Podcasts about spacing magazine

The prevailing discourse on sustainability is often dominated by high-tech solutions—AI-driven emissions tracking, smart grids, and digital monitoring systems. While these technologies play an important role in measuring and managing environmental impact, they do not address the structural and systemic changes necessary to build a truly sustainable future. The built environment—infrastructure, material use, and urban design—fundamentally shapes environmental outcomes, yet discussions on sustainability frequently overlook low-tech, high-impact solutions in favor of complex monitoring mechanisms. That being said, the increasing reliance on data-driven climate strategies raises concerns about privacy, governance, and the broader role of digital surveillance in environmental policy. Individuals already provide more personal data to private corporations via smartphones than they do to public sustainability initiatives, yet cities continue to struggle with translating environmental data into meaningful action. This raises an essential question: should we focus less on tracking sustainability and more on embedding it into infrastructure, construction, and urban planning from the outset? This week on Beyond the Headlines, we examine the intersection of sustainability, infrastructure, and governance. How can we integrate low-tech, scalable solutions into urban design and construction to reduce environmental impact without reliance on constant monitoring? What role do transportation networks, material efficiency, and land-use planning play in driving sustainability outcomes? And how can policymakers balance data collection, climate accountability, and privacy considerations in environmental governance? To explore these critical questions, we are joined by Dr. Shoshanna Saxe, a leading expert in sustainable infrastructure and urban resilience. She is an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto's Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering and holds the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure. Dr. Saxe's research investigates the relationship between infrastructure and society, identifying pathways to align urban development, transportation systems, and material use with long-term sustainability goals. Beyond academia, Dr. Saxe is actively involved in policy and sustainability governance, serving on Waterfront Toronto's Capital Peer Review Panel and the board of the International Society for Industrial Ecology. Recognized as one of Canada's emerging environmental leaders by Clean50, she was also awarded the 2019 Ontario Engineering Medal – Young Engineer. Her research and expert commentary have been widely featured in The New York Times, The BBC, The Toronto Star, The Financial Post, Spacing Magazine, and Wired. Join us as we move beyond the traditional conversation on high-tech climate solutions and critically examine the foundational role of infrastructure, design, and governance in shaping a sustainable future. Produced by: Julia Brahy

Brian interviews John Lorinc. John is a Toronto freelance journalist, editor and ghost-writer. He specializes in cities, climate and technology. Lorinc has contributed to numerous national and local publications including The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Spacing Magazine, Walrus, Canadian Business, Reader's Digest, and the New York Times. He delves into why transit projects, like those by Metrolinx, are so costly and slow to complete. A University of Toronto Cities study highlights "soft costs," such as consultant fees, as a primary reason for these inflated expenses. The discussion also critiques the Triple-P model and the need to reconsider approaches like InfraOntario. This examination raises crucial questions about improving efficiency and accountability in transit infrastructure development.

Author/Journalist Shawn Micallef talks about moving from Windsor to Toronto in 2000, co-founding Spacing Magazine, morphing from writing for Eye Weekly to the Toronto Star, using psychogeography as the backbone of his first book STROLL, the immense ongoing changes in Toronto that led to his recently revising that book, his thoughts on Toronto Star colleague Edward Keenan/urbanist Richard Florida/Mayor Olivia Chow, and why he believes Toronto is like an infinite onion whose layers simply need to be peeled back!   Shawn's newly revised version of Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto is published by Coach House Books and available at https://chbooks.com/Books/S/Stroll-updated-edition Shawn will be appearing live as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors [TIFA] on September 26 at ‘The Heart of the City: Celebrating Toronto'...full details are at https://festivalofauthors.ca/event/the-heart-of-the-city/ TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum at andrew.applebaum@gmail.com All episodes available at https://www.torontolegends.ca/episodes/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the change of the seasons, we talk about different kinds of renewal. First, Senior Editor John Lorinc talks about the special Spacing investigation into the cyber attack on the Toronto Public Library that shut the service down for months. How did it happen, and how do we make sure our public institutions are hacker-proof? And, the latest Spacing Magazine issue is on shelves now. As a preview, we share the full conversation with Toronto Public Space Committee organizer Cara Chellew (available in the issue as a Q&A) about the need for new Toronto street furniture: garbage bins that work, bus shelters that actually provide shelter, and places for people to sit.

