Today's special guests are actor and playwright Djennie Laguerre, writer and editor Neil Armstrong, street photographer Gun Roze, singer-songwriter Gyles, and two-time Juno nominee jazz vocalist Alex Bird.

Djennie and I chat about how she learned to be true to herself, her Haitian heritage and her work. We also discuss her new play (a work-in-progress) about Black women, mental health and the healing properties of community.

Neil and I discuss his past role as Program Director at CHRY radio (York University), the importance of campus and community radio in promoting diverse content on the airwaves. Neil also shares a couple of good reads that may be available at your local library or that can be purchased from your local bookseller.

Gun and I discuss the extension (by popular demand) into Pride Month of his exhibition 'Masculine Form and Energy'. The shadowed photographs are a collaborative effort between Gun and his subjects and depicts the male nude in opposition to mainstream images of the masculine form.

Gyles and I catch up about her latest music and the release of 'HEAT' by all-female group SOCA CYPHER, representing Canada and the Caribbean. We also reminisce about her early start on the music stage.

Alex shares news about meeting Grammy-winning artist Cheo and shares the serendipitous news of how he came into possession of early works by his idol, Bobby Darin.

PLAYLIST:

dominique fils-aimee,

jojo and the fugitives 'chips chicken banana splits'

alex bird, you are the light and the way

amai kuda et les bois, 'woman'

I fell in love with Dalton Harris after seeing him in Kim Longinotto and Frank Murray Brown's documentary "Dalton's Dream." If you're Jamaican you will understand the phrase "mi spirit tek 'im." I know films are edited to share a certain perspective, but I trusted experienced documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto with Dalton Harris's story. I've seen her films:

- "The Day I Will Never Forget" (2002) – Director/Cinematographer

- "Sisters in. Law" (2005) – Co-director (with Florence Ayisi)/Cinematographer/Producer

- "Rough Aunties" (2008) – Director/Cinematographer

- "Pink Saris" (2010) – Director/Camera

I believed Dalton's truth. He is very open about his abusive childhood in Jamaica, his journey to becoming a winner of the 2018 UK "The X Factor," and the homophobic vitriol he faced when a photo of him sitting on a man's lap was posted on social media. The film screened at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival 2024

PLAYLIST

'Sober' by Dalton Harris (from the film Dalton's Dream)

'Kiss' by d'bi.young anitakfrika

Harar V.A. Hall performs spoken word poetry: 'mahogany', 'untitled reflections' and 'sometimes when I don't know what to believe in, I choose to find divinity in rest'

'Strength' by Amai Kuda and Y Josephine

Have you heard of John 'Daddy' Hall, the Canadian centenarian who was part First Nations and part Jamaican, fought in the War of 1812, and was rumored to have more than 20 children? Actor, singer, dancer, Daren A. Herbert joins me to talk about playing this legend in Audrey Dwyer's Come Home-The Legend of Daddy Hall at Tarragon Theatre.

Have you heard about the gayest family in Canada, consisting of seven women across three generations of lived lesbian history? Well, the family is featured Colette Johnson-Vosberg's debut documentary 'Unusually Normal,' screening at this year's Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Festival?

My interview with spoken word poet, writer, LGBTQ+ activist, and mother, Staceyann Chin, and director, Laurie Townshend. Staceyann is the subject of Townshend's documentary, "A Mother Apart" which recently screened at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival last month, where it garnered the 3rd place spot in the Audience Favourite category. The film will next screen at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival on June 1, 2024, at 1:30 PM at TIFF Lightbox.

PLAYLIST : Poetry/Spoken Word/Audiobook Samples/Music

Zuri and Staceyann Chin read Nikki Giovanni's work, 'Mothers' from Staceyann Chin's Facebook page.

'Dandelion' written by Jamie Chai Yun Liew, audiobook sample read by Jennifer Hui. Source: Toronto Public Library.

'Tamarind Mem' by Anita Rau Badami, sample read by the author. Source: Toronto Public Library.

'The Story of Us' by Catherine Hernandez, sample read by the author. Source: Toronto Public Library.

