Episodes

Spoons’ Gord Deppe talks about doing double duty as guitarist for A Flock of Seagulls, their 1982 breakthrough at the Police Picnic at Exhibition Stadium [Police, English Beat, Joan Jett, Oingo Boingo, Talking Heads], Nile Rodgers taking a liking to them while opening for Boy George & Culture Club, catching grief for that Thrifty’s ad campaign [‘Tarnished Spoons’], working with Daniel Lanois before he was Daniel Lanois, and wondering aloud why they can’t get a major auto manufacturer to use Roma...

Ex-City of Toronto/TTC Communicator Brad Ross talks about putting out a shingle and opening up his own firm, collaborating with Seth Rogen on TTC public service announcements, the most grievous cases of poor TTC rider etiquette [fornication! toenail clippers!], his adventures working under various Mayors [Lastman/Miller/Ford/Tory] and TTC Heads [Webster/Byford/Upfold/Leary], and why we have it much better with the TTC than we think we do! For his Substack Hot Takes and everything else Brad Ross,...

Glass Tiger founder/original drummer Michael Hanson talks about how two bands merged into Glass Tiger, opening up for Culture Club/Journey/Tina Turner/Moody Blues, why Tiger Beat magazine compared him to pinup pretty boy David Cassidy, the ‘Boy George Incident,’ his celebrity interactions at the Juno and Grammy Awards [Roger Daltry! Paul Simon! Celine Dion! Peter Cetera! Don Johnson! Peter Gabriel! Stevie Wonder!], being too busy to play Wayne Gretzky’s Royal Wedding, how he got Bobby Orr to aut...

HOVER founder Cameron Rowe talks about autonomous drone deliveries, his pitch on Dragons’ Den [turning DOWN an investment offer!], piggybacking on the investment injected into drone deliveries by Amazon and Google, his experiences in the Techstars startup network, acquiring his drone pilot’s license, the challenges behind landing in ‘unsecured delivery areas,’ and why he is counting on his drones to support his upcoming swim across Lake Ontario for SickKids! For everything Cameron and HOVER , pl...

Three-time Olympic Medalist/Eight-time World Championship Medalist/Canadian Hockey icon Vicky Sunohara talks about jumping on the backyard rink at two years old, getting BANNED from the boys leagues due to gender, earning a scholarship to play at Northeastern University, donning PINK jerseys at the inaugural IIHF Women’s World Championships, her Olympic experiences at Nagano/Salt Lake City/Turin, returning to the University of Toronto to earn her degree and become the first full-time coach of th...

Canadian tennis legend Daniel Nestor talks about his 12 Grand Slam doubles titles, his coming out party as a 19 year old defeating world #1 Stefan Edberg at the 1992 Davis Cup, winning his 2000 Olympic Gold Medal with Sebastien Leroux at the Sydney Games, winning [and loving the atmosphere--one million pounds spent just on FLOWERS!] at Wimbledon, playing a Pro-Am tournament where he was the ‘Pro’ and The Great One Wayne Gretzky was the ‘Am,’ his interactions with David Beckham/Donovan Bailey/Car...

Television PxP voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning Dave Randorf talks about his time at TSN, Saturday nights at Hockey Night in Canada, finishing his 4th season calling Lightning games with Brian Engblom, heading to the arena in flip-flops & then being back in his swimming pool 30min after the game ends, catching up with the Hulkster while sunbathing on Clearwater Beach, Jon Cooper remembering him from Vancouver’s Sports Page, the amazing-ness of HHOFer Phil Esposito, and the PTSD he still suffers ...

Love bowling? Love the music of the 80s? Ed Sousa talks about his love for BOTH, his signature trilby hat, turning a one-night charity concert with Honeymoon Suite & the Spoons into the largest indoor music festival in North America, growing up 5 minutes away from radio station CFNY, Curtis Joseph’s wife’s adoration of When In Rome, learning the value of intimate artist/fan interaction from Randy Bachman, why his dream show would be booking Simple Minds, spending time with Midge Ure/Martin Fry/G...

