Radio

ArtsCityCulture

After producing several successful live podcast shows over the past year, the folks over at the arts and culture talk show Edge of the City posed themselves a question. “After so many years at CJLO (Concordia University’s radio station) it really became time to think about where do we go from here?”  says Edge of the City producer and co-host Paul Aflalo. “It came down to two options; go find one of those elusive jobs in radio, or do our own thing.”

After leaving CJLO in September, Edge of the City team of Aflalo, Al Lafrance, Matt Goldberg and Asaf Gerchak (who has since moved to Australia and been replaced by 13th hour host Kirsten Rasmussen) are going full force this Saturday November 24th with the launch of No More Radio, Montreal’s first ever podcast network. “It may take off phenomenally or it may be a complete disaster, but I’m thrilled to be apart of something that’s never been done in Montreal before” Aflalo says.

While it’s anyone’s guess if No More Radio will prove to be a financial success,  Aflalo and company have brought together an impressive creative roster of podcasts for the new network. Along with Edge of City four other podcasts each focusing on different aspects of arts and culture in Montreal will launch this Saturday:

Confabulation is  a all-true live storytelling series that has been going on around Montreal for a few years now, brought to life by Matt Goldberg. Goldberg initially became involved with Edge of the City by producing Confabulation segments for the show, and with his charming and inquisitive personality, eventually evolved into a co-host. Now with Confabulation: The Podcast Goldberg will also host a podcast that will take and expand on aspects from the Confabulation live shows.

Illa Fabulis,  hosted by Angela MacKenzie, will be a monthly podcast where she interviews interesting and inspiring Canadian women, both established and up and coming.

Dirty Feet,  hosted by Allison Burns, Joannie Pharand, J.D Papillon and Jenn Doan will be a weekly podcast devoted to dance and movement based performance arts. The show will feature interviews and discussions with dancers, choreographers and journalists.

Finally On Repeat, hosted by Dave Cool (yes that’s his real name and yes, he is a cool dude) will be a music podcast. As the director of artistic relations at the popular music website Bandzoogle,  Dave is a man who knows allot about music and will be sharing that knoweldge every episode with listeners.

Make sure that you come support No More Radio at the launch party this Saturday, 10 p.m at the Montreal Improv (3713 St-Laurent). The show will feature Ira Lee, The Bawdy Electric and comedian Dan Bingham. For more imformation feel free to contact Paul Aflalo at paul@paullogic.com

 

 

 

CityNews

This morning I woke up a little earlier than usual, had my coffee and took a walk through the already sweltering heat, arriving at the CKUT studios in the heart of the McGill Ghetto around 8am. I was there to talk about FTB on the Friday Morning After.

Not to be confused with our very own sex column of the same name, CKUT’s Morning After is a local arts, news and culture radio show running Monday to Friday from 7-9am. The hosts change depending on the day as does the language they speak on air. The Friday edition is hosted by Ken McMurray and Craig Sauvé and has a particular focus on municipal politics and the local arts scene.

Today the weather played a big part in the discussion, from the freak storm over Montreal last night to how the city and the boroughs were dealing with the heat. Meanwhile, in anticipation of Heavy MTL happening this weekend, local heavy metal dominated the musical selection. Mmm, metal at 8am, kind of like coffee for the ear. After headlines from Democracy Now and a very interesting interview with Sterling about the Under Pressure graffiti festival, it was my turn on the mic.

We talked about just what FTB is, where we came from and where we may be going. If you’re new to the site and want to know more, or a regular visitor interested in hearing my take on what the site means, it’s an interesting listen.

Thanks again to Ken and Craig for this opportunity and enjoy:

FTB’s Jason C. McLean interviewed on CKUT’s Friday Morning After

CityNews

CKUT 90.3 will be holding their 9th annual Homelessness Marathon starting at 5pm on Wednesday February 23rd until Thursday morning in front of the Native Friendship Center (2001 Saint-Laurent boulevard). Year after year, the CKUT Homelessness Marathon gives a voice to the homeless and those who work to help them. On the marathon’s agenda are topics addressing urban poverty and homelessness over a 14 hour stretch of people-powered radio.

courtesey of ckut.ca

The marathon serves as a spotlight for those relating their experiences, struggles and successes within the issues of poverty and homelessness. By bringing together radio hosts, CLSC social workers and organizations like Cactus, the marathon also serves as a testimony of hope and proof of the collective action that’s happening on the streets of Montreal. Some of the marathon’s other partners, which include the Peoples’ Potato, Midnight Kitchen and Santropol are teaming up to offer coffee and food to attendees, passersby and volunteer staff in front of the Native Friendship center (which will be open 24 hours during this all-night event).

The marathon, which is completely run by volunteers, street-level social workers and dozens of partner radio stations across the country, primarily seeks to bring homelessness and poverty to the forefront of public dialogue. Gretchen King, the national coordinator for the Homelessness Marathon, affirms that homelessness and poverty “are issues that touch every one of us.” The Marathon’s mandate, in King’s words, is “to develop an awareness and a political willingness” which have a potential to lead to more action, and thus more results, than playing the political game or collecting funds.

The first homelessness marathon was the brainchild of New Yorker radio host Jeremy Alderson. Alderson states on the U.S. Marathon’s homepage that fundamental changes in the nation’s priorities are necessary to make considerable progress and “the mission of the marathon is to ignite a national dialogue about what these changes should be.” Ultimately, ending homelessness is not a matter of charity, but a matter of changing the way our society is structured.

King also attributes the continuation of poverty to the endless push-back of this topic on the public and political agenda, stating that the government is increasingly taking a back seat on development of social housing and “are obviously not engaged in really dealing with the structural and social issues surrounding homelessness.”

2009 image of the Marathon courtesy of tasteyourfreedomthefilm.com/tyfblog/

With homeless shelters overflowing and an estimated 30 000 homeless people living in Montreal in 2010 according to L’Itinéraire‘s editor in chief (February 2011), homelessness and poverty should be hot topics in the Government’s agenda during these cold winter months. Despite the evidence of a growing need for more government funding to build and maintain social housing, day centers and other resources for the homeless, spending for the social sphere is inadequate for the demand that presents itself (Info RAPSIM, L’Itinéraire Feb. 2011).

The statistics of homelessness in Montreal are as dismal as having to stay outside all night in one of the coldest countries in the world. King describes the experience of spending the night outside during the diffusion of the Marathon’s programming as “brutal… You lose your ability to speak fluidly. But being outside is a part of what I want to take in [from the marathon].”

While the topic of homelessness comes very close to home for many Montrealers, this tough topic is tagged with a lot of hope coming from the Marathon crew. “If we can take these 14 hours and translate that into 365 day experience, we’d treat the issue [of homelessness] completely different” (King).

For a full list of program topics, coordinates, and instructions for the live stream, visit http://ckut.ca/homeless/ for more details. You’re encouraged to tune in or show up and contribute (live!) to the marathon in order to take in the full experience.

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9th Annual Homelessness Marathon – Wednesday 5pm until Thursday 7am @ the Native Friendship Center (2001 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Saint-Laurent metro). CKUT Contact : Gretchen King, marathon@ckut.ca.

Native Friendship Center (2001 Saint-Laurent boulevard) – http://www.nfcm.org/

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