Afternoon Pint

Gabriella is an art therapist who once refused to read out loud in ninth grade, met a teacher who really saw her, and discovered dyslexia and ADHD were the reasons school never fit. That shift—from “lazy” to “misunderstood”—set her on a path through art school and the classroom to a therapy practice that uses colour, texture, and play to help people find themselves again. We talk frankly about lat...

Founder Basam Murtaza Tahoor shares how he rebuilt his marketing career from scratch in Halifax—ditching gimmicks, mastering Canadian business basics, and proving that trust is the only real currency. From landing his first client to crafting a blue-ocean pivot into original illustration and brand IP, Basam breaks down buyer personas, pricing strategy, networking that actually works, and how to us...

We sit down with Nova Scotia NDP leader Claudia Chender for a candid, ground-level conversation about what’s really driving the affordability crisis—and what can actually fix it. Claudia shares her journey from law to politics, shaped by her work in education and advocacy, and a front-row view of how government decisions impact families. We break down the housing crisis—from rent caps and fixed-te...

What makes someone plant roots instead of moving on? We sit with Paula Knight, CEO of ISANS, to unpack the real work of turning arrivals into neighbours—and why belonging is the quiet infrastructure that powers Nova Scotia’s future. From first intake to first job, from a child’s first hockey game to a nurse’s first licensed shift, Paula shows how practical supports and human connection move people...

A single march in the rain changed everything. After losing his cousin to a senseless act of violence, Quentrel Provo turned grief into a mission: Stop the Violence, Spread the Love. We sit down with Q to unpack how a community showed up, how forgiveness sharpened his purpose, and why June 10 is now Stop the Violence Day—wear red, do one kind act, and make compassion visible. We go deeper than slo...

We sit down with Coach Micah Brown — former pro quarterback, founder of BATLX , and a leader in Atlantic Canada’s football development scene.  Micah breaks down the mental intelligence behind football and why the best coaching is about way more than schemes and stats. We talk leadership under pressure , building confident athletes, mentorship and representation , and the real responsibility coache...

A forgotten shore, a loud crowd, and a quiet life that fuels a very big record—Christina Martin joins us for an unvarnished look at building a career that actually holds together. From quitting university to nannying in Austin, signing a dead-end contract in Germany, and then getting invited last-minute to open for Wilco, her story moves through detours that somehow line up. The band drama that pu...

We sit with Tia to trace the unvarnished path from teen motherhood and convictions, a string of rejections from employers due to her criminal background check to her $50 start up cleaning company that scaled across Halifax.  Tia shares the weight of raising kids while surviving the street, a son shot seven times, and the accountability she refuses to outsource. We talk about why “diversity” often...

Ready for a clear-eyed look at AI that doesn’t lean on buzzwords or doom? We’re joined by digital anthropologist Giles Crouch to unpack how these systems really work, what they cost in the physical world, and why culture—not code—ultimately decides which technologies endure. We trace the supply chain from rare earths and chip bottlenecks to the low-frequency hums of data centres built near homes,...

We sit down with newly elected Mayor Andy Fillmore after his first year for a wide-open conversation about what it takes to steer a city that’s growing in every direction: more people, more jobs, more pressure on streets and services. He talks frankly about trading the heat of Parliament for the hands-on grind of City Hall, where a mayor is one vote among many and every policy hits a sidewalk, a b...

For this years Holiday Special , The Afternoon Pint presents a radio-play reimagining of A Christmas Carol —written in-house and brought to life with the help of the three 48 Hour Film Festival winners known collectively as Shwing Entertainment . Mike turns his crankiness up to 11 for Scrooge while Matt works his improvisational muscle by preforming as all of the ghosts . We then have some addtion...

What did 2025 really change? We sit down with Steve Murphy for a clear-eyed year-end that swaps noise for signal. The conversation starts with community—Christmas Daddies turning 62 and a bold decision to sell seized U.S. liquor to fund food banks—then widens into the defining fault line of the year: leadership tone and what it does to a country. Politics loomed large without swallowing the local....

We sit down once again with Don Mills for a frank, energized conversation about a new private-sector panel tasked with one job: raise productivity and close the prosperity gap with the rest of Canada. No spin. No bureaucratic maze. Just a focused plan to turn our energy potential, resource base, and export channels into real incomes and real jobs. We dig into the big levers. Energy sits at the cor...