Julia Gaskil's spoken word piece 'Mother's Day Mantra' from Vancouver Slam Poetry. Source: Vancouver Poetry House (YouTube)

Andrea Menard's 'The Mother Song'

Portions of Amai Kuda et les bois' 'Woman' can also be heard during the broadcast

Mexican director Laura Plancarte shares her reasoning behind making the collaborative documentary "Mexican Dream" with her subject, Maria Magdalena. The film screened at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Then, focusing on the Upper Canada Choristers (UCC), I interview composer and conductor Laurie Evan Fraser, and Jacinto Salcedo, a tenor and coordinator of UCC's Latin music ensemble 'Cantemos.' We discuss their musical paths from the U.S. and Venezuela respectively, as well as UCC's upcoming concert, 'New Beginnings,' which celebrates the choir's 30th anniversary. The concert takes place in person on May 10, 2024 at Grace Church-on-the Hill or online https://www.uppercanadachoristers.org/

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Coverage: interviews with director, Jennifer MacArthur (FAMILY TREE) and co-directors, Jeff Orlowski-Yang and Sarah Keo (CHASING TIME).

FAMILY TREE: North Carolina’s sustainable forestry movement is a rare gesture towards community-based climate action. Seen through the stories of two Black families who fight to preserve their land and generational legacy, Family Tree’s cinema vérité approach reveals the colossal task of maintaining the land while navigating family dynamics, unscrupulous developers and changing environmental needs. Each challenge is faced with diligence and integrity, while the forest itself becomes a kind of character in this drama about its own survival. SOURCE: hotdocs.ca

CHASING TIME: After bringing some of the first and most striking visual evidence of our changing planet to the fore through the groundbreaking study of melting glaciers, photographer James Balog returns to Iceland to close the last chapter of his life’s work. SOURCE: hotdocs.ca

The Art Gallery of Ontario workers are on strike. I'm joined by OPSEU Local 535 members,Mark Thornbury and Meagan Christou to talk about workers' demands. Please note: my outreach to AGO representatives were not responded to at the time of this recording.

Revisiting Anna Magnani with James Quandt, film writer and former Senior Programmer for TIFF Cinematheque. This is an edited version of an interview I did with James 7 years ago.

Izad Etemadi (Writer, Actor, Persian) joins me to talk about playing multiple characters in Rose Napoli's Mad Madge A Nightwood Theatre production in association with VideoCabaret. Staged at The Theatre Centre in Toronto.

Mad Madge Credits:

Written by Rose Napoli

Directed by Andrea Donaldson

Starring: Rose Napoli, Karl Ang, Wayne Burns, Izad Etemadi, Farhang Ghajar, and Nancy Palk

Set, Costumes, and Props Designed by: Astrid Janson, Abby Esteireiro, and Merle Harley

Wardrobe Team: Alessia Urbani, Jennifer Purcell Martin, and Maxim Bortnowski

Dresser: Tsz Ting Lam

Lighting Design: Rebecca Vandevelde

Sound Design: Olivia Wheeler*

Associate Sound Designer: Frank Incer

Intimacy Director: Christina Fox

Stage Manager: Hannah MacMillan

Production Manager: Maya Royer

Production Consultant: Pip Bradford

Producer/Publicist: Victoria Laberge

Commissioned by: Kate Amesbury

*Represented by the Associated Designers of Canada, IATSE Local ADC659.

Photo of Rose Napoli by Dahlia Katz

MUSIC/SPOKEN WORD PLAYLIST

Scott Thompson: I'm Canadian from Kids in the Hall Buddy Cole 5

Jully Black: I Got Four Kids from Caroline, or Change

Randell Adjei ( I Am an Artist) and Borelson (M.O.B (Mind Over Body) featuring Ink the Urban Myth, Phoenix, Deqwi, Tracey Kayy, R.Q.TEK from As Far as Eye Can See

Dominique Fils-Aimé: Free Dom

Award-winning Mexican-Canadian playwright, Christine Quintana and I discuss her work El Terremoto (World Premiere) at Tarragon Theatre, March 26 – April 21, 2024.

Spoke word by Amani (I Am an artist, My Life)

Poetry by Ashley Obscura (Ambient Technology)

Music by Haviah Mighty (Wishy Washy)

Author, m. nourbeSe philip on her seminal work Zong, celebrating its 15th anniversary, plus we reminisce about her as well-received children's book, Harriet's Daughter.

John Galway, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Toronto Irish Film Festival is back to showcase the feature films at this year's festival. Note: I'm a member of the shorts program jury so we didn't discuss those in detail.