Real Talk Ryan Jespersen

Ryan starts the show reading a letter from Freson Bros founder Frank Lovsin, OC. A member of the Alberta Business Hall of Fame, Mr. Lovsin takes issue with billion-dollar corporations accepting federal wage subsidies, then paying out millions in dividends to shareholders. MLA Rakhi Pancholi joins to discuss universal child care, and what the model might look like. Dr. Madhav Sarda, a medical educa...

Strategist Chris Henderson joins Ryan to discuss our "Get Real: Question of the Week" on how COVID is affecting your holiday shopping. Of course, as you might expect, there's a whole bunch of poli-talk too. Calgary City Councillor Jyoti Gondek discusses the high-profile arrest of Ocean Wiesblatt, a Calgary man who refused to cooperate with police after violating COVID-related restrictions at an ou...

Ryan rolls out the best rants of the week, as submitted to talk@ryanjespersen.com . Buckle up for another edition of Trash Talk, presented by Local Waste .

Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, takes questions on the implications of Ottawa's climate policy on prairie producers. Our Anti-Racism Friday round table, featuring Dr. Farha Shariff, Adam North Peigan, and Rahma Mohamed, focus on taking meaningful individual and collective action to confront discrimination in our communities.

Robyn Strain, a respiratory therapist, was among the first Albertans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She joins us hours later to discuss the process, and how she and her colleagues are feeling as cases continue to rise. The politics of a pandemic are producing interesting polling results, including the rise of a right wing party that could take votes from the governing UCP. Dr. Jared Wesley helps...

Dr. Stephen Duckett joins from Melbourne to discuss what's worked, and what work remains, with Australia's COVID-19 response. University of Toronto Law and Bioethics professor Trudo Lemmens explains why he's concerned with Bill C7 - Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying legislation. Legendary ice bather John Mark Earle (literally) takes us into Peace River on the one year anniversary of his first p...

Dr. Stephen Duckett, Director of the Health program at Grattan Institute, explains why Australians are already back to hosting dinner parties, their masks packed away in their sock drawers. Dr. Duckett also looks back on the famous "cookie incident" that led to his dismissal as CEO of Alberta Health Services in 2010.

Why should Canada roll out a universal child care, and what would it take to make it happen? Journalist Anne Casselman dives into her feature in The Walrus, "The Case for Affordable Childcare". Heidi Bergstrom's an accountant, a mom, and the engaged citizen behind a petition calling for national childcare. She gets into the dollars and cents of national childcare. And, after a sexist Wall Street J...

New York Times best-selling author and "Gaslit Nation" podcaster Sarah Kendzior joins us to talk about her book, "Hiding in Plain Sight - The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America." Fourth-generation Millwright and teacher Stephen Anderson, a Real Talk audience member, shares why he's so concerned about cuts to Alberta's education funding. Sportsnet NHL reporter Gene Principe looks...

Ryan rolls out the best rants of the week, as submitted to talk@ryanjespersen.com . Buckle up for another edition of Trash Talk, presented by Local Waste .

We take a twitter tiff and put it on the air, as Dr. Peter Silverstone, chair of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta takes on Postmedia columnist David Staples over the mental health impacts of a lockdown. Plus, perhaps our best segment yet, as Professor Joni Avram and Dr. Jody Carrington discuss finding middle ground, and the human need for connection. Buckle up and enjoy!

Former UCP staffer Natasha Kornak talks about navigating the landscape as a young woman pursuing a career in politics. Garth Mullins, host and producer of Crackdown Pod, gets into the nitty gritty of a safe supply, and legalized drugs in Canada.

Deputy PM and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland joins Ryan to discuss Ottawa's ongoing response to COVID-19. She addresses Opposition allegations the Liberal government is eyeing personal savings accounts, and touches on The Great Reset. She answers audience inquiries around emergency wage and rent subsidies, and concerns around a lack of transparency. And, she explains how her Alberta ro...

Health researcher Dr. Sajjad Fazel assesses Alberta's updated pandemic measures, and takes on vaccine hesitancy. Vancouver public health nurse Jaclyn Robinson updates us on her recovery from COVID-19, seven months after she was in a medically-induced coma. Journalist Tristin Hopper chimes in from Victoria, touching on pandemic protocols, 2020 news headlines buried by COVID-19, and his storytelling...

Principal Ted Hutchings gives us an inside look at pandemic preparedness (and stress) in schools. Journalist Max Fawcett evaluates government responses to COVID-19, and maps out what Canada's middle class might look like post-pandemic. Conservative strategist Melissa Caouette outlines her research into the history (and future) of conservativism in Canada, the US, and the UK. And memorabilia expert...

Jenny Adams pops in for a quick "Hey neighbour" chat about Santa visits during a pandemic. Artist Erin Ross details her recent fight with COVID-19. Former federal minister Amarjeet Sohi outlines the emotional toll of losing a loved one during a pandemic. And former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk provides an inside perspective on government standing in the way of an investigation into the 2...

Ryan rolls out the best rants of the week, as submitted to talk@ryanjespersen.com . Buckle up for another edition of Trash Talk, presented by Local Waste.

Alberta's Opposition leader Rachel Notley chimes in on Alberta's rising COVID-19 cases, and the UCP government's plan to manage hospital capacity. Former Toronto talk host and lawyer Supriya Dwivedi, once a colleague of Ryan's, lays out why she resigned from one of Canada's most high-profile radio gigs.

We advance the conversation around drug legalization in Canada with "Maverick MP" Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. Dr. Tehseen Lada paints an unflinching picture of Alberta's COVID-crammed hospitals. And Dancing with the Stars champion Kaitlyn Bristowe, the pride of Leduc, AB, joins Ryan for an extended conversation about her exploding celebrity.

How do Edmonton, Portland, and Austin fit together? Catherine Warren, new CEO of Innovate Edmonton, lays out her take on the impact economy. Bitcoin Well CEO Adam O'Brien explains why cryptocurrency is seeing a big surge right now. Lawyer Kyla Lee and Families for Justice spokesperson Sheri Arsenault tackle Alberta's new drunk driving legislation.

Globe and Mail health journalist Andrea Woo outlines Vancouver's move to decriminalize drug possession. Drs. Elaine Hyshka and Hakique Virani broaden the conversation to include Canada's opioid crisis amid COVID-19, and the importance of keeping politics out of public health. Ryan's brother Kyle Jespersen wraps the conversation with an inside look at Vancouver's InSite supervised consumption site,...

Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu and Corey Hogan debate the ethics of media leaks, and take on government bully tactics displayed by UCP staffers. World Sikh Organization VP Harman S. Kandola outlines the COVID impact on ethnic communities, and offers insight on farmer protests in India (and around the world).

Real Talk presents the inaugural edition of Trash Talk, presented by Local Waste. Every Friday at 10am, we'll read your best rants (on whatever), as submitted to talk@ryanjespersen.com . Buckle up and enjoy! 

Senator Paula Simons on media leaks and federal COVID relief. Plus, our inaugural Real Talk Round Table featuring indie media voices Tomi Ajele, Jeremy Klaszus, and Derek Fildebrandt. And, the debut of Trash Talk! 

Treaty Six Grand Chief Billy Morin talks COVID-19 in First Nations, and Indigenous sovereignty in health care. Dr. Shazma Mithani takes us inside one of Alberta's busiest ERs. And Julie Rohr describes her cancer journey, including navigating the health care system during a pandemic.