Alberta Podcast Network
‘Speaking Municipally’ nerds out on civic politics
What goes on at City Hall has more effect on your day-to-day life than anything any other level of government does, but not everyone has the time or inclination to pay close attention.
Enter Speaking Municipally, a podcast that offers a weekly discussion on key stories in municipal politics in Edmonton.
Hosts Troy Pavlek and Mack Male are passionate about the topic and keen to distill the information to its essence: “We pay attention to Edmonton City Council so you don’t have to!”
Speaking Municipally is an offshoot of Taproot Edmonton, which Male co-founded in 2016 to help fill some gaps in the local media landscape. Taproot publishes stories based on what its members are curious about, as well as weekly newsletters rounding up information on topics of interest to Edmontonians, including the Council Roundup.
Pavlek is a software developer with a deep interest in civic affairs, having run for city council in 2017 and serving as his community league’s president. Together, he and Male shine a light on local decision-making, and make a lot of bad puns along the way.
Here’s a bit more about the team behind Speaking Municipally:
Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?
A. Our listeners get insight about the decisions being made at City Hall as municipal government is the one that most directly impacts their day-to-day in the city.
Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want?
A. Troy: Coun. Jon Dziadyk
Mack: Matthew McCauley, Edmonton’s first mayor, to hear his thoughts on how Edmonton has turned out.
Q.What podcasts do you listen to?
A. Troy: Serial, The West Wing Weekly, The Press Gallery, 99% Invisible, Let’s Find Out, Revisionist History, Slow Burn, S-Town, Trump Con Law, Decoder Ring, Walkcast, The Daily, Thunder Bay, PopCycle, Ear Hustle
Mack: The Daily, BBC’s Global News, Freakonomics Radio, 99% Invisible, How I Built This, Planet Money, Canadaland, CBC Spark, Let’s Find Out, That’s a Thing?!
Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents?
A. Troy: I eat Treatzza Pizza and watch movies.
Mack: I make charts about my life, like the number of lattes I drink.
Q. Write your own epitaph — what would it say?
A. Speaking Municipally was a long-running podcast that, despite the best efforts of its creators and passionate advocacy of its vocal core listenership, ended up proving conclusively that no one is interested in municipal politics.
Q. What has been your favourite episode and why?
A. Troy: A new Season — The first two-and-a-half minutes represent something that no Edmonton municipal politics podcast has done before. It was innovation.
Mack: Terrawillegar Drive — Most of our episodes cover a variety of topics, so I really liked this one which went deep into a single topic.
Be sure to connect with Speaking Municipally via Taproot Edmonton on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. You can also follow the hosts on Twitter: @mastermaq and @troypavlek.
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 Speaking Municipally 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.
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.
Podcasting has provided two different but complementary avenues of self-expression for Terence C. Gannon.
On The WorkNotWork Show, he satisfies his curiosity by interviewing people “those who have turned their passion into their profession, or have a job that we may envy them having or wonder how they managed to get.”
On Not There Yet, which was nominated for a Canadian Podcast Award this year, he shares his own observations in a series of “short essays podcasted from the second decade of the 21st century,” as his tagline says. “It’s totally eclectic — current events, history, personal opinion, popular culture.”
Both shows are beautifully produced, graced with a meticulous attention to detail and Gannon’s mellifluous voice. One can’t help but be transported with every new episode.
Let’s learn a little more about the man behind the mic:
Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?
A. Above all on The WorkNotWork Show, we hope to interest our audience in the subject of the interview and perhaps inspire them to pursue their own career dreams. Our hope for Not There Yet is that listeners will know and/or learn something they didn’t know before.
Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want?
A. Tiger Woods. But my angle would be to title the episode “Eldrick T. Woods: Pro Golfer” and really focus on the arc of his entire life rather than gush about his golf prowess. Any regrets? What else might have you done? Did you ever felt your Dad pushed you too hard? Do you ever hate the game? That kind of thing.
Q.What podcasts do you listen to?
A. To be honest, not many, but only for lack of time. When traveling, my wife and I listen to Serial and Revisionist History.
Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents?
A. I wish.
Q.Write your own epitaph — what would it say?
A. Nothing by Chance
Q.What has been your favourite episode and why?
A. For The WorkNotWork Show, Episode 009 with Robert ‘Scratch’ Mitchell. The first few minutes of that episode are the best I have produced. The words, music and pacing all just seem to come together. It always brings a lump to my throat.
For Not There Yet, my favourite is usually the most recent one, but if I had to pick one I’d say X-15. It’s a subject I find fascinating and it proved quite popular.
After that, I think Mustang, given that it was the most experimental in nature and touched on all my favourite subjects.
Be sure to connect with Not There Yet on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, and with The WorkNotWork Show on Twitter, Instagram 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 The WorkNotWork Show, Not There Yet 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.
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