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.