Before, Behind and Between

In this second part of the special podcasts that commemorate the UN's World Radio Day 2022, we look at how radio is used in South Sudan for information and education, and as a powerful teaching tool. The stories are compelling: they illustrate how radio continues to impact our lives - despite the rise of podcasts and related audio media. Part of this content is reproduced from Global Human Stories...

The United Nations, through UNESCO, encourages people around the globe to recognize and celebrate the role that radio plays in local societies and economies. That day is Sunday February 13. Building on more than a century of history, radio remains one of the most trusted and widely used media. Throughout the years, radio has provided affordable access to information in real time. By bridging the g...

Is a musical band more than its members at any given time? Is a band more than creating new music or playing live to fans? Is a band something independent of the members? These are questions that many band members, from many bands, are asking themselves. It's a very existential question; but it's also relevant to the transformations happening with NFTs, the growth of the metaverse, and the simple...

Geddy Lee's favourite Rush songs would make one heck of a very cool setlist. Included are Roll the Bones, Animate, Between the Wheels and The Garden. While "I Think I'm Going Bald" is not included, I think Rush fans will agree that this list has some real potential. Check out this episode to learn more about Geddy's favourites, and how they could make a great playlist for listening. Makes one wond...

This episode of Before, Behind and Between reflects on some of the lessons learned from producing and publishing a podcast. As the 100th episode of this podcast, it also represents a milestone as well as an appropriate time to consider how to improve episodes, possibly integrate interviews and related content, and consider producing documentary-style episodes. So here I share some of my experience...

Ok, it's a completely crazy idea for a Star Trek show. I would subtitle it, "Ordinary People". The idea for this new show, or a mini-series, or a short, focuses on the lives of non-space, ordinary people during the centuries in which the various Star Trek shows are based.  Kirk announces in Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home , that the people of that earlier century were "still using money". Which...

While I'm not a "best-selling" author by any means, my books for about a month after each original release ranked consistently in the top of the heap in their genre (which, broadly speaking, is non-fiction), ranging from "10 out of" to "3 out of". And while that's pretty cool, achieving a top ranking was not my original motivation in writing books. No, it was vanity. As you'll learn in this episod...

The history of Texas is filled with passion and folklore, with icons, heroes and characters that include The Alamo, US President John Tyler and Davey Crockett.  But if one were to go back a littler further in time, you'd find that many in that area preferred calling it the New Philippines, instead of Texas. This brief interlude in head-scratching history that almost saw the Lone Star State be...

Another spring, another football league. This time it's the USFL, the United States Football League, that will rise from the ashes next April, with slightly updated versions of the original logos of eight of the league's original teams. This story has been in the rumour mill for years, mostly from hopeful fans of the league's original years in the early to mid-1980s. But recent announcements offic...

Advocacy, lobbying and government relations form the focus on my newest book, Advocacy - Explained! Published by Henley Point, the book will be available on Amazon in the next six weeks or so.  The book focuses on the processes of raising the volume on social messages, and amplifying those messages in ways that help impact the political and policy agendas in our societies.  This episode...

Rush has released special anniversary issues of several albums, including Hemispheres , Permanent Waves , and A Farewell to Kings . These R40s have been given updated sound treatment, packaging, and fancy new artwork. But none of the special 40 re-issues has ever included beer. Recognizing this deficiency, and acknowledging the importance of beer, Moving Pictures gets it own brew. The album's 40th...

Twenty years or so before Boris Karloff portrayed what is perhaps known as the classic Frankenstein monster, another film with the same name was all the rage. Black and white, silent, and perhaps even creepier, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly hit the screens in 1910. Listen this episode to learn more about this early version of Shelly's screen adaptation as well as more tidbits about the man behind th...

A national day of reconciliation is a critical observance, but I wonder if an actual holiday (only for those employed in the federal realm) is the right way to go. In those jurisdictions that did not recognize the day as a public holiday about a month ago, many employers set aside at least part of the day for sensitivity training and related sessions dedicated to advancing cultural awareness.&nbsp...

Love the internet, but not necessarily how so many beautiful people have become transformed into walking soapboxes of misinformation. Know-it-alls with a knowledge-base of information that is ... well, just not quite accurate. You've seen them around. But they are kind of hard to accurately describe, kind of like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Welcome to Season 8. This is The Era of the Smart...

I've always maintained that we, at least sometimes, need to look behind to appreciate what lies ahead (also a fun play on the title of this podcast). Today, Canada's Indian Act is once again at the heart of news and controversy in Canada; however, in ways that few people appreciate. So I took two works of mine, both from around three decades ago, and assembled them into a new book, Canada's Indian...

Did you know that an animated version of Planet of the Apes was aired on Saturday mornings in the mid-1970s, and that one of the two main voice actors for Fred Flintstone voiced the part of General Urko? Did you know there even was an animated version? This episode talks about the legacy of live-to-animated serial adaptions, which reached their first wave of popularity in the late 1960s through th...

Walk into any one of the select LCBO stores (government-operated booze retail in Ontario), pass through the beer and cider cold room, and you might be lucky enough to see a display of beer cans that resemble a Rush album cover. It's Rush beer. It's here. And, in the humble opinion of this host, it's pretty darn good! Listen to this episode to learn more. 

A national election is underway in Canada, an election that few people seem to want. And the issues being discussed by the candidates amplify that "are-we-seriously-in-another-election" sentiment. For example, a recent "breaking" announcement by the Leader of the New Democratic Party (which, for you non-Canadians, is numerically the third largest in Canada's Parliament) didn't focus on jobs, the p...

While Canadians aren't unfamiliar to the world of podcasting, they do tend to lag behind several other countries, including the US and Spain, in many categories, especially listenership. Audio production has a strong and vibrant history in Canada (and globally, originally through Radio Canada ), so the lower relative numbers are a little surprising. Is this "lag" explained by technology, Canadian...

This episode is the second part of a summer Rush-themed doubleheader. We first check out three new demos that were recently uploaded to AlexLifeson.com, and the fact that there's more to come. And while there's probably more such material available to share, this episode also talks about what a new, official Rush podcast might sound like. Also be sure to check out the previous episode, Part 1 of t...

What if Rush released an album comprised solely of soundchecks and warmups? Would it work? Would fans buy it? This episode is the first of a summer Rush-themed double-header that talks about how existing material could be put to use in creating an interesting setlist and, equally important, in satiating the appetite that Rush fans have for new product.  Also be sure to check out the next epis...

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that question ...  Despite the fact that podcasting has been around since the early to mid-2000s, many people are uncertain about what these things actually are. Aren't they just radio broadcasts available through an app?  Not quite. Listen to this episode that talks about some of the common differences (and a few similarities) between podcasts...

While the exploratory talks between officials representing the CFL and XFL have now come to a close, several rumours suggest that the CFL's Toronto Argonauts could possibly jump ships and join the XFL. The XFL won't be hitting the field until 2022. But another league, the USFL, from the 1980s, rumoured for rebirth for years, is now looking like a real thing. This episode talks about new leagues, l...

Reports were made. Studies released. Testimony given. Committee after committee. Research commissions followed by yet more research commissions. Despite all the evidence and recommendations over many, many decades, positive change has been absurdly slow and barely measurable for indigenous peoples in Canada. The recent tragic news of mass and unmarked graves has shocked Canadians and provided a wi...

Two new songs, both instrumental, have Rush fans swirling with rumours. Alex Lifeson recently posted new original material to his website, the first such music since 2012. The songs, Kabul Blues and Spy House , are terrific. But do they represent a possible new direction for Rush? Listen on, and learn more.