Chatter that Matters

Step back in time to 1984. It's a pivotal year in the history of Canadian television — it's the year Much Music was born. In this episode of Chatter that Matters, we look at its fascinating journey and Canadian content that competed with the best in the world.   Much Music was one of the first Canadian specialty channels; this ground-breaking concept emerged from the vision of two trailblazing ind...

As a father of two wonderful girls, I have always asked - Why aren't more women in power? Only 10 percent of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are women, and only 27 of the 193 countries in the world are led by women. I believe that if more women were in power, there would be less conquest and a dramatic shift in spending from the military to what matters - healthcare, humanity, education, fiscal resp...

Arthur Smith shares excerpts from his book Reach - Hard Lessons and Earned Truths from a Lifetime in Television. Arthur talks about what it was like to work with Gordon Ramsay on Hell's Kitchen (excellent) and to try and convince Donald Trump to be part of a show. (not so excellent). Arthur also talks about his surprise hit American Ninja Warriors and many other behind-the-scenes stories, includin...

I loved talking with Deepa Mehta. I could have listened to her for hours, and I wish she could be my friend for life. Deepa is a citizen of the world, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose work is celebrated internationally and has played at every major film festival. Deepa has worked with George Lucas, yet often has turned down Hollywood to create emotionally resonating, award-winning cinema that ma...

What if your health and even life was a matter of choice, not chance? Yuri Elkaim dreamed of a pro soccer career until his health deteriorated. Chronic fatigue and hair loss, followed by a seven-year search for answers, forced Yuri to make his health a matter of choice, not chance. As a teenager, Yuri Elkaim fixated his gaze and even touched on a professional soccer career due to his tireless work...

This week on Chatter that Matters, Sheri Segal Glick talks about her memoir: 'The Skinny: My Messy, hopeful fight for full recovery from anorexia." Sheri's journey unfolds with unflinching honesty as she unmasks the hidden truth of eating disorders. Sheri takes us to the depths of her addiction, what she did to game the system, her lonely and even life-threatening hospital stays, her obsessive wor...

  A 120-foot fall free-climbing almost cost Dov his life but freed him to pursue his calling. The search for meaning has been an obsession of Dov Baron from his earliest days. He was born in Northern England in abject poverty, surrounded by crime, violence, and addiction, and knew there must be more to life than suffering and abuse. Dov left his destructive environment to travel and study with som...

The Many Lives of Mama Love. A memoir of lying, stealing, writing and healing. This story will become a blockbuster movie or a must-watch Netflix series.  My guest today is NY Times Best Selling author Lara Love Hardin, and her book The Many Lives of Mamma Love is her story.  From the worst beginnings, and then addiction, and then theft and jail, is someone who ends up breaking bread with Oprah, m...

Biologist Dr. Manrique Prada and thought leader John Stackhouse joined me this week in an episode I titled two conversations with Mother Nature. Dr. Manrique Prada, a Ph. D. in biological science, stands as one of South America's most esteemed environmentalists. In his new book Voices of Mother Earth, Manrique shares his experiences living among the Xavante people—an indigenous tribe who lives off...

Peter Weissman. A journey marked by trauma, resilience, advocacy and two brothers.  Two weeks ago, I shared the story of Eric Weissman who battled addiction to become an advocate for people experiencing homelessness. Today we celebrate his brother's inspiring journey. Peter Weissman's life turned upside down at four when his Mom left home to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, something she su...

Would you remain optimistic if the cards of life are rarely dealt in your favour? This week's inspiring guest is Lindsay Ireland, who spent idyllic childhood summers in Vermont, riding horses, playing detective with her cousin, and living with her famous aunt and uncle, Jill Ireland and Charles Bronson, the action star of his day. Lindsay's world changed at age eleven when she noticed blood in her...

Let me introduce my guest and his powerful story about transformation and triumph. Eric Weissman was a child living in a home marked by turbulence, trauma and aggression. Eric developed an insatiable appetite for consuming and selling drugs until addiction consumed him. He spent six years living nomadically and even on the street. Few break this cycle. He didn't just break it; Eric Weissman, PH.D....

