yeah, absolutely. So I'll talk you through the session in the way that it was done in the larger Take Charge trial. So this was done in 400 non-Māori, non-Pacific people with stroke, and our trial there had three arms. So there was a control group, there was a group that received just one session, and then there was a group that received two sessions six weeks apart roughly. The sessions were provided by a trained facilitator, and they were timed roughly somewhere between three to 18 weeks after stroke. So quite a large window, really, depending on when the person with stroke was ready to receive it. So the short version of what it looks like is it's based off the booklet and it's done face to face. It's a conversation and the facilitator is trained at the beginning to really try and establish a relationship…to build a relationship. There's a concept in Te Ao Māori called Whakawhanaungatanga, which is really sort of seeking another person's identity, recognizing who they are as a person, and trying to build connections. And so I guess in English, we think of that as building rapport, building trust. And so it in our trial was done face to face. We have also looked at ways of doing this via telehealth as well, which is, you can imagine, is a little bit different. But that step is really important, and we knew that it was important also in the initial Māori and Pacific trial, because the facilitators who were trained were actually ethnicity matched. So that's something where I think it came quite naturally in that trial, but in the second trial we really wanted to ensure that a relationship was built, and then there are three pages, initial pages in the booklet that look at different things. So the first page is looking at how the person has been affected by the stroke, and then asking them to think about actually who they really are as a person. It's a very simple concept, and a very sort of simple question, but for many people that's the first time they've really been asked that and have had to think about that. So anything that comes to mind that they can relate to, you know, who they are. An individual, and what it is that they love, so for example, for me, I would say, "I'm a mum, and I'm, I'm a stroke neurologist, I am a painter, I'm a poet, I'm someone who loves going for walks in hikes," and, you know, so those kinds of things, and it, and it kind of really builds on on that person's identity and who they are in the world. And so that's that sort of page one. It's really about establishing identity and sense of self. And then the second page is talking then about my hopes and fears. And that might be a tricky one, really, for a lot of people to start talking about and thinking about. They may not want to express that, they may not have been asked that. Sometimes it brings out a lot of emotion, and that's why that initial beginning part of establishing trust and in a kind of a psychological safety space is really important. And then the third page is imagining or envisioning what my best day looks like. And you can be as wild and fantastical about that as you like. When we train our facilitators, we asked them to do these exercises as well themselves, so they can get a really good sense of what that's like, and I had a lovely training session with community health workers from Tanaha First Nation in Cranbrook, BC, and one of one of the attendees in the group said she'd love to have breakfast with a Sasquatch, and so that was absolutely, you know, it was so culturally relevant, so important. Katie Strong:  That makes my Pacific Northwest roots just smile there! Vivian Fu: Exactly! Just so unique to that individual and to where they are in the world. And it's not something you can, you can pluck out of a textbook or pluck out of anything, right. It's where they are. I love that activity. It's quite magical what comes out. And then after those three pages are done, then there are some pages that are specifically related to goal setting, which may or may not be relevant to the person in front of you, things like a physical page, emotional, social, financial, health management type pages. And that really is a way to think about or encourage the person to think about, or we know what are the things that do matter to you, and and what are the things you would like to achieve in the long run, and what are some ways you might be able to break that down into achievable steps that you would personally want to do. But the session in practice can look like anything out of that. It can look from a person at session one being completely clammed up about not wanting to dig deep or not not being ready to engage in that. Or just kind of being, you know, keeping it all to themselves, and thinking about it, and ruminating about it, and then session two, looking very different after they've had that six weeks to think about it themselves. It can look like blank pages, or it could look like a person coming up with all sorts of brilliant ideas. Hopefully, you know, we always encourage if they can write the person with stroke as the one who is writing in the notebook. They keep it. They stick it on their fridge. They do whatever they like with it. They write in it in their own time, but it's completely fine to have blank pages. It's completely fine to have nothing come out of that conversation, nothing verbal, but it's just a space to an invitation to dig deep, and if there's something to say to feel heard. And I guess there was another question. I think that's quite important with regards to what the facilitator is doing, what are they not doing, and the facilitator is trained specifically to listen and ask questions and reflect the ideas that are being expressed by the person with stroke, but what they're not doing is they're not offering any advice or suggestions or pathways forward or how abouts or what abouts. They are not, and this is probably the hardest part. They're not passing any judgment, and that includes good judgment. So, by saying something like, "oh, that sounds like a really good idea", which seems like a really normal response from most people, it kind of implies that there are other ideas that are less good. Or the person with stroke might feel as though they are needing to have that kind of external validation, that external approval, and, and what we don't want is to for them to feel like they're doing this or saying this or thinking these things for the facilitator. We want them to think about it for themselves. And so all we encourage people to respond, is "oh, so you'd like to ride your bike, that's really interesting. How, how do you think you'll, you'll go about doing that?" You know, it's, it's much more neutral, but reflective way of speaking and listening, I guess. Katie Strong:  I am curious, how long is the training, or you know, what kinds of.. what we didn't talk about this, but I know people are going to want to know. So, what does it take to be trained? Vivian Fu: This is quite funny. This is a thing that sort of been on my mind ever since we've started implementation around the world, and I have this ultimate goal of operate like actually making the training have some type of qualification and fidelity, and some structure. There is structure, but it's essentially myself or Harry doing a Zoom with people, and it takes maybe say four hours. But ideally, what we'd love to do is to have sort of recorded videos, and then we'd have live sessions, and then we'd have assessments, and then you get a certificate at the end. I have neither the budget or the… Katie Strong: There's always the next step, for sure. Vivian Fu: I'd love to be for people to be able to say, "Oh, I'm Take Charge trained" and for them to be able to like "Look, I've got this qualification, I'm Take Charge trained, I know how to do this," and especially for if we were thinking about doing it in more clinical trial settings, I think that's really important, but also, you know, for people, you know, to have on their CV, if they're moving between jobs and things, I think it's so useful. But yeah, basically people get in touch with myself or Harry and say, "Hi, we'd like to be trained, can you fit us in?" And we just do it for free. Katie Strong:  Lovely, I love it. And the other question I had as you were talking was how long is a typical session or or is there is there length? Vivian Fu: So in the trial what our facilitators did was they because it was face to face and they had to drive between people's houses, they booked in the session, usually at 10:30 in the morning, and then another session, I think, if I remember correctly, either maybe it was 1:30 in the afternoon. And so you can probably surmise that for people with stroke, usually the 10:30 slot is the most popular. And you know, some people would would prefer to wake up earlier and be ready earlier, so they might ask for something like 9 o'clock and then they might usually go for about an hour and a half to two hours if it's a good going session, and they're really digging deep, and there's a lot to say. And often you know that first half an hour is, "Here's a cup of tea and a biscuit. Let's get to know each other. Tell me all about what happened with your stroke." That kind of stuff, so that listening and connecting stuff actually takes takes a while to establish, and I think people just allowed for that time. Then they'd do a second session in the afternoon again. There are lots of things, you know, cognitive problems, fatigue is a big one. So, if people felt like they couldn't keep going, the facilitator would say , "That's totally fine, we'll book in for, you know, do the rest of this another time, is that okay?" It was fine to really just, you can truncate it and break it up as much as the person really wants. Katie Strong:  Thank you. I appreciate the extra information. You had a recent publication in 2025 with some colleagues that looked at this work from a qualitative lens.  You came up with some themes about doing things my way, coming to my own wisdom, and they're just so deeply related to identity, and what struck me was the contrast participants drew between Take Charge care and standard care, where they described being put in a box receiving scripted advice that had really nothing to do with who they were as a person. And when someone gets to tell the story of who they are to a genuinely good listener, something shifts. I was just curious, if you could think about what you think is happening there, or what you found in your study. Vivian Fu: Well, I think for the most part, as a, you know, as a clinician, if we think about from the moment the person has a stroke, they disempowered from that very moment.  