People First Radio - Full Episodes

Toronto based freelance journalist Zahra Khozema speaks about her relationship with the gym and her decision to cancel her membership, a story she originally shared in a first person piece for the CBC. Playwright Joëlle Rabu shares the creative process behind I Don’t Belong Here: Stories and Songs at the Edge of Forgetting, a stage […]

A new exhibit in Cowichan explores the intersection of art and mental health. Cowichan Valley Arts Council President Elizabeth Croft speaks about the effort that’s bringing 5 different arts councils together. Participating artist Philip Mix shares his experiences with art as coping mechanism and catharsis. Heather Cooke of the Alzheimer’s Society of British Columbia speaks […]

Revisiting memorable conversations from the second half of 2025. Francis Baptiste speaks about his Lived Experience in East Vancouver – full segment: click here Lawyer Nicole Letourneau speaks about recovery from alcohol addiction – full segment: click here Cripping The Archive editors Stefanie Hunt Kennedy and Jen Barclay talk disability, history, and power – full […]

Revisiting a trio of segments from the first half of the year. You can find the full version of each linked below: From February, Kate Walker speaks about her family’s resilience in the face of a traumatic experience: A mom’s journey to helping others following family trauma From April, Opal Dar speaks with the show […]

Exploring the issue of youth aging out of care, which was the subject of a recent senate committee report. The program features conversations with Jacqueline (Jacquie) Gahagan, Associate Vice-President of Research at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Melanie Doucet, executive director of the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates, and Jessica Knutson, a […]

Excerpts from an event about the toxic drug crisis hosted by BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender. The talk featured a video message from Guy Fellicella, as well as a conversation between Govender, former B.C. Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, and Johnny Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. Division. The full event is […]

Angela Moran of the Victoria Cool Aid Society speaks about the model for a recently announced sober housing facility. Trevor DenHartogh of Undercurrent Youth Society speaks about adapting an Icelandic Prevention Model to a Cape Breton Context. Everett Watson and Dr. Ricardo Manmohan of The Nuu-Chah-Nulth Youth Warrior Family Society speak about their work over […]

Carolina Ibarra, CEO of Pacifica Housing, speaks about the model being planned for the yet to open Sparrow supportive housing site in Nanaimo, which includes an emphasis on people looking to minimize their exposure to substance use. Sarah Crago, Stephanie Bagri and Cianthelle Amistad, a group of 4th year nursing students at VIU speak about […]

Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi speaks about a model used to attract family doctors to the community. Bernice Rahm speaks about the Sidewalk Talk project in Victoria, which sees volunteers head out to a public location once a month to offer a listening ear to anyone interested. Liubov Nazarenko shares how a family story that helped […]

Ottawa pediatrician Dr. Shawn Kelly expands on an editorial he co-authored in the Canadian Medical Association journal calling for a more robust response to youth opioid use. Victoria children’s author Kathleen Arnason speaks about her writing and how she credits a workshop into appreciative inquiry with changing her life.

Nurse Practitioner Adam McInnis speaks about his experiences with addiction and how they inform his work in addictions medicine. Caitlin Shane, staff lawyer for Pivot Legal Society speaks about the implications of a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in which the court ruled that people who stay at the scene of an overdose cannot be […]

Stephen Lewis of the University of Guelph speaks about a self injury and a documentary featuring people’s lived experience with the subject. Lead author Charlotte Lee speaks about takeaways from a study into weight trajectories following diagnosis of a mental illness from a group including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.   Resources: Self Injury Outreach and […]

Julia Gruson-Wood, author of the forthcoming Autism and The Culture of Therapy speaks about her work interviewing people involved in the world of applied behavioral analysis. Patty Douglas speaks about the concepts outlined in her book Unmothering Autism.

Exploring Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) with Nanaimo based addiction medicine specialist Dr. Jess Wilder and Dr. Paxton Bach, co-medical director of the BC Centre on Substance Use and an addictions medicine specialist at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Joshua Black and Stephanie Laing are co-producers and directors of the documentary No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial, which explores grief and homelessness. They spoke with PFR about the issues in the documentary, as well as an upcoming screening in Nanaimo that will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. Shirley Chen with […]

Cripping The Archive editors Jenifer Barclay and Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy speak about disability in the historical record. Renata Roma of the PAWSitive Connections Lab at the University of Saskatchewan talks about the interplay between the mental health of pets and the humans they live with.

Shannon Donohoe-Simpson shares her experiences as a cancer survivor, including a recent experience involving art and community. Vinson Shih, staff lawyer with First United, speaks about the organization’s recently released law reform platform that calls for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act in B.C, including an end to pet bans in rentals. Resources: Health Canada […]

Dr. Shannon Charlebois speaks about an editorial she co-authored in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on the subject of gambling advertising and youth. Vancouver Island author Meg Todd speaks about her upcoming debut novel Most Grievous Fault, which tells a story of inter-generational violence.  

Olivia Peters speaks about her research into Canadian women’s experiences of intimate partner stalking. Comments from addictions medicine specialist Dr. Kelsey Roden, speaking in front of the legislature in Victoria at an event related to International Overdose Awareness Day. Resources: Olivia Peters webinar on stalking: CLICK HERE Canadian Anti Stalking Association website: CLICK HERE Women...

An event in Parksville marking International Overdose Awareness Day featured Greg Hemminger, who works with the Tailgate Toolkit program, and shared his story of opioid addiction and recovery, as well as Cory Ranger, President of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association. The event was organized by the Oceanside Community Action Team and Moms Stop the Harm.

Sleep Country Canada co-founder Gordon Lownds speaks about his experience with cocaine addiction, as chronicled in the memoir Cracking Up. Mcreary Centre Society Executive Director Annie Smith speaks about a new report into youth gambling and gaming in B.C.

Francis Baptiste speaks about his experiences with addiction and how they’ve informed his upcoming album Lived Experience in East Vancouver. Previewing a conversation with Lawyer Nicole Letourneau, on moving through recovery from alcohol addiction.

Trevor Botkin shares his experience of recovery and talks about The Forge, an initiative that aims to bring peer support to the world of construction. Botkin is among those working to turn an old biker clubhouse in Langford into a physical space for The Forge. Part two of a conversation with Cindy Blancher who shares […]

Cindy Blancher shares her experiences with severe clinical depression, and the story of her recovery from a period in 2020 in which she was unable to take care of herself or count to five. McMaster University social work faculty member Mary Vaccaro shares insight from her time working in the women’s shelter system since 2012.

Exploring a report into people being released directly from jail into homelessness from the John Howard Society of Ontario. People First Radio speaks with the author of that report Safiyah Husain, the organization’s director of policy, as well as Manj Toor, Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Victoria. Nova Scotia resident Michael Sellick […]