Retired Police Superintendent and now Author Keith Merith talks about his 31 years of service for the York Regional Police, the messages of truth/pain/optimism/perseverance delivered in his new memoir, his six principles of success, his fantastic experiences with Bernice and the late Herb Carnegie, and why his retirement has been so fabulous that it can only be best described as DELICIOUS! A Darker Shade of Blue: A Police Officer’s Memoir is available from ECW Press at https://ecwpress.com/produ...

Media Triple Threat/Author Bruce Dowbiggin talks about co-writing with his son Evan [he’s like a sports ‘Rain Man’], the imminent integration of fellow sports journalist Eric Duhatschek into his own family, shuttling between Calgary and the 'Winter White House' in Florida, why newspaper columnists used to be the ‘Princes of the Pressbox,’ his career-changing investigative journalism into disbarred lawyer/former head of hockey players' union/convicted felon Alan Eagleson, why he doesn’t trade hol...

International Best Selling Author Hannah Mary McKinnon talks about the imminent release of her latest suspense thriller ONLY ONE SURVIVES [‘sharing the spotlight can be murder!’], how a professional crisis saw her pivot from high-powered business executive to becoming an author [‘I’ve read a lot of books, so shouldn’t I be able to write one??’], aligning herself with the OTHER author Mary McKinnon, admiring Roger Moore from afar but Jeffrey Archer from up-close, why she’s a ‘plotter’ who intervi...

Winnipeg Jets/NY Rangers Swedish superstar Ulf Nilsson talks about his jump to the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets in 1974, why The Golden Jet Bobby Hull was both such a great player AND a great teammate, why The Hot Line [Hedberg/Nilsson/Hull] SHOULD be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, winning faceoffs against Gordie Howe in Houston, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering [collusion? racketeering?] that saw him and Anders Hedberg jump to the NHL’s NY Rangers as free agents, the ‘Potvin Sucks’ legacy of his...

The ‘Father of Vehicle Return Insurance’ Vince Beretta talks about his trademarked/copyrighted WALKAWAY protection, his Jerry Maguire-like bedtime epiphany following an enlightening meeting with car dealer Michael Croxon, the product blowing up for Hyundai USA after Jeff Bridges’ voiced-over TV commercials aired in prime time, Nav Bhatia jumping aboard with his FOUR point play [even better than a trey!], his entrepreneurial partnership with Robert Varga, and a passionate defence as to why the au...

Chef Guy Rubino talks about Toronto’s 'fraternal foodies' The Rubino Brothers [along with past podcast guest Michael], starring in/producing 39 episodes of Made To Order on The Food Network [24hrs of footage shot got trimmed to 24min on TV], working out on a treadmill alongside Madonna, his first proper kitchen job at Nobu in NYC, his interactions with Sir Richard Branson/David Bowie/Natalie Portman/Sting/Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, an ugly misunderstanding with Nelly Furtado’s posse [you did NOT...

Toronto International Festival of Authors Director Roland Gulliver talks about the 'multifaceted monster' that is TIFA, their MOTIVE crime and mystery festival coming up in June, their flagship Fall festival coming in September, making his career move from Edinburgh to Toronto just 3 weeks before the pandemic shut everything down, Linwood Barclay as a celebrity author [and former Toronto Star columnist], and why he STARTS a lot of books with the best of intentions! The third annual MOTIVE Crime ...

Television news anchor and journalist Kevin Newman talks about retirement after a 40 year career, his tough decision to choose between attending Hamburger or Western University, interviewing Leonard Nimoy for UWO’s CHRW campus radio, his first job getting coffee for the late great Peter Truman, his work at CBC/Global/CTV in Canada, heading to the Big Apple to join ABC World News [and subsequently Good Morning America], inspiring times working with Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel, his respect for P...

