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The filmmaker Baljit Sangra discusses the documentary she’s co-directed (with Nilesh Patel) Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal: Make the Shot, which screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival (Saturday, 06 October 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Baljit Sangra joins me again. The filmmaker has co-directed a new documentary, Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal: Make the Shot. It’s a compelling film that has one more screening this Saturday afternoon at 4:15 pm at the International Village, as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival. The movie follows several junior hockey players of South Asian descent through the 2021-2022 season as they seek getting drafted into the NHL. We see Arjun Bawa and Kayden Sadhra-Kang follow in their father Robin Bawa’s footsteps, who was the first South Asian to play in the NHL in 1989. We see the defenseman Arvin Atwal make his way to Slovakia after playing in the American Hockey League. Also followed is Arshdeep Bains, a fellow AHLer, who signs with the Vancouver Canucks. The film also features Ronin Sharma, a promising young player, who during the filming is tragically killed in a car accident. As well, we meet Harbs Bains, the owner of the Lake Cowichan Kraken, and a great champion of junior hockey in the community, and the broadcasters Harnarayan Singh and Randip Janda. It’s a great Canadian story that Baljit and her co-director Nilesh Patel have brought to the screen. It’s one about family, especially the many, many people that it takes to support a player who wants to make it in professional sports. Baljit Sangra was on the podcast previously for her documentary Because We Are Girls, which was released in the spring of 2019. Her handle on Twitter is @baljitsangra604. We taped this interview one week ago. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Baljit Sangra; Ms. Sangra, good morning.

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The filmmaker David Redmon discusses the documentary he directed with Ashley Sabin, Kim’s Video, which screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival this weekend, with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Another film screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival is Kim’s Video. It is described as part investigative documentary, part film essay, and part cinephile experiment. For two decades, New York City movie buffs had access to unique, rare films through Kim’s Video, run by Yongman Kim, who started in the dry-cleaning business. He amasses a collection some 55,000 titles, and when the rental shops close in 2008, Mr. Kim offered to give away the collection provided it stayed intact and be available to Kim’s Video members. The filmmakers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin decide to try and access this collection that they’re entitled to, but seemingly unavailable. Well, what happens is David tries to find it, and I’ll get him to tell us what is depicted in the film of the journey to Sicily, where the films ended up. This film at this time is opportunity to look at our habits when watching movies. Though films are readily available via streaming, a unique place that attracts unique staff and customers alike are few and far between, so the heritage of film appreciation has been lost. Not to mention the corporate structures are such that films aren’t as available as they should be, with streaming services taking things down at their will. The film screens Friday night (October 6th) at 9.00 pm at The Cinematheque, and Sunday, October 8th at 6.30 pm at the Vancity Theatre. Visit www.viff.org for tickets and information. And visit www.carnivalesquefilms.com for more on David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, and their previous films which include Girl Model, Intimidad, Kamp Katrina, and Mardi Gras: Made in China, among others. David Redmon received his PhD in sociology from the University of Albany SUNY. He joined me from Strasbourg, France this past weekend. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, David Redmon; Mr. Redmon, good morning.

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The writer and director of the documentary Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Robert McCallum discusses the life of Ernie Combs, his new film, and more, with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

One of the most anticipated films of the fall is the documentary Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe. It screened to great acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival, and there’s a screening for the Vancouver International Film Festival, Thursday night, 6.15pm at Park Theatre. The film’s writer and director Robert McCallum joins me now to talk about this terrific movie. It’s a marvelous look at the life and times of Ernie Coombs, the beloved Mr. Dressup, as well as the people that were closest to him personally and professionally. Coombs’s children are featured in the film, as well as many of the talented collaborators on the long running children’s television favourite. We see the importance of the imagination in Coombs’s early life, and how he moved into television production, and a collaboration with Fred Rogers. They both left the United States to work on programming for young people here at the CBC, with Rogers starring, and Coombs working as a puppeteer. Later when Rogers goes back to the United States, he recommends Coombs stay and develop his own program, and for over thirty years he was a fixture on Canadian television and a friend to generations of children. As we see in the film, it’s a who’s who of Canadian popular culture and society that speak to Mr. McCallum’s cameras about what Ernie Coombs meant to them and why. Everybody from the Barenaked Ladies, Peter Mansbridge, Eric McCormack, Michael J. Fox, Bif Naked, Scott Thompson and many more are in the film, as well as terrific archival footage and interviews with Coombs himself. And featured throughout the film is Judith Lawrence a legendary performer in her own right, who voiced and portrayed Casey and Finnigan. The film has already played to other festivals, and will be available on Prime Video next Tuesday, October 10th 2023. The film is produced by marblemedia in association with Hawkeye Pictures and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Rob McCallum is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmaker, who joined me from London, Ontario one week ago. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Robert McCallum; Mr. McCallum, good morning.