Kevin Newman: Learning how and where his son sought the truth was harder than finding the truth. Alex Newman:   Finding answers in chat rooms versus the family room (felt safer). Until he came out to his family.   This is one of my favourite interviews of all time. It brought back memories of my relationship with my father, which I describe in the opening. As I introduce my two guests, you will in...

In 1967 Canada was the world's ninth largest economy; today, it is seventeenth. Regarding income per person, we've fallen from third to fifteenth. What kind of Canada are we leaving our children? How do we avoid falling further behind?    Join us for a special Canada Day podcast recorded at the prestigious Toronto Hunt Club.  I interviewed three authors who wrote "Everybody's Business: How to Ensu...

Nicole Bourque-Bouchier's journey from humble beginnings to RBC's 2022 Women of Influence - CEO Excellence Award Winner . Hailing from a lineage of trappers, Nicole Bourque-Bouchier claims her indigenous and entrepreneurial roots to be a role model to her family and community while building Bouchier into one of the largest indigenous-owned companies with revenues of $150 million, 1000 employees an...

Being a father was the most magical thing in Garry Junkuhn's life. He could never have imagined that he would lose contact with his two sons for over three years when his girlfriend moved in with him. His pain was akin to four wild horses tearing him apart. Garry's life unravelled further when he learned from a school email that his older son had changed his last name to his mother's surname. Howe...

Can pressure be your superpower?  Can it be the wind at your back instead of a suffocating weight on your shoulders? My guest today is Dane Jensen, the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen's University and the University of North Carolina, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and author of The Power of Pressure.   Dane has an incredible way with words,...

Imagine this. Your name is Steph Catudal. You are a young teenager, and you adore your Dad. He can do one-arm pushups and entertain a crowd, and when you have a terrible asthma attack, he calms you down. One day you hear the first of many horrible coughs and soon learn he is dying of lung cancer. His death tears at your soul, and you become rebellious and angry; try to escape with substances and r...

I first heard   Shabana Basij-Rasikh   share her moving story on 60 Minutes, and I knew I had to have her on Chatter that Matters. You will soon hear why National Geographic named her their Explorer of the Year. Shabana calls herself an ordinary Afghan woman, but I see her as a hero of immense courage and fortitude and one of the many brave women defying the tyrannical rule of the Taliban. What we...

 Wendy Murphy lost the use of her legs in a car accident. What she found was her life's calling. Prepare to be inspired by the remarkable story of Wendy Murphy, who transformed personal tragedy into triumph and used positivity for the benefit of society. Powerful lessons for all await. Wendy takes us on a heartfelt journey through her life, which began as someone who approached life three steps at...

In honour of Mother's Day, I'd like to share the inspiring story of Dr. Suzanne Vickberg. Despite divorcing her husband twelve years ago, she still lives with him, their children, and his new wife - not as a 'Jerry Springer' spectacle, but as a testament to the idea that divorce doesn't have to be devastating and that family comes first. For Dr. Vickberg, her divorce wasn't a failure but an opport...

This an extraordinary success story with so much added value if you are involved with Brands, Marketing, Media, an Entrepreneur, and even a Parent or Consumer.  Joe Gagliese, the co-founder and CEO of a digital and social innovation agency, Viral Nation, is one of the most impressive entrepreneurs I have ever talked with. Joe is innovative, insightful, informative, and inspiring. In seven years, h...

                                                ' My Mom was at home when I left .' I have two asks. The first is that you stay with this interview as it unfolds. There are so many layers, and out of the ashes rises a remarkable human spirit. My second is that as you listen, imagine you are my guest,   Shelly Edwards Jorgensen. You are the child driving up to  your family home after a high school...

My chat with Siila Watt-Cloutier so moved me, and she made me think differently. For example, she believes that the trauma we are going through as a Planet and Human Species are the same, and so is the path to healing.  If she were sitting down with me today, I would ask:   If everything on this Planet is interconnected, does that mean we all feel the loss when a species goes extinct, or a fire co...

Looking for a better life, Timea Nagy is lured by an international sex trafficking ring. Timea Nagy was 20 years old and hoping to escape a childhood of trauma and abuse. She answered a newspaper ad in Budapest, Hungary, calling for young women to work as babysitters and housekeepers in Canada. On the flight over, her dreams were big, and her hopes soared. But from the moment she landed in Canada,...