Sprawlcast

The story of how Calgary city council prioritized a new NHL arena over the Green Line, helping the UCP jeopardize the biggest public transit project in the city's history. This is Part 1.

Working as a boilermaker in the oilsands, Lliam Hildebrand started exploring how his skills might fit into the burgeoning renewable sector. Today Hildebrand heads up Iron & Earth, a worker-led non-profit that focuses on renewable energy training and "upskilling" so workers can make the transition. We also hear from Alison Cretney of the Energy Futures Lab, a group trying to depolarize dialogue abo...

As Alberta's UCP government reviews supervised consumption sites, we look at what these places mean for the people who live in and around them. Full transcript at www.sprawlcalgary.com.

The Green Line drama continues. Two years after city council approved the final Green Line alignment, Councillor Jyoti Gondek wants to revisit it. Meanwhile Councillor Evan Woolley is calling for a pause on the project. We take a closer look at what was originally decided and why—and how new changes could affect the project, for better and worse.

Is Calgary's Green Line being derailed? City admin is wary of tunnelling under downtown, as planned. Meanwhile, a group of well-connected businessmen are lobbying to halt the project. And Premier Jason Kenney continues to cast doubt on the soundness and scope of the project. We take a closer look at what's going on.

Jeremy speaks with Calgarians who are taking climate action in different ways, pushing for systemic change while also making their own changes on a small scale. In Part 1 Jeremy speaks with Sharon J. Riley, The Narwhal's Alberta reporter, about forest fire smoke and the concept of ecological grief—and how it can be a motivating force. In Part 2, Jeremy goes to city hall to meet the teenagers who l...

Calgary has become the most income-unequal city in Canada, with Calgarians increasingly being sorted into different parts of the city by income. We take a closer look at what's changed since the 1970s, when most neighbourhoods were middle-income—and take a tour of the 3 distinct cities that have emerged within the larger city of Calgary.

UCP leader Jason Kenney set off a culture war in the middle of an election campaign. He also says his views on LGBTQ2+ rights have changed. So what does real change look like? Taylor Lambert interviews Laurie Moore, who squared off against Kenney when they were both students at the University of San Francisco. In Part 2, Jeremy interviews activist Pam Rocker, who works to build affirming faith com...

What's beneath the recent craziness of Alberta politics? Melanee Thomas, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, has a hypothesis on that. Jeremy speaks with her after Rachel Notley calls the election.

Part 1: We hand over the mic to Grade 9 students in the pop up newsroom for a special report on racism. Part 2: Jeremy speaks with activist Donna Clarke, an organizer with the Renters Action Movement (RAM).

Where is Calgary headed next—and what do we have going for us right now? A conversation between Sprawlcast host Jeremy Klaszus, author Shaun Hunter ("Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers"), urban planner Francisco Alaniz Uribe (assistant professor and co-director of The Urban Lab at the U of C's Faculty of Environmental Design) and Ward 3 Councillor Jyoti Gondek. This episode was recorded...

We begin 2019 by asking: how can we have better political conversations? And what role does journalism play? Jeremy speaks with American journalist and Atlantic contributor Amanda Ripley, who has been investigating how to revive complexity and curiosity in tense times.

On Nov 26, Calgarians took the mic at city hall to share their stories, knowledge and wisdom on everything from climate change to poverty to main streets. In doing so they illuminated what Calgary could do next.

The Sprawl sits down with Mayor Naheed Nenshi to discuss his role in Calgary's Olympic pursuits. Why did he refrain from championing the bid early on—and what's changed? Also: the city can't afford all the mega-projects on the horizon and Olympics consistently go over budget. How would Calgary keep its Games truly lean and mean?

We get you up to speed before the November 13 Olympic plebiscite, taking a closer look at the funding deal on the table—and what it could mean for Calgary's future.

Many of Calgary's early pioneers are buried here. We visit at night to pay tribute to our journalistic hero, Bob Edwards. Then we find out why hundreds of people gather here every September for a new Calgary tradition of honouring the dead.

Jeremy learns to love Calgary's most roundly-ridiculed piece of public art. Calgary artist Alana Bartol walks the city limits. This episode was partially recorded at a d.talks forum on public art in June, and also features Ciara McKeown, Iman Bukhari, Dan Jacobson and Michelle Reid.

After getting into a Twitter spat with Councillor Jeff Davison over city council's enthusiasm for a new NHL arena, Jeremy sits down with Davison to hash it out in person.

Forest Lawn was built on the promise of connectivity: a streetcar line from Calgary to Chestermere. Instead, the community got 17 Avenue SE—which, by the 1970s, had become an unsightly auto-centric thoroughfare. This summer 17th Avenue, a.k.a. International Avenue, is being substantially remade with wide sidewalks, dedicated BRT bus lanes and public art. We investigate the street's dramatic transf...

One of Calgary's most popular streets is getting a facelift this summer. But does the $44-million revamp of 17 Ave SW go far enough—or is it a missed opportunity? We go investigate, coffee in hand.

City council just voted 9-6 to continue pursuing an Olympic bid. In our first Sprawlcast Slice, we take you beyond the headlines and let you listen in on highlights of the debate.

We talk #Calgary2026 with city councillor Jyoti Gondek (no, she's not the one doing the dodging). When city council first approved exploring another Olympics, Mayor Naheed Nenshi called the decision "a risk that could have enormous payoffs." But nearly two years later, with a $30M bid corporation planned, council is still skirting the big question: should Calgary bid? In the absence of a...

Not In My Back Yard. We call people NIMBYs when they fight against basement suites, bus lanes or condo towers in their neighbourhoods. But what do we miss when we apply that label too hastily? We peel away the NIMBY label and go underground—literally—to see what lies beneath.