The Pulse

By The Varsity

The Pulse is a podcast that dives into both mainstream and obscure events taking place and happening at the University of Toronto. From powerful campus movements to big events, and everything in betwe... more

· News

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FAQs about The Pulse:

How many episodes does The Pulse have?

The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.

The Pulse episodes:

December 08, 2020 Behind the Episkopon Investigation
This episode of The Pulse explores the three-part article series put out by The Varsity. Host Henry McGowan sits down with Joshua Chong and Hana Sharifi, the journalists who wrote the series of articles. Together, they discuss investigative journalism, the journalistic process, and the cult itself. Then, Henry has a conversation with Stephanie Bai, editor of the Features Section of The Varsity. She offers her insights into the cult pieces and how it came to fruition.

Producer: Dina Dong, Video Editor
Producer & Host: Henry McGowan
Sound Editor: Chris Slade
Assistant Sound Editor: Annie Feng
Orignal music created by Chris Slade
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20min
November 03, 2020 Imposter syndrome during a pandemic
This week Darcie Dixon, a U of T alum, explores fighting the imposter syndrome as a student working from home during COVID-19. She also discusses applying behavioural economic theories to becoming a more effective learner.

Producer: Dina Dong, Video Editor
Producer & Host: Henry McGowan
Sound Editor: Chris Slade
Assistant Sound Editor: Annie Feng
Orignal music created by Chris Slade

...more
22min
October 20, 2020 Climate justice with Fridays for Future
On this week’s episode of The Pulse, Henry sits down to chat with Allie Rougeot and Kendall Mar, organizers of the Toronto chapter of Fridays for Future. They discuss their roles in climate change protests, the importance of activism, and holding the university accountable.

Producer: Dina Dong, Video Editor
Producer & Host: Henry McGowan
Sound Editor: Chris Slade
Assistant Sound Editor: Annie Feng
Orignal music created by Chris Slade

