Jordan Carrier's new podcast highlights Hamilton's Indigenous history
Jordan Carrier created the One Dish, Many Stories podcast to share the history of Indigenous peoples and places in Hamilton. The podcast was created in her last year of undergraduate Indigenous Studies at McMaster University. She developed the project under the supervision of Vanessa Watts. For this project, she recorded three episodes and later released them after graduating.
"[The podcast is about] understanding the history that the lands that Hamilton sits on existed long before we called this place Hamilton. Nations lived on these lands and they had their own terms for the lands or how they used the lands,” said Carrier.
Starting a podcast was something she always thought about but never followed through with until recently. For Carrier, it was an awakening moment to see how little people knew about Indigenous stories in Hamilton and how single-sided the history of Hamilton seemed to be within the community.
“I started thinking somehow we need to incorporate other stories. There’s more than one narrative to history and experiences — even contemporary experiences. That’s when I had the idea of the podcast,” said Carrier.
I started thinking somehow we need to incorporate other stories. There’s more than one narrative to history and experiences — even contemporary experiences. That’s when I had the idea of the podcast.
Jordan Carrier, Creator of One Dish, Many Spoons
Each episode of the One Dish, Many Stories podcast highlights different topics with the united goal of educating the larger community about Indigenous experiences.
In the first episode released, she shared her own story alongside the history behind various names of places on the land now known as Hamilton. She discussed how her experiences with racism as a child
affected how she perceived and carried herself. To her, sharing her own story was crucial in understanding why she created the podcast.
The second and third episodes delved into well-researched thoughts on relationships Indigenous peoples have with treaties and Northern Indigenous people being displaced from their homes and
being sent to the Sanitorium in Hamilton.
"[In] the very first episode . . . I talk about the racism I experienced as a young Indigenous person and how I internalized that. It wasn’t until I moved to Hamilton and got connected to the Indigenous community in Hamilton that I really started to embrace my identity as First Nations person,” said Carrier.
In each recent episode, she has a guest come to contribute to the conversation. All the guests either reside in Hamilton or work within Hamilton. It was important for Carrier to include the perspectives of other Indigenous peoples within Hamilton when talking about the history and the repercussions of past events.
“It was really important to have local context and perspective to really highlight that Indigenous peoples are still here. We’re still thriving. We’re still reclaiming all that’s been taken from us or our loss through the colonial project,” said Carrier.
It was really important to have local context and perspective to really highlight that Indigenous peoples are still here. We’re still thriving. We’re still reclaiming all that’s been taken from us or our loss through the colonial project.
Jordan Carrier, Creator of One Dish, Many Spoons
Carrier emphasized there is always more that can be done and the importance of self-reflection on one’s privilege and presence within an area. She encouraged reflection and continuous learning about the stories of Hamilton beyond traditional teaching.
“Continue questioning, “Okay, why do I only know this one perspective out of our existence as people in Hamilton? What is missing?” There are so many different communities that make Hamilton what it is,” said Carrier.
One Dish, Many Stories touches on the experiences of Indigenous peoples in what is now Hamilton and the history behind it. Carrier currently has three episodes out and hopes to release more soon. She hopes listeners will learn from the podcast and continue to educate themselves.
C/O Will Francis (Unsplash)
Hamilton’s Red Betty Theatre is launching a new podcast for their tenth anniversary
By: Joleen Awad, contributor
The Red Betty Theatre is a non-profit and the only Indigenous, Black, Person Of Colour and women-run theatre in Hamilton. To commemorate their tenth anniversary, Red Betty Theatre is releasing a new podcast series.
The idea for the series first came about when Radha Menon, the artistic director and founder of Red Betty Theatre, saw a grant offered by the Canada Council Digital Fund and a podcast seemed like an excellent opportunity to create an archive of the work being done by Red Betty Theatre over the past decade.
The idea for the series first came about when Menon saw a grant offered by the Canada Council Digital Fund and a podcast seemed like an excellent opportunity to create an archive of the work being done by Red Betty Theatre over the past decade.
