There are currently 32 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 30 First Nations communities across Canada. The lastliftedadvisory was October 2024. The most recent added advisory was September 2024.
A Traitors Canada update on Dark Poutine’s Mike Browne.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
If you’re not watching this season of The Traitors Canada (Crave) and are just here for the lore, I still can’t recommend watching it enough. The imposter-style show is about half way through its season and not one Traitor has been caught. The Traitors continue to dominate, picking off Faithful after Faitherful. The latest victim? Our boy Mike Browne, host of Dark Poutine.
Cue Sarah McLachlan’s song Angel.
After 6 exhausting episodes of this seasons Faithfuls being loudly and proudly wrong about their suspected Traitors, it was clear that #TeamMike was never safe. After spending the first few episodes being accused, Mike was lucky to see the tables turn and finally catch a break. To make matters worse, he continued to be the only one of a few people to correctly (unknowningly) identify a Traitor. The problem is that on The Traitors, Mike’s new found trust from the group made him a perfect target for murder. And so, at the end of episode 6, Mike’s game came to an end. “Anyone who’s looked at as a Faithful, I don’t think should be staying in this game — other than me!” said Traitor, Neda, during Mike’s murder. Game over.
As short and sweet journey for #TeamMike on this season of Traitors Canada, but I’d say Mike handled it with the intellect and grace we all expected from him.
So let this be a lesson to you, to never question the insticts of a True Crime podcaster!
How Queer in Alberta built a podcast audience from TikTok's FYP.
It’s widely understood across the podcasting industry that views from short form content like TikTok, Instagram reel and YouTube shorts don’t often translate into podcast listeners — though the nature of that metric of success continues to change.
But what does it look like when the foundation podcast audience is born form TikTok views? Well, that’s exactly the story for the podcast Queer in Alberta.
During the pandemic, Kels Valenzuela Delamarter, a queer Filipino-Canadian in Lethbridge, Alberta, was feeling incredibly isolated. That’s when she decided to put out a video on TikTok, calling out to fellow queer Albertans who were feeling the same way as her. The video exploded. “I was getting so much engagement from viewers–thousands of people commenting on my videos,” Kels told me. “I had over 60 people email me in a week wanting to chat with me. At that time it was just like, ‘let's have a zoom conversation’. And then as I started doing them and releasing clips online, people just wanted naturally to listen to the full conversation. That was when I was like, perhaps a podcast is something to explore!“
Since it’s launch, Queer in Alberta has picked up some really great traction, with the third season is set to launch on TELUS Optic TV in the Spring of 2025. Kels has also walked in numerous local Pride Parades and taken part in a variety of speaking gigs surrounding her work on the show, including the recent PodSummit in Calgary, where I finally got to meet her!
I talked to Kels about what it was like to build a podcast from a community of TikTok viewers, the challenges and benefits that came from that, and what it means to create a podcast in collaboration with community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Paid subscribers can listen to the whole thing as a podcast released later this month!
KL: There's this notion in podcasting that what you put out on TikTok or social media isn't going to translate to many podcast listeners. But you actually had a demand for the long form content.
So tell me more about the differences between building and finding community on TikTok versus through a podcast–tell me all the juice there.
KD: ‘The juice’, that's fun. I'm going to use that in my every day.
KL: I don't think that's an actual phrase. It just kind of came out of my mouth.
KD: It is today. ‘The juice’, let's get into it.
When I first started posting on Tik Tok during the pandemic, not only were we isolated physically, socially, but I really felt isolated in terms of my queerness. So I was like, ‘I got to go onto social media or something just to have queer media queer content in my life’. I didn't think I was gonna be making content myself. But very very quickly lots of people started to engage with the content, speaking to that aspect of ‘we also live in Alberta. We also feel isolated’. There was a lot of community building there.
TikTok, from my experience and the experience of a lot of my friends who also create content there, is that you might have a big number of followers but your content doesn't always get to that number [of views]. You have X many thousand [followers] but 300 people see your video kind of thing. That can be a little frustrating to have your voice silenced or your reach cut short as a creator. I especially see it happening with either racialized or marginalized [creators]. We get flagged on our content as spam or ‘inappropriate,’ and you get shadow banned essentially. That can be really really frustrating when you there's demand for the content but then you can't get it out.