Something happens where they just aren't themselves, and they are brought into a merge. A bunch of things happen to them that they can't really even speak up about. You know, they're popped in a scanner. They might get thrombolised, you know, all these things are happening. And the person doesn't really know what's going on. There are a lot of important qualitative studies that have been done, looking at that element of feeling disempowered, and what somebody in New Zealand study described as feeling gut-wrenchingly emotional. You know, experiences that that aren't heard and aren't ever expressed to to anyone in the healthcare side and aren't dealt with, and so, if you think about that, just that trauma of having a stroke and then going through all of that stuff, and you know, ending up in a bed somewhere on a ward with strangers on the other side of a curtain, and it's really pretty traumatic. And so I think what was powerful with Take Charge was it's an it's an opportunity for someone to finally tell their story and feel heard and for all that stuff to just come out. And a lot of the time you know people might say, "Oh, well, you could talk to your family, you can talk to your kids, or, you know, whatever. Once you get home" but actually, a lot of people don't feel like talking to those who are closest to them about how much it affected them, and there is still an element of stigma. There's still an element of, "Oh, you know, you look great physically, you to someone we know having had a big health scare, and then kind of coming back into that. But there's there's a real dissonance between what is going on inside a person and and how other people are reacting to them coming back into "normal spaces". And so I think the ability to tell your story from the very get go. You know, all of the messiness of it. All the things that went wrong, and then to have somebody listen to that really gives meaning to it and makes it real, but it also helps that person really reestablish their sense of power to regain some power from that that they had lost. And there's a lot of power in story, and I think the kind of, you know, lovely thing about it is that sort of all indigenous cultures sort of be like, you know, First Nations, Māori, Gaelic, a lot of cultures really put a lot of value in the power of storytelling. And that is how historically things were really passed down, and so I think it's through that ability to be able to feel heard and to tell your story that then the person who is speaking can actually hear themselves say things out loud for the first time. And then understand the power and the value and the worth in their words and their experience, and that is that process of coming to my own wisdom, is "Oh, actually, you know, I do know about my body. I am, I am the expert, not these people in their white coats, or you know, with their expertise, I am the expert. I know what I need. I can plan my rehabilitation. I can go back to the things that I want to do, and this is how I'm going to do it." And it's that, that kind of reestablishment of confidence and strength and hope that is so powerful. I think. Katie Strong: I agree. I agree, Vivian. As you know, our listeners are primarily speech language pathologists working with people with aphasia. We also have people with aphasia that are listening, and researchers as well. But you know, the capacity for language being disrupted by aphasia. I was just curious, with Take Charge, as you've studied it, is you know, really a talking therapy with writing, and, and those sorts of things, and so I was just curious, you know, what would it take to extend this kind of intervention to people with aphasia, and what principles would you want to most preserve in the adaptation. Vivian Fu: Yeah, thank you. That's such an important question. We certainly, in the Take Charge trial, included people with aphasia in the trial, and the way that we sort of just included them was if they could understand or the consent form and could mark an "x" on the form, we'd be happy to to have them included, and so we had people with mild to moderate and moderate to severe aphasia in the trial. And we hadn't made any specific changes or tweaks to the intervention, the facilitator just did what they could with what we had. But I think what has come out of reviews of the implementation of Take Charge now in New Zealand is that it is really important for us to look at how we can adapt the intervention for people with aphasia. I think for the facilitators in the trial, what they did was they allowed a lot more time, so the usual two and a half hours became three and a half hours, and that was fine if the person could continue. But also I think from the report we need to look at alternative ways of how we can complete some of these activities, whether it's providing images where people can point, whether it's a lot more inclusion of their family, their whānau important people to them who can help with, you know, subtle guidance, and, and, and having sort of lived with the person now, can read their non-verbal expressions a lot better than a stranger, a facilitator can and can help with the guidance of participating. And really, while Take Charge has been translated, I think, now into seven or eight different languages, we really need to adapt Take Charge to other communication needs and other languages, but what I.. so my role.. sorry, I didn't.. I'd actually say this, but my role in the in the large trial was as the blinded outcomes assessor, so I went around at one year after stroke. I traveled around to the 400 or so different other people, participants' homes around the country, and I sat in their living rooms, and I listened to their stories again. And then I did all of their outcome instruments and got all of their outcomes done, but I did not know which group they were allocated to. And then I locked all the data, and then I'd say, "Hey, so which group did you get Take Charge or not?" And it was really, it was good. I think out of the 400 there were only two people who, when I turned up, actually had the booklet on the table, and so you know, I just ignored it, and then, but yeah, it was, it was really good in terms of sort of blinding and masking, and then sort of having a guess as I was going through and checking where things were at. It was such a privilege for me to, as a stroke doctor, I think you know people don't usually get to do this as a physician, but to, to meet so many different people with so many different stories, and a number of people who still had moderate to severe aphasia, and and were telling me about the impacts of that on their life. But we were still able to communicate a year after stroke, and so I think it is so important that we don't exclude people with cognitive and communication difficulties. We have to adapt the things that we have to make it work for them. What I'd love is to be able to have some kind of focus group with people with aphasia, and, and show them Take Charge, and realize, oh, what can we do? How would this work better for you? Katie Strong:  I love that, and well. Well, and we haven't talked about the materials yet, but I do have to say they're so accessible, or they're very accessible from a visual standpoint as well. Vivian Fu: Thank you. Yes, we are actually modifying them and making the font bigger and having better graphics. We started off with stick figures that Harry drew, and then I think we're actually making them a lot nicer in terms of the graphics, but what we do have at the moment is actually available online for free, and you can just download them as a package. It's if you Google it, it's the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, or www.mrinz.ac.nz  and then under programs, and we spell that as p r o g r a m m e s, and then under programs slash forward slash stroke, I think is where it lives, and at the bottom of the page you should be able to download, a training package and the booklet itself. Katie Strong: Yes, lovely, and we'll have the links on our show notes as well, so you can check those out, listeners, if you're interested. So, thank you. You have two randomized controlled trials that you've talked a little bit about, and a cost effectiveness analysis and qualitative work, all pointing in the same direction that the cost data suggests that Take Charge actually might save money, and that is remarkable, and lots of evidence showing that, but still, it's a challenge in implementing into standard practice, and I was curious if you could talk with us about what you think stands between what the evidence shows and what actually gets implemented. Vivian Fu: Sure, gosh, I love this question. It's it applies for so many interventions, I think, specifically for Take Charge, it's a number of things. So definitely the stuff that affects other interventions being implemented, but for Take Charge itself, it started off with a huge amount of disbelief bias, so people, you know, even after I presented the main results of the second trial at the European Stroke Conference in gosh, when was that? 2019 pre-COVID in Milan. So this is a huge international stroke conference, and this was a plenary session. People stood up and took photos of the results and went, you know, there was this collective gasp throughout the audience of 6000 odd people, but there's just this disbelief that something as simple as a conversation can make a difference to people's objective quality quantitative outcomes, like the, you know, Bartel or the FIM, what they, you know, what their physical outcomes are like at a year. And what their quality of life is like. I think for people who are stroke researchers, a lot of the focus is on that initial 24 to 48 hours after stroke. And you know, that that's kind of where that's kind of where all the funding goes, isn't it? So it's the pre-hospital stuff, and then the interventional things you can stick catheters into and thrombolysis, and you know that's, and that's all great. You know, I, as a stroke physician, I love that part of stroke as well, but to think that you could possibly do something at three to 18 weeks after stroke that could change a person's outcome by a year, and actually we've got a long-term follow-up study now that says that those those same magnitude of changes are still present at five years between the groups is, you know, kind of gobsmacking. And people just go, surely you've fudged this, or surely this can't be true. And so there's this huge disbelief bias that stopped us from being able to publish initially, and it was only after I presented the results in Milan that that we got accepted into a journal. And we'd been trying for about a year beforehand, and, and so there's, there's that disbelief. But also in the way that it has to be provided, you know, it's probably considered quite labor intensive. You know, one on one home visits, and that's why people of other researchers who do believe in Take Charge are now looking at providing take charge in different ways. Like I did a telehealth trial in Canada, in southern Alberta, when I was there as a fellow in Calgary, and there's potential other work that's being. Done in Australia with Take Charge, looking at providing it by computer avatars, by even maybe even AI, and maybe in a larger sort of telehealth format. And so you know other ways of doing it, but I think ultimately it's kind of cultural inertia, because you know, "We've never done this, this is not part of who we are. Why would we need to start something new?" There's probably kind of an established way of thinking about clinician and, and patient, rather than person with stroke, in still in how we practice, and this idea that the therapist and doctor are experts. And so I think it really challenges that dogma and challenges clinician's role, and therefore there's a resistance to accept that this is something that is useful and helpful, and actually doesn't, you know, you don't need to take it personally. You're still doing great work. Take Charge is just a tool that helps supplement everything else that's going on, and so there's a lack of time, and I think we also get quite, as practicing clinicians, we get quite tunnel visioned into this, you know, hamster wheel of go to work, treat all these people, go home. We just keep doing it. Hoping that things will get better for them, but, you know, we, it's only when we start looking at alternative interventions and alternative things that work and start trialing them and being open to that, that I think things will really start to change. We've certainly had interest from random little parts around the world. I think it's been translated into