BONUS: Dispatches from Pod the North LIVE!
What happened at the Pod the North anniversary party?
On the morning of Thursday October 5th, 2023 I was sat in the backseat of my parents car as we headed into Toronto for a very exciting day ahead.
The anniversary celebration of Pod the North would be that night!
Sitting there in the backseat brought me back to 2010, when the Laurs drove me into the city to drop me off (indefinitely) as I started my first year at Toronto Metropolitan University. As an only child, my parents have always been my #1 Hype People, and this time around we had already spent a lot of the night prior eagerly chatting about the Pod the North LIVE event.
I felt a ton of familiar butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of what was ahead. Then, once we were finally parked in Toronto, I found myself stuck, child-locked inside my parents car, at 30 years of age.
But the night went off without a hitch!
(Excluding one dramatic microphone.)
Around 7pm, people started really rolling into the Buddies and Bad Times Theatre at 12 Alexander Street — many of my close friends, but plenty of podcasters and industry folk, including the likes of CBC Podcasts, No Quest for the Wicked and the F*ck Buddies Podcast, The Sonar Network, Signal Hill Insights, and ‘s .
I kicked the show off with some announcements from the Canadian podcasting ecosystem…
Announcements that may or may not have made it on stage:
A brand new spooky pod has launched, just in time for Hallowe’en!
Mourning After Dark is your front page for the unusual and unexplained — exploring creepy jobs, bizarre news headlines, cryptids, paranormal encounters, freaky folklore, and so much more! Find it on your favourite podcast platform, or leave a rating and review!
"Indigenous: Beaver, Buffalo and a Beautiful Idea, with Joe Urie of The Jasper Tour Company", a recent episode off At Home and Abroad with Harris and Walker is a must-listen. They contemplate National Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30th. Follow and subscribe to At Home and Abroad wherever you find your favourite podcasts!
If you’re curious about a type of taboo science that is being used for our food, you’ll love a new podcast called A CRISPR Bite. Scientists say CRISPR gene-editing technology has the power to change our world, but most people have still never heard of it. On A CRISPR Bite, food anthropologist Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr takes you inside the labs where researchers are tinkering with food genes. From making tomatoes that could help relieve stress, to soybeans with more protein, the show unpacks the big questions about what all of this means for our food systems, climate and for you. It may sound like science fiction, but it's our present and our future.
Cue6 Theatre proudly announces a new nine-episode podcast, FEEDBACK, a Comedy of Impeccable Customer Service. This limited series audio drama follows the story of Akbar Shazhad, an aspiring drag queen and overly-dedicated phone company representative. Feedback blends mystery, sharply observed comedy, and social satire – think The White Lotus meets This American Life. Check it out starting October 24th, and follow Cue6 Theatre on Instagram @Cue6Theatre.
Rooked: The Cheaters' Gambit is a BRAND NEW true-ish crime podcast that unravels the 2022 Sinquefield Cup chess cheating scandal — also known as the Hans Niemann vs Magnus Carlsen vibrating anal beads affair. This story made headlines because, duh, a grandmaster chess player cheating via anal beads is hilarious and titillating...but shockingly, that's not even the wildest part of this story. Join indie podcasting couple Jess and Ryan as they explain the details of the case, look into the players involved, interview experts, explore other chess scandals, and try to get to the bottom - some pun intended - of this highly dramatic case of elite chess cheating. Subscribe to Rooked: The Cheaters' Gambit and listen in to a new episode on the first Tuesday of every month!
A comedic fantasy is wrapping up its second season. Wilzerlott is an ancient magical kingdom recording its hilarious adventures for future cave people like you. Visit a world of dragons, time travel, and sappy heroics. A place where bug bites cause spontaneous song, criminals become frogs, and one Ex-Royal Sorcerer seeks ambitious revenge. Featuring a full cast with immersive sound effects, Wilzerlott is family friendly. Content warnings: one exploding castle, occasional dragon violence, and a cannon of giant boogers. Season two’s Q&A episode is coming soon. Submit questions for the princess and the time traveler at wilzerlott@gmail.com and the characters will answer them on the show!
