The Lunchbox CHSR

My guest today was Tara Pyfrom, author of memoir The Ocean in Our Blood. Tara joined me today to give insight into the category 5 hurricane that hit The Bahamas in 2019, Hurricane Dorian. During our interview Tara discusses her experience with environmental immigration, PTSD, her and her family’s mental health journeys and the effects of climate change in areas of the world like The Bahamas.

If you would like to learn more about Tara’s story, The Ocean in Our Blood will be released July 2025, but is also currently available for preorder on her website.

Some things are universal throughout time, like political aspirations and those who prey on them.

For the last play of the season, Theatre UNB is staging a production of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. Joining me is John Ball (director; professor & acting Chair of the Department of English at UNB), Shannon Munn (actor: “Mrs. Cheveley”) and James Gwathmey (actor: “Sir Robert Chiltern”). We talk about this lesser-known political dramedy of Oscar Wilde’s body of work, the delights and challenges in playing political characters, and the relevancy of a play published over a century ago.

Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband will be staged from April 3 through the 6th at 7:30pm nightly at Memorial Hall on campus.

Hosts Fernanda Sanchez and Caleb Desjardins look at the upcoming federal election through the lens of young people suffering from information and disinformation overload.

Sometimes, it takes beautifully-made art to show us the terrible things we might not know.

My guest today is Greg Davies, a painter, art historian, educator and administrator. His collection Chronos is part of the 2025 UNB Art Centre World Water Day showing, running from March 7 to May 2. He joins me to talk about how he came to paint portraits of extinct and perishing animals, the intent and emotion behind the project, and the choice of style to convey the point.

Chronos by Greg Davies is featured alongside works by Noah Poirier and Kyle Goguen in the World Water Day exhibition which opens on March 7 and runs to May 2 at the UNB Art Centre’s galleries in the Memorial Hall building on UNB campus.

On the STU Lunchbox this week, hosts Willem Haines-Lacey and Rachael Ilupeju explore how young Canadians are reacting to American threats to our sovereignty.

Music featured in this episode:

On February 19, candidates for positions on the UNB Fredericton Student Union partook in a debate/Q&A moderated in part by CHSR’s own Mark Kilfoil.

Here is a recording of the discussion, with edits only to remove irrelevant matter (our trivia contests).

On the STU Lunchbox this week, hosts Sarah Desmond and Willem Haines-Lacey bring you Open Mic. They introduce you to some of the up-and-coming songwriters of Fredericton — and those songwriters will introduce you to the stories behind the songs.

Music used through opening theme sequence (“I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow; “Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond and “Damn, Not This Guy Again” by the Merci Buckets.)

Other music featured in this episode:

We’re thrilled to be able to coordinate an opportunity for local performers to get stage time, mentorship and support.

My guests today are Nate Murchison and Paul Hayes of local band Nate & The Busy Boys, and Katie Hamill, a CHSR staff member working on organizing local events. They join me to talk about the origins and enthusiasm of Nate & The Busy Boys, as well as the upcoming Setting The Stage concert and mentorship opportunity.

Setting The Stage takes place on February 27 at The Cap, with doors open by 6:30pm and the show to start at 7pm. It features performance by Nate & The Busy Boys, OLiwu7, and Katie Murchison, the latter of which also benefitted from a mentorship and support program. The program and concert were funded through RBC and were created in conjunction with the The Canadian Live Music Association.