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The author and legal scholar Benjamin Perrin, professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, talks about his new book Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial (Aevo UTP, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Indictment

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

The criminal justice system in Canada is facing an existential crisis. Press reports tell us there are a lot of people seemingly saying it’s too lenient, and not doing enough to keep people safe. The debate then gets into drugs, whether they should be criminalised further, despite the decriminalisation we’ve seen. Then there’s whether harm reduction is the way to go or treatment, and forced if need be. And there’s the ongoing debate as to whether we need more cops or if we should defund the police altogether. A new book takes the system on. Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial has first-hand interviews with survivors, people who have committed offences, prosecutors, defense lawyers, corrections officers, public health experts, victim’s rights advocates, criminologists, trauma experts, psychologists, as well as victims of crime, all offering their stories and solutions. Benjamin Perrin, the book’s author, joins me now. I’ll ask him about the captivating and moving, sometimes harrowing stories he’s gathered, and the case he makes for a new vision of transformative justice. There are new ideas, as well as old ones, that just might work, that might solve the toxic drug crisis, and alleviate the homelessness, poverty, and trauma around us. It’s a compelling case that Mr. Perrin makes, as he dismantles a lot of the colonial, settler thinking that’s inherent in the justice system. And it’s convincing what he offers up as solutions in creating a new justice system from scratch. Benjamin Perrin is a professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. He has served the Prime Minister’s Office as in-house legal counsel, and lead policy advisor on criminal justice and public safety. He was also a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada. His last book, which he was on the program with in 2020 was Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada’s Opioid Crisis. This new book is published by Aevo UTP, which is an imprint of University of Toronto Press. Visit www.benjaminperrin.ca for more, including a podcast. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Benjamin Perrin; Professor Perrin, good morning.

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The former mayor of the City of Vancouver Kennedy Stewart discusses his new book Decrim: How We Decriminalized Drugs in British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Decrim

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Kennedy Stewart joins me again. The former Vancouver mayor has just published a new book, Decrim: How We Decriminalized Drugs in British Columbia. In the midst of the opioid crisis, which the Province of British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016, a three-year trial period for decriminalising the possession of small amounts of hard drugs began in January 2023. In the book, we see what it’s like to bring on policy change like this, with insights as how to work with the federal and provincial governments. I’ll ask Kennedy about the various myths around when it comes to what’s happening on the streets of Vancouver, like the misinformation that it’s free drugs, or that it would reduce deaths; and as we read in the book, though not directly, decriminalisation would make the lives of those who possess small amounts a little easier, and not have to endure a criminal record. And it was largely the police that asked for this, as we read in the book and when I ask Mr. Stewart about his relationship with the Police Chief Adam Palmer. We’ll also discuss relations with former BC premier John Horgan and others. I’ll also ask Kennedy about the Vancouver he sees, nearly a year since losing re-election to Ken Sim, a guy he beat in 2018. Kennedy Stewart was first on the program in 2017 when the book he co-edited Turning Parliament Inside Out was published. He was then a Member of Parliament. He has since returned to teaching at Simon Fraser University. This new book is from Harbour Publishing. We recorded this interview this past Friday. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, the fortieth mayor of the City of Vancouver, Kennedy Stewart; Professor Stewart, good morning.

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The broadcaster and author Gregor Craigie discusses his novel Radio Jetlag (Cormorant Books, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Radio Jetlag

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Gregor Craigie joins me again. The acclaimed broadcaster and author recently published a new novel, Radio Jetlag. The book’s central character, Stephen Millburn has moved from Ottawa to take up the early-morning duties at a Victoria, BC talk radio station. The early, early morning hours are tough, and Stephen also has parental duties. The book provides marvelous insight into the life of a morning radio personality, who’s got to balance journalism with attracting an audience. There are clashes with Mr. Caulfeild, the station’s owner, and the attendant challenges of living in an increasingly unaffordable city in Canada. I’ll ask Mr. Craigie about his own work and what he might have gleaned from his job as a morning radio host on the public broadcaster, as well as the unique sort of people that work all sorts of jobs in the morning, whether it’s at a radio station, or the guy at the Tim Horton’s working overnight. The story of homelessness is something that Gregor has covered in Victoria, and an encampment on the lawn of Victoria’s courthouse is something that’s pivotal to the story in Radio Jetlag. It’s a fun book, and also well-plotted. Mr. Craigie’s ability to communicate was already evident in his great broadcasting work, and that he’s managed to deploy those skills in a novel, is evidence of his prodigious talent. Gregor Craigie is the host of CBC Radio One’s On the Island in Victoria. He first appeared on the podcast in 2021 when On Borrowed Time, an important book on earthquakes, was published. It went on to be nominated for the Writers’ Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy. This new book is published by Cormorant Books. We taped this interview in mid-August. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Gregor Craigie; Mr. Craigie, good morning.

