“I made predictions. They are all coming true.”

This week, we’re talking about kids and independence. In our story, Sam gets guidance from an unexpected source: a fortune teller named Madame Nina. And we have a very special script: about trust, and hope, and goodness.

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“He came downstairs in a Grateful Dead t-shirt and a pair of bell bottoms.”

Welcome back for Season 4 of Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe! This week, two stories about school: Dave gets nervous about presenting to a class at university; while Sam and Murphy go to their first school dance.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There is nothing like a neighbour throwing money about their garden to make you feel bad about yours.”

It's summer all the way on this week’s episode. In our first story, Mary Turlington unwittingly trips off a chain of events that get heated under the summer sun. And in the second, Sam and Murphy have the summer of a lifetime in Big Narrows, Cape Breton.

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“It was Sam’s first year in high school. And it was not going well.”

Sam’s turn this week: We have a story about Sam’s first job and about finding his passion. Plus, an essay from Stuart McLean about his first jobs. Including his life-changing experience at summer camp.

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“How bad could it be? Statistics. That’s how bad it could be.”

This week, two stories about Dave and Morley’s daughter, Stephanie – Stephanie at school and at work. Jess talks about Stuart’s goals in writing those stories and what they show us about success … and failure.

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“Whenever the cat is around, things seem to go wrong.”

This week, Dave discovers a stowaway on the family road trip, with hilarious consequences. And Jess shares two more of Stuart McLean’s Postcards from Canada: from St John’s, NFLD in the east and Powell River, B.C. in the west.

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“Not everyone in the world is cut out to be a school janitor.”

We’re full of the milk of human kindness on this week’s podcast. We play Stuart’s heartwarming interview with one of our favourite Arthur Award winners and Jess awards an Arthur of her own – to a Vinyl Cafe character! Plus, a Dave and Morley story that you may not have heard before.

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