Latvian. I've got people from Sweden who are interested. A little hospital in Germany, and then parts of it's been trialed in pilot studies in the UK. And Harry and I last year trained a whole bunch of occupational therapists in Hong Kong, so you know it is, it is kind of picking up, slowly but surely. Katie Strong: Well to me, you know, most stroke survivors, or people with stroke, as you're referring to them, have chronic challenges, and so all of the early intervention, while important, doesn't necessarily help somebody navigate that longer term change. And so I love that this is just such an empowering way of putting that power back into the person's life, which it seems like it is showing up n in the results that you're sharing. Vivian Fu: Oh, absolutely. I mean, if we think about it, if we just think about thrombectomy and thrombolysis, somewhere between five to 15% of all people with stroke are eligible, and then receive the treatment. That leaves what?, 85 to 95% of people who don't get to receive that. And even after they receive the treatment, there are consequences of stroke that are beyond the physical that don't you know don't have any other thing to address them apart from our routine care, so I completely agree with you. Katie Strong: Well, thinking about what clinicians might be able to do tomorrow or you know, in the near future, for our speech-language pathologists or other practitioners who are listening today and are feeling the pull of this work, and you know, really encouraged by it, but are you know working in an embedded productivity driven impairment focused system, what's one thing that they could do differently in the very next clinical encounter that they have? Vivian Fu:  We have a paper, I think it's written. Oh gosh, where did it.. where did it get published? I think it was published in Practical Neurology. It's titled something, something intrinsic motivation. I should know better. Katie Strong: I'm going find out, and I don't think I read that one, so I'm gonna find it, and I'll put the link in the show notes for everybody. Vivian Fu: Sorry,Harry about the promo, but yeah, I'll send it to you, but essentially it's written to give some guidance on how you can embed Take Charge into your daily clinical practice. And it's written for neurologists, but honestly it applies to everybody.  One of the key things is when you have that next encounter, obviously you know therapists do this a lot better than doctors do, but they ask a lot about, you know, what's outside of the person's life and what's important to them, but maybe move away just, you know, from the very practical questions like "How many steps do you have going in and out of your house?, and How do you hang up your washing?", or whatever, but it's, you know, really much less functional, but more, "Who are you? Tell me a bit more about yourself. What do you love doing? What gets you out of bed?" You know, if I might, the one that I like to use a lot on my ward rounds is, "If you weren't in this hospital bed right now, where would you rather be? What would you rather be doing?", and I do that on my rounds, and it's incredible, because you know, I'll hear all sorts of things, "I'll, you know, be on my boat fishing out on the lake", or I think this lady was like 84 or something. "I'll be with my girlfriends, we'll be having coffee at Tim Hortons", you know, and it's just, I don't know, it's something so unique to that person that I could never, you know, they're in their hospital pajamas with a whole bunch of stuff stuck to them, and I can't envisage them doing that, and yet I'm like, I want you to imagine yourself there. Where would you rather be? Okay, so everybody, that's our goal. It's not to get her home or to get her walking again. Our goal is to get her back in Tim Hortons with her eight friends, having coffee, like that is what this person loves to do. And I think that you know that inquiry, that it shows you care, it shows you see them as an individual, and I think it completely shifts your rehab focus, and then you can ask more questions about that, and they, you know, then you have this whole conversation about about what their life is like. And I think that part of being seen, even if it's only within 60 seconds, makes such a difference to that person. So that's one thing. The second thing I'd be, you know, doing is I'm trying to involve family as much as possible, as much as the person wants, and basically, just seeing them as an individual makes a huge difference already to the way you practice, that would be what I'd focus on. Katie Strong: Agreed, agreed. Well, Vivian, is there something you wish people asked you about this work that they rarely do, something about Take Charge or stroke recovery more broadly that you think the field hasn't quite caught up to yet. Vivian Fu:  Oh gosh, this is a tricky one. I think one thing we ought to recognize is that everybody is doing the best that they can with what they have. And you know, we're not as clinicians on the ground on the front line, we're not involved with funding decisions, and what projects get funded and which ones don't. And there will be the ambitious amongst your listeners, who I really hope will be like, "Oh my gosh, I can apply for this little grant, and I'm going to pilot this, and I think we should give this a go with our people." and I think that is absolutely a great idea to have. And, and I would, myself and Harry will do everything that we possibly can to help support such projects from where we are. I think the important thing to think about is that every little bit that you do makes a difference, and to not feel as though, because you know your funding runs out, or you don't get it, or the world is such a bleak place that you know it's not worth continuing to try. Because people with stroke who see you do this work, they will be grateful for it. And also the patient partners I've met that I've spoken with, and all of the people whom I've interviewed with the qualitative work, they're also happy to be part of something like this. And so even if it's a pilot project. Even if it's, you know, something that may not last, you'd be so surprised at how much momentum you can build with a movement of people who see the value in this and then take it further and further, And that's what I've been really impressed by, and kind of stunned by in all these different locations around the world who have contacted me. I've just been like, "Wow, can't believe [this]." There's this wonderful group in Hunter Medical Research Institute down in Australia, who basically took Take Charge back to their own unique Aboriginal community, the Gamilaroi peoples of that particular area of Australia. They have, like Canada and like the States, they have 1000s of tribes and lots of different groups that all speak completely different languages, but they took it to their local group, and they broke down, take charge into little bits, and then rebuilt it into an intervention that just works for them, and it's called "Yarning Up after Stroke", because what they do is they have a yarn. They yarn, and that's the way they tell their stories. It's yarning, and so you know, I just think it's incredible. Like, they got funding for it, they did it, and now it's an ongoing project that just keeps on in the community being provided to their people, and it's fantastic. So, I think it'll evolve. I love to see how it evolves, and I certainly don't think of, you know, this isn't the kind of intervention that we go around patenting and making a ton of money out of. It's the kind of intervention that everybody makes their own, and hopefully with a lot of input by people with stroke, Katie Strong: I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much for being our guest today, and sharing about Take Charge, and your generosity in sharing about the intervention, and if people are interested in reaching out to contact you, so thank you so much, Vivian. Vivian Fu:  Thank you so much for having me. I hope I haven't spoken too long. Katie Strong: Oh no, it's perfect. Vivian Fu: I'm always happy to be contacted, and yeah, very happy to support anyone who'd like to explore this further. Katie Strong: Thanks so much. On behalf of Aphasia Access, thank you for listening. For references and resources mentioned in today's show, please see our show notes, available on our website at www.aphasiaaccess.org. There you can also become a member of our organization, browse our growing library of materials, and find out about the Aphasia Access Academy. If you have an idea for a future podcast episode, email us at info@aphasiaaccess.org. For Aphasia Access Conversations, here at Central Michigan University in the Strong Story Lab, I'm Katie Strong. Dr. Fu's Email  dr.vivianfu@gmail.com  Resources and Readings Fu, V. (2019). Taking Charge After Stroke: A novel, community-based intervention to improve the lives of people with stroke. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Taking-Charge-After-Stroke:-A-novel,-intervention-Fu/3bc1dbb271f425c72e146510088856e3aad8683e  Fu, V., Fernando, K. M., Bright, F., Riley, J., McPherson, K., & McNaughton, H. (2025). Coming to my own wisdom: A qualitative study exploring the role of the Take Charge intervention in stroke recovery. Clinical Rehabilitation, 39(3), 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155241310770 Fu, V., Weatherall, M., McPherson, K., Taylor, W., McRae, A., Thomson, T., Gommans, J., Green, G., Harwood, M., Ranta, A., Hanger, C., Riley, J., & McNaughton, H. (2020). Taking Charge after stroke: A randomized controlled trial of a person-centered, self-directed rehabilitation intervention. International Journal of Stroke, 15(9), 954–964. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747493020915144 Fu, V., Thompson, S., Kayes, N., & Bright, F. (2025). Supporting long-term meaningful outcomes in stroke rehabilitation. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 25, 17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-025-01403-z Harwood, M., Weatherall, M., Talemaitoga, A., Barber, P. A., Gommans, J., Taylor, W., McPherson, K., & McNaughton, H. (2011). Taking charge after stroke: Promoting self-directed rehabilitation to improve quality of life - a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 26(6), 493-501. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215511426017  Te Ao, B., Harwood, M., Fu, V., Weatherall, M., McPherson, K., Taylor, W. J., McRae, A., Thomson, T., Gommans, J., Green, G., Ranta, A., Hanger, C., Riley, J., & McNaughton, H. (2022). Economic analysis of the 'Take Charge' intervention for people following stroke: Results from a randomised trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 36(2), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155211040727 McNaughton, H., & Fu, V. (2023). Intrinsic motivation. Practical Neurology, 23(6), 489-492.  https://pn.bmj.com/content/23/6/489  McNaughton, H., Gommans, J., McPherson, K., Harwood, M., & Fu, V. (2023). A cohesive, person-centric evidence-based model for successful rehabilitation after stroke and other disabling conditions. Clinical Rehabilitation, 37(7), 975-985. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155221145433   Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. (n.d.). Take Charge rehabilitation resources. https://www.mrinz.ac.nz/take-charge-rehabilitation-resources World Stroke Organization. (n.d.). Taking Charge after stroke: A person-centred approach to life after stroke [Webinar]. https://www.world-stroke.org/what-we-do/education-and-research/education/webinars/taking-charge-after-stroke-a-person-centred-approach-to-life-after-stroke  