It's another spectacular edition of our heroic HARBINGER SOAPBOX SERIES live podcast recording and community event!  This edition, vol.2 - Canada: What Are We Doing Here? features your friends 49th Parahell host Rob Rousseau, Nashwa Lina Khan from Habibti Please, and Tech Won't Save Us host Paris Marx live, on Saturday, March 23rd at the historic Eglise St. Jax basement venue l'Annexe located on rue Saint-Catherine in beautiful downtown Montreal on the same day as the Brian Mulroney state funeral happening a kilometer away, in a conversation talking Tiktok bans, ArriveCAN scandals, Dollar store drama and Israeli Apartheid Week.Hosts: Nashwa Lina Khan is a community educator, facilitator, and researcher. She is also a writer and poet exploring installation and narrative methodologies and has been published in Vice, Rewire, This Magazine, and The New York Times. Nashwa is the host and producer of the podcast projects Muslim Rumspringa and Habibti Please.Rob Rousseau is an independent journalist and political commentator, host of the podcasts 49th Parahell and The Insurgents, as well as the daily livestream TRRS on twitch.tv. His writing has appeared in VICE, Paste Magazine, Canadian Dimension and The Maple.Paris Marx is a Canadian tech writer and host of the award-winning Tech Won't Save Us podcast. He writes the Disconnect newsletter and his work has been published by Time, Wired, CBC News, and more. Paris is also the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.Producer:André Goulet is executive director of Harbinger Media, national coordinator for the independent Canadian journalism community Unrigged, host of the nationally syndicated campus and community radio show Harbinger Showcase and the producer of more than 700 podcast episodes for Spacing Magazine,The Breach Media , the Quebec solidarity journalism cooperative Pivot and others.

Come hangout with Harbinger Media friends as they dig deep into the sorry state of Canadian journalism! Join Rob Rousseau (49th Parahell), Nashwa Lina Khan (Habibti Please), and Paris Marx (Tech Won't Save Us) on January 20th, 8pm at the historic Centre St. Jax basement venue l'Annexe located at1439 rue Saint-Catherine Ouest next to Concordia University in downtown Montreal.This event is licensed BYOB so bring your own beverage of choice with $15 admission or PWYC so bring some cash too. Doors are at 7, the show's at 8 and stay for the afterparty from 10pm till late see you there!Hosts: Nashwa Lina Khan is a community educator, facilitator, and researcher. She is also a writer and poet exploring installation and narrative methodologies and has been published in Vice, Rewire, This Magazine, and The New York Times. Nashwa is the host and producer of the podcast projects Muslim Rumspringa and Habibti Please.Rob Rousseau is an independent journalist and political commentator, host of the podcasts 49th Parahell and The Insurgents, as well as the daily livestream TRRS on twitch.tv. His writing has appeared in VICE, Paste Magazine, Canadian Dimension and The Maple.Paris Marx is a Canadian tech writer and host of the award-winning Tech Won't Save Us podcast. He writes the Disconnect newsletter and his work has been published by Time, Wired, CBC News, and more. Paris is also the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.Producer:André Goulet is executive director of Harbinger Media, national coordinator for the independent Canadian journalism community Unrigged, host of the nationally syndicated campus and community radio show Harbinger Showcase and the producer of more than 700 podcast episodes for Spacing Magazine,The Breach Media , the Quebec solidarity journalism cooperative Pivot and others.