“I’m actually very excited that it gives a new lease of life to plays that were beloved by audiences, because theatre is ephemeral . . . And when it closes, it’s gone. It’s gone forever. So the podcasts give these plays a new lease of life, which is wonderful,” said Menon.
Their “10th Anniversary Podcast Series” will feature five original plays previously presented at the theatre. The plays will be split over three separate episodes and converted into radio dramas specifically for the podcast, making the production process more difficult than usual.
“When it’s a podcast, it’s totally sonic, you really have to be able to put the stories over narratives without the help of all the visual aids that we have on stage,” explained Menon.
Claire Burns, artistic producer at the theatre company, explained for each episode Menon and a dramaturge, a story editor specializing in theatre, sit down and take apart the play’s script, reworking it for the podcast. For example, each of the visual cues that would normally be found in a performance have to be substituted for an auditory cue instead.
Next, the casting is done, after which it takes around one week to produce all the episodes for a play.
The plays will be launched on a weekly basis, with each set of three episodes being released at the same time.
The best thing about the podcast is that you can experience theatre in your everyday actions. You can drive a car, take a walk, study and still become immersed in the play’s world. For students especially, this is a unique chance to explore new worlds from their own homes without having to attend a performance in person.
Both Menon and Burns hope people will walk away from each episode entertained and having experienced something new.
“It’ll broaden [students’] horizons for a start . . . if you listen to our podcast, you will be taken into worlds that you generally don’t see,” said Menon.
“It’ll broaden [students’] horizons for a start . . . if you listen to our podcast, you will be taken into worlds that you generally don’t see."
Radha Menon, the artistic director and founder of Red Betty TheatrE
“[Menon’s voice is] just so unique and there’s no voice like it, not even in Hamilton, but even in Canada. So that in and of itself stands alone. I would say, that’s another thing that kind of sets us apart from a lot of the mainstream companies in Hamilton,” added Burns.
Red Betty Theatre’s tenth anniversary podcast series captures the spirit of the company and offering audiences the opportunity to re-visit — or discover for the first time — some of their wonderful work. It’s a fitting commemoration of the company’s last ten years and a promise of more remarkable stories to be told.
C/O Austin Distel, Unsplash
McMaster’s new podcast, Bounce, releases its first episode to share community stories of overcoming struggles
Post-secondary education is often accompanied by many stressors and the ongoing pandemic has only added to the struggles that university students face.
As a new mental health initiative, Bounce is a McMaster-based podcast that was announced at the beginning of September. The podcast aims to help students combat their stress by making them feel less alone.
According to Catherine Munn, the project lead, the idea for Bounce originated from a similar project at the University of Victoria wherein faculty and alumni feature in videos about overcoming difficult experiences that they have had.
After hearing about this project from McMaster professor David Clarke, Munn reached out to Rebecca Gagan, the professor who developed Bounce at the University of Victoria. With Gagan’s permission, Munn developed McMaster’s version of Bounce; the name Bounce signifies the importance of bouncing back from difficult situations.
The name Bounce signifies the importance of bouncing back from difficult situations
While Bounce at McMaster was originally intended to exist in a video format, COVID-19 challenges led to its creation as a podcast instead. Munn remarked that, although Bounce was originally intended to be a series of videos, the podcast format has unique advantages.
“[There are] lots of great things about the podcast, just having a longer period of time to talk to people and, in a way, a more intimate, more personal kind of chance to connect,” said Munn.
“[There are] lots of great things about the podcast, just having a longer period of time to talk to people and, in a way, a more intimate, more personal kind of chance to connect.”
Catherine Munn, Bounce Podcast Project Lead
Munn emphasized the importance of sharing stories to create community and help people through their individual struggles.
“[Sharing stories] can offer hope to people that are in a bad place and also connect us to one another as a community of people that sometimes can seem pretty far apart,” explained Munn.
Munn noted that students can often feel disconnected from faculty and even from each other; however, she hopes that with Bounce, students can feel a greater connection to others in the McMaster community.