KL: So when you started the podcast and you knew people were interested in it, what were the numbers that you expected to see in the translation of people over [from TikTok] to the podcast?
KD: I mean when I started it, there was such strong engagement and the podcast has done really, really well and continues to grow! The emails and feedback, it's really full circle and meaningful.
But we're releasing video clips [and] those will always do better. I think they're so small and digestible, and we live in a time that everything is instant validation. The videos will always do better for me at least so far than the full 50 minute podcast episode.
KL: Sometimes I think people think about podcasts coming from marginalized communities as being good education tools, but many can just be safe spaces for people. So where's your head at in terms of how Queer in Alberta exists as a tool for change?
KD: It's been impossible not to have those questions float up as I've been doing this – where it's like, ‘who is this for?’
It started off, and will always remain, for queer people, created by queer people. But one thing that I noticed early on is when you're within any community, you're really familiar with the terminology, the experiences, language. Quickly, I had feedback from parents who were like, ‘I don't know what these terms are’!
I was just reading a book called Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. One thing she talks about is coming to this point of realization that she could be more powerful having social conversations about change when she's with community rather than as an individual trying to change every person's mind, or fighting and arguing and you're not hearing one another.
The reason I bring that up is one thing on the show I always say quite often is that ‘no one person can represent all of us’. Any part of their identity or whole community as just that one voice. So the people that are on the show, myself, this is how we feel as individuals about this specific thing. Not how every queer Filipino lesbian feels or how every queer biracial feels.
KL: Do you ever think about your show as being a reflection of a journey that you're going through? Because I can't help but see it that way as a producer and storyteller. But I can imagine where it might just feel you're doing important interviews and highlighting people's lived experiences and maybe you don't think so much about your own journey.
KD: This is an interesting note editing wise because the podcast has been funded three times by Tell A Story hive. They film way early on and typically don't come out for eight to around nine months later. I have a bit of time to reflect on what's changed since they were originally shot. That's why you'll see me coming in the intro and giving a bit of a life update. So it's almost been this journey that I've been going on and sharing the updates of my life with the audience. I do feel that really special connection with them and wanting to open up and be a bit more vulnerable.
KL: I think it's an important practice for making a compelling podcast–people just really want to know more about who their host is! I also think it's a really important role for podcasts that are rooted in trying to build a community.
KD: TELUS was really, really beneficial in encouraging that shift for me, especially my project manager, Georgina Chaplin! Me starting this, not really having that much podcasting exposure, I kind of felt like I fell into it by natural happy accident and maybe undervalued what I brought as a host. Georgina really cemented for me that even though anybody could have done this project, there is something special about the way that I chose to do it.
I think my undergrad really influenced this–I studied anthropology at the University of Lethbridge. Typically, European settler or white folks studying minority communities, racialized folks, etc, etc. That colonial legacy is still there. Being a racialized student, it felt really uncomfortable at points to study these things by people that I did not feel had the authority to be writing about different communities. All to say that when I think about engaging with communities, I really think you need to be connected. You cannot claim to speak for community if you're not connected to it.
KL: How do you want to see podcasts being used as a tool of resistance?
KD: I love the accessibility of it. I think if you have a passion, that is the thing that comes through. Even if the microphone is a little crappy sounding or the video isn't there, [passion] will get listeners hooked more than the 4K set up. I really look forward to seeing podcasts that are coming up in Alberta. It is so cool to see other folks talking about queer stories wherever they are, whether it's Calgary or small towns. It's so amazing to see demographics and groups that historically have not had the mic be able to take center stage but also do it on their own terms.
I think so often queer stories or racialized stories, marginalized stories, are framed from a point of struggle and hardship. There is so much richness and depth to anyone's experience beyond just hardship.
KL: On that note, what's the queerest thing about your podcast?
