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Audio Mystery Theatre: The Festival of the Cooks

Something rotten simmers beneath the surface of Italy’s most prestigious food festival.

Prepare to venture into the shadowy corners of the culinary world, where the line between gourmet and gore fades… and no one leaves the table unscathed.

Design for 'The Festival of the Cooks'.
The graphic design for ‘The Festival of the Cooks’ was created by Erynn Hayden

Il Sagra Dei Cuochi or The Festival of the Cooks is a “giallo-inspired” audio mystery theatre podcast I worked on with my son Oliver. He created the story, wrote the script, and assembled a talented group of actors.

My role was to edit the piece and craft the sounds. A majority were original, except for one thud from a free sound effects site. The professional foley editors who shared their tips on YouTube were also a big help in showing how to create the creepy sounds I was looking for.

‘Giallo,’ which is the Italian term for “yellow,” is also defined as a film genre encompassing mystery, thriller, and horror films. It is notably led by Italian director Dario Argento, known as “The Master of Horror.”

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Listen to the trailer: The Festival of the Cooks

Continue reading “Audio Mystery Theatre: The Festival of the Cooks” →
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Episode 29: Exploring Pleasant Valley Farm & Echo Creek Farm in New York State

Two people stand out in a farm field.

Paul Arnold’s interest in farming started in his 20s as an experiment in his father’s backyard.

“In 1986 when I decided to farm, I farmed in [my dad’s] backyard to see if I really liked it,” said Paul in a 2013 farm tour.

“I worked for another farmer for one summer. And then started looking for land and found the land that we’re going to walk to. And that was in 1988. We bought it. It was just a cornfield and some hayland.”

Paul and his wife Sandy have been running Pleasant Valley Farm since the early 1990s. It is located near the village of Argyle, New York, about a one-hour drive north of the state capital, Albany.

Since then, the Arnolds have mentored a number of others interested in farming and continue to farm themselves growing “a range of over 40 types of vegetables and fruits year-round,” according to their website.

In Episode 29 of the podcast Station to Station with Joe Pavia, Exploring Pleasant Valley Farm & Echo Creek Farm in New York State, the Arnolds and one of the people they mentored, Michael Palulis will share their agricultural journey.

Continue reading “Episode 29: Exploring Pleasant Valley Farm & Echo Creek Farm in New York State” →
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Episode 27: Robert Munsch

Robert Munsch

The kitchen conversation, December 1986

This photo with Bob Munsch was taken in 1991 during a visit to CJEZ-FM in Toronto for an interview to promote a tv special.

The book

Author and storyteller Robert Munsch released what would become his multi-million selling children’s book Love You Forever in 1986.

It was the 11th book Munsch had published, and it was a drastic change from his silly stories that made kids and their parents laugh.

This book tells the story of the relationship between a young boy and his mother over the course of a number of years.

Munsch told me that adults who read it cried, while elements the story made the young kids laugh.

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“Love You Forever, it just came out of some personal experiences … I had some baggage about things that had happened to me that I had carried into that story.”

Robert Munsch

And there was along a sing-along portion to the story that the publishers at the time weren’t crazy about.

He sang it for me and I recorded what I thought at the time was a scoop; in only my second interview ever!

Robert Munsch shared stories about his life, the storytelling process and his travels across Canada where he met a legion of young fans.

The interview was recorded on my portable JVC PC 11 stereo at the kitchen table of his home. His wife was preparing a meal and at least one of his children were in the living-room.

A portion of this interview appeared on a show that was on our college radio station, which at the time broadcast to the cafeteria and the student lounge.

Which portion aired, I can’t remember but I am certain it was not the entire interview.

LISTEN:

Click the play button to listen to my interview with Robert Munsch.

The 1986 kitchen interview with storyteller and author Robert Munsch. It would be the first of three times I met the author.
Continue reading “Episode 27: Robert Munsch” →
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Episode 26: Abbie Hoffman, American political activist

The flu and serious injuries from a car accident didn’t stop Abbie Hoffman from talking for two-and-a-half-hours to an audience at the University of Guelph in September of 1988.

The co-founder of the 1960s counter-culture group the Youth International Party, or Yippies as they were commonly known, had a lot to say.

No surprise, he talked politics. Americans would be electing a President that November in a race that pitted George Bush against Michael Dukakis.

As well he had co-authored, with Jonathan Silvers, An Election Held Hostage which was about to be published in the October edition of Playboy Magazine. The feature discussed the arms for hostage deal and its influence on the Reagan-Carter American presidential election of 1980.

His talk at War Memorial Hall was titled Watergate to Contragate: Criminals in the White House.

Continue reading “Episode 26: Abbie Hoffman, American political activist” →

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Episode 25: Sid Sedunary, Titanic orphan

Sid Sedunary

Sid Sedunary, who lived all of his life in England, had known the story of the sinking of the Titanic from a very young age.