A child refused to stay buckled in on a flight, delaying takeoff until the NEXT DAY — but who’s to blame? Plus, Erin recounts the chaos of watching soccer moms go full turbo on e-scooters in Kelowna, and Usher fans are convinced a lookalike took his place on stage. Also: Can you spot an AI influencer? Just how much time are parents spending every week planning and prepping meals for their school-aged kids?

In this episode, I'm sharing what I've already learned from trying to hold 13 different intentions at once, why I realized I was making the experiment way too complicated, and the simpler framework I'm using going forward.In this episode:Why the beginning of any change can feel exciting… until reality sets inThe emotional cycle of change and why “uninformed optimism” eventually wears offWhat I noticed about my own perfectionism within days of starting the experimentWhy self-judgment isn't the problem—the real question is how quickly you catch itHow meditation taught me to think about changing old mental patternsWhy 13 shifts became too much to consciously track every dayThe much simpler TRUTH framework I'm using insteadThe small unpredictable things I did this week to shake myself out of routineHow I'm practicing more visibility, invitations and courageous business actionThe extremely useful question my brain spent way too much time asking: Am I cool?Why I'm experimenting with less input and more silenceThe uncomfortable question: Am I constantly consuming because I don't want to be alone with my own mind?Why I'm taking a break from podcasts, trainings, nonfiction books and social media input this weekWhat I hope silence will do for my creativity, voice and body of workIf you're listening in real time, I'm speaking at the Dare to Dream Summit in Kelowna on Feel It All to Have It All, and I'm also doing 25-minute Rapid Shift Sessions at the event—another first for me and another very fitting Truth Experiment move. Get your ticket here.Click here to join The Pleasure Project Program