Now that John Tory has officially stepped down as mayor, the field of candidates hoping to replace him is a big one. With roughly 50 candidates on the ballot so far, there's a lot to make sense of. To help weigh the merits of some of the major candidates, and the ideas proposed so far, we talk to Spacing Senior Editor John Lorinc and Toronto Metropolitan University Associate Professor Cheryl Thompson about what stands out in the race so far. And the new Spacing Magazine is available now, and it's all about the Ontario Line — the new subway meant to connect the downtown to the northeast of the city. Civil engineer and University of Toronto Associate Professor Shoshanna Saxe tells us about her latest Spacing contribution about how to get the most value-for-money from the new subway line.

We're five weeks away from the Toronto election, but is the municipal race getting the attention it deserves? We have one scheduled mayoral debate between now and election day, and it will take place at the Toronto Region Board of Trade, on Oct. 17, after the early polls have closed. There's been a lot of criticism directed at Mayor Tory for suppressing the election discourse.. One of those critics being John Lawrence, Senior Editor of Spacing Magazine. He joined guest host, Rubina Ahmed-Haq, and said the lack of debates has an unhealthy impact on local democracy.

What if being a Member of Parliament or Congress had nothing to do with an election, but rather worked like jury duty? What if our officials were seated randomly in a legislature? What if we innovated the very idea of government itself? Dave Meslin says our politics is broken, but instead of repeating this from the sidelines, he's got 100 common-sense fixes. They are all detailed in his fascinating and provocative book, Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up. Ben chats with Dave in Toronto. About the Guest Multi-partisan and fiercely optimistic, Meslin’s presentations focuses on how we can overcome cynicism and create a culture of participation. His unassuming presence, creativity and sense of humour keep audiences enthralled. Meslin encourages those present to find what was important to them and become engaged in the process of promoting change by creative participation. The Toronto Star has described him as “mad scientist”, “a start-up genius” and “a peripatetic public convener”. The Globe and Mail simply calls him a “persuasive rabble rouser”. Dancing between the worlds of mainstream politics and grassroots activism, Meslin has found positive ways to bring them both together and turn energy into action. His TED talk “The Antidote to Apathy” has been viewed over 1.7 million times and translated into 37 languages. A CBC appearance in 2015, involving towers of colourful LEGO, has been watched 2.5 million times on Facebook. Meslin’s resume of non-profit start-ups also includes the Toronto Public Space Committee, the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto, City Idol, Spacing Magazine, Unlock Democracy Canada, the Downtown De-Fence Project, Dazzling Notice Awards, and DandyHorse Magazine. While he feels most comfortable working with small grassroots non-profits, Meslin has also donned a suit and tie and worked as an Executive Assistant at both City Hall and Queen’s Park. Meslin is currently crowd-sourcing 100 Remedies for a Broken Democracy for his next book. Learn more about Dave or follow him on Twitter (@meslin). Mentioned in this Conversation Episode 1 of this podcast, featuring a conversation about populism with political scientist Keith Banting The Magna Carta, literally "great charter, an agreement of rights signed in 1215 by the English monarch and a group of rebel aristocrats. While the charter failed to prevent conflict at the time, it presaged what would come and became a historically vital document for our modern conception of democracy. The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, created by the government of British Columbia in 2004 to investigate changes to the province's electoral system. Data collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union ranks Canada no. 61 (previously 62) in gender representation in government. The Quote of the Week Democracy is never a thing done. Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing. - Archibald MacLeish

