Midtown Conversations

In this episode, we bring you a live panel discussion on the role of local media as social infrastructure — exploring how journalism connects communities, builds trust, and supports civic life in an era of fragmentation and digital overload. Hosted by Shannon Knelsen, the conversation features community advocate Melissa Bowman, publisher Stewart Grant, and former Regional Chair Ken Seiling. Togeth...

Guests Carol Coletta, Shirley Madill, and Eric Avner discuss the importance of social infrastructure and how we can make our communities more joyful. Carol Coletta will be speaking at The Walper Hotel on Nov. 6th as part of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery's Culture Talks series. Tickets can be purchased from KWAG.ca  About our guests : Carol Coletta is a Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Publi...

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Host Danielle Deveau chats with Cosmic Fishing Theatre founder Viktorija Kovac about the need for more theatre for young people in the Waterloo Region. 

Panelists: Mitchell Cohen, President & CEO at Daniels Corporation; Author of Rhythms of Change: Reflections on the Regent Park Revitalization; a strong advocate for the roles that creativity and connectivity can play in building healthy and vital communities. Shirley Madill, Executive Director at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery; a respected leader in the local and national arts scene, and b...

Guest host @allisondyjach chats with Kitchener punk-rockers @redoutput about releasing their first new single in 2 years, "Rafters," and they look back at the incredible 2023 the band had. We also sit down with Owen Tester, lead guitarist from @livingroomforsmall_ to discuss the local pop-punk band's new EP release "WHEREVER U GO" and play a special KW lightning round...does Owen prefer the farm a...

Join host Danielle Deveau, live from the SDG Idea Factory in Kitchener, for this music cities talk featuring Shain Shapiro (author of This Must be the Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better ). With guests Betty Anne Keller ( Rock This Town ); Paul Kalbfleisch ( The JOY Experiments: Starting a New Conversation on City Building ); and Amit Mehta (Good Company Productions).

Host Danielle Deveau chats with playwrights Maria Colonescu, Steven Elliott Jackson, and Ciaran Myers about: -how they found careers in theatre -what it’s like working in this region -the challenges of finding space, funding, and audiences -how a regional arts council could help make our local creative economy better All the writers have work in the upcoming season of Midtown Radio Dramas. Big tha...

This week on Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau visits KWAG for a tour of the new exhibition SOS: A Story of Survival, Part II - The Body. Curator Darryn Doull walks us through the works, which collectively consider the impacts of climate change, war and conflict, and food and housing insecurity on our living bodies. Viewers are asked to consider: How will we survive as our shared environ...

Host Danielle Deveau interviews STEPHEN PREECE, President of the Grand River Jazz Society and founder of The Jazz Room in Waterloo, Ontario. We talk about:  -how The Jazz Room found a home  -the importance of live music and supporting artists in our communities  -the challenges that local cultural organizations continue to face We also dig into the archives for an interview with MARY-CATHERINE PAZ...

Host Danielle Deveau chats with Danny Michel about his new album: Ghost Town. Interview discusses: the process of writing and recording this album (spoiler: it was really hard) what inspired him how many times does every song need to be fully recorded and mixed...really.... what it's like being a solo artist in Canada how long has he actually been collaborating with Rob Carli and what does he REAL...

In this clip from Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau sits down with KW city builders Melissa Bowman and Sarah Marsh to discuss some of the most contentious issues facing our cities and how we can solve them. 

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau is joined by local author, music historian, and CKWR radio host Coral Andrews for a feature conversation.

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, host Matt Rappolt sits down with community activist Kamil Ahmed, one of the organizers Community Fridge KW. Kamil talks about the genesis and growth of the project, how it subverts the power dynamics of the traditional "charity" model, and why mutual aid projects are so important for tackling inequality in our communities.

Host Danielle Deveau discusses "Neighbourhood Character" with our Cities Panel. What is it? It is a reasonable concept for planning conversations? With guests Melissa Bowman (Citified Substack); Sam Nabi (TriCities Hip Hop & Full Circle Foods); and Sam Glass (Arts Build Ontario).

Danielle Deveau interviews Mike Morrice (MP Kitchener-Centre) about what he has seen and heard in his community this summer, and what he hopes to achieve when he returns to Parliament this Fall.

Melissa Bowman of the "Citified" local politics blog catches up with activist and municipal council candidate Brooklin Wallis. Wallis is running to represent ward 10 in this year's municipal election and is also breaking ground as one of the first trans persons to seek the position. Brooklin talks about why she's running and about why the challenges trans people can face in running for municipal o...

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, producer Danielle Deveau chats with our cities panel about the changes that we have seen over the past decade living and working in DTK. Featuring Melissa Bowman (Citified Substack); Sam Nabi (Tri-Cities Hip Hop; Full Circle Foods); and Alex Glass (Arts Build Ontario).

In 2019, Sean Geobey interviewed Emily about cycling in Midtown KW. Last week, Danielle Deveau caught up with Emily again to find out what has changed in regional cycling infrastructure and awareness.

This Saturday on Midtown Conversations, we dig into the archives for this 2019 interview with Mike Morrice (MP, Kitchener-Centre). Mike was one of the very first guests we ever had on Midtown Conversations. In this interview, he talks about his time as a student at WLU, how he decided to found a company dedicated to sustainability, and what he hoped to achieve as a Green Party Candidate for Kitche...

Danielle Deveau interviews playwright Catherine Frid, musician Mary Abdel-Malek Neil, and performer Carolyn Brochu. Their play Living Below the Line (Watercourse Theatre) was co-created by local community members and explores the challenges of living below the poverty line in the Waterloo Region.

In this episode of Midtown Conversations Danielle Deveau chats with local community artists Mary Abdel-Malek Neil from KW Junk Music about her newest recording project and what it means to write an album about the local community. Mary released her first album, "I'm Who I Am," this past month made up of songs and collaborations from the local community. Mary was the 2019 City of Kitchener Artist-i...