We sit down at Garrison Brewing with Dr. Andrew Travers, Nova Scotia’s EHS medical director, to unpack how a care-first 911 system can calm panic, deliver treatment faster, and often avoid an unnecessary ambulance ride. From text-to-video assessments that let clinicians see a wound in real time to nurse and physician callbacks that build a safe plan without leaving home, Andrew shows how “time to...

This week we sit down with Matt Thomson  - TEDx speaker, entrepreneur, and children’s book author—to unpack what it really takes to “lead courageously toward love” in work, relationships, and community. Matt traces his shift from hustle culture and people-pleasing to a values-first life where courage means action from the heart and complacency is the real opposite. We explore how love shows up on...

A one-dollar licence changed a career. We sit with filmmaker John Mann to trace how Stephen King’s Dollar Baby program led to Popsy, a nine-minute moral sledgehammer that cut backstory, ditched  empathy, and focused on pure dread. John lifts the curtain on the odd rules of Dollar Babies, the surreal “mail a dollar” contract, and why strict screening limits can still supercharge a festival run and...

With two pints of Garrison Red and a milky looking glass of Arak, we cheers (or Bisehtak ) to Chef George Elias of Au Liban Lebanese Restaurant.  We dig into the textures of Lebanese cuisine—silky hummus, smoky baba ganoush, roasted pepper muhammara, crisp cheese rolls, and a honey-kissed feta fusion roll—while unpacking how a great spread (mezza)  invites people to slow down and connect. George t...

Pull up a chair at the Oxford Taproom and meet Laura Fleming—marketing and events coordinator at Garrison and the creative force behind You Found Flora. We trade festival stories, and unpack how a great night out is actually built: clear incentives, sharp programming, and moments designed to live on your camera roll. Laura takes us from the chaos of pre-production to the glow of a packed crowd, sh...

Joe is a national brokerage president whose early days cold calling in the White pages may have proven to be the perfect guide to show how insurance really works today—human first, tech-enabled, and built for the moments you hope never happen. Joe joins us to share the arc from answering a newspaper ad to leading Brokerlink’s 5,000 + person team, weaving together discipline, mentorship, and the po...

The funniest stories aren’t the ones built on clichés—they’re the ordinary slip-ups we all share. Think: hopping into the wrong car, or reaching for the bus pole and accidentally grabbing someone’s hand. That’s exactly the kind of humour Jenny Bovard has built into her work. As lead and associate producer of Pretty Blind —a sharp, scripted Canadian comedy about life with low vision and albinism—Je...

What happens when a single commercial catapults you into becoming a national symbol? Jeff Douglas, the face behind Molson's iconic "I Am Canadian" rant, sits down with us to explore his remarkable journey from reluctant beer spokesman to respected CBC broadcaster. Douglas takes us behind the scenes of the legendary commercial that changed his life, revealing how his "wicked hoc...

Twelve years after the tragic death of Rehtaeh Parsons, her mother Leah joins The Afternoon Pint for a conversation about trauma, institutional failure, and finding purpose after unimaginable loss. Leah paints a vivid portrait of Rehtaeh—a compassionate teenager with dreams of becoming a marine biologist, whose life spiraled downward after a sexual assault was photographed and shared among her pee...

Rudi of Rudi's Hot Sauce shares his family's journey from the Bahamas to becoming Nova Scotia's top hot sauce specialist, revealing how his father's transformative experience with wild peppers led to a multi-generational passion for crafting complex, flavour hot sauces. We talk about hot sauces, family ran businesses and whatever else comes to us, while experiencing some of Rud...

We were thrilled to finally have Jonathan Torrens sit down with us for a candid conversation about his remarkable 30-year journey through Canadian entertainment and the industry that keeps him more fulfilled than ever. From his unexpected start as a teenage host on Street Cents, to iconic roles on Trailer Park Boys, Mr. D, Letterkenny, Shoresy, the Vollies, the directors chair & more, Torrens...

Growing up as the oldest of seven daughters in rural Nova Scotia, Dalene Allen learned entrepreneurship at her mother's handcraft shop, "The Killick." This early exposure to business relationships became the foundation for her remarkable career through retail merchandising, executive positions, and eventually leading Business Network International (BNI) across three Atlantic provinc...