Kwende Kefentse, both DJ Memetic and Music Lead for the City of Ottawa, and our host dig into the urban terrain, urban fabric, and politics of the city and music.  He speaks deeply about urban terrain, urban fabric, and music, with the lens of "urban morphology" from his architecture studies in London and work with the city.  He talks about topics as wide-ranging as the origins of hip hop in the South Bronx, trends in music cities where industry and community connect, distribution of music assets in neighborhoods, the music industry as intermediator, city metabolisms for music, missing dynamic models, and the role of media in a city.  He brings the conversation back to his work with TIMEKODE, one of Canada’s most established independent dance parties, and the documentary in progress about its community impact.  Guest: Kwende Kefentse, Cultural Industries Development Officer and Music Lead, City of Ottawa; DJ Memetic; Host and Creative Director, TIMEKODE Kwende Kefentse is the Cultural Industries Development Officer and Music Lead for the City of Ottawa. His work at the intersection of culture, space, public policy and the economy has been featured in outlets like CityLab, Spacing Magazine and Monocle Radio to name a few. Prior to completing a Masters of Research from UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture in Space Syntax Architecture and Cities (2017 - 2018), focussed on the spatial configuration of music industry value chains, Kwende played a leading role developing the council-approved Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Heritage, and Culture (2013 - 2018). Following from that, he led the development of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition - a not-for-profit organization focussed on industry development, and the Ottawa Music Strategy (2018 - 2020) - a council-approved strategy for investing in, and developing the music industry. He now works on day-to-day implementation of the strategy while developing other cultural industry initiatives. Kwende serves on the boards of the Carleton University Art Gallery and FACTOR (Diversity and Inclusion observer) respectively. He is also the locally and internationally renowned producer and performer DJ Memetic, and the host + creative director of TIMEKODE, one of Canada’s most established independent dance parties. Over nearly 15 years of monthly events TIMEKODE has become a beacon of progressive pluralism in Ottawa. His solo + TIMEKODE original productions and remixes have received critical acclaim from international outlets like Vice Thump, Radio Nov and Wax Poetics. Links Mentioned: LinkedIn Twitter @kwendeismemetic City of Ottawa Ottawa Music Industry Coalition Space Syntax: Architecture and Cities @ UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture TIMEKODE: http://timekode.com / http://timekode.tv Richard Florida - Rise of the Creative Class  (on  Amazon) Creative Index Music Policy Forum website and Facebook Santa Fe Institute Urban Morphology NOW Institute Full transcripts can be found at innovatingmusic.org

Merry Christmas! (Though this is far from a holiday-themed podcast.) Yes, it’s a transit themed podcast this Christmas week as we go backward to the Transit Summit and Town Hall hosted by the Transit Action Alliance of Guelph (TAAG) that happened in November to hear from the three out-of-town guests who took part in the festivities. First, there's Vincent Puhakka of the advocacy group TTCRiders. Puhakka has written for the Toronto Star, Torontoist, and Spacing Magazine; and promoted transit action on Newstalk 1010 radio and CBC Metro Morning. At the Transit Summit, Puhakka talked about some of the ways his group has been successful in promoting action on transit in Toronto, and how people can follow in their example. After that it's Sean Marshall, who is a Toronto-based geographer and writer with an interest in public transportation, pedestrian safety, and local politics. Marshall actually appeared on the Guelph Politicast in advance of the Transit Summit, and he talks here again about the long-term challenges of transit development, how preconceived notions stifle innovation, how different transit options have had difficulty getting off the ground, and how we can all help them grow and expand.  And finally, we’ll hear from Terry Johnson, who has been actively involved in campaigning for better bus and train services across Southwestern Ontario since 2011. He's served on the board of Transport Action Ontario for two years, and was elected national president of Transport Action Canada in May 2019. Johnson talked about Transport Action's efforts to raise awareness about the tremendous holes in transit service in Southwestern Ontario, including a report they wrote a couple of years trying to get more attention to the problem. These three speakers layout an interesting case about getting to work on all that needs to be done to deal with the lack of transit options across the province. The challenges are certainly great, but at the same time they made the case that there’s a lot of different things people can do as advocates and users to encourage the creation of more transit options here, and around Ontario. So let's talk about getting better transit options for Christmas on this holiday edition of the Guelph Politicast! If you want to hear more from TAAG, you only have to wait until next week’s edition of the Guelph Politicast for a quarterly discussion on transit issues with TAAG, and our recurring segment, The Transit Pass. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify. Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday. Photo Credit: TAAG Chair Steve Petric leading off the first annual Transit Summit and Town Hall.