“Our committee believes that we can help people to become more resilient by sharing stories. [W]hen we share our experiences and our stories with one another, we actually help give each other ideas about how [to] get through [difficult situations]. It helps [people] understand that [they] may not be alone in struggling with what [they are] struggling with,” explained Munn. “I think we're hoping that this helps people feel a little less alone.”
“I think we're hoping that this helps people feel a little less alone.”
Catherine Munn, Bounce Podcast Project Lead
On Oct. 1, Bounce released its first episode with Zeinab Khawaja as the special guest. Khawaja is a McMaster alum from the class of 2017 and currently a health promoter at the Student Wellness Centre. In this episode, Khawaja talks about her previous experiences as an undergraduate student and how she navigated that along with being a wife in an arranged marriage.
Students can listen to Bounce on the McMaster Okanagan website or on any major podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple and Google.
McMaster students bring light to truly thoughtful conversation with Potential Excellence podcast
True, meaningful conversation is a gift. It involves profound, open and encouraging discussion, a sense of feeling heard and an opportunity to learn and grow. Through their podcast, Potential Excellence, second-year McMaster University students Brian Osei-Boateng and Tevin Wellington exemplify this wonderful kind of conversation to support and encourage.
Initially having met in high school, Osei-Boateng and Wellington are the co-creators of Potential Excellence. Described by both as more of a message than just a brand or a podcast, Potential Excellence began initially as a project for the pair’s Grade 11 leadership class where they were asked to invent a brand to address a real cause. They did well on the project and then months later, when they were getting ready to head off to university, the idea came back up again.
“We came to the conclusion that if we could do this good on a fake brand about a real cause as a team for just a school project, imagine if we made this a real thing?” said Osei-Boateng.
We’ve shown our potential to a few, we’ve shown that we can be excellent to some, but to many we have a lot of things to prove #JourneysNeverOver
— Potential Excellence (@PotentialExcel) September 30, 2019
They went back and forth with ideas, drawing on their initial project. They considered their own strengths and past experiences to determine what message and topics they wanted to include.
Gradually it all came together and Potential Excellence began to take form. They officially launched just over a year ago, publishing their podcast in September 2019. Within the last year, they have continued to grow, expanding to more platforms and gaining more followers.
Each podcast episode is centred around a conversation between Osei-Boateng, Wellington and an occasional guest. They have covered a wide variety of topics in their podcast, ranging from dating advice to diversity. When choosing topics they rely on a variety of sources, including input from their followers and also world events.
“It sucks to have an easy topic [because] something tragic is going on in the world, like a certain movement or a certain issue in the political environment or the social environment. We hate to talk about it, but [in] our roles as influencers, we have to bring awareness to various conflicts and issues. So those are the easiest times to think of a topic when there's a big thing happening,” said Osei-Boateng.
While the topic for each episode is selected and roughly outlined ahead of time, the conservation itself is not scripted, flowing organically and feeling as if the audience was just listening to an everyday conversation between the two.
At its core Potential Excellence is about highlighting people’s potential. It’s about making people more aware of not only what they could do, but who they could be and encouraging them to pursue their potential.
Described by both himself and Wellington as a motivational speaker, Osei-Boateng brings enthusiasm and an encouraging spirit to the podcast, emphasizing the importance of openness and growth in all aspects of life when it comes to developing one’s potential.
“I hope someone can become more aware of how they're feeling about their lives, instead of going through the motions and just pushing all the hate and negativity down. I hope someone could become a lot more open-minded about certain topics that are going on and take the time to just really take in what's going on and . . . what they could do to help while also building the best version of themselves in that process,” explained Osei-Boateng.
Described by both himself and Osei-Boateng as being knowledgeable about a wide range of topics and interested in the art of conversation, Wellington is often the facilitator of the conversation, asking the questions to encourage reflection and further thought.