Greg, Troy, and Adam are joined by USAFL's Brian Barrish and Emma “Squid” Whewell to cover North American footy and what's ahead. Super Regionals and Western Regionals results, key players, awards, and how regional tournaments factor into USA Freedom selections. The group previews the 49th Parallel Cup in Kelowna between the USA and Canada. And the upcoming AFLW Australia vs Ireland test in Sydney. The team podcast will provide you with an update and discuss the latest results and news from around the world.

Canadian singer-songwriter Haley Blais shares about how she makes creative decisions, her new upcoming project with Sam Lynch, and how her Grade 5 teacher gave her the nudge she needed to fall in love with music. Check out Haley's happenings on her website here. Follow Haley on Instagram here.See Haley perform on August 1st in Kelowna at NestFest (Red Bird Brewing). Tickets here.Share your thoughts on this episode in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Write Songs You Love Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ group.To join the Write Songs You Love Member calls, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://writesongsyoulove.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ to expand and nurture your creativity!

Coming to you from The Mission Folk Music Festival (well, the show was mostly inspired by this year's festival lineup!) Some fabulous songs and tunes from a wide variety of artists who are either performing at Mission or at next month's Edmonton Folk Music Festival, with songs from Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cuba, India, Taiwan, Ukraine, Persia, Montreal, and Vancouver - and that was just in the first hour!! Then we headed off to Louisiana, Kelowna, Kaslo, PEI, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Alberta, and back to B.C. before taking in songs and tunes from England, Scotland, and Ireland! I peppered the selections with some little anecdotes and a bit of (I hope) slightly more useful information. Canada's folk festival season: the best music in the finest surroundings - with wonderful people!

Ten years to the day. Three fans who were in the building for opening night in Victoria tell the story - the tickets, the silver suit, and the night the Man Machine Poem Tour began.Episode SummaryFirst stop. July 22nd, 2016. The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, where The Tragically Hip opened the Man Machine Poem Tour and, as jD puts it, tore the place up. Ten years later, Yer Hipstories: Reflections From The Final Tour gathers three fans who were there - Chris from Kelowna, Dave from Campbell River, and Jay from Edmonton - to take it from soup to nuts: hearing the news, chasing the tickets, and living the night.The ticket stories alone are worth the price of admission. Dave had seen The Hip 19 times and never sweated a ticket - until dynamic pricing and the bots turned this on-sale into the most stressful of his life. Chris dumb-lucked into fabulous seats through a venue voucher he had to drive to Victoria to redeem - and ended up on CBC, Global, CTV, and CNNalong the way, posting his mileage in a very Canadian unit: 12 Tragically Hip songs per hundred kilometres. Jay stared down 45 minutes of "sold out" on Ticketmaster before row four on the floor appeared for him, his wife, and his two-year-old daughter - then did it again and landed row two for Vancouver.Then the lights went down and 'Boots or Hearts' opened the night. The panel remembers the acoustic-style start, the deep cuts up front, Gord Downie's glittering silver suit and feather - and Chris's reading of it all: this was the band flipping the bird at cancer and controlling the narrative. Jay's daughter got a wave from Gord during 'Blow at High Dough' - a moment you can spot in the documentary. Dave got 'The Luxury', played for the first time since 2000, at his 20th show.There's real talk about the four "Man Machine Poem" songs played each night - 'In a World Possessed by the Human Mind', 'Machine', 'What Blew', and one more with a title we can't print here - plus where everyone was on August 20th, 2016, from inside the Kingston barn to packed small-town bars in Dorintosh, Saskatchewan, and Vanderhoof, BC. The word the panel lands on: gratitude.The PanelChris from Kelowna - longtime search and rescue volunteer, then living in Vanderhoof. Drove 1,000 kilometres to the show with his brother and an iPod co-pilot, and became the national media's favourite Hip fan for a week.Dave from Campbell River - joining from Halifax on the other end of the country. Victoria was his 20th Hip show; he carried on to Ottawa and Kingston, and he has never said goodbye.Jay from Edmonton - then in Calgary, tent trailer in tow for a family vacation on the island. His two-year-old daughter is the little girl in the headphones in the documentary. Victoria was show 39 of 40.Timestamps00:00 - Welcome and panel introductions02:01 - Ticket stress: bots, dynamic pricing, and pure persistence08:27 - Chris's media tour: CBC, Global, CTV, and CNN11:16 - The opener: 'Boots or Hearts' hits different13:51 - 'Blow at High Dough' and a wave from Gord16:29 - The silver suit, the feather, and flipping the bird at cancer22:14 - The "Man Machine Poem" songs live28:09 - A farewell party and the beginning of a goodbye35:47 - August 20th, 2016: Kingston, and the bars that held the rest of us41:34 - News: the live record and the National Celebration rebroadcast42:46 - Final thoughts on Victoria50:42 - Gratitude and what comes nextResources & ReferencesSetlist and play-count data: hat tip to Hipbase and setlist.fmThe documentary moments discussed come from Long Time RunningNational Celebration returns: a live record on August 21st, and the CBC rebroadcast on August 22ndRelated listening: The Tragically Hip On Shuffle - Live Stream: The Darkest OneJoin InThis series is a living audio time capsule, and it only works if the community brings the goods. Were you at a stop on the Man Machine Poem Tour? Share your Hipstory and be part of the record. Want more from the network between episodes? Subscribe to Yer Letter, the monthly newsletter from jD.ClosingHuge thanks to Chris from Kelowna, Dave from Campbell River, and Jay from Edmonton for opening the vault on opening night - the nerves, the tears, the feather, and the wave. The takeaway this week is the word Chris found and everyone kept: gratitude. They chose the stage. We got to be there. So there's that.In two days, the series crosses the Strait to the mainland: Vancouver, July 24th, 2016. Get after it.ConnectFacebook group: community.tthpods.com | Instagram: @tthpods | YouTube: youtube.com/@tthpods | Email: jd@tthpods.com#TheTragicallyHip #TheHip #GordDownie #ManMachinePoem #InGordWeTrust #YerFavouritesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tthtop40/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Meaghan Hackinen has a habit of breaking ultra-distance cycling records. Recently, the Kelowna, B.C., rider set the women's fastest known time for the iconic Tour Divide route. On this episode of the Canadian Cycling Magazine Podcast, Hackinen shares her journey to setting new records in ultra-cycling, training strategies, gear choices and the importance of sleep and sobriety in performance. Check out her insights into managing long-distance rides and preparing for unpredictable conditions. Also, editors Matthew Pioro and Matt Hansen discuss cross country nationals and the Tour de l'Abitibi. There's up-and-coming talent to look out for. This episode is supported by Altitude Sports. [This collaboration is part of an advertising campaign managed by the agency Podpass for Altitude Sports.] Save up to 20 per cent off on your first order with code CYCLINGMAGAZINE2026 Shop at Altitude Sports: https://bit.ly/altitude-cyclingmagazine2026 Valid on regular-priced items only. Limited-time offer. One use per customer. Cannot be combined with other promotions or membership discounts. Chapters 13:39 Meaghan Hackinen: Training for an ultra-distance ride like the Tour Divide 16:56 Getting started in ultra cycling: Tips for beginners 21:37 The importance of sleep in ultra-racing 31:11 What happens when you give your bike a name 37:07 Where a beginner should start with ultra-cycling gear 39:26 The impact of sobriety on performance 44:20 Safety tips for solo female travellers