Ashley Brook, Adam Bunch and Face2Face host David Peck talk about the new web TV series Canadiana, meteorites and misconceptions, D’Arcy McGee, setting the record straight and why Canadian history isn’t boring. Synopsis The myth-shattering group of historians who traced Québec’s downfall to a love triangle – is launching a second season of stories and adventures from our provocative past.A documentary web series utilizing scenic footage, archival photos and whimsical animation, Canadiana is a team effort of four acclaimed documentary filmmakers Ashley Brook, Kyle Cucco, Josef Beeby - and host Adam Bunch.Their mission: to retell Canadian history the way it should have been told all along, entertainingly, and with an eye for the personalities, clashes, outrages and acts of passion that went into creating a nation. Canadiana is a documentary series on the hunt for the most incredible stories in Canadian history. Featuring playful animations and scenic footage, the series follows host Adam Bunch as he travels across the country, exploring the tales that have made Canada the unique place it is today. From scandalous love triangles to secret experiments, from rebels and freedom fighters to pirates and assassins, we uncover the fascinating and the unexpected. This isn’t the history you learned in school. For more info about the new series and to watch the episodes head here. Biographies: Ashley Brook is a Toronto-based video producer with ten years of experience in the documentary film and factual television industry. She is president at The Canadiana Project and co-creator/producer of the Canadiana series. Aside from her own work, she has credits on a variety of internationally acclaimed projects including series and one-offs for HBO, CBC, Discovery, National Geographic, and VICE; cinematic virtual reality series like Equator 360: The Line of Life; and Canadian theatrical docs like Long Time Running (The Tragically Hip) and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch. Ashley holds a degree in Communications and post-graduate level diplomas in Documentary Filmmaking and Film & Television Post-Production. Adam Bunch is a Canadian author and the creator of The Toronto Dreams Project. His first book, The Toronto Book of the Dead, was nominated for a 2018 Heritage Toronto Award. He writes an history column for Spacing Magazine and his articles about Canadian history have also appeared in The Huffington Post, Torontoist, and Yonge Street. In 2012, his work on The Toronto Dreams Project earned an honourable mention for the Governor General’s History Award for Community Programming; the project has been featured by a variety of media outlets, including CBC Radio’s Metro Morning, The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, and has been put on display by prestigious cultural institutions like the Art Gallery of Ontario. He's a former columnist for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and a former member of the Polaris Music Prize jury. Adam has lectured about history at the Royal Ontario Museum, The Toronto Public Library, PitchTalks, U of T, York University, Seneca College, and Trampoline Hall. Image Copyright: Unlikely Pear Productions. Used with permission. F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission. For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here. With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When Toronto attorney Charles Vance Millar died in 1926, he left behind a mischievous will that promised a fortune to the woman who gave birth to the most children in the next 10 years. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the Great Stork Derby and the hope and controversy it brought to Toronto's largest families during the Great Depression. We'll also visit some Portuguese bats and puzzle over a suspicious work crew. Intro: The programming language Shakespeare produces code that reads like a stage play. In a qualification round for the 1994 Caribbean Cup, Barbados and Grenada seemed to switch sides. Sources for our feature on the Great Stork Derby: Mark M. Orkin, The Great Stork Derby, 1982. In Re Estate of Charles Millar (1937), [1938] 1 D.L.R. 65 (Supreme Court of Canada). Chris Bateman, "Historicist: The Great Stork Derby," Torontoist, Oct. 29, 2016. David Goldenberg, "How a Dead Millionaire Convinced Dozens of Women to Have as Many Babies as Possible," Five Thirty Eight, Dec. 11, 2015. Adam Bunch, "The Great Toronto Stork Derby — Why the City Went Baby Crazy During the Great Depression," Spacing Magazine, July 23, 2013. Steuart