“I want someone to walk away with the ability to understand that I have my opinion, I have my way of seeing things, but that does not automatically mean that my way of seeing things is correct. That does not automatically discount other views and whenever you're in a conversation, whenever you're talking about something you should always be willing to accept that there is a possibility . . . that you could be wrong. You should always be willing to accept that and you should never sacrifice a good conversation, the opportunity to learn, for the sake of being correct,” explained Wellington.
Though they may seem to be approaching the podcast from different angles, their strengths complement each other well and have helped them to create something that is authentic and thoughtful as well as informative and uplifting.
It’s important for the pair that they are not only helping people to recognize their potential but also that their audience comes away with what they were looking for. They recognize that different people at different points in their life will be looking for different things and they hope they’re able to provide whatever is, especially during these difficult times.
“Depending on the mindset you're in, if you're feeling more melancholic at a point in time, you obviously lean more to the motivational side of the podcast as opposed to the actual social aspect and opinionated sides of the podcast,” said Wellington.
Potential Excellence is a wonderful example of not only what good conversation looks like, but also the power that kind conversation has and the ways in which it can be used to encourage and inform people.
Two McMaster basketball players started a podcast discussing their lives as student-athletes and things around the world
Ever since the cancellation of in-person activities throughout the world, many athletes have sought the virtual world as a place of comfort. In fact, some professional sports leagues have partnered with video game companies to deliver virtual tournaments, watchable by fans. The National Basketball Association conducted a video game tournament involving various athletes around the league, such as Zach Lavine and Devin Booker, broadcasting their virtual games to fans. Booker took home the top prize with a $100,000 donation split between two charities, Arizona Food Bank Network and #FirstRespondersFirst.
As the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people worked, transitioning to a home office, it has been noted by Spotify that podcast usage has switched from only morning commutes to scattered throughout the day.
“It just allows for even more time for them to consume podcasts in different times and different ways,” said Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising officer of Spotify during the company’s quarterly shareholder meeting.
“It just allows for even more time for them to consume podcasts in different times and different ways,” said Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising officer of Spotify during the company’s quarterly shareholder meeting.
Just as more podcasts are being listened to throughout the day, with everyone being at home, new podcasts are also being launched during the pandemic.
“[Podcasting] is more and more the way people are spending time, trying to educate themselves, trying to get smarter, trying to have companionship in a moment when people are alone,” said Anya Grundmann, the senior vice president of programming of National Public Radio, to CNN Business.
With the sudden rise in podcast popularity, two McMaster men’s basketball players felt compelled to start their own. Brandon Bernard and Tristan Lindo, both third-year students in the Communications Studies Program, created The Player’s Podcast to discuss their lives as student-athletes. Inspired by the podcast, Knuckleheads, the duo discusses topics such as U Sports, the world we live in, the McMaster men’s basketball team and provide tips on how to succeed in sports.
“As far as our content, we usually talk one or two nights before and just brainstorm what we really want to talk about — like stuff that’s hot at that time and just try to talk about something that would intrigue people to want to watch,” said Bernard on how they plan for each podcast.
Their first podcast discussed the cancellation of the NBA season, U Sports and the Black Lives Matter movement. Both Bernard and Lindo found that following the cancellation of the U Sports fall 2020 championships and the closure of gyms, it was tough to maintain the same level of play without access to proper conditioning equipment and team practices. But with the cancellation of the fall 2020 season, players do not have to juggle both athletics and academics at the same time. With that being said, the transition to online learning has been more difficult than anticipated.
“I feel like its a tiny bit harder just because even with senior friends reminding you of due dates, it’s so [much] easier to lose track of things when [class is] online compared to when it’s in person. It’s so [much] easier to fall behind in the lecture, it’s so [much] easier to fall behind in readings and everything else . . . But without having basketball it's a little bit easier. If we had basketball on top of school, it would be hectic,” said Lindo.
“I feel like its a tiny bit harder just because even with senior friends reminding you of due dates, it’s so [much] easier to lose track of things when [class is] online compared to when it’s in person. It’s so [much] easier to fall behind in the lecture, it’s so [much] easier to fall behind in readings and everything else . . . But without having basketball it's a little bit easier. If we had basketball on top of school, it would be hectic,” said Lindo.