In this episode, I'm doing a full reflection on the sixth annual Audacious Woman Retreat I hosted in Kelowna this past June.   This isn't just a recap. It's a conversation about something I believe with every fiber of my being: the room is the most powerful business tool you will ever step into, and sometimes, you have to be brave enough to build it yourself. In this episode, I'm sharing: Why I hosted five women in my rented home for five days, and what emerged that no agenda could have planned The difference between information and knowledge  Why the "right room" has nothing to do with celebrity coaches, luxury venues, or million-dollar masterminds What I've learned after six years of hosting these retreats: the room doesn't actually exist until the humans arrive The concept of "stacking evidence" Why vulnerability creates speed in business (and why pretending you have it together is costing you years) The lobster theory of women in business  Why confidence is contagious, and what happens when one woman asks the hard question out loud My reflection on leadership: I'm not better than the women in the room, I'm just a little further along A permission slip for the woman who has been waiting to feel "ready enough" to gather her people   Let's dive in! Thank you for joining us today. If you could rate, review & subscribe, it would mean the world to me! While you're at it, take a screenshot and tag me @jennpike to share on Instagram – I'll re-share that baby out to the community & once a month I'll be doing a draw from those re-shares and send the winner something special! Click here to listen: Apple Podcasts – CLICK HERESpotify – CLICK HERE This episode is sponsored by: St. Francis | Go to stfrancisherbfarm.com and save 15% off your all your orders with code JENNPIKE15  Eversio Wellness | Go to eversiowellness.com/discount/jennpike15 and save 15% off every order with code JENNPIKE15 /// not available for "subscribe & save" option Free Resources: Free Perimenopause Support Guide | jennpike.com/perimenopausesupport Free Blood Work Guide | jennpike.com/bloodworkguide The Simplicity Sessions Podcast | jennpike.com/podcast Get 20% on thewalkingpad.com using code "JENNPIKE20" Metabolic Guide | jennpike.com/metabolic-guide Get discounts at happybumco.com using code "JENNPIKE" *code doesn't apply with Black Friday sale* Programs: Ignite: Your 8-Week Body Transformation Program | https://jennpike.com/ignite The Peri & Menopause Project  - Join the Waitlist | jennpike.com/theperimenopauseproject Synced Virtual Fitness Studio | jennpike.com/synced Services: Work With Jenn | https://jennpike.com/work-with-jenn/ Functional Testing | jennpike.com/testing-packages Business Mentorship | The Audacious Woman Mentorship:  jennpike.com/theaudaciouswoman Connect with Jenn: Instagram | @jennpike Facebook | @thesimplicityproject YouTube | Simplicity TV Website | The Simplicity Project Inc.   Have a question? Send it over to hello@jennpike.com and I'll do my best to share helpful insights, thoughts and advice.  

May 26, 1989. Kelowna, British Columbia. While taking a lengthy backpacking trip through Canada, 20-year old British national Charles Horvath cashes a cheque at a bank, but soon vanishes without a trace. After not hearing from him for several months, Charles' mother, Denise Allan, travels to Kelowna to perform a search and learns that Charles was staying at a local campground until he abruptly disappeared and left his personal belongings behind. Over the years, there are a number of leads, including an anonymous note which states that Charles was killed at a party before his body was dumped in a lake, but no evidence is found to indicate what happened to him. Did Charles Horvath become a victim of foul play? If not, what actually caused his disappearance? On this week's episode of “The Path Went Chilly”, we cover an unsolved missing persons case involving a victim who vanished while travelling through our podcast's home country of Canada.If you have any information about this case, please contact the Kelowna detachment of the RCMP at (250) 762-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).Support the show:Patreon.com/julesandashleyPatreon.com/thetrailwentcoldAdditional Reading:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Charles_Horvath-Allanhttps://unsolved.com/gallery/charles-horvath/https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Charles_Horvathhttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/mother-spends-40000-pounds-trying-to-trace-son-1556520.htmlhttps://globalnews.ca/news/71198/search-for-missing-son-brings-mother-back-to-kelowna/http://globalnews.ca/news/1169821/still-no-sign-of-charles-horvath-25-years-later/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/charles-horvath-allan-s-mother-makes-last-effort-in-search-of-answers-for-missing-son-1.3076705https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/u-k-mom-has-new-hope-of-finding-out-what-happened-to-her-son-30-years-after-he-disappeared-in-b-c-1.5705896https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/we-re-still-searching-for-answers-mother-determined-to-solve-30-year-old-case-of-missing-son-1.4846262https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-30-year-search-for-the-u-k-s-most-famous-missing-sonhttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/incredible-choir-bound-together-heartache-7919460https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/GoFundMe_started_in_last_ditch_effort_to_find_Charles_Horvath_who_disappeared_without_a_trace_in_Kelowna_34_years_ago/https://www.newspapers.com/image/504855528/https://www.newspapers.com/image/494974095/https://crimeblogger1983.blogspot.com/2019/04/murdered-in-canada-karoly-charles-john.html

In the spring of 1989, twenty-year-old Charles Horvath-Allan arrived in the Canadian city of Kelowna, British Columbia.  Like so many young backpackers, he was chasing adventure. He picked up odd jobs, met new people, and settled into a campground near the shores of Okanagan Lake.Then one day, he was simply gone.His tent was still standing. His clothes were still there.  His passport, his photographs, and nearly everything he owned had been left behind. But Charles was nowhere to be found.There would be rumors whispered around town.  Anonymous letters delivered under mysterious circumstances.  Stories, allegations, and claims that people knew exactly what happened but were too afraid to talk.Listen as we dive into Canada, the case of Charles Horvath-Allen, and how to stay alive on vacation.Do you have a story to share? Send your email to lasttrippodcast@gmail.comWe're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcastFollow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcastTheme Music by Roger Allen DexterSources:https://locate.international/missing-people/charles-hovarth-allanhttps://www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/charles-horvath-allan-93-000325https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/2021/05/charles-horvath-allan/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/u-k-mom-has-new-hope-of-finding-out-what-happened-to-her-son-30-years-after-he-disappeared-in-b-c-1.5705896https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/we-re-still-searching-for-answers-mother-determined-to-solve-30-year-old-case-of-missing-son-1.4846262https://www.ucfiles.com/Files/0052.phphttps://www.gofundme.com/f/the-final-search-for-charleshttps://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/GoFundMe_started_in_last_ditch_effort_to_find_Charles_Horvath_who_disappeared_without_a_trace_in_Kelowna_34_years_ago/https://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/article_275a9a59-3a2a-4ea0-a132-cbde7bc7d25f.htmlhttps://www.pentictonnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/Cold_case_Why_did_Charles_Horvath_disappear_32_years_ago/https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10208108684851860&type=3&comment_id=10213856605946295https://www.facebook.com/missingcharleskjhorvathhttps://saobserver.net/2018/09/28/revived-inspiration-in-kelowna-cold-case-investigation/https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/iev5x1/charles_horvathallan_has_been_official_declared/

May 26, 1989. Kelowna, British Columbia. While taking a lengthy backpacking trip through Canada, 20-year old British national Charles Horvath cashes a cheque at a bank, but soon vanishes without a trace. After not hearing from him for several months, Charles' mother, Denise Allan, travels to Kelowna to perform a search and learns that Charles was staying at a local campground until he abruptly disappeared and left his personal belongings behind. Over the years, there are a number of leads, including an anonymous note which states that Charles was killed at a party before his body was dumped in a lake, but no evidence is found to indicate what happened to him. Did Charles Horvath become a victim of foul play? If not, what actually caused his disappearance? On this week's episode of “The Path Went Chilly”, we cover an unsolved missing persons case involving a victim who vanished while travelling through our podcast's home country of Canada.If you have any information about this case, please contact the Kelowna detachment of the RCMP at (250) 762-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).Support the show:Patreon.com/julesandashleyPatreon.com/thetrailwentcoldAdditional Reading:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Charles_Horvath-Allanhttps://unsolved.com/gallery/charles-horvath/https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Charles_Horvathhttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/mother-spends-40000-pounds-trying-to-trace-son-1556520.htmlhttps://globalnews.ca/news/71198/search-for-missing-son-brings-mother-back-to-kelowna/http://globalnews.ca/news/1169821/still-no-sign-of-charles-horvath-25-years-later/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/charles-horvath-allan-s-mother-makes-last-effort-in-search-of-answers-for-missing-son-1.3076705https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/u-k-mom-has-new-hope-of-finding-out-what-happened-to-her-son-30-years-after-he-disappeared-in-b-c-1.5705896https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/we-re-still-searching-for-answers-mother-determined-to-solve-30-year-old-case-of-missing-son-1.4846262https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-30-year-search-for-the-u-k-s-most-famous-missing-sonhttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/incredible-choir-bound-together-heartache-7919460https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/GoFundMe_started_in_last_ditch_effort_to_find_Charles_Horvath_who_disappeared_without_a_trace_in_Kelowna_34_years_ago/https://www.newspapers.com/image/504855528/https://www.newspapers.com/image/494974095/https://crimeblogger1983.blogspot.com/2019/04/murdered-in-canada-karoly-charles-john.html

