TELUS Talks with Tamara Taggart

For R. Renee Hess, a chance encounter with Pittsburgh Penguins fans led to a lifelong passion for hockey. She has become a passionate advocate for Black women in hockey through education, representation and community building. Renee discusses her new book Blackness is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community and Black Women in Hockey and how she's making hockey a safe space for Black women and gi...

Quit the seemingly endless cycle of online outrage and unproductive arguments. Aftab Erfan is the executive director of the SFU Centre for Dialogue and she is passionate about constructive conflict resolution and helping people build their communication skills. We discuss the art of constructive dialogue and how we can build space for healthy conversations in our own lives.

On the outside, David A. Robertson has a loving family, a successful career as an author, and a platform to promote Indigenous perspectives, cultures and concerns. On the inside, he lives with "little monsters": chronic, debilitating health anxiety and panic attacks accompanied, at times, by depression. David shares his mental health journey and his brand new book All the Little Monsters: How I Le...

First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada have a long tradition of military service. The challenges they faced often extended to their post-service life, as many Indigenous war veterans didn't receive equal treatment compared to other veterans in Canada. Clarence Wolfleg Sr. is a deeply respected veteran and Elder from the Siksika Nation and he joins us to discuss his decades of work buildin...

Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa dreamed of becoming a doctor her entire life. But as a psychiatry resident, Chika quickly learned that medical school and a medical career are not immune to systemic discrimination. She discusses her journey through medical school and residency, advocating for change and her new memoir: Unlike the Rest: A Doctor's Story .

Why are women still fighting for equality in 2024? Elizabeth Renzetti is an award-winning journalist who has spent decades reporting on women's rights in Canada. She shares her candid insights on what needs to change, the barriers women still face and why the fight is far from over. We also dive into Elizabeth's new book What She Said: Conversations About Equality .

What does it take to live a life of constant adventure and exploration? Frank Wolf is one of Canada's most prolific adventurers, trekking thousands of kilometres across the world's wilderness every year. As a writer and filmmaker, Frank is also passionate about the power of storytelling to foster connection between people. He joins us to discuss his unconventional lifestyle, exciting expeditions a...

When Reuben Coe sent his brother Manni a desperate text message during the peak of the pandemic, it sparked an extraordinary journey of rescue and recovery. After a year of living alone in care, Reuben was isolated and deeply depressed. Manni knew his brother needed help and the family came together to heal. Hear the inspiring story of one family's fight to save their loved one with Down syndrome,...

Is your endless to-do list keeping you from just enjoying life? Tamu Thomas wants women to reclaim a more balanced approach to work and life and let others feel good about pitching in. She shares her own journey with burnout and the social factors that make women more susceptible to overdoing it.

Carolyn Roberts is challenging the colonial foundations of Canada's education system. As an Indigenous academic and educator, Carolyn has firsthand experience in the classroom. We explore the impacts of colonialism on curriculum, offer practical strategies for creating more inclusive and equitable learning environments, and discuss Carolyn's new book Re-Storying Education: Decolonizing Your Practi...

For Tanya Talaga, memory is not just about the past. It's a tool for survival and resistance. Remembering and honouring ancestors through stories ensures that their spirits and wisdom continue to guide future generations. Tanya reflects on how reclaiming Indigenous family histories opens the door to understanding the real, often untold, history of Canada.

Valérie Courtois is building a social movement for environmental conservation. For more than 10 years, she has been the executive director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and has been an advocate for Indigenous-led conservation. We discuss Valérie's career, the importance of Canada's boreal forests, and the role of conservation in truth and reconciliation.

Coercive control—subtle, persistent abuse that manipulates and dominates victims—is being recognized as a serious form of abuse in Canada. Angela Marie MacDougall is the executive director of Battered Women's Support Services and is helping women escape violent relationships. She joins us to share her thoughts on coercive control and how we can better support survivors of gender-based violence.

Back to school can be a stressful time for the whole family. We're taking another look at our episode with Dr. Ellen Choi, an expert on mindfulness. Dr. Choi felt like she had been moving through her life on autopilot. Through mindfulness and meditation, and removing the burden of perfection, she was able to connect with herself and learn how to live with intention and purpose. She joins us to dis...

With young men in the grip of a loneliness epidemic, Ruth Whippman asks: How do we raise our sons to have a healthy sense of self? As an essayist, culture critic and mother of three boys, Ruth discusses the impossibly contradictory pressures boys now face and how parents can nurture empathy, positivity and compassion in their sons.

What do animals know that we don't? Martin Wikelski has spent his professional career trying to answer this question. He's the director of the Department of Migration at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and also pioneered ICARUS, a system for continuously tracking thousands of animals from space. Martin discusses his work in animal tracking, how animals can help us with our response to...

Have you ever felt constantly confused in a relationship, with someone treating you hot and cold or blaming you for things that weren't your fault? For Bren Worthington, becoming a mother helped her recognize the narcissists in her own life. We explore how to identify narcissistic behaviours and cope with the aftermath of abuse.

For many years, melanoma was considered a death sentence. But in the last decade, huge strides have been made in skin cancer treatments. We sit down with the Save Your Skin Foundation to discuss the role of patient advocacy in improving cancer patients' lives. Founder Kathleen Barnard is a melanoma patient and awareness advocate, and Dr. Alison Weppler is an oncologist specializing in skin cancers...

Where would human evolution be without the female body? Despite the invaluable ability to create life, Cat Bohannon says the female body has been historically overlooked in medical research. As an author and researcher, she wants to close the gaps in our understanding of the female body by taking a trip through time. We unpack medical bias, sexism and Cat's book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200...

The weeds in your garden have a fascinating personal history. Jessica J. Lee is challenging us to reframe our ideas of the natural world. As an environmental historian, she is an expert in exploring the entangled relationships between people and plants. We discuss Jessica's fascination with the language used to describe plant species, such as "invasive" and "native" and dive into her new book Disp...

From ancient Greece to modern media, rhetoric has played a massive role in how we perceive reality. Robin Reames is a rhetorician, author and professor at Indiana University and she argues that understanding rhetorical techniques helps us avoid being manipulated by authority figures who don't have our best interests at heart. Robin discusses how we can decode rhetoric and talks about her new book...

What if the key to addiction recovery lies not just in treating symptoms, but addressing long-buried trauma? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Alana Hirsh, a Vancouver physician specializing in trauma-informed addiction treatment. Through moving patient stories and her own experiences, Alana shares how a trauma-informed lens is transforming healthcare for her patients and is a crucial step toward...

When Miranda Newman was growing up, her mother didn't know if Miranda needed 'a psychologist or an exorcist.' It took years for Miranda to be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder - an explanation for the complicated way she moved through the world. Miranda discusses her experiences navigating the Canadian mental healthcare system, her work breaking the stigma around her diagnosis and her...

Indigenous peoples have used fire to shape landscapes for millennia, but centuries of colonial fire suppression policies have disrupted these relationships. Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson is a fire research scientist and expert in Indigenous fire stewardship. She is working to restore the relationship between Indigenous communities and fire. We discuss the concept of 'good fire' and its potential t...

How can we get ourselves in the right headspace to lead? The importance of leaders having leadership skills can't be overstated. Dr. Diane McIntosh joins us to discuss the psychology of a successful leader, how to create a thriving work environment and her new co-authored book, You Belong Here: How to Make People Feel Safe to Be Their Best, Take Bold Risks, and Win .