Civically Speaking Podcast with Host, Lenore Swystun and Co-Host, Christina Cherneskey

Send us Fan Mail Hello Dear Listeners, Back this week, Christina Cherneskey. We catch up on summer (it seems to finally have arrived) and begin our talk, as most prairie folk do...about the weather and then turn to water and water safety....and then we span out from there. Fifa Soccer/Football and the Jazz Festival are mentioned and then we turn around the weariness of the world these days war-wis...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners... Happy Canada Day. This episode of Civically Speaking is a reflective Canada Day teaching piece of sorts. Pondering Canada not as one simple story, but as many stories layered together. In Part One, begin before Canada was Canada: Indigenous Nations, early European contact, the fur trade, empire, Confederation, and the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. I...

Send us Fan Mail Hello Dear Listeners, My apologies for the delayed upload this week. I'm still in the midst of transferring files, programs, and what seems like an endless collection of digital gremlins from one laptop to another. Technology certainly has a way of keeping us humble! This week's episode takes us on quite a journey. In Part One, we stay close to home as we explore some of...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks for for tuning in. In Episode 1 - I share a bit about the history of the organization that talks about the history of Saskatoon. We celebrate the Saskatoon Heritage Society's 50th anniversary.  In part 2, I share some news tidbits from around the province and the world.  Tune in. Support community radio and community-based podcasts just like this. Make...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, In this episode, apologies, published a week late due to an unknown technical glitch, I take a trip around the province and beyond with recent stories. Community radio and community podcasts where real life intervenes amongst production of podcasts. Have a good week. New episode for this week will be released much sooner.  Civically speaking,  Lenore Civically Spea...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, This week on Civically Speaking, I return from the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan with reflections, observations, and questions that travelled home with me. I had the opportunity to attend and present at one of the world's largest gatherings focused on cities, communities, housing, resilience, and our collective futures. Tens of thousands of planners, r...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners,  Thanks for tuning into Civically Speaking. Be sure to support community radio and stations like cfcr.ca. In Part 2, I dig deeper into Prince Albert and Moose Jaw before zooming out into broader conversations around global urbanization, climate change, governance, and the pressures reshaping cities and communities around the world… including right here in Saskatche...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners,  Thanks for tuning into Civically Speaking. Be sure to support community radio and stations like cfcr.ca. In Part 1 of this episode, I dive deep into the changing urban realities of Saskatoon and Regina through the lenses of planning theory, sociology, and civic identity. We explored Saskatoon’s downtown transformation, including the proposed redevelopment of the f...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks for tuning in and supporting community radio. Grab your 2026 2027 membership for cfcr.ca and get in on some good deals. Regrets from Christina, and so I geek out.  This episode leans in on a favourite topic of mine - the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. During July 2026, the United Nations will conduct an in-depth review of Sustainable Developme...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners… This week’s Civically Speaking stays close to home… and to some of the most important shifts happening right around us.  Regrets from Christina. I geeked out with this episode and spent time discussing the evolving role of the RM of Corman Park and what it could mean now that it is an approved planning authority. The RM is poised to shift and reposition itself acro...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, In this episode Christina and I unpack a bit of the relief that may be rippling through all federal political parties via post federal by-election results.  The At Issue Panel on CBC had similar musings last night.  We then go around the world ...let's just say...Trump, a Pope, and a Canal... and learnings from outer Space... We then hit home near the end of P...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks for tuning in to podcasts like this and community radio stations like CFCR where shows like this first air in CFCR lands. With returning panel members, Dr. Tom Wolf and Gordon Androsoff, we begin today’s conversation in the fields… with fertilizer costs and the very real impacts of global conflict on supply chains, pricing, and decision-making on the ground....

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, It is a day of news around all things transportation and transit. We begin with a sad story involving an Air Canada plane that made contact with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport. We then come closer to home with stories involving, yet again, an overpass and collision with a semi-truck… then round over to a story about the bus rapid transit system in the making, kn...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners,  Thanks for tuning in. This week, we spent time looking ahead to what we might expect in the upcoming provincial budget. Budgets are ultimately about priorities, and we talked about the pressures shaping this year’s decisions and what communities across Saskatchewan may be watching for. We also explored the role of media in interpreting and presenting budgets to th...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thank you for tuning in. Much appreciation. In today's episode, Christina and I begin with a check in on classic prairie March weather and then head into a chat about the current status of the USA, Israel, Iran, Middle East Cluster something - as it is difficult to unpack what is what - as the messages coming change it seems minute by minute - one minute a war...

Send us Fan Mail Hello Listeners, It has been a tough couple of weeks. Losing a brother is never easy. Losing an extra special brother like Gordon is unbearable. He made my partner and I better people.  Truly. Gone way too soon.  In his spirit, trying to move on. He loved this show, and being in the background as I recorded, most often in recent years, from the dining room of the farm house. His h...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Friends and Colleagues, This week I sit down with James Yachyshen to unpack a pivotal moment in Canadian federal politics.  We discuss the Conservative Leadership Review and Convention, the upcoming NDP leadership race, and what these parallel transitions could mean for the Federal Liberals... including the possibility of an election later this year. Leadership contests are n...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks for tuning in. In this episode of Civically Speaking , we spend time unpacking food security… not as a single issue, but as a system shaped by trade, climate pressures, land, science, and governance. I’m joined by Gordon Androsoff, Executive Director of the Nelson Community Food Centre, joining us from Nelson, British Columbia, and Dr. Tom Wolf, widely known...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners,  In PT 2, we focus on the global scene and affects felt locally.  Cognitive dissonance ripples through our world. What we see and what we hear.  Tune in. Support shows like this and community radio stations like cfcr.ca  Civicaly  speaking, Lenore Swystun with Christina Civically Speaking- Saskatoon Saskatchewan's #1 show about civic issues. 

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Part 1 and Part 2 are broken up this week.  In this first part, Christina and I touch on local newsworthy items. SREDA, Discovery Saskatoon, and more touched on.  PT 2 we go global.  Be sure to support shows like this and tune in, for real, by your FM dial to 90.5 FM when in Saskatoon or via the digital platforms via cfcr.ca Civically speaking,  Lenore with Christi...

Send us Fan Mail  Dear Listeners, Thanks for tuning in. Much appreciation for your support of shows like this that air on Community Radio and also in podcast form. The first half of this episode focuses on a changing world order and why it matters to pay attention right now. The conversation looks at how global norms are shifting, what world leaders are saying about Greenland and sovereignty, and...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks, as always, for tuning in to Civically Speaking. This episode was uploaded Wednesday morning, with apologies for the delay. Christina and I begin with a few ponderings about the weather. It feels much more like spring than winter, and I have to say, I am loving it. We are also supposed to see good weather for a while yet, which feels like a gift. From there,...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Happy New Year!   May 2026 bring you and this show and others that air on community radio and are spread through podcast platforms beyond do their very best to stay informed and have us exercising our civic muscles always. In the first part of the show, we look at major international developments, focusing on Venezuela and Ukraine, and asked why these events matter...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, As we head into the holiday season, this week on Civically Speaking , I’m joined by Rupan Sambasivam, a recent political science graduate and aspiring media voice, for a year-end reflection on the major political milestones of 2025. We walk through the federal election, leadership shifts, and key moments that shaped national politics over the year, and then look at...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, Thanks for tuning into Civically Speaking. This two-part episode of Civically Speaking brings together what’s happening right now and what it means for civic life moving forward. In Part 1, we walk through the most important stories from the past week, moving from global events to local City Hall decisions, including: Major earthquakes and tsunami warnings in Japan...