KD: Ah, I don't even know how to answer that, Diva! The queerest thing about my podcast? Is it my haircut?
The catalogue of the enigmatic, brilliant, and sometimes flawed rock legends, Queen.
Each episode a Queen song is chosen at random by hosts, Kev and Randy. Kev — the Queen afficionado — joins Randy — the music-biz guy — to discuss. But will the song ultimately get an upvote or downvote?
A podcast about Indigenous storytelling focused on ghost stories and creepy tales from the Rez.
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
New Releases:
Oct 21, 2024 —A new podcast has joined the Sound Off Podcast Network; ReluctantlywithEdmonton radio vet, Terry Evans. The show features remarkable people with fantastic stories that deserve to be heard. Tom Cochrane joins Terry in the latest episode.
Nov 6, 2024 — Actual play podcast No Quest for the Wicked has launched a new series: No Jobs for the Wicked! The new Starfinder series is GM’d by Niall Spain, with a new theme song done by him to boot! No Jobs for the Wicked is a space opera in the vein of Office Space / Guardians of the Galaxy set in a dystopian capitalist space system after the Drift has collapsed.
Nov 6, 2024 — The Walrus Lab has launched a the new season of Canadian Time Machine, and its French counterpart, Voyages dans l’histoire canadienne. Each episode of both shows marks a key anniversary in Canada’s history, offering listeners a deep dive into significant events and figures that have shaped our nation.
Nov 6, 2024 — The ninth season of CBC’s Someone Knows Something is here! Host David Ridgen follows the story of Christine Harron, an Ontario teenager who disappeared in 1993. In 2011, he made a documentary film for CBC News, which caused police to reopen the investigation and ultimately got the killer to confess. The case got very little attention, and made no progress, until David started poking at it.
You should know…
PodSummit YYC has announced it will return to The Grand on September 19th - 20th, 2025! From their press release: “Since wrapping up PodSummit YYC 2024, we’ve been diligently refining our vision for 2025, building on the incredible success of this year’s event. The Grand will once again provide the perfect backdrop for our summit, allowing us to continue to foster connections and build the community - we can’t wait to welcome you back for another unforgettable experience!”
Why do some people enjoy listening to podcasts at 1.5x and 2x speed? CBC News recently did some digging into what’s going on in the podcast listening brain. Give it a read!
In an interesting move, the podcast Women of Ill Repute has decided to pivot the podcast to a subscription-based Substack ! The podcast remains major podcast platforms, but as articuled in Broadcast Dialogue “the veteran broadcasters acknowledge the podcast, which was produced by the Sound Off Podcast Network, was a harder project to take on than they’d anticipated, including the challenge of finding sponsors.”
ON AIR FEST 2025 has put out an open call for pitches! The exclusive event is set to have multiple stages, a screening/listening room, an experience hall, performance spaces for music and sound art, and more, and are looking for pitches for sessions, experiences, performances, or installations, centered on the live experience of the event. More info here, deadline is November 25th!
Annalise Neilsen has launched a new blog series on the Pacific Content newsletter: The Blue Collar Opportunity. The profile of the “average” podcast listener has changed dramatically in the last 5+ years, and continues to evolve rapidly. The problem is that most brands don’t seem to know this. The series is set to highlight the different opportunities brands are leaving on the table by NOT jumping into podcasting.
has tripped and started another podcast again, and you could be on it! The new show, Podcast Elevator Pitch, invites producers and hosts of limited-run series to share why they’re pumped about what they’ve made. Check out the submission form.
It’s report season!
The 2024 Podcast Marketing Trust Index report is out from Quill and Ipsos. One of the many insightful conclusions in the report found that three-in-five Americans listen to podcasts (59%). Among them, one-third discover podcasts through social media (34%), and over one-quarter do so through recommendations from friends (30%), or by searching online (24%).
Podcast Marketing Academy’s 2024 Podcast Marketing Trends Report comes out tomorrow, including data from over 500 respondents sharing their podcast marketing practices — 234 of them sharing their full monthly download data. The report is free with no opt-in required to view it in its entirety.