Henderson Britt, "The Significance of the Last Will and Testament," Journal of Social Psychology 8:3 (August 1937), 347-353. Peter Edwards, "1926 Will Sparked Toronto's Great 'Stork Derby,'" Toronto Star, Sept. 9, 2006. "Big Family, Big Prize," Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan. 17, 2002. Douglas J. Johnston, "Will Power," The Beaver 81:4 (August/September 2001), 37-39. Marty Gervais, "Stork Derby of '26 Meant to Tweak Beaks of Clergy," Windsor Star, June 23, 2000. Craig Zawada, "Dumb Moments in Legal History," Saskatchewan Business 20:6 (Nov. 1, 1999), 7. Pat MacAdam, "The Mischievous Will: Toronto the Good Left Shaken by Staid Lawyer's Quirky Last Wishes," Ottawa Citizen, Aug. 2, 1999. John Picton, "Lawyer's Will Started Baby Boom," Toronto Star, Feb. 26, 1989. Kathleen Walker, "Stork Derby Strangest of Lawyer's Bequests," Ottawa Citizen, Dec. 14, 1981. Susan Schwartz, "Prim Toronto Was Site of Baby Race," Montreal Gazette, Dec. 9, 1981. "Mrs. Annie Smith," New York Times, Jan. 21, 1948. "Toronto Bequest Provides for Second 'Stork Derby,'" New York Times, March 12, 1946. "Stork Derby Victors Lonely for Children," New York Times, July 6, 1938. "Topics of the Times," New York Times, June 1, 1938. "Last of 'Stork Derby'?", Ottawa Evening Citizen, May 31, 1938. "'Stork Derby' Winners Paid," New York Times, May 30, 1938. "Stork Derby' Prize Awarded 4 Women," New York Times, March 20, 1938. "Justice 'Troubled' in Baby Derby Plea," New York Times, Feb. 27, 1938. "Four Mothers of Nine Win Shares in $500,000 Stork Derby Cash," New York Times, Feb. 13, 1938. "Has Her 12th Baby," New York Times, Jan. 6, 1938. "Stork Derby' Will Upheld on Appeal," New York Times, Dec. 23, 1937. "Toronto Baby Race Upheld on Appeal," New York Times, Feb. 24, 1937. "Lady Astor Declares Stork Derby 'Horror,'" New York Times, Nov. 29, 1936. "Stork Derby Will Upheld by Court," New York Times, Nov. 21, 1936. "'Baby Clause' Held Valid in Millar Will," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 19, 1936. "Ruling on Stork Promised in Week," New York Times, Nov. 17, 1936. "Dr. Hayne Thinks Toronto Mothers in 'Piker' Class," [Spartanburg, S.C.] Herald-Journal, Nov. 4, 1936. "Stork Derby 'Winner' Offers to Split Prize," New York Times, Nov. 2, 1936. "Birth Derby Ends; 6 Mothers in 'Tie,'" New York Times, Nov. 1, 1936. "Reaper at Finish Line in Baby Race," [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, Oct. 30, 1936. "'Stork Derby' Will Is Attacked by Kin," New York Times, Oct. 29, 1936. "Foul Is Claimed in Baby Derby," [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, Oct. 27, 1936. "Stork Derby Rule Taken by Premier," New York Times, Oct. 24, 1936. "To Fight Baby Derby Fund," New York Times, Oct. 16, 1936. "Threats in 'Baby Derby,'" New York Times, Aug. 30, 1936. "Another Baby Enters $500,000 Stork Derby," New York Times, Aug. 18, 1936. "12 in Toronto Stork Race, Parents of 89, Join Party," New York Times, Aug. 1, 1936. "Mrs. Kenny Leads in Stork Derby," Nashua [N.H.] Telegraph, Feb. 6, 1936. "'Dark Horse' in 'Stork Derby' Now Believes in Birth Control," Milwaukee Journal, Nov. 29, 1935. Phillis Griffiths, "Stork Derby Field Scorns Split Prize," New York Times, Sept. 15, 1935. "$500,000 Carried by Toronto Stork," New York Times, Sept. 8, 1935. "Toronto 'Baby' Will Safe," New York Times, Sept. 7, 1935. "12 in Toronto Stork Race, Parents of 89, Join Party," New York Times, Aug. 1, 1936. "The Commonwealth: Birth Race," Time, Dec. 20, 1926. Listener mail: "I Met a Celebrity at the London Openhouse!! Lord Palmerston, The Fuzzy," Reddit London, Sept. 24, 2018. Rachel Nuwer, "Bats Act As Pest Control at Two Old Portuguese Libraries," Smithsonian.com, Sept. 19, 2013. Julie H. Case, "These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats -- and They Like It That Way," Smithsonian.com, June 7, 2018. Patricia Kowsmann, "The Bats Help Preserve Old Books But They Drive Librarians, Well, Batty," Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2018. Universidade de Coimbra Library. Christina Caron, "Zanesville Animal Massacre Included 18 Rare Bengal Tigers," ABC News, Oct. 19, 2011. Kathy Thompson, "Ohio Exotic Animal Owner Speaks Out 1st Time Since Ordeal," [Zanesville, Ohio] Times Recorder, Oct. 18, 2012. "William Walker: Diver Who Saved Winchester Cathedral Remembered," BBC News, Oct. 6, 2018. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listeners Wil, Cassidy, and Sydney, inspired by an item on 99 Percent Invisible (warning -- this link spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

