The Conversation Lab

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist, filmmaker, and author. I had the opportunity to speak with her a few years ago when she wrote No Is Not Enough. While this conversation was a few books ago, when I went back to listen to it I found it eerily relevant as she discusses the political climate and the rise of Trump as a brand. She highlights the dangers of equating wealth with wisd...

If there was ever a time we needed some radical democracy its now! In this episode of The Conversation Lab, Stuart Poyntz and Joanna Ashworth talk about the CERi-Participedia Summer School and how they have brought together leading experts, researchers, graduate students, community leaders, activists and change makers to talk about what it means to radically re-imagine, research and practice democ...

Barry Rooke is the Executive Director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. He works with 126 radio stations across Canada. In this episode of The Conversation Lab we talk about the differences between campus, community, and commercial radio statiions, the regulatory and financial landscape, changing technologies (including AI), the impact of consolidation in the private sector a...

Jeff Fitzpatrick describes the opportunities and the challenges that a new regional park presents for visitors from mainland communities to Bowen Island. As a long time resident of Bowen David Hocking helps us understand more about the history of nature and conservation in the small village and community of Bowen Island; the threats from logging and development, and the several failed attempts tha...

This is a conversation from the Victoria Forum. A collaboration between the Senate of Canada and the University of Victoria. I was asked to moderate this plenary session, "Bridging Environmental Divides: Shifting our relationship with the natural world from extractive to regenerative." This conversation analyzes our quest to shift our relationship with the natural world from extractive to regenera...

This is an interview with Ann Mortifee shortly after the introduction her 6th musical,The Mysteries. After many years its a wonderful catch-up about her work and life and what inspires her.

Bowen Island is one of the many (21) municipalities that make up Metro Vancouver. A short bus and ferry ride away former mayor Bob Turner talks about the municipal election,the politics of a small island, the Howe Sound Biosphere and more importantly how local communities provide hope.

Dr. Janis Fook talks about her career, her books, essays, and gives us some ideas of how we can use critical reflection to change our conversations. We talk about her analysis of power, notions of discourse, language, identity, and difference.

Chief Robert Joseph & David Patterson talk about Reconciliation and why it matters.

This is a short story/trailer for the conversation lab podcast.

Dr. Tero Mustonen, is a passionate defender of a traditional worldview and cosmology of his people, as a Finn and head of the village of Selkie in North Karelia, Finland. This is an earlier conversation about the Snow-change cooperative in an interesting backdrop of our current landscape.

Gregory Ould and his son Ben are the co-founders of the Blanket BC Society - an award winning non-profit organization that collects and distributes blankets and warm clothing to shelter programs, families in need, emergency services, and indigenous communities. In this eposode we talk about the heart warming history of Blanket BC and how it got started, some of the issues that keep the team up at...

Jeff Fitzpatrick talks about the importance of regional parks and how they support healthy communities. He also discusses the many complex issues of developing one with a focus on Metro's latest at Cape Roger Curtis on Bowen Island.

A fun conversation with the author about broadcasting, the Olympics, business and bees.

Sara Harris is a Canadian scientist, and professor in the department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, and the associate dean academic in the Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia. We talk about our climate and how we educate as well as discuss it.

Jen Lyle is the CEO of the Alzheimer's Society of B.C. We talk about dementia, why its more than a health care issue, and how each of us can help the 76,000 Canadians that are diagnosed with it annually.

Tom Lavin is a Chicago-born musician, record producer and founding member of The Powder Blues Band. As they get ready to play a fund raiser for Co-op Radio May 15th, Tom talks about life on the road, his family, books, business and love of music!

David Ng is a PhD student at The Social Justice Institute at UBC. He is a queer, feminist, media artist, and co-founder of Love Intersections, a media arts organization of queer artists of colour. We talk about his current research and artistic practices that grapple with queer, racialized, and diasporic identity, and how intersectional identities can be expressed through media arts.

This conversation is about OYA Media's first production about Mr Jane and Finch, Winston Larose. A short documentary about a long standing community activist who ran for city Councilor in Toronto. A wonderful man, disturbing politics and racism.

Jason W. Moore is an environmental historian and historical geographer at Binghamton University. He is a professor of sociology and author of a number of foundational books and essays on environmental history, capitalism an social theory. This conversation was recorded in 2017 and it seems even more relevant today.

The most pressing environmental problem we face today is not climate change. It is pollution in the public square, where a smog of adversarial rhetoric, propaganda and polarization stifles discussion and debate, creating resistance to change and thwarting our ability to solve our collective problems. James Hoggan talks about his book and what he has learned from a career in public relations and ac...

Marc Serpa Francoeur and Robinder Uppal are documentary film makers and join us to talk about how No Visible Trauma came about, how it influenced their lives as they talk about about police brutality in Calgary.

We discuss the environment and the work being done by My Sea To Sky in Howe Sound British Columbia. We also talk about Cop 26, Wood Fiber LNG, how climate change and racial injustice share the same roots, and how we can make a difference!

What about the future is an observational documentary that chronicles a group of youth environmental activists who organized a climate strike in Vancouver. This is a conversation with the Directors - Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos, Claudio Cruz; the Producer - Jen Muaranetz, and Naia Lee who was a "Sustainabiliteen" when this documentary was filmed.

Kent & Robin talk about their documentary that speaks to the issues of Filipino workers in Canada, the sacrifices they and their families make, and how communities near and far support them.