Bridging the Social Distance

Bridging the Social Distance continues to celebrate Seniors' Month by returning to  The Village of Riverside Glen , this time to interview resident Doug A Gilmour. Doug has written a book chronicling his life, called "A Successful Life: Overcoming Adversity with Persistence", and based on this interview it sounds like Doug has done just that. He's experienced a lot of hardship, and a lot of loss -...

The last episode, I interviewed a teacher - today, we hear from a student's perspective. Owen Mulkins-Brown is a grade nine student at GCVI. He's also a bit of a radio and story-sharing alumni, having participated in several projects with CFRU when he was a student at Willow RD PS, and acting as a host for last year's "Moving Histories, Neighbourhood Mysteries". So when looking for a student's per...

For this episode I interview  Kelly McCullough , a high school teacher at the Upper Grand District School Board. Kelly helps run  urbanartsguelph.ca MADE  with her colleague Jeff Bersche, an arts-focused experiential learning course here in Guelph. And since experiential learning steps outside the classroom...Jenny really wanted to explore what that might mean for students during a quarantine. Are...

For this episode I interview Owen Pallett - Owen just released a beautiful new album "Island". And so we chat about this, and wonder about the future of music, reflecting on how we got here. We talk about recording, about the time between albums, and how our concept of time has shifted over the years - how some artists, when we discovered them as teens, seemed frozen in a state where it was hard t...

For this episode I interview Danielle Gehl, a community herbalist and nature connection educator, who runs  Eramosa Herbals  - a community apothecary and medicine making practice. Today we talk about plants, their healing properties, and their capacities to support and augment our lives as we move through this difficult time. There are no miracle plants that have all the answers. But there are pla...

This episode begins a series within a series of this show, featuring seniors sharing stories from within quarantine. My first guest is Lloyd Hetherington. Lloyd moved into  The Village of Riverside Glen  the day before they went into total quarantine. From the inside, Lloyd has experienced nothing but positivity and support and care from the staff. On his own, prior to the pandemic, taking care of...

Today's episode features an important interview with three of the coordinators of GBHS:Guelph Solidarity Protest to Support Black Lives Matter: Kween (a board member and heritage manager for  Guelph Black Heritage Society ), Barbara (who oversees the instagram page "Guelph Care about Black Lives), and Desiree, (a community member who, along with another community member Tara, came up with the init...

For this episode I interview Aimee Copping . Aimee is a musician/songwriter/performer known as Transstar. She is the founder/coordinator/instructor extraordinaire for "Blackball" - an electronic music program for marginalized communities. She is also a producer/engineer/coordinator for "Pros and Cons" - a recording project that works with inmates at correctional institutions. Pros and Cons just re...

For this episode I interview Josh Bean, a woodworking-visual artist and festival and events specialist for the city of Waterloo. Josh had just left his work on stress leave, when the COVID pandemic sent everyone else home too. So he’s working on healing, but it’s a strange time. Today we start our interview spiralling out about dog videos and apps. We have a lot in common, in terms of how our brai...

For this episode I interview local musician Andrew Collins. Andrew's current musical project is called "AMC Gremlin" and he just released a fantastic new album called "Heavy Dust". What's it like to release an album during quarantine? This continues to be an interesting discussion to have, it seems to be a bit different for everybody. Andrew was determined to do better at self-promotion this time...

For this episode I interview Cheryl Misener, a Health Care System Navigator here in Guelph. Right before this Global Pandemic, Cheryl was poised to launch her brand new business, " Cheryl Misener - Your Guide Through the Medical Maze ", aimed to support seniors and their caregivers navigate geriatric and palliative care systems. For now the business' future and the timelines are uncertain, but COV...

For this episode of "Bridging the Social Distance", I interview Maica, a musician in Montreal QC. Before the COVID quarantining, Maica was almost done her degree in Speech Pathology, and had a job lined up for when she finished her placement. When all the placements were cancelled, and degrees were put on hold, Maica responded to a call for all willing medical students, and started working at a Lo...

