We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast

We DON'T regret to inform you that our show will be airing on the CBC again this summer. Find us on CBC Radio One & SiriusXM ch.169 for 10 weeks, beginning July 8th: Wednesdays at 11:30am (CBC & Sirius) Thursdays at 2:30am (CBC – yawn) Thursdays at 7:30am (Sirius) Sundays at 12:30pm (Sirius) Or stream us any time on the CBC Listen app. It's a CBC summer. Hope you'll join us. Ask us Anythin...

This week, we tell the stories of three pioneers in the NBA – Chuck Cooper, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton & Earl Lloyd. Three Black men that broke basketball’s colour barrier. Three incredible human beings whose stories we hope you remember.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you ca...

Rejection + creativity = air quality. Who knew. This week, we bring you something a little different. From the Apostrophe Podcast Network, enjoy "Air Quality: Innovations in Radio" from Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen a...

Sid here. This week we bring you another Minisode in our Mantras series – but this one is a little unusual. If you've listened to our Matt Damon & Ben Affleck episode, I wonder if you clocked the mantra moment.  Hope you'll join us.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you c...

The total box office earnings for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck round out to a cool $10B. They’re A-list actors, Oscar-winners, writers, directors, production company founders. But back in the mid-90s, the best friends were rejected – for movies, for television shows, for commercials. Then one day Matt Damon took a playwriting course at Harvard. What happened next, is a rejection story all of its own...

The Beaches. A neighbourhood of Toronto. A band originating from that neighbourhood. The starting point on a long road of rejection, rebuilding, pivoting and triumph. It’s a homegrown story this week. Hope you’ll join us.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-fre...

With a special intro from our series director Callie, give our Alanis episode another listen – through a new lens. Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill is one of the biggest debut albums of all time – selling 33M copies worldwide and earning Morissette the Grammy for Album of the Year. But you oughta know that just one year prior, Morissette was rejected by every major label, on a plane back hom...

This week, we bring you a Short Stories episode. It’s been a minute since we’ve done a two-er. Behold, the stories of two 2019 Oscar nominees – 'The Wife' and 'The Favourite.' Both written by women, both produced by women, both starring women, both rejected for a combined 34 years.  Hope you’ll join us.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apos...

This week we bring you a Mini courtesy of TikTok and a young graphic design student named Ellie – who's in crisis mode. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-free! Plus bonus episodes, chats with Sidney, Terry, Allison & more. Subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See a...

In Part 2 of our George R.R. Martin episode, those who can do, teach. Martin enters the Twilight Zone before rolling the dice on a Game of Thrones.  Hope you'll join us.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-free! Plus bonus episodes, chats with Sidney, Terr...

George R.R. Martin is the architect behind the greatest fantasy series of all time. Game of Thrones has 59 Emmys, with 159 Emmy nominations – making it the most nominated dramatic television series of all time. Martin’s book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” has reportedly sold nearly 100 million copies. And yet, back in the 1970s, Martin was living at his parents' house in New Jersey, covering...

We're back! Welcome to Season 7 of The Rejection Podcast.  Joan Jett carries two titles – the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll and the Godmother of Punk. She's also the first woman rocker to ever start her own record label. Jett is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with a dozen albums to her name. But back when she enrolled in her first guitar lesson, the teen was told rock and roll was...

We don't regret to inform you that Season Seven of the Rejection Pod will begin in one week's time. Authors, rockers and...trees? Join us for more inspiring stories of grit, determination and courage – with some signature twists and turns along the way. See you March 11th. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t re...

This week, with a special intro from our chief sound engineer Geoff Devine, we bring you part two of our Hayley Wickenheiser Olympic encore.  Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we? The results of the 1998 Canadian Olympic hockey games are brought to parliament. Pro teams come calling, then name-calling, then calling again. And Wickenheiser takes a shot at spinning her rejections into gold...

The 2026 Winter Olympics have officially begun. In celebration we look back on a team favourite two-parter – the story of Hayley Wickenheiser.  She’s the longest-serving member of Canada’s national team with seven World Championships and four Olympic gold medals to her name. Many consider her the GOAT. But before becoming Canada’s women's all-time leader in international goals, assists and po...

Hi from our hiatus. This week, we bring you a Minisode about the incomparable Diana Nyad – and the mantra she repeated to herself. For 52h, 54m. On her record-setting swim from Cuba to Florida. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-free! Plus bonus episodes, chats with...

For the first time ever, we're offering a subscriber-only bonus option – for all devices, on all major podcast apps. Introducing Apostrophe All Ears. You get: ad-free listening, early access, bonus episodes, Q&As PLUS access to all other Apostrophe shows (Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly, Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe, The Beatlology Interviews) – with extended episodes, virtual events, m...

We regret to inform you, this week marks the final episode of our 2025 season. So, we thought we'd bring you one of our most-loved episodes. Certainly our most loved holiday episode – Rejecting Elf. Elf is a beloved and timeless Christmas classic. Starring Will Ferrell, the film brought in over $200M at the box office, and 20 years later remains a holiday tradition for many. But back in the y...

In Part Two of our Rejecting Willie O'Ree episode, another unexpected invitation lands on the pioneer's doorstep. History is made – then forgotten – and Willie welcomes a third act he never saw coming. The major source for this episode is Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL's First Black Player by Willie O’Ree and Michael McKinley.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apost...

Willie O’Ree made history in 1958, when the Boston Bruin became the first Black player in the NHL. It is a heroic story of strength, courage and resilience. Hope you’ll join us. The major source for this episode is Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL's First Black Player by Willie O’Ree and Michael McKinley.  Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials...

Welcome to another Minisode. This week, we travel to 30 Rock and take a look at courage through the eyes of hopeful [comma] sweaty young comedians. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-free! Plus bonus episodes, chats with Sidney, Terry, Allison & more. Subscribe...

Vera Wang is synonymous with bridal. The designer's eponymous brand brings in a whopping $700M a year. But before launching her own company in 1990, Vera was rejected for editor-in-chief at Vogue. And before that , she didn’t make the cut for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Two major setbacks that left her thinking – now what? Then her dad proposed a crazy idea. Ask us Anything: Email us: he...

On “The Beatlology Interviews,” Biographer David Sheff talks to Terry about the rejection and resilience of Yoko Ono. Listen to more Beatlology Interviews in the Under the Influence feed. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you can now listen ad-free! Plus bonus episodes, chats with Sidne...

Welcome to another “Minisode” – where we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. This week, let us introduce you to Yankees superfan Gwen Goldman, as we reopen a rejection letter dated June 23, 1961. Ask us Anything: Email us: hello@apostrophepodcasts.ca Write to us on socials: @apostrophepod Leave us a voicemail We don’t regret to inform you – you c...

The novel Slow Horses by Mick Herron tells the story of a team of disgraced MI5 agents assigned to a bureaucratic dumping ground known as Slough House. They’re, by all accounts, failures – demoted from top tier intelligence to basement busy work. That is, until a kidnapping case lands squarely on their dusty desks – thrusting the slow horses into fast paced espionage. The irony? Tha...