Talk Description to Me

In this Breaking News episode recorded the morning of Friday February 25th, 2022, Christine and JJ describe news images and video clips from the first 36 hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

The Underground Railroad was a complex, clandestine network of people, secret routes, and safe houses that helped enslaved African American freedom seekers reach Northern states and Canada. This week, Christine and JJ describe some of the surviving visuals of this extraordinary network, including route maps, hideouts, and code quilts. 

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

As we all know, Christine is a woman with many questions! What's the appeal of a dramatic view? Do clouds look the same from above and below? What does lightning look like from an airplane? Can you tell if you're being watched by an animal? Or through a camera? This week, Christine lets loose with her best view-related queries. But the question remains: Can JJ keep up?!

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

On Saturday January 29th, a self-described "Freedom Convoy" of big rigs rolled into Ottawa to protest cross-border vaccination rules for Canadian truckers. The protestors have parked their trucks in front of the Parliament buildings, taking over streets and dominating the city's soundscape with a constant barrage of horn blasts and rally cries. Within the crowd, protestors have been waving flags and raising hand-drawn signs, some featuring hateful, violent, and racist messaging. Today, Christine and JJ discuss the challenges of covering and contextualizing divisive events, and describe the troubling images that have enraged so many of us.

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

Fire has been a game-changer in the story human evolution. It's mesmerizing and romantic,  dangerous and terrifying, and utterly compelling. This week, Christine and JJ burn through a box of matches describing the mysterious visuals of fire, from humble candles to devastating wildfires. 

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

On January 15th 2022, an underwater volcano erupted in the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, sending an ash cloud 100,000 feet in the air.  The massive eruption was clearly visible from space, and sparked a tsunami that rocked Pacific coastlines from New Zealand to Japan, Peru to Canada. Today, Christine and JJ describe satellite images of the blooming ash cloud, visualizations of the eruption's shockwave, and videos of the resulting tsunami.

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

It's been an exciting couple of weeks for space geeks like Christine. On Christmas Day, with help from the European Space Agency, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble. Since then, the telescope has been busy unfolding, preparing itself for a million-mile mission and a lifetime of capturing infrared images of the oldest and most distant objects in our universe.  JJ and Christine will have to wait a while before those images are available to describe, but that's ok because there's a more pressing practical question to deal with first: what the heck does an unfolding space telescope look like?!

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

"Hello out there! We're on the air! It's hockey night tonight!" - Stompin' Tom Connors.

For some, winter means bundling up, locking the door, and hiding under weighted blankets 'til Spring. For others it means lacing up skates, taping up an old stick, and heading to the nearest patch of ice for a bit of shinny! This week, in a valiant, oh-so-Canadian effort to fight off the post-holiday blahs, Christine and JJ indulge in some nostalgic, description-rich chirping about the best game we can name - the good ol' hockey game!

To hear a live version of Stompin' Tom's Hockey Song, check out this YouTube video, packed with grainy, vintage clips of goals and dustups:  https://youtu.be/UxJvrD80nJ4

To hear today's NHL players share their favourite hockey sounds, check out: https://youtu.be/h61mQXXk7IQ

And for more musings on hockey, check out this blog post by Christine, originally published in 2012: https://talkdescriptiontome.blogspot.com/2022/01/christine-on-hockey-few-days-before.html

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate the season, Christine and JJ head to Toronto's Distillery District Christmas Market. Wandering the cobblestone streets of the Victorian neighbourhood, they describe the decorations and delicious treats,  share a few stories, and some good laughs, too.  All the best in 2022!

Send us a quick note!

Support the show

Merry Christmas everyone! To celebrate the season, Christine and JJ head to Toronto's Distillery District Christmas Market. Wandering the cobblestone streets of the Victorian neighbourhood, they describe the decorations and delicious treats,  share a few stories, and some good laughs, too.  All the best to you and yours!

Send us a quick note!

Support the show