Toronto Maple Leafs legend Inge Hammarström connects from the South of France to talk about being discovered [with Borje Salming] by Leafs scout Gerry McNamara, leaving Sweden to join the Leafs lineup in 1973, their first practice at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of owner Harold Ballard [shooting on a 50 year old Johnny Bower!], Bobby Orr wishing them well while others were literally threatening to kill them on the ice [and taking slapshots at their unprotected calves from behind], great times wit...

Wang Chung’s Jack Hues implores everybody to have fun tonight...everybody Wang Chung tonight!! Jack talks about his 40+ year partnership with Nick Feldman, why he chose to use a pseudonym [J'accuse, get it?], changing the band name from its original Huang Chung, huge tours with The Cars and Tina Turner, scoring the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A., meeting his idols Tony Banks and Paul McCartney, hanging out with Willem Dafoe, and their imminent return to North America with the Abducted by the ...

Former owner of the Vancouver Canucks/Grizzlies and GM Place Arthur Griffiths talks about his family ties to Dr Ballard’s dog food empire, how his Mom convinced his Dad to purchase the Canucks, his reverence for the late great Pat Quinn, that incredible 1994 Canucks’ playoff run, getting involved with the concrete pour at GM Place, negotiating Bryan Adams as the first event at the new building, how a meeting to discuss acquiring an arena football team with Jerry Colangelo planted the seeds for i...

Former Maple Leafs/Flyers tough hombre Jay Rosehill talks about his 13 year pro career, learning he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning while exiting the shower, living away from home for the first time while playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, his NHL debut being thwarted by Nikolai Khabibulin’s poor paperwork, memories of his 1st NHL paycheque/game/goal, being mentored by Colton Orr as a teammate but later having to chuck knuckles with him as an opponent, memorable expe...

Glass Tiger’s Sam Reid talks about how Tokyo became Glass Tiger after opening for Boy George & Culture Club at Maple Leaf Gardens, teaming up with Bryan Adams’ songwriting partner Jim Vallance, shooting TWO videos for Don’t Forget Me, opening on monster tours for Journey and Tina Turner, interesting Juno and Grammy ceremony experiences, giving Sir Rod Stewart vocal suggestions, getting dissed by Roger Hornsby and mistaken for David Hasselhoff, collaborating with Rik Emmett, and why almost 40 yea...

Actor Sergio Di Zio talks about FLASHPOINT being shot in Toronto, his over 100 credits in TV/film/theatre, working the stage with Megan ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Follows, his movie debut in National Lampoon’s Senior Trip with Jeremy Renner & Tommy Chong, his interactions with Russell Crowe/Ron Howard/Jeff Daniels, why he is NOT a huge fan of AI, and who he sometimes gets mistaken for! Sergio stars with Megan Follows in “ Four Minutes Twelve Seconds " until May 12 at Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace......

Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey talks about the 40th anniversary of Into The Gap, keeping in touch with his former bandmates Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway, the exposure that came with Top Of The Pops and MTV, opening for The Police while at the height of their fame [and dysfunction], playing 1985's Live Aid backed by Madonna, Howard Jones and Thomas Dolby encouraging him to resume touring Thompson Twins' music after a 27 year break, and seeing first-hand David Bowie's shockingly smooth stage entrance...

Toronto Argonauts historian & author Paul Woods takes us back to 1991’s Year of the Rocket, with great stories revolving around Raghib 'Rocket' Ismail, Wayne Gretzky, John Candy, Bruce McNall, Adam Rita, Mark Rypien, Dan Aykroyd, Matt Dunigan, Ricky Foggie and Michael 'Pinball' Clemons...with bonus stories about the Foot Stomp, the Flying Beer Can, Ricky Williams, Doug Flutie, former team president Keith Pelley’s return as CEO of MLSE, whether Joe Montana could have been an Argo [!!], and why Mc...