Radio Free Kaslo — with host RG Morse

No Canadian doubts the country's prowess when it comes to hockey. But for decades most of us haven't considered the True North a particularly "big" power. Oh, sure, we know we're physically enormous, second only to Russia in terms of landmass. Ah, but now that the Trump regime has arbitrarily decided to take us into the economic and geopolitical corners, we're quickly...

On day's show, a conversation with the articulate and ever-engaging  Carolyn Whittaker , producer of the new documentary film, Animal Pride: Nature's Coming Out Story , produced by Handful of Films and CBC, set for release this May 29.

On today's show, an interview with Olga Hallborg , a Ukrainian-Canadian living in Castlegar, BC. Originally from Mykolayiv in southern Ukraine, Olga and her daughter, Liza , work tirelessly with the Vancouver based Maple Hope Foundation, providing desperately needs humanitarian assistance to war-ravaged Ukrainians.  Also a conversation with BC Rural Centre executive director Sarah Sinclair ,...

A big shout out to the Donald Trump regime for encouraging me to ensure that from here on in, ALL musical programming on Radio Free Kaslo will be curated according to the following criteria: 1. When humanly possible (this is an AI-free show), make it Canadian ! 2. If not, anything but American, thanks very much. I do this regretfully — the USA is of course full of amazing musicians, not all of who...

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day. I hope love, in some (healthy) form or another is an integral part of your day today. I mean, if not now, when, right? Including love of one's hometown. And on that topic, a big shout out to Kaslo's local council for doing the right thing and putting the brakes on a potentially disastrous proposal to pave paradise, and slap a huge strata RV park...

On today's show, a conversation with Kallee Lins , candidate for the NDP nomination in the new federal riding of Columbia-Kootenay-Southern Rockies. Kallee, the Executive Director of the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council , is bright, articulate, and full of enthusiasm and interesting insights. If you're a voter in her riding, or simply interested in Canadian politics generally, this pr...

Well, here we go. Time to strap in for a wild ride. Chaos, with a dollop of authoritarian fascism, is on the rise. While ostensibly implementing moves like slapping a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods is supposed to be good news for working Americans — this is known as populist nationalism — it's going to do the polar opposite. Indiana University professor David Honig lucidly lays out Trump &...

Tomorrow is February 1st. The first day of the second month of the 25th year of the 21st century. It's also the day Donald Trump has threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Canadian goods and services crossing the US border. All while continuing to publicly muse on the notion of annexing Canada, bringing it into the US MAGA fold. Today's Radio Free Kaslo features 11 reasons why this is not go...

Keith Page is vying for the New Democratic Party (NDP) nomination in the new British Columbia federal riding of Columbia-Kootenay-Southern Rockies. Page grew up on a working cattle ranch near Three Hills, Alberta. After building a successful small tech business in Nelson, he stepped into public service, serving as: City Councillor, Nelson (currently in his second term) Nelson Director, Regional Di...

On today's show, Fauquier, British Columbia-based author CJ MacKinnon discusses her life and her charming series of short stories, The Margo Chronicles .

In this brief (8 1/2 minute-long) podcast, Village of Kaslo Chief Administrative Officer Robert Baker answers a couple of questions posed by me regarding whether Council had taken Kaslo's Official Community Plan into account in its South Beach deliberations to-date. His candid answers are illuminating.

What's on in Kaslo, and a South Beach podcast on today's show!

There are plenty of reasons why a proposed strata RV park development on the southern bank of the Kaslo River where it flows into Kootenay Lake should not proceed. Here are (quite) a few of them!

On today's show I muse about politics, international, national, and local — from Trump to Trudeau, to the fate of Kaslo's South Beach. Toss in some tunes from the likes of Randy Newman and Neil Young and you have today's Radio Free Kaslo!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! As we kiss goodbye what for many was a tumultuous year, I thought it might be nice to start 2025 with a hit of total relaxation. For that I reached out to one of my most popular 2024 guests — Mahalia Michael (aka Mahalia the Mermaid). Collaborating with Live & Let Liv , the two have produced some amazing music, including a 20 minute-plus work called Distant Mermaid , designed t...

Today's show is heavily laden with Christmas music, most of it selected by my Mom, Charlotte, who celebrates her birthday 72 hours before we whoop it up for baby Jesus! Mom, sharp as a tack and a huge fan of Michael Bublé and the Kelce brothers, will be 96 this year. Mom, this one's for you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Preserving beautiful land for present and future generations is a huge challenge for many rural communities, desperately seeking ways to stimulate economic activity, and often outflanked by deep-pocketed developers. On today's show, host Randy Morse has a conversation with three members of Kaslo's South Beach Working Group, on the fate — and future — of South Beach, a 15-acre parcel that...

Pablo Picasso , no slouch as an artist, once said, "I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." There's no doubt that theatre — whether a West End London musical, a performance of Hamlet at Stratford, or a one-act comedy performed by a plucky group of amateur...

A fascinating conversation with Kaslo's Kuimba Choir director, Tamara SunSong.

As November rolls unstoppably toward December, the combination of suddenly too-short days and bone-tingling chill can be depressing for some. On the other hand, this is the season when a light in a store window, the sound of music, laughter and enticing smells spilling out of a warm and inviting coffee shop, restaurant, or pub on a dark, cold night can dispel the gathering gloom, at least for a wh...

Well, we're halfway through November. The US election and Remembrance Day have come and gone. American Thanksgiving is creeping up (I'm actually glad not to be a fly on the wall at some of the family feasts down there this year. Why? See "US election" above). Leaves are falling fast and furious, the snowline is creeping down the mountains toward the lake — and us.  And then the...

Donald Trump 's victory this week is sure to roil global politics in the years ahead, in ways both expected and unexpected. Clearly Kamala Harris and her party misread a large swath of the American electorate. Change is in the air, in the USA and globally.  Meanwhile, for those appalled by Trump the man, and alarmed at many of the MAGA movement's positions, his victory has come as a bitt...

Yesterday was, of course, Halloween — one of my favourite holidays. I'm in charge of doling out the goodies, which is a completely delightful task. This year I chatted with some of our trick-0'-treaters, asking them what they like best about this spookiest of nights. And here is what they had to say!

Move over, Portlandia . Here comes A Beginner's Guide to Kaslovia , featuring the ridiculously gifted (underscore ridiculously ) — and extremely funny —  Lucas Myers . That's right, Myers is back, ready to poke good-natured fun at the quirks and characters that make Kaslo, shall we say, unique! After a considerable hiatus, he returns to Kaslo's venerable Langham Theatre for three-da...

Kaslo is a lovely village in British Columbia's West Kootenay region, surrounded by stunning nature. To the east looms the Purcell Range, to the west, the Selkirks. Situated on an alluvial peninsula, lower Kaslo juts into fjord-like Kootenay Lake, pointing like an arrow toward the Purcells. The town is flanked on the north by Kaslo Bay, the largest  inlet on the lake, and to the south by the...