*Editor's note for clarification: The "we" that Rougeot refers to when discussing CEO bailouts during the Global Financial Crisis, does not explicitly include the Canadian government.*
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26min
October 20, 2020 Welcome to The Varsity
The first episode of ‘The Pulse’ introduces the listener to its host, Henry McGowan. Henry talks about what motivated him to start the podcast and what he hopes to see it evolve into. He then sits down with Hannah Carty, News Editor at The Varsity, to discuss the challenges of reporting for a school newspaper and dealing with the new norms of COVID-19.
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12min
September 23, 2020 Pulse - Episode 1
The first episode of ‘The Pulse’ introduces the listener to its host, Henry McGowan. Henry talks about what motivated him to start the podcast and what he hopes to see it evolve into. He then sits down with Hannah Carty, News Editor at The Varsity, to discuss the challenges of reporting for a school newspaper and dealing with the new norms of COVID-19.
...more
12min
March 29, 2019 HEAD
Bazaar is The Varsity’s variety podcast about lyfe at U of T and beyond, produced by Blythe Hunter. This week’s bits:
10 MINUTES OF HELL
What the fuck is Riverdale doing? It started as an over-the-top, dark adaptation (with musicals) of my favourite childhood comic, and it’s become a garbage fire with the worst/best writing I’ve ever heard. Now you can be subjected to my existential coping mechanism: I made up plotlines for the show and will tell you a bunch of them mixed in with real ones. Guess which ones are fake, but you probably can’t, lol. The cherry on top will be the meme voice Daniel reading the show’s cringiest lines ever out of context. No one asked for this, but I’m giving it to you.
—Blythe Hunter
HOW TO COVER STUFF WHEN YOU MAYBE CAN’T?
How do you report on an event if you can’t get into it? And what if the things happening there are important for people to know? Recent restrictions mean student media groups will need to apply for accreditation before being allowed to cover Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) meetings. Associate News Editor Adam Lam asks two Varsity reporters who cover Scarborough what these new barriers mean to them and how they’ll adapt their reporting.
—Adam Lam
—Guests: Abhya Abukar and Ann Marie Elpa
U LIE
Being a teen is shitty. Your ideas of your own identity and sexuality are still developing. Now add the internet. Chaos. One student looks at how meme culture and social media perpetuate pop culture myths about oral sex in heterosexual relationships, especially among teens, and how this hurts young women the most.
—Jla Star Johnson
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23min
February 17, 2019 INFAMY 2
INFAMY PART 2
Bazaar is The Varsity’s variety podcast about lyfe at U of T and beyond, produced by Blythe Hunter. This week’s bits:
IS U OF TEARS REAL?
Are we deluding ourselves when we say U of T is harder? Competitiveness, publishing pressure, and undergrad misery are up for discussion between two grad students who’ve attended multiple universities around Canada and the world. Why did they decide to come here? What are the pros and cons of being here? And most importantly, is it worth it?
— Lauren Jewett
— Guest: Sneha M.
BUY THIS SHIT, PLS
This year’s Super Bowl is behind us, and the ads were amped up to 110 per cent, as usual. Looking back at the most infamously memorable and effective ads in recent memory, we ask what they all have in common — and what the effects are of selling feElinGs to people.
— Arik Portnov
REPUTATION RUINERS
What could ruin a woman’s reputation centuries ago, and what ruins it now? We examine cases of women’s reputation ruiners from the Tudor era to Toronto’s political scene, from ancient Greece to Taylor Swift, asking what progress has been made and how far we still need to go.
— Hodman Abukar
Contact [email protected] to get involved or to comment!
...more
30min
January 23, 2019 INFAMY PART 1
INFAMY PART 1
Bazaar is The Varsity’s variety podcast about lyfe at U of T and beyond, produced by Blythe Hunter. This episode’s bits:
CONSERVATIVES DISCUSS
Three conservative students have a frank discussion about U of T’s campus environment, touching on how their politics affect their academic and social lives, why they think Gen Z is leaning further right, the dangers of tribalism, and the all-important need for the left and right to listen to each other.
— Noora Zahedi Neysiani
— Guests: Omar Alattar, Alfredo Hernandez, and Darya Rahbar
CITIZEN KANE IS...GOOD?
What makes Citizen Kane the so-called greatest of all time, and why do so many people come out of it underwhelmed? One student investigates its initial reception, subsequent legacy, and what it all ultimately says about what we consider ‘great’ in a film.
— Sam Routley
ON THE GROUND
What factors, exactly, make a protest in Toronto violent? The reporters who covered clashes between police and protesters at the November 2018 Munk Debate explain what it’s like to be on the ground as pepper spray flies and people are batoned.
— Ann Marie Elpa, Josie Kao, and Andy Takagi
Contact [email protected] to get involved or to comment!
...more
40min
December 21, 2018 EPISODE ONE: FEAR OF
Bazaar is The Varsity’s variety podcast about lyfe at U of T and beyond. This week’s bits:
TIRED OF by Gabrielle Warren
FEAR OF COMMITMENT
What does it take for you to commit to a relationship, especially when you’re in school? What prevents you from committing? Two U of T grad students discuss why they are and aren’t afraid of committing to a partner — one’s married, and one’s barely dated at all.
— Lauren Jewett
— Guests: Anson and Nate
FEAR OF SPEAKING
A commuter student’s spoken word on being repeatedly sexually assaulted on GO Transit and the societal teachings that kept her quiet.
— Madeleine Kelly
FEAR OF ‘THEM’
Just walking down the street as a woman, especially as a woman of colour, can make you nervous. Two students talk about how just existing in public can be a risk as a WOC, whitewashing themselves, and the differences between their experiences in Winnipeg compared to Toronto.
— Yasaman Mohaddes and Ariana Munsamy
FEAR OF STASIS
University seems so pointless. Extracurriculars seem so pointless. Undergrads in first and third year discuss being unsure whether anything you do now will actually help you in the future and how easy it is to feel insecure — and whether that feeling goes away.
— Arik Portnov
— Guest: Blythe Hunter
FALLING IN LOVE by Gabrielle Warren
Contact [email protected] to get involved or to comment.
...more
45min

FAQs about The Pulse:

How many episodes does The Pulse have?

The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.