The Stratford Slice

Craig chats with John Miller, the Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Stratford Summer Music who is now lending his considerable artistic talents to the Huron Waves Music Festival in Exeter, Ontario.  Miller’s eclectic and varied career includes time spent in education as a teacher and vice principal, in politics, as an advisor to a cabinet minister, leading the Canadian Music Centre as Nati...

If Stratford had a poet laureate, David Stones would make a likely candidate. The retired business executive who now calls Stratford home, transformed his lifelong interest in poetry into a new artistic passion - one that combines words and music into spoken word performance art that has been drawing crowds across Southwestern Ontario. The author of two books of poetry - Infinite Sequels and Sfuma...

Anyone brave enough to survive more than three decades in the restaurant industry deserves respect and a sizable tip.  Larry McCabe, however, likes to consider himself “A Pazzo Bouffon” (translation: A crazy fool), which also happen to be the names of the two successful restaurants he runs in the heart of downtown Stratford. Larry is also a newly elected member of Stratford City Council.  Craig an...

Craig’s guest is Stratford and Perth County historian and writer Dean Robinson. The author of 23 books and the author/editor of eight other titles, Dean maintains that Stratford’s rich and colourful past is a unique part of our community’s character. Craig chats with Dean about his journalism career in London, Kitchener, Seaforth and Stratford and dives into some of the remarkable stories from Str...

Farm to Fork is a new television series from Ballinran Entertainment celebrating Southwestern Ontario farmers who are at the heart of the farm to table movement. Hosted by Waterloo region chef and culinary ambassador Nick Benninger, Farm to Fork airs across Canada on Bell Fibe TV1.  In this episode, Chef Nick and producer/director Julian Wierzbicki join Craig in-studio to discuss the growing inter...

In the second of two episodes, Craig chats with former Canadian diplomat, scholar and community advocate Deanna Horton. As a Canadian diplomat in Hamburg, Washington, Tokyo, and Vietnam, she has had a front-row seat to history.  Now based in Stratford, she brings a big-picture perspective to her adopted hometown - reminding us that even places like Stratford can learn from the winds of change swee...

In the first of two episodes, Craig chats with former Canadian diplomat, scholar and community advocate Deanna Horton.  As Canada’s ambassador to Vietnam, Deputy Head of Mission in Tokyo, and a Minister in Canada’s embassy in Washington DC, Deanna had a front-row seat to world history.  In this episode, she reflects on the shifting geopolitical landscape and global trading relationships in our inc...

From the Hockey Canada Crisis, to the debate over broadcasting’s future, to allegations of foreign election interference, John Nater has been at the centre of it all.  As the MP for the riding of Perth Wellington (which includes Stratford), John was the Vice Chair of the House of Commons Heritage Committee during the heated debates over misconduct in Canada’s beloved game of hockey.  Now, he has a...

Children’s book author and illustrator Marthe Jocelyn chats with Craig on the journey that led her to become a writer. With her 50th book now released, she shares her family connection to Stratford, her life in Toronto and New York and how personal tragedy helped shape her perspective. marthejocelynbooks.com

In the performing arts world, a “triple threat” is a performer who can act, sing and dance.  John Wilkinson could be considered the triple threat of the tech world.  As an investment advisor and former Minister of Revenue in the Ontario Government, he knows finance.  As the former Minister of Research and Innovation in Ontario, he has his finger on the pulse of advanced technology. As a graduate o...

Three time Juno nominee Emm Gryner chats with Craig about her new album Business and Pleasure , her upcoming international tour, her book The Healing Power of Singing , and reflects about what she learned about the music industry during her stint as a keyboard player and back-up singer in David Bowie’s band.

Ron Sexsmith is truly one of the music industry's greatest troubadours. He counts Paul McCartney, Elton John, Gordon Lightfoot and Elvis Costello as his biggest fans.  On the eve of the release of his new album and the launch of an international tour, Ron chats with Craig about moving to Stratford and how it has influenced his music and perspective on life.

Legendary comedian and improv genius Colin Mochrie chats with Craig Thompson about what it's like to go on stage night after night without a script - and not knowing what might unfold.  The star of the long-running television series Whose Line Is It Anyway was in Stratford to launch the Canadian tour of Hyprov, a new stage show co-starring master hypnotist Asad Mecci that combines the power o...

The Bookends are Celtic instrumentalists from Stratford, Ontario, whose members have toured with Loreena McKennitt, Great Big Sea and Ashley MacIssac.  Consisting of two couples, who are also neighbours, they fine-tuned their fast-footed music with their masterful arrangements during the pandemic.  The foursome chats with Craig about their new CD, recorded with the Stratford Symphony Orc...

As Stratford radio station CJCS approaches its 100th anniversary in 2024, broadcasting legend Lloyd Robertson chats with Craig, also a CJCS alumnus, about his remarkable career and his ongoing love affair with his hometown

As the Stratford Symphony launches its 18th season with its first in-person concert series since 2019, Craig chats with Bill Rowson, the SSO’s music director and principal conductor about the orchestra and how it’s attracting attention well beyond Stratford.

Former Toronto Star journalist John Goddard is fascinated by small town history.  In his latest book, he takes us back in time to the 1890s and the tragic tale of murder in Listowel - a crime that shocked Canada and led to Stratford’s first hanging.

When Bruce Whitaker cashed out of the world of tech and international finance, he had no definite plan but knew he wanted to raise his family in a small town.  His path to Stratford has since led to award-winning heritage restorations, a skateboard park and a vision for the future of his community.

Bruce Horak is a legally blind artist, musician, and actor who calls Stratford home. He sits down with Craig to chat about being cast as Hemmer in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the overwhelming fan reaction to his character and his reaction to being the first legally blind actor to play a blind character on the series. http://www.brucehorak.com/

When Eleanor Kane decided to escape Montreal in the late 1970s for the relative peace and tranquility of Stratford, little did she realize that her tea shop would soon lead to a transformation of the restaurant scene, not only in Stratford but across Canada and beyond.  She sits down with Craig to discuss how the Stratford Chefs School came to life. https://stratfordchef.com/

S.P. Joseph (Sean) Lyons is an Indigenous author who was swept up into the foster care system as part of the “Sixties Scoop”. The St. Marys-based author has turned that traumatic life-changing experience into a series of children’s books which are now being developed into an animated children’s series.  He sits down with Craig to discuss his journey to becoming an author and how his creativit...

Loreena McKennitt’s ‘eclectic Celtic’ music has won critical acclaim worldwide, selling more than 14 million records and earning gold, platinum, and multi-platinum sales awards in 15 countries across four continents. Beyond her musical career, she is guided by values and principles that have become her compass points on such issues as the environment, digital technology, preserving and protecting...

From hardscrabble sports reporter to managing editor of the local paper to General Manager of the Stratford Perth Museum, John Kastner has built his career on telling personal stories.  He has transformed a small town museum into an internationally recognized destination that collaborates with museums in Canada and abroad. But the highlight for John, is being able to pick up the phone and cha...

Claire and Joanie Chapple are identical twins who have led an extraordinary life that has extended across fashion, film and television, yoga, spinning and the successful completion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Craig sits down with these extraordinary and insightful sisters who discuss their Irish/Indian roots and their as yet unfinished exploration of spirituality. https://www.theyogachappl...

Kelly Walker is someone who has packed multiple lifetimes into his 80 years.  He spent 20 years in the priesthood serving in a Dominican monastery before being told by his doctor that burnout was going to kill him. He’s survived cancer twice. He was in a straight-marriage after leaving the Dominicans before coming out and then getting gay-married.  He’s the author of several best-selling...