When disaster strikes, our ability to manage it depends a lot on the lessons we’ve learned from past incidents and experts in the field. EPIC Podcast brings those lessons to life.

EPIC stands for Emergency Preparedness in Canada, and that’s what the podcast delivers: current, relevant, Canadian content regarding disasters and their management.

Dr. Josh Bezanson and Grayson Cockett interview industry leaders, explore emerging research, and share practical tools of the trade. Their aim is to transfer knowledge to other emergency management professionals, but it’s pretty interesting stuff to regular folks, too. We all have a role in preventing bad things from happening, or mitigating the damage when they do happen.

Bezanson and Cockett are clearly passionate about what they do, and they have the qualifications to back up what they say. They are both members of Canada Task Force 2, the disaster response team based in Alberta. Bezanson is an emergency medicine resident who also has a journalism degree, and Cockett has a master’s degree in disaster and emergency management.  

The podcast usually comes out about once a month, but they’re planning a blitz for Emergency Preparedness Week starting May 6. So be prepared for that by subscribing!

In the meantime, let’s learn a little more about EPIC:

Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?

A. They’ll get to hear subject matter experts, disaster scholars, and industry leaders discuss ideas, trends, and recent developments in the field of disaster management from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want?

A. Enrico Quarantelli, a pioneer in disaster sociology.

Q. How did you and your co-host meet?

A. Through our various first-responder endeavours.

Q. Write your own epitaph — what would it say? 

A. He died the way he lived… in a state of total disaster!

Q. What has been your favourite episode and why?

A. Our episode commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Halifax explosion was particularly rewarding, as it truly was a formative event, and has so many rich lessons which are still relevant today.

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Be sure to connect with EPIC Podcast on Twitter or Facebook.

Over the next several weeks, Todayville will introduce you to members of the Alberta Podcast Network, so you can invite even more Alberta-made podcasts into your ears! You can find EPIC Podcast and dozens of other shows at albertapodcastnetwork.com.

About Alberta Podcast Network

The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB, is on a mission to:

• Help Alberta-based podcasters create podcasts of high quality and reach larger audiences;
• Foster connections among Alberta-based podcasters;
• Provide a powerful marketing opportunity for local businesses and organizations.

Alberta Podcast Network Ltd. is pursuing this mission with funding from ATB Financial and support from other sponsors.

If you’re interested in looking after yourself a little better — and who isn’t? — Healthy Lifestyle Design provides an easy and pleasant step in the right direction.

This is a podcast featuring Janet and Pamella Heikel, a mother and daughter who believe “it takes only a single step to make a positive change in your life: body, mind, and soul.”

Every two weeks, they have frank, intergenerational conversations about health and wellness, grounded in their own experiences. They also offer tips and suggestions, and the episodes often end with a few minutes of guided meditation, to send you into the rest of your day in a more relaxed frame of mind.

Each episode features not only useful insights, but also just the pleasure of hearing two people with a deep love and respect for each other.

Let’s learn a little more about the women of Healthy Lifestyle Design:

Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?

A. Perhaps inspiration, feeling connected to a community, solutions to their health and wellness challenges, a different point of view.

Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want?

A. Janet would want Oprah for sure, just to have the chance to talk to her about how they both are very determined women who don’t let anything hold them back! Pamella would want Peter Rollins. He is a co-host of The Fundamentalists podcast and a modern-day philosopher from Ireland. We would talk about God, religion, and the human condition, while sipping gin.

Q.What podcasts do you listen to?

A. Rob Bell’s The RobCast; You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes; The Fundamentalists; Armchair Expert; Bliss and Grit; Conversation with Alanis Morissette; SuperSoul Conversations; Serial; Under the Skin with Russell Brand; Move Your DNA; The Living Experiment.

Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents?

A. Pamella is a poet (something she doesn’t always talk about but would define herself as solely). Janet is ambidextrous.

Q. Write your own epitaph — what would it say? 

A. Pamella: I loved and lived deeply and died passionately.

Janet: I came. I saw. And lived it ALL my way.

Q. What has been your favourite episode and why?

A. Episode 75, Samskara: We got a lot of traction with this topic from listeners. We talked about what this word/idea is and how it shows up in our life. It finds its way into almost all of our episodes. The idea of repeating habits and patterns; stored energy; clinging to life that is always changing. It was a great conversation.

Click to listen to ‘Samskara’

Be sure to connect with the show through Pamella on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and Janet on Instagram.

Over the next several weeks, Todayville will introduce you to members of the Alberta Podcast Network, so you can invite even more Alberta-made podcasts into your ears! You can find Healthy Lifestyle Design and dozens of other shows at albertapodcastnetwork.com.

About Alberta Podcast Network

The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB, is on a mission to:

• Help Alberta-based podcasters create podcasts of high quality and reach larger audiences;
• Foster connections among Alberta-based podcasters;
• Provide a powerful marketing opportunity for local businesses and organizations.

Alberta Podcast Network Ltd. is pursuing this mission with funding from ATB Financial and support from other sponsors.