His mother had told him about the ship and of his father Sid Sedunary Senior.

He was a third class steward on the Titanic, and one of 1,500 passengers and crew who died on the ocean liner’s maiden voyage in April, 1912. Continue reading “Episode 25: Sid Sedunary, Titanic orphan” →

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Episode 24: Jean Little children’s author

Children’s author Jean Little passed away on April 6, 2020. She was 88.

She had published over 50 books during her career including favourites, From Anna, Mama’s Going to Buy You a Mockingbird , and her first, Mine for Keeps which was published in 1962.

Little, who was visually impaired since birth, wrote novels that focused on children’s issues and the obstacles they had to overcome. Continue reading “Episode 24: Jean Little children’s author” →

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Episode 23: Celia McBride, playwright to spiritual director

Celia McBride is a Canadian playwright born in the Yukon and currently living in Port Hope, Ontario.

She was the only female playwright to have her one-act play, Walk Right Up, performed at the inaugural season of the Stratford Festival’s newest venue, the Studio Theatre, in 2002.

That play tells the story of the three adult children from the fictional Ruskin family, who need to make decisions about caring for their elderly parents.

I first interviewed Celia McBride in the summer of 2002 after seeing the play.  We catch up 17 years later and discuss other artistic projects she’s undertaken in the interim, as well as her latest writing project, a spiritual memoir.

In this episode, my interview with Celia McBride from playwright to spiritual director.

Continue reading “Episode 23: Celia McBride, playwright to spiritual director” →

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Episode 22: Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia

My friend needed to talk!  They needed to explain the reasons why we hadn’t seen much of each other and why, when we did agree to get together for drinks or dinner, there would be a cancellation at the last minute.

 For years, they explained they experienced panic and anxiety attacks which would physically paralyze them.

They explained the fear of having an attack at a job or while visiting family or friends forced them to stay home.

Continue reading “Episode 22: Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia” →

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Episode 21: Clarence Clemons from the E Street Band

Episode 21 of Station to Station features my 1990 interview with Clarence Clemons, the original saxophone player for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Continue reading “Episode 21: Clarence Clemons from the E Street Band” →

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Episode 20-David Cassidy part 2

I think they love him! They really love him! 

A group of fans wants David Cassidy inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and they’ve been adding their names to a growing petition. They argue there’s more about the former teen idol than the four years he was on a TV sitcom in the early 1970s.

In this episode, a follow-up to Episode 17:David Cassidy part 1, I’ll speak to Alison, a member of a group in England who launched a campaign to get Cassidy into the Rock Hall and to have his back catalog of music and concert films released.

Continue reading “Episode 20-David Cassidy part 2” →

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Episode 19: John McKay, former network radio reporter

Former network radio reporter John McKay was already in the second decade of his career in the late 1980s when he was assigned by Broadcast News (BN), now the Canadian Press,  to the Washington D.C. bureau. His job was to report the Canadian perspective on American issues including a free trade deal between Canada and the U.S. and acid rain legislation. But a few other high profile events occurred while he was there.
Continue reading “Episode 19: John McKay, former network radio reporter” →

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Episode 18: Walter Gretzky

A co-worker at a Kitchener radio station I once worked at handed me a fax printout of a news release from a Canadian satellite company with a headline that read, and I’m paraphrasing, “Phyllis and Walter Gretzky will no longer be able to watch their son Wayne play hockey when the Canadian government makes their satellite service illegal.”

“Maybe there’s something you could do with this,” said the co-worker. I said thanks, but didn’t understand what I could do with it. There was a bigger story brewing that day. It was April 13 1999, the day the news broke that Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest hockey players at that time, was retiring from the NHL after 20 years in the league. His parents wouldn’t need the satellite service if the rumour was true. Continue reading “Episode 18: Walter Gretzky” →

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Episode 17: David Cassidy

My 1990 interview with teen idol, David Cassidy. Continue reading “Episode 17: David Cassidy” →

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Episode 16: Ann Medina

 

Ann Medina discusses her career as a national television reporter with ABC and NBC in the U.S, and in Canada on the CBC, where she worked as a foreign correspondent. Part history lesson, part journalism lecture Ann tells great stories about her life on the road covering a variety of stories including a U.S Presidential election, the middle east, Syria circa 1984 and ‘that hunk’ Dustin Hoffman.

Continue reading “Episode 16: Ann Medina” →

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Episode 15: Trudy Medcalf

Meet Trudy Medcalf!  At the age of 14 she asked about starting a fan club after seeing a band perform at a concert in Margate, England. That band was The Beatles.

Continue reading “Episode 15: Trudy Medcalf” →

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