Ryan Markewich is a landscape entrepreneur and business advisor based in Kelowna, British Columbia. He founded Creative Roots Landscaping over 30 years ago and has since transitioned the company to an employee ownership model, selling 85% of the business to key team members. For nearly two decades, Ryan has operated using open-book management, building a highly engaged team that understands the financials and participates in improving them. Today, Creative Roots is known for its strong culture, leadership development, and long-term approach to ownership and succession. Ryan now works with a small number of companies as a strategic advisor, helping owners improve profitability and build more resilient, people-centered businesses. His focus is simple: when more people understand how the business works and have a stake in the outcome, better decisions get made. He spends part of the year in Mexico, is actively involved in developing future leaders, and continues to explore how transparency, structure, and shared ownership can change the way companies operate.

Most of us raise our kids on autopilot, doing what our family always did without ever asking why. But here's what I've come to believe: how you raise your kids isn't about the culture you grew up in, it's about what you actually stand for. So if you want to parent on purpose instead of by default, this one's for you. In this episode, you'll learn: Why what you stand for matters more than what your family has always done Why giving kids money can ruin them How to be the example that teaches your kids to bet on themselves Why real confidence is built with strangers, not friends ✅ Want our free Couple's Playbook? Grab it here. Where to find us: Come hang out with me on Instagram: @renee_warren Connect with Dan: @danmartell Watch the full episodes on YouTube: Renée Warren I'd love to see you at the Pink Skirt Project Summit, July 9-10 in Kelowna, BC!

You know that feeling when something goes sideways and you react before you can stop yourself, and then you replay it all day wishing you'd handled it differently? That moment, the 90 seconds right after something goes wrong, is where everything is actually decided. It feels invisible, but it's the whole reason some people stay calm and grounded while the rest of us spiral. So if you react first and regret it later, this one's for you. In this episode, you'll learn: The one thing to do in the moment that saves you from spiralling Why your pauses are better proof of growth than your wins How to catch the moments you would have reacted before, and didn't Why regulating your emotions is the work behind everything else ✅ If your business has started to feel heavier than it should, DM me the word "CEO" on Instagram and I'll send you my free Scaling Structure Stack worksheet. Where to find me: Come hang out with me on Instagram: @renee_warren Watch the full episodes on YouTube: Renée Warren I'd love to see you at the Pink Skirt Project Summit, July 9-10 in Kelowna, BC!

Kelowna, Canada based Singer/Songwriter Danaii shares about the challenges and joys of putting together her brand new EP titled “My Garden.” Connect with Danaii on Instagram here.Listen to Danaii's new album here.Share your thoughts on this episode in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Write Songs You Love Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ group.To join the Write Songs You Love Member calls, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://writesongsyoulove.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ to expand and nurture your creativity!

Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help.Other ways to support the showFollow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/This week I'm joined by KnowleDJ — and this is a slightly different one for the show. He's the first Canadian I've had on since about episode two, and he's built a career that doesn't really look like anyone else's. He grew up in Kelowna, a small city in British Columbia, started out as a hip hop promoter to pay his tuition, and got talked into DJing by a club owner who wanted him to do college nights. He was a "hip hopper for life" who couldn't stand the idea of playing anything else — until the money, and then the music, changed his mind. From there it's cruise ships playing to wildly diverse crowds, an economics degree feeding into how he thinks about the whole game, and eventually opening for the Backstreet Boys, Ice Cube and Ariana Grande, and running the after-parties for No Doubt's Sphere residency.What I really wanted to get into was the thinking underneath all of that. We talk about cultural deference and why you have to prove you've done the digging before a crowd trusts you. We get into ADHD, diet and the idea of conscientiousness as a cheat code. He walks me through the worst gig of his life — a Vegas set he says was sabotaged, which blacklisted him for years — and the fate-tipping opportunities that came after. There's a genuinely moving stretch about Fat Man Scoop, who mentored him and passed away the very night Knowledge told him he'd played "Be Faithful." And we finish on the economics of it all: why he built himself a "category of one," what blue ocean strategy and ikigai have to do with DJing, and why, with his book The DJ Diaries on the way, he still believes music is the answer.In this episode we get into:Growing up in Kelowna and going from hip hop promoter to open-format DJReading diverse crowds on the cruise ships, and learning that people hear music differentlyShowing cultural deference — proving you've dug deep before a crowd trusts youRebuilding the No Doubt set from scratch, and the real story behind "Don't Speak"ADHD, diet, and conscientiousness as a cheat code (the OCEAN model)The brain science of doing hard things, and telling yourself a realistic storyLearning the mic, the art of the warm-up, and getting over stage frightThe worst gig of his life and being blacklisted in VegasOpening for Ariana Grande, Backstreet Boys and Ice Cube — and reading GA crowdsFat Man Scoop's quiet, huge influence on hip hop — and a tragic full-circle momentThe economics of DJing: supply and demand, a "category of one," blue ocean strategy and ikigaiThe DJ Diaries, what's next, and the idea of the "otrovert"

Options of nicknames for Cole Young, Need to know, Buy or sell -  -Cal Raleigh still finishes the 2026 season as the M's HR leader? -The Seahawks win Best Team at the ESPY's? (They are up against...(WS champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA champion New York Knicks, the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, the NCAA football national champion Indiana Hoosiers, the NCAA softball national champion Texas Longhorns, and the Team USA men’s and women’s gold medal Olympic hockey teams.) -Buy or Sell that a vacation to Kona, Hawaii with the Huards would be more fun than a trip to Kelowna, British Columbia with the Salks? -The M's part ways with a big prospect like Felnin Celesten at the deadline this year?

Matty Rose and Mike Klukas break down the Stampeder's first victory on the season, a win against BC up in Kelowna. They also rehash the loss to the Riders and tee up the Stampede Bowl Thursday at McMahon. All that and Mike gives his letter grade on the Calgary Flames NHL Draft! The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate. This show is produced by Connor Gronsdahl and Shan Virjee Get full Flames games and great shows like Quick 60: The Stamps Show, Wranglers Watch and more ON DEMAND.

Ever walked out of a networking event and replayed the whole thing, picking apart everything you said? You're not alone, and it's not because you're not confident. It's because no one ever taught you how to speak in those rooms. So if you want to feel like yourself in any room, this one's for you. In this episode, you'll learn: The one move most people are too scared to make Why saying "I don't know" makes you more trustworthy, not less How to use your stories as your proof Why faking it almost always backfires ✅ DM me the letters "CC" on Instagram and I'll send you the Confidence Code, the Unapologetic Guide to Your Dream Life in 30 Days. Where to find me: Come hang out with me on Instagram: @renee_warren Watch the full episodes on YouTube: Renée Warren I'd love to see you at the Pink Skirt Project Summit, July 9-10 in Kelowna, BC!