This year for Mental Illness Awareness Week 2023, Heather and Sarah Taylor — sisters and co-hosts of Braaains — created the three-part mini-series called, You’re Not Alone: Navigating Life with Mental Illness, which launched October 3rd. It explores mental illness and the barriers that can block your journey to good mental health. With their expert guests, they discuss how stigmas, diagnoses, and disclosure are represented on film and television, on programs like Atlanta, Never Have I Ever, Heartbreak High, Special, and Not Dead Yet. Subscribe to Braaains and listen to the mini-series for Mental Illness Awareness Week!
Harbinger Media is an award-winning non-profit podcast community covering news and current events through original and independent journalism, and features 60 shows and more than 100 hosts across the country! In a time of polycrisis, Harbinger Media is rooted in a commitment to social justice, critical journalism and community mobilization, bringing together journalists, activists and academics who explore progressive ideas in interviews, documentaries and round-table discussions – all free and accessible to the public. Join the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who listen to Harbinger podcasts every year and find out more, at harbingermedianetwork.com
There's a new Prairie True Crime podcast. The first two episodes of In Her Defence are out now! Helen Naslund was sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing her abusive husband at their farm in Camrose, Alberta. In Her Defence has Helen tell her own story, wth more exclusive interviews with family, friends and legal experts to understand Helen's fight for freedom. Follow In Her Defence wherever you get your podcasts — right now!
Season Three of Clearing a New Path podcast launches on October 18! The podcast is focused on building a more united, feminist, anti-oppressive rural Canada. This season's strategy is driven by post-secondary students from the Venture for Canada Intrapreneurship program. Bookmark and subscribe: clearinganewpathpodcast.com/podcast to get their new Substack newsletter.
Don't Call Me Resilient has just launch its 6th season ... bringing you the news, through a sharply-focused anti-racist lens. Follow Don't Call Me Resilient on your favourite podcast app so you don't miss an episode - and if you love what they're doing, leave a rating or review, too!
Medical assistance in dying, aka MAiD, has been legal in Canada since 2016, and as the legislation evolves, understanding what it is, what it means for Canadians, that there are two tracks of eligibility criteria, and what it might look like in years to come can be confusing and daunting. Join Kathy Kortes-Miller and Keri-Lyn Durant as they have hard, tender, and necessary conversations with Canadians weighing in on assisted dying from myriad perspectives and help keep the important conversations happening about MAiD in Canada on their podcast, Disrupting Death. Tune in where you get your podcasts or please visit www.disruptingdeath.ca to subscribe and recommend a guest they need to talk with about MAiD.
Remember, you can always share your Canadian podcasting news with me by either replying directly to the newsletter email, leaving a comment on Substack, or sending an email through my website!
Then, it was time for the real show to begin, featuring…
Butt Out Baby x 30 Going On 13
I met Maddy Foley first this year at Podcamp Toronto, where we pretty quickly found ourselves discussing the perils of indie podcasting. I was immediately intregued by her show with Liv Collict, 30 Going On 13, a show that talks about all the teen movies and TV shows from the 90’s and 00’s that “ruined us”. Maddy and Liv are both talented comedians, and bingeing their podcast had me cracking up out-loud on the Go Train on day as they discussed The Punisher from the show Uh-Oh
I knew they’d be a hilarious fit to collab with someone like Ellie Gordon-Moershel, the host and producer of Butt Out Baby, which is a podcast that dissects every scene of Dirty Dancing (1987). Ellie is an accomplished producer in general, with credits on notable podcasts like 99% Invisible and Thunderbay, and she has a really clever way of thinking about film through a feminist lens. In fact, Butt Out Baby has been a re-occuring favourite for fellow podcast newsletter writer,
!Their live show did not disappoint. The three women came with a riduclous amount of slides to show the audience, about 80% of them AT LEAST clad in Comic Sans (of which future listeners of the live show will just have to imagine). Together, they dissected the 2002 movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a cult-classic for Millenial Torontonians. They had the audience cracking up at why the classic Rom-Com Shovel Talk Trope ain’t it, and why the movie’s love interest, Ian Miller (aka Sex and the City’s Aidan Shaw), probably isn’t the one for lead character, Toula.
I’m still cleaning up the audio from these recordings (I mentioned that one faulty microphone), so the show isn’t available yet to listen to, but keep an idea on the Butt Out Baby and 30 Going On 13 feeds for when it’ll be available to listen to!