For this episode I interview  Anna Mērnieks-Duffield , a musician and Arborist living in Toronto ON. We talk about Anna's own musical project  Beams , and the bands she plays in ( Ace of Wands  and  The Fern Tips ) and how her identities as a musician, wife, and arborist fit into a quarantine. It's all a balance - she's still working full time at her day job during the quarantine, but she's workin...

For this episode I interview Brodie Schwendiman, owner operator of  The Casbah  in Hamilton, and member of the "Hamilton Music Advisory Team". Brodie's been hosting live music for over a decade. And while the music scene has shifted, and recent years have seen a drop in attendance amongst the younger generation, no one creating or supporting music was prepared for a global pandemic, and an immedia...

For this episode I interview Liv Carrow, a social worker and musician living in Moline Illinois. Liv was in the middle of buying her first house, when the Global Pandemic hit. And it still went through, but it made for a bizarre and unusual experience, with complex feelings. It's very exciting to get to own your own home, a first home, and settle into a town with the commitment to stay. It's a pri...

For this episode I interview Paterson Hodgson, a Toronto based musician, visual artist and activist. Paterson had a bunch of shows lined up for her band "So Young", but then the Global Pandemic ended live shows for the foreseeable future. It also affected her income as a visual artist, a big part of which is illustrating concert posters. So it was a shift she wasn't expecting, but it hasn't slowed...

This episode features Cam Wells, host of the radio show "Handi-Link", a show that covers disability stories. The show is usually recorded at  CJAM-FM  in Windsor ON, and Cam has recently returned to the airwaves, after having set up a home recording studio. We talk about some of the newest interviews he's been hosting, and about the unique experiences of disabled folks in the times of a Global Pan...

For this episode I interview Ruhee Dewji, a musician (and software engineer) in Toronto ON. Ruhee and Jenny get to the heart of their current ponderings and anxieties, exploring their creativity, where it is or isn't taking them, and what the "other side" of this may look like. If a person isn't able to perform music in their apartment due to having neighbours, and isn't able to play live because...

This episode features Heather Houser - Heather is an author, she's the Chair of "Planet Texas 2050", and she’s an Associate Professor of English at  The University of Texas at Austin . Heather's new book "Infowhelm" is being released on  Columbia University Press  in June 2020, and while it was written prior to this Global Pandemic we've found ourselves in, there are incredible parallels. About In...

For this episode I interview  Chris Cummings , who performs under the name " Marker Starling " - Marker Starling just released a delightful new album called "High January", released on  Tin Angel Records , and recorded with help from members of the band "Stereo Lab" We talk about his record, and the future and past of our music scenes, we talk about the closing of venues and the loss of spaces, no...

For this episode I interview Kat Herbinson, a neuro-diverse relationship coach who recently relocated to Victoria B.C. Kat was adventuring her way across the United States on route to her new home in B.C. when the pandemic hit, and she had to escalate her trip. As stressful and unusual as it must be to begin a new life from within quarantine, Kat had lots of amazing insights into ways we can work...

For this episode I interview Tyler Clarke Burke, a graphic artist and children's author living in Toronto ON. Tyler is slowly recovering from what is likely COVID - she hasn't been officially tested, but it was rough and scary, and thankfully she seems to be on the other side. We talk about this, about the scary reality of this illness, and we talk about a lot of other things too: we talk about fa...

For this episode I interview Morgan Murray, an author living in Cape Breton NS. Morgan is about to release his debut novel, "Dirty Birds". Because of a global paper shortage, the publication has been delayed. Because of a global pandemic, there's no physical launch, or tour. But it's a fantastic book, that can exceed all the limitations of these times. It will teleport you from a tiny town in Sask...

For this episode I interview Lauren Stein.  Lauren is an expressive arts therapist, Hebrew priestess, author and improv coach who lives here in Guelph.  We talk about how as extroverts, there are benefits to the increased use of online social networking platforms in terms of reconnecting us to our friends from afar and the opportunities to connect with people from around the world around very spec...

For this episode I interview Olivia Vale, a Wedding and Event photographer living in Austin Texas.  With the announcement of quarantining measures in response to this global pandemic of COVID-19, Olivia had a barrage of cancellations for photography gigs - the Mayor of Austin was preemptive in cancelling South By Southwest and while it saw backlash at the time, it is now clear he likely prevented...