paulcrosstoronto’s Podcast

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode 13

On World Radio Day - and its themes of Evolution, Innovation, Connection.  From February 11, 2021.  February 13th is recognized as World Radio Day.  It's an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization --UNESCO.  This year's episode of the podcast looks at the three themes of the day by applying them against specific developments in radio.  Of course, the possibilities are endless.  For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of samples of various radio broadcasts.

Today's episode is registered with the World Radio Day events registry.  

You Won't Hear this on the News - Episode 6

On the mass layoffs in radio - including CFRB Newstalk 1010 and CJAD.  From February 6, 2021.  Hundreds of people have been thrown out of work in the past few days, in the midst of a pandemic...after spending the last year serving as essential workers in the pandemic...and helping to keep people informed.  Sure, I no longer have my Friday night newscasting gig.  But for most of the people thrown out, what they did there was their livelihood.  Some unscripted thoughts, a few days after the firings...and why all this matters...but...you won't hear this on the news.

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode 12

On the power of a poem.  From February 3, 2021.  It was a tense moment in history.  Who knew what might happen as Joe Biden was being sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th? It was just two weeks to the day since a violent insurrection.  Whatever they had anticipated, people watching and listening remember this among the highlights of the day: the performance of a poem by Amanda Gorman.  Yes, words matter.  Poems have power.  And you can find a poetry "scene" in almost any city...and, on the radio. For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of bits of audio from Democracy Now, CNN, The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah, and Howl from CIUT-FM Toronto.

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode 11

On whether news gathering is an essential service during a state of emergency. From January 27, 2021.   In Ontario, newspapers, radio and television broadcasting are listed on the province's document specifying businesses and services considered "essential" during the Covid-19 state of emergency.  So does that mean reporters are safe when doing their work? Is news gathering an essential activity?  As heard in this episode, police have stepped in to block news gathering in at least one case where a news videographer was trying to cover a covid protest in downtown Toronto.  Isolated incident? Or is this a taste of how police are going to be used to interfere in news production? For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of audio taken from video posted online by CNN, Global TV, CityTV.  (Image taken from CityTV).

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode 10

How local radio reports on a national crisis happening in its own community.  From January 20, 2021.  The world was watching and listening as a mob invaded the U-S Capitol in Washington January 6th.  But to people who live and work in Washington, it's a local story.  Their local radio stations need to serve them.  This time, a taste of how news and talk stations in the city reported the story on air as it was happening.  For educational purposes. Makes fair dealing use of aircheck audio from CBS Radio, WTOP and WMAL Washington.  

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode Nine

How a memo from a Radio boss does not violate a host's right to freedom of speech. From January 13, 2021.  Right-wing talk radio hosts in the U-S have been influencing and encouraging Trump supporters for years.  But since the election of November 2020, many have been going even further: they have been perpetuating the falsehood that he had won the election.  It took the violent insurrection of January 6th for a radio company that is one of the biggest producer/purveyors of toxic talk radio to tell its hosts stop telling that lie. One understands a host might react on air.  But claiming the memo infringe's a host's right to freedom of speech is also a lie, and hosts know it; and they're playing to the civically ignorant and media illiterate. Commentary. For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of bits of audio from The Mark Levin Show and the Rush Limbaugh Show both from January 11th. 

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode Eight

On the different receptions Americans are given in Washington - depending on race.  From January 7, 2021.  What was obvious to anyone watching live video of the attack on the U-S Capitol during election certification is that the insurrectionists were mostly white.  That's something we'll have to bring back to audio reporting including radio -- describing who's there.  Because the story here for today's episode is about the difference in the way authorities prepared and reacted for a recent peaceful gathering by Black people and supporters, compared with the non-preparation for a gathering of mainly white people...whose leaders urged them to be anything but peaceful.  For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of bits of audio from CNN and Sportsnet TV; all other audio is public domain.

You Won't Hear this on the News - Episode 5.

From New Year's 2020/2021.  You Won't Hear This On the News, but it should be news. One of the great friends...supporters...boosters...writers...champions of the Toronto live music and songwriters scene passed away in late December 2020.  Gary 17 was an original; writer, entrepreneur, publisher, songwriter, promoter.  Some unscripted thoughts, recorded outside. 

Cross Talk: Season Five extra

On A Christmas Carol on the Radio. Reposting, with a slight edit to remove the original reference to live theatre performances, which were happening when I produced it in December 2019.  For nearly a hundred years, the Charles Dickens classic has been coming alive on the radio at Christmas time. Makes fair dealing use of bits of audio from the 1951 United Artists picture; the 1939 Campbell Soup Playhouse radio production starring Lionel Barrymore, with Orson Welles as the narrator, and from Radio Drama Revival Project.  For educational purposes. The hardcover "The Books of Christmas" by Charles Dickens, pictured in the photo here was published in 1907.  The Radio is a General Electric TA200A VY, 1960s but hard to date exactly. For previous Christmas-time Radio history please listen to Season 1, Episode 15 - "On the Canadian Christmas Eve broadcast that gave Radio to the World". 

Cross Talk: Season Five, Episode Seven

On Making Change: It's a Start.  From December 17, 2020.  Continuing the theme of how things might change in the era of Black Lives Matter and the growing sense that this other pandemic -- racism -- must also be the focus of vast resources and commitments.  Last week's episode looks at how people are starting to inform themselves better.  This time...a surface-level look at a very few select cases which suggest there is some will to make some change.  For educational purposes.  Makes fair dealing use of audio from CBC news video (re: McNeil, Nova Scotia), YouTube (Jaffer's site). Final original episode of 2020.