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The poet and educator Renée Sarojini Saklikar discusses Bramah’s Quest (Nightwood Editions, 2023), the second installment in her epic fantasy The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns (THOT J BAP), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Bramah’s Quest

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Renée Sarojini Saklikar joins me again. She’s just published Bramah’s Quest, the second installment in her epic fantasy saga in verse The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns (THOT J BAP). It’s a book length poem that features the time-travelling demigoddess Bramah, a locksmith and the saga’s hero. We’re in 2087 now, and Brahmah is back on a planet Earth ravaged by climate change and global inequality. I’ll ask Renée about where the book finds our hero, as well as get her to tell us about new characters that are in this book, like Sherronda, a famed general and war strategist; a warrior/scholar named Batholomew, a kind of Robespierre; and Rajancrantz and Gabbarbhai, two assassins modelled after Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And we’ll talk about this series, and the past ten years she’s spent writing about the existential crises we face. Renée Sarojini Saklikar is the author of five books including the award-winning Children of Air India, and Listening to the Bees. Her poetry has been published in sundry literary magazines and anthologies. She was poet laureate of the City of Surrey from 2015-2018, and teaches creative writing and editing at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Visit https://thecanadaproject.wordpress.com/ for more. We taped this interview in mid-August. This new book is published by Nightwood Editions. And as a bit of a programming note, Renée will be back on the program in a couple of weeks to continue the conversation. I am always happy to talk to Renée about her work, about words, and life itself frankly. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program Renée Saklikar; Ms. Saklikar, good morning.

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The journalist and author Bregje Hofstede discusses her book In Search of Sleep: An Insomniac’s Quest to Understand the Science, Psychology, and Culture of Sleeplessness (Greystone Books, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: In Search of Sleep

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Unlike most books about sleep, a recent book looks at insomnia as a physical and psychological condition. It’s called In Search of Sleep: An Insomniac’s Quest to Understand the Science, Psychology, and Culture of Sleeplessness. It’s author Bregje Hofstede joins me now, and I’ll ask her about her own personal experience with insomnia. It got pretty bad, but she found a way out of it, including moving to a small village in France. In the book she also discusses the myriad things that are keeping a lot of us awake at night. And it’s no surprise that money is one of those things that worry us, and as Bregje’s research reveals inequality has a lot to do with this; that those with the least suffer the most when it comes to sleeplessness. It’s a fascinating book, and there’s a lot here that will attract those interested in history, neuroscience, as well as cultural anthropology. Bregje Hofstede is a journalist and author whose books have been nominated for international prizes and translated into multiple languages. This book was translated by Alice Tetley-Paul, and is published by Greystone Books. We taped this interview in early June, with Ms. Hofstede joining me from The Netherlands. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Bregje Hofstede; Ms. Hofstede, good morning.

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The novelist and journalist Hilde Østby discusses her recent book The Key to Creativity: The Science Behind Ideas and How Daydreaming Can Change the World (Greystone Books, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Key to Creativity

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Hilde Østby joins me again. She recently published The Key to Creativity: The Science Behind Ideas and How Daydreaming Can Change the World. It’s a fascinating look at how we get ideas, and how human creativity works. The book begins with Hilde involved in a serious cycling crash. She finds herself though bursting with creative energy. It gets her wondering why, and she examines how physical trauma can affect levels of dopamine in our brains. She looks at memory, as well as daydreaming. Boredom also comes into focus, as she investigates its usefulness just as we’re less and less bored thanks to technology. I’ll ask her about grief, and whether the myths that mental illness or intoxication contribute to creativity. Hilde Østby is a novelist and journalist. She first appeared on the program in 2018, when the book she coauthored with her sister Ylva Østby, Adventures in Memory: The Science and Secrets of Remembering and Forgetting was published. That book, like this new one is from Greystone Books. She joined me from Oslo, Norway, where she lives, in this conversation that was taped in early June 2023. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Hilde Østby; Ms. Østby, good morning.

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The poet and playwright Dan O’Brien discusses his new collection of poetry Survivor’s Notebook (Acre Books, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Survivor’s Notebook

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

In the life of this podcast, one of my favourite people to talk to is Dan O’Brien. The poet and playwright has been on six times previously over ten years now. We’ve talked about his writing, and whether it’s for the stage or memoir, or poetry, I find I understand life a little bit better. He’s got a new collection of poetry out now, Survivor’s Notebook. Just as his wife, the actor, writer and producer Jessica St. Clair, was going through her own cancer diagnosis and treatment, Dan is diagnosed with cancer himself. The 2021 collection Our Cancers, chronicles that tremendous upheaval in their life, while this new collection takes us through some of that trauma and charts a path forward. There are poems in this book that look at how identity is shaped by illness, the threat of death, and the procedures undertaken as one heals. There are pieces that look at superstition, chance, and self-criticism, as well as distill the beauty that’s around us if we just take the time to appreciate it. I found the pieces in the book that ponder survival and why we survive not just moving but necessary. Dan O’Brien is a playwright, poet, essayist, memoirist, and librettist. His play The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage, winner of the 2018 PEN America Award in Drama. His website is at www.danobrien.org. This new collection is published by Acre Books. It’s always good to talk to Dan, and I’m pleased to note that I’ll be speaking with him again in a few weeks as he’s also got two other books coming out shortly, a memoir, and a collection of his plays. We taped this conversation nineteen days ago. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Dan O’Brien; Mr. O’Brien, good morning.

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