REDsurgence x You Made Me Queer
Let me just say this, You Made Me Queer’s Trevor Campbell is made for the stage. It was totally evident that the live show for Pod the North LIVE wasn’t his first rodeo. Trevor’s show, much like his stage presence, is warm and inviting, whitty and totally forthright, and he and Riley Yesno together on stage made the whole venue feel like we were one big friend group.
I was really excited to see Riley Yesno of the REDsurgence podcast join Trevor for this collaboration on stage. After lurking Riley’s Twitter and seeing that she was recently engaged, I knew Riley would have plenty to share about love and her queerness, and she did not dissapoint — coming armed with an incredible collage depicting her queer awakening.
REDsurgence is also one of my favourites for unpacking nuanced Indigenous issues in so-called Canada, and really around the world. One of my favourite episodes is the one about Afro-Indigeniety that I highly recommend checking out. That’s why I was excited that instead of YMMQ’s typical game segment, Riley and Trevor took to the audience for an “Indigequeer Temp Check”, where the audience got to judge a variety of seemlingly random things, rank them on how “Indigequeer” they were on their phones, and get Riley’s reaction to the results.
What was the most “Indigequeer” of them all? Jessica and Roger Rabbit.
See the rest of the results below…
Keep an eye on the You Made Me Queer and REDsurgence feeds to listen back to the show!
Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
The headliner act from CBC Podcasts, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, did NOT come to play. For Commotion’s first live show ever (!!), they absolutely stacked the stage with powerhouse pop culture critics including, Niko Stratis (Blue Eyes Crying By The Chips), Rad Simonpillai, and Kathleen Newman-Bremang (R29 Unbothered).
Together they discussed why people are so obsessed with celebrity power couples, and had Elamin fuming at the thought that Taylor Swift might just be a master strategist.
I swear, the more I listen to this show, the more I think it’s just Elamin’s secret excuse to be a die-hard Swiftie and get paid for it.
Commotions live show was was broadcast on CBC Radio on Monday October 9th (which I listened to with my parents over breakfast, of course), but you can of course listen to it in podcast form now!
After the three live shows, we all mixed, mingled, and had a nice time!
Many thanks are in order!
Thank you to CBC Podcasts, who came through as the Headline Advertiser. Thank you to the entire team for your support, it’s been really incredible to see the enthusiasm coming out of CBC Podcasts and so much interest in fostering community in the Canadian podcasting ecosystem!
Thank you to Pod the North friends, Canadaland, Acast, and Spotify Canada, who came through as Tier 2 advertisers.
Thank you to the wonderful folks who came in as Tier 3 advertisers:
Advertisecast
Bingeworthy, the podcast newsletter by Samatha Hodder
Quill Podcasting
Audio Branding from Jodi Krangle
Stories & Strategies
The Conversation’s podcast, Don’t Call Me Resilient
The Harbinger Media Network
In Her Defence from The Globe and Mail
Podnews
Thank you to the incredible talent on stage, Ellie, Maddy, Liv, Riley, Trevor, Elamin, Rad, Kathleen, and Niko! Thanks as well to Danielle and Gabby who produced the Commotion show.
Thank you to Emma Russell for the amazing show poster that I still can’t get over!
Thank you to my local pals at Brantford Apparel for the awesome tote bags!
Thank you to my sister-in-law, Denise, at Tenacious Sweets for the epic coookies! If you live in or around the Tri-City area, she is your gal for all things cake and cookies.
Thank you to the folks at The Buddies In Bad Times Theatre for all of their help and incredible work: Dan, Julia, Jake, Sarah, Camille, Mason, Richard, and Ronnie.
If you were at Pod the North LIVE, I’d love to hear from you!
Tell me what you thought about:
the curation and collaborations of live podcasts!
the opportunities you may or may not have had to meet other industry folk.
if you have ideas for future events!
if you ended up getting a tote bag!
If you have thoughts or Canadian podcasting news, please share them with me! Leave a comment or reply to the newsletter email.
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Thanks for supporting Pod the North, I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks!
Kattie | @Podkatt
(Find me on Twitter, Threads, Spotify, and Goodpods)
Thank you so much for the shoutout about our new season Kattie and congratulations on such a successful live event! The season 3 launch was delayed but I did send out my first easing-back-into-the-newsletter offering here on Substack yesterday. I’d love to chat about a collab on a rural live event (or two, or more!)
It was an awesome night, thanks Kattie for pulling us all together!