This is the companion episode to the latest issue of Spacing Magazine, with a focus on celebrating women in city building. We talk to Pamela Robinson, associate dean, graduate studies and special programs at Ryerson University, about striving for gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated world of city building, and urban planning. We speak to Toronto Centre for Active Transportation Director Nancy Smith Lea about a recent report geared at tapping into untapped potential cycling demographics. And urban planner Kyle Miller tells us about a personal study he's made of pedestrian and cyclist injuries and death, during what has been a dismal year for road safety in Toronto. Thanks to special guest Melanie Hrymak of Toronto indie theatre company, Headstrong Collective!

Spacing Magazine is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Jane Jacobs Prize, and Spacing Radio has in depth interviews with this year's recipients. Leslie Chudnovsky has devoted 16 years to the Supporting Our Youth mentorship program, guiding LGBTQ+ youth, and providing support across the diverse community. Luke Anderson is the founder of StopGap.ca, a foundation which provides custom made ramps to make businesses more accessible, and educates people about the language of inclusion when we talk about accessibility. Chudnovsky and Anderson perfectly embody the spirit of the award, and it was a pleasure chatting with them. 4sbbzqir

Vass and Allison talk about the new ubiquity of pot shops in Toronto. Should the government be cracking down or should we be enjoying the fleeting weirdness of it? Everyone got mad at Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau again, this time because she wants more office staff. What should the role of Prime Minister's spouse really be? Then we talk to John Lorinc (of Spacing Magazine) and Jay Pitter about their new book: "Subdivided: City-building in an Age of Hyper-diversity." Jay and John tell us why diversity has to be more than a slogan. PLUS Allison surprises Vass with a pot-themed quiz.

How can Torontonians learn to adore their city in the midst of the 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am Games? Shawn Micallef writes about Toronto and urban issues for Spacing Magazine and the Toronto Star. He's also authored The Trouble With Brunch and Stroll from Coach House Books. Micallef brings his own experiences from exploring […]

In this re-launch of the podcast, we take a spring stroll in unexpected places with author and urban enthusiast, Shawn Micallef. He writes about city explorations for The Toronto Star, Spacing Magazine and in his books, The Trouble With Brunch, and Stroll, from Coach House Books. For more, visit http://news.utoronto.ca     Transcript: Strolling with Shawn […]