As opposed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association which brings in massive amounts of revenue, Bernard believes that U Sports and Ontario University Athletics are not really a “cash cow,” as evidenced by U Sports’ large operations deficit for the 2018-2019 season and limited net gains for the 2019-2020 season.
“There’s a ton of endorsements, media outreach, lots of people watching and betting involved, so lots of money tied up in the NCAA whereas, in U Sports, they’re paying to have places rented and lodging accommodations paid for. I don’t believe money is an issue to bring back sports. They’re paying to have a program for us, whereas the NCAA is the opposite,” said Bernard of his thoughts on the contrast between associations. Bernard believes that the reimplementation of sports will ultimately be a health-based decision as opposed to being financially driven.
“There’s a ton of endorsements, media outreach, lots of people watching, and betting involved so lots of money tied up in the NCAA whereas, in U Sports, they’re paying to have places rented and lodging accommodations paid for. I don’t believe money is an issue to bring back sports. They’re paying to have a program for us, whereas the NCAA is the opposite,” said Bernard of his thoughts on the contrast between associations.
“[The podcast is] something we can do and hopefully bring people here to see what we say on these topics. [We] want to focus not so much on basketball . . . but life as a whole, so everything can relate,” said Bernard and Lindo.
They both further explained how they would love to continue after graduation or pass it onto some teammates who would be suited for this job.
“If you like good talks, funny moments and take away something that could benefit in your day, definitely tune into our podcast. We’re always taking questions either through Twitter or Instagram so definitely hit us up there. I think [questions are] the most engaging part. We’re not catering for one type of community — anyone can come on. Whether you’re a grandma or a mother, you can talk to us, ” Bernard and Lindo stated.
“If you like good talks, funny moments and take away something that could benefit in your day, definitely tune into our podcast. We’re always taking questions either through Twitter or Instagram so definitely hit us up there. I think [questions are] the most engaging part. We’re not catering for one type of community, anyone can come on. Whether you’re a grandma or a mother, you can talk to us, ” Bernard and Lindo stated.
The Player’s Podcast is available to listen via the McMaster men’s basketball YouTube channel. Questions can be submitted directly to Bernard and Lindo on Instagram.
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Lore
In Lore, Aaron Mahnke tells true-life scary stories based on urban legends and supernatural folklore. This is an on-going series, with episodes being released bi-weekly — the most recent one came out on Monday. Mahnke is a writer of supernatural novels, which lends to his ability to flesh out these horrifically true stories into a narrative.
Release timing? Every two weeks
Length? 15 – 20 mins
Where? Spotify, iTunes, lorepodcast.com
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Serial
Each season of this podcast — hosted by Sarah Koenig — focuses on a different criminal case. The first season focused on Adnan Syed who had been found guilty on account of killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. We are now on the second season, which focuses on Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was captured and held by the Taliban for nearly five years.
Release timing? Weekly
Length? 30 mins – 1 hour
Where? iTunes, Stitcher, Pandora, serialpodcast.org
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Mystery Show
Starlee Kine solves every day mysteries. Listeners are able to submit personal mysteries that have plagued them for years, as long as the answer is not easily google-able. Thus far, there are only six episodes, but season two is in the works.
Release timing? TBA
Length? 30 mins – 1 hour
Where? iTunes, gimletmedia.com
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Revolutions
Mike Duncan is currently in his fourth season of this podcast series that examines political revolutions around the world. Duncan is rather serious in his delivery, but this is a strength, given that podcast’s content is focused on historical information and analysis.
Release timing?
Weekly
Length? 30 – 40 mins
Where? revolutionspodcast.com
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Criminal
As described on their website, Criminal consists of “Stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle.” For those of us who are still reeling from the first season of Serial, Criminal is a good replacement. This series is in its third season now.
Release timing?
Every two weeks
Length? 20 mins
Where? iTunes, Soundcloud, thisiscriminal.com
Photo Credit: Patrick Breitenbach
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