Nobody plans to let their marriage slide, it just happens slowly, you get busy, the kids need everything, and one day you feel more like roommates than best friends. After 16 years with my husband, I can tell you a marriage never gets better by accident, only by design. So, if your marriage is good but you don't want it on autopilot, this one's for you. In this episode, you'll learn: The simple rhythms that keep us close The promises we make and actually keep for each other Why Dan says he prioritizes me over the kids The one check-in that catches the little problems before they grow ✅ Want my power couple playbooks? Grab them here: https://www.reneewarren.com/playbooks Where to find us: Come hang out with me on Instagram: @renee_warren Connect with Dan: @danmartell Watch the full episodes on YouTube: Renée Warren I'd love to see you at the Pink Skirt Summit, July 9-10 in Kelowna, BC!

I used to think respect was something you earned by being more impressive. So I built the business, raised the babies, did the hard things, and still walked into rooms and shrank, handing my authority to whoever looked more important. They weren't more impressive, they'd just stopped asking permission before I did. So if you're still shrinking in rooms you know you've earned your place in, this one's going to hit. In this episode, you'll learn: Why you command respect by being unavailable for disrespect The exact moment your authority leaks out of the room How people-pleasing trains people to overlook you Why the woman who commands the room is never the loudest ✅ DM me the letters "CC" on Instagram and I'll send you the Confidence Code, the Unapologetic Guide to Your Dream Life in 30 Days. Where to find me: Come hang out with me on Instagram: @renee_warren Watch the full episodes on YouTube: Renée Warren I'd love to see you at the Pink Skirt Project Summit, July 9-10 in Kelowna, BC!

Harmony sits down with her fellow Canadian and spinal energetics colleague, Mel Brandt — chiropractor, coach, and founder of a new paradigm for healer-entrepreneurs. After 18 years building a multidisciplinary chiropractic clinic in Kelowna, BC, Mel recently sold her practice to step fully into the work she believes she was always meant to do: helping healers clear the energetic and subconscious blocks that keep them playing small in their businesses and their lives. What begins as a conversation about spinal energetics quickly opens into something much larger: the emotional roots of physical pain, the limiting scope of institutional medicine, the spiritual initiation of selling a business you built from scratch, and the deep identity work required to ask yourself, "Who am I without what I do?" Mel shares how a back injury she couldn't heal using conventional methods led her to German New Medicine — and the revelation that her pain was actually part of a healing phase, not a sign that something was broken. She traces her path from that awakening through subconscious coaching, spinal energetics training, and ultimately the decision to fully release her clinic identity and build something new. Together, Harmony and Mel explore why healers so often undervalue their services, what makes coaching categorically different from training, and why the discomfort of evolving is — for both of them — far less painful than the discomfort of staying put. This episode is for anyone navigating a calling that doesn't fit inside the box they've been living in. Key Topics Covered Spinal energetics as a bridge between physical anatomy and energetic healing German New Medicine and the emotional-conflict roots of chronic pain Why BC chiropractic scope limits prevented integration of energy work Identity dissolution: releasing 18 years as a clinic owner The healer's wound: compassion, undervaluing services, and the fear of being salesy Coaching vs. training — the mirror vs. the curriculum Insurance-covered care and the mindset it creates in clients Accountability, skin in the game, and 'jumping timelines' Outgrowing professional communities without making it mean something about you Spinal energetics as ritual: structure holding spontaneous transformation About Mel Brandt Mel Brandt is a chiropractor, certified spinal energetics practitioner, and business coach based in Kelowna, British Columbia. She founded and ran a multidisciplinary health clinic for 18 years, growing it to 16 practitioners before selling in early 2026 to focus entirely on her coaching work. Mel now helps healers, coaches, and practitioners expand their impact, clear subconscious blocks, and build businesses that are aligned with their deeper purpose. Her current signature programs blend spinal energetics, subconscious work, and business strategy for practitioners ready to move beyond the treatment room.   Guest Links & Resources Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbrandtrewired/ https://melbrandt.com/beyond-the-table   Host Announcement: Portugal Sessions Harmony Slater will be offering in-person spinal energetics sessions in Portugal this summer:• Lisbon (Agora Lisboa): June 25–28• Faro: July 8–12DM @harmonyslaterofficial on Instagram to book. The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermind FIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/ Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/ Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/ FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Harmony sits down with her fellow Canadian and spinal energetics colleague, Mel Brandt — chiropractor, coach, and founder of a new paradigm for healer-entrepreneurs. After 18 years building a multidisciplinary chiropractic clinic in Kelowna, BC, Mel recently sold her practice to step fully into the work she believes she was always meant to do: helping healers clear the energetic and subconscious blocks that keep them playing small in their businesses and their lives. What begins as a conversation about spinal energetics quickly opens into something much larger: the emotional roots of physical pain, the limiting scope of institutional medicine, the spiritual initiation of selling a business you built from scratch, and the deep identity work required to ask yourself, "Who am I without what I do?" Mel shares how a back injury she couldn't heal using conventional methods led her to German New Medicine — and the revelation that her pain was actually part of a healing phase, not a sign that something was broken. She traces her path from that awakening through subconscious coaching, spinal energetics training, and ultimately the decision to fully release her clinic identity and build something new. Together, Harmony and Mel explore why healers so often undervalue their services, what makes coaching categorically different from training, and why the discomfort of evolving is — for both of them — far less painful than the discomfort of staying put. This episode is for anyone navigating a calling that doesn't fit inside the box they've been living in. Key Topics Covered Spinal energetics as a bridge between physical anatomy and energetic healing German New Medicine and the emotional-conflict roots of chronic pain Why BC chiropractic scope limits prevented integration of energy work Identity dissolution: releasing 18 years as a clinic owner The healer's wound: compassion, undervaluing services, and the fear of being salesy Coaching vs. training — the mirror vs. the curriculum Insurance-covered care and the mindset it creates in clients Accountability, skin in the game, and 'jumping timelines' Outgrowing professional communities without making it mean something about you Spinal energetics as ritual: structure holding spontaneous transformation About Mel Brandt Mel Brandt is a chiropractor, certified spinal energetics practitioner, and business coach based in Kelowna, British Columbia. She founded and ran a multidisciplinary health clinic for 18 years, growing it to 16 practitioners before selling in early 2026 to focus entirely on her coaching work. Mel now helps healers, coaches, and practitioners expand their impact, clear subconscious blocks, and build businesses that are aligned with their deeper purpose. Her current signature programs blend spinal energetics, subconscious work, and business strategy for practitioners ready to move beyond the treatment room.   Guest Links & Resources Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbrandtrewired/ https://melbrandt.com/beyond-the-table   Host Announcement: Portugal Sessions Harmony Slater will be offering in-person spinal energetics sessions in Portugal this summer:• Lisbon (Agora Lisboa): June 25–28• Faro: July 8–12DM @harmonyslaterofficial on Instagram to book. The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermind FIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/ Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/ Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/ FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the MLB Players Association submitting its first CBA proposal to the league and the comparisons to the NHL ahead of their previous lockouts, and Bryan shares his top five reasons for Leafs fans to be optimistic. TSN Hockey Analyst Frank Corrado joins the show to discuss his and O-Dog's time in Kelowna, his pick to win the Memorial Cup, what he's hearing around the 2026 NHL Draft, and if Dobes steals the show in Game 4 at the Bell Centre.