Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe

“Let me state the case for Hallowe’en” Today’s the day - Happy Hallowe’en! We’ve got a wonderful story exchange about an immigrant’s first experience of Trick or Treating. And we'll also play Stuart McLean's story about Sam and Stephanie's Halloween; it's a story about this magical evening, but it's also about growing up and finding independence. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-fre...

“The baker, the chef, the Indian maestro.” Today on the podcast it’s a smorgasbord from Stuart McLean. About food, about journeys and more in between! We’ve got a postcard from Canada, a moving listener story, and one of our favourite Dave and Morley stories. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listen...

“There was a time when the Gander airport was the biggest airport in the world” On this week’s episode, we have three of Stuart’s opening monologues – essays about some of the places and spaces that captivated him on his travels across the country. And Jess has a backstory about the perils of mispronunciations! Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of o...

It’s our annual Thanksgiving tradition – the Vinyl Cafe Arthur Awards. More treasures from the Vinyl Cafe archives about some amazing acts of kindness! Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Subscribe here:  apostrophe.supercast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

“The Pensionne du Quebec was lit up like a party ship” We’ve got a Quebec selection for you on today’s podcast. A story about Sam’s school trip to Quebec City, plus a Stuart McLean script about cheese making in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, and a backstory from Jess about the trip they took to write that story. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch o...

“Surely Mary wouldn’t miss one of those little buttercream shrubs…” On this week’s episode of Backstage, two stories about cakes, those special occasion cakes that promise to be oh so good… That is, until Dave and co. get involved… Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Su...

“PPMS. Phantom peripheral mouse syndrome” Jess and Dave have something in common: rodent phobia! Jess shares how she got over hers. And in two hilarious Vinyl Cafe stories we’ll hear how Dave managed his. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Subscribe here:  ap...

“Mary had never ever been downstairs with no clothes on. Never. Ever.” We’ve got some classic Dave and Mary Turlington adventures on this week’s episode – as they find themselves in some compromising positions! And Jess talks about how Stuart honed his onstage craft over the years. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like...

“Every year on the first day of school, to the great amazement of the kids in kindergarten…Miss MacNeal would burp the alphabet from A to Z.”   Welcome back to Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe! Our first episode is all about back to school. We’ve got a story about how Dave and Morley tried to recreate the magic of their own school days for Sam (spoiler: it didn’t work out quite as they hoped); an...

We hope you'll join us next Friday for Season 6 of Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe! We’ve got more Dave and Morley stories for you, more of Stuart McLean’s wonderful Vinyl Cafe essays and, of course, more behind the scenes stories from Jess Milton. Here's a taster of what's in store... Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual pa...

This week, more from our Apostrophe Podcast Network family! We think you will enjoy, "We Regret to Inform You: The Rejection Podcast." Sidney O’Reilly shares the stories of successful people who have encountered rejection in their careers – and triumphed nonetheless.  For this episode, we enter the wacky world of Monty Python and hear how risky it was for the BBC and others to take...

Something special for you for our first bonus episode. From one of my absolute favourite Vinyl Cafe radio shows, from 2011, this is Stuart and I in studio talking about bloopers! We laughed so hard recording this show.  Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Subs...

“There is nothing like a neighbour throwing money about their garden to make you feel bad about yours.”   It's summer all the way on this week’s episode. In our first story, Mary Turlington unwittingly trips off a chain of events that get heated under the summer sun. And in the second, Sam and Murphy have the summer of a lifetime in Big Narrows, Cape Breton. Ad-free listening is here! Li...

“Whenever the cat is around, things seem to go wrong.”   This week, Dave discovers a stowaway on the family road trip, with hilarious consequences. And Jess shares two more of Stuart McLean’s Postcards from Canada: from St John’s, NFLD in the east and Powell River, B.C. in the west. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virt...

Something a little different this week that we think you’ll enjoy. From our friends at the Apostrophe Podcast Network: Terry O’Reilly’s “The Beatlology Interviews”. You may not know that Stuart McLean was a huge Beatles fan (though really, aren’t we all?) And he collected Beatles memorabilia. Another huge fan and collector is Terry O'Reilly. In this episode of “The Beatlology Interviews” Terr...

Bonjour,” he said. “Je m’appelle Dave.” Yup, sometimes things go wrong. It happens to the best of us. Especially on the Vinyl Cafe, as you’ll hear in Stuart McLean’s Dave and Morley stories Dog Pills and Petit Lac Noir. Also on this week’s episode, Jess shares a surprising and funny backstory about the inspiration behind Dave’s mistake in Dog Pills. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-...

"This waterslide was the waterslide to end all waterslides”   We are taking a break over the summer, so in honour of our final episode of Season 1 we’ve got two Vinyl Cafe stories for you about summer. If you listen carefully you’ll hear something unusual in the first, A Letter from Camp, when Stuart inserts a personal story from his own days at his beloved summer camp. And of course, we can’...

For this summer bonus episode, my conversation with long-time Vinyl Cafe and Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe recording engineer, Greg DeClute. Greg has some great stories to share about working with Stuart McLean for so many years. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Subscr...

“There is nothing like a 20th wedding anniversary to drive home the point that you are no longer 20 years old”   For our final episode of this season, two entertaining stories about summer vacations. And Jess talks about the additional perspective going further afield can bring. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – lik...

“When are you supposed to let your children march off alone? When are you supposed to let them learn from their mistakes”   On today’s episode, two stories about childhood. And Jess talks about how one of her own childhood dreams has recently come to fruition - with the making of the upcoming Vinyl Cafe: The Musical!  Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a...

“Dave said, you’re thinking about dancing, aren’t you?”   We’re looking towards summer on today’s episode. We have a script Stuart wrote about a magical evening spent in pursuit of fireflies. And a story of summer evenings in Dave and Morley’s neighbourhood.  Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q...

“When Dave was a boy, dolls terrified him” Something a little different on today’s episode: two stories about kids' toys -- the good, the bad and the ugly! One is a story about Dave's childhood, the other is a story by Stuart about his own childhood experience with toys. Plus a backstory from Jess about how that autobiographical story got its name. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-f...

“Murphy was terrified of snakes”   Today’s episode features two stories that take place out and about, further afield. Dave’s Cousin Dorothy visits from England and has an exciting side adventure on their trip to Ottawa. And in the second story, Dave, Sam and Murphy make an unusual delivery.  Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other...

“I don’t want a birthday party, said Morley. I hate birthday parties”   Some vintage Stuart McLean this week, as Morley celebrates a milestone birthday. And we have an older story for you, one you may not have heard before, where Dave is not necessarily his ‘best self’. Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties,...

“Dave was still a kid the night he and Jimmy met.”   Stuart loved to write about old friends. This week we’ve chosen two of our favourite friendship stories – one will make you laugh, one might also make you cry.  Ad-free listening is here! Listen to the pod ad-free and early, PLUS a whole bunch of other goodies – like virtual parties, Q&As, listener shout-outs & more. Subsc...