Tiny Conversations

Hey! This is b and i’m here to share with you what’s coming up on Season 4 of Tiny Conversations.

I am so excited about this next season! Season 4 is filled with short conversations on big ideas, all with people under 18 years old. You’ll hear guests like:

* Ivy, 3* Grey, 13* Zoe, 8* Aaron, 11* Pascal, 14

Each episode will feature a conversation with one young person on a topic that is personal to them. And the topics covered are as unique as the guests.

Topics covered in Season 4 include:

* Being transgender* Bullying* The difficulty of making friends* Over-thinking and feeling pressured* What it’s like to live the life of a 3 year-old

Season 4 of Tiny Conversations is coming soon and will be available to listen wherever you get your podcasts. Click here to subscribe.

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations theatre performer Michelle Polak discusses creating connection and hope with her latest peace “Leaving Still”.

Michelle is a multiple award winning interdisciplinary actor, creator, teacher and mother. She has performed nationally and internationally, and is also the first woman in Canada to receive the Patrick Crean Award.

Michelle is using her art to create positive change, inspire others and create hope in the world. Host Brian Cauley invited Michelle to be on this show after seeing a performance of “Leaving Still” at Nuit Blanche. The play starts with Michelle offering to make someone a sandwich. It ends up with people squished inside a freight elevator that is intentionally reminiscent of the trains that took Jewish people to Auschwitz. On the walls were pieces of brown kraft paper with words written on them. Things like: “from nothing to something” “addiction” “home” and more.

Listen to the episode as host Brian Cauley asks Michelle about:

* How she created this piece.

* How she is moving past her demons and to a place of “survivor”

* The emotional toll it took to perform this piece and create the hope she describes.

If you’re in New Brunswick you can see Michelle perform as The Snow Queen in “The Snow Queen” at Theatre New Brunswick.

What is the most moving piece of theatre you’ve seen? Did it change your life? Comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Below you can listen to the full conversation between Brian and Michelle, where they parenthood, what Michelle’s dad thought about a first reading of the play (he tore it down) and her thoughts on Donald Trump and how the US Election is similar to 1940s Germany and the Holocaust.

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Episode_33-FULL_INTERVIEW-Michelle-Polak-Creating-Hope.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations Wendy Zukerman, Host of Science Vs, discusses pitting facts against popular opinion.

Wendy is the host of the very popular podcast, Science Vs. Each episode tackles an issue like Gun Control, Fracking, Attachment Parenting and the G-Spot only using science.

Wendy says the goal of the show is to pit science against something she calls “The Opinionated Mob”. In this episode host Brian Cauley asks Wendy:

* Why science is so important to her

* Some of the difficulties of hosting a show that often will contradict many people’s opinions

* What she hopes for the future

You can get all episodes of Science Vs here and you can reach Wendy on Twitter @WendyZuk. If you live in or near Toronto, you can watch Wendy do a live episode of Science Vs at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival on Saturday November 19 in Toronto.

What do you think about the current state of science in North America? Has science changed your opinion on a popular topic? Comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Below you can listen to the full conversation between Brian and Wendy, where they talk about the opinionated mob, the various kinds of guests of Science Vs and Wendy’s thoughts on the Patriarchy.

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Episode_32-FULL_INTERVIEW-Science-Vs-Others-Wendy-Zukerman.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch discusses the treatment of women in Professional Baseball journalism.

Shaun recently wrote an article entitled “Women and Baseball: It’s (Past) Time for MLB Coverage to Embrace Women…” – where he discusses both the lack of gender diversity in baseball and the mistreatment of women in the profession.

In this episode, host Brian Cauley discusses with Shaun why he wrote this article, some of the things he’s seen as a baseball journalist, and the personal struggle he faced while writing on this topic. Shaun discusses the inequalities he observes and how he feels when women are judged differently than him. Shaun also discusses the difference between speaking for someone else and speaking-up with someone. In this episode Shaun gets personal and examines how he felt as a man writing about women in baseball and why he couldn’t ignore the dissatisfaction inside him.

What do you think about the current state of women in baseball? What about in other professional sports? You can reach Shaun on Twitter at @JaysFromCouch, comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Below you can listen to our full conversation, where Shaun delves deeper into many of the topics discussed in this episode:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Episode_31-FULL_INTERVIEW-Women_in_Baseball_Shaun_Doyle.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Watch the #MoreThanMean video featuring sports reporters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations Kye Fox discusses facing failure and overcoming failure to follow your dreams.

Kye is a stand-up comedian in Toronto. Back in 2012 Kye was about to take the stage at a charity comedy show with some of his biggest idols. Kye was a young comedian and he thought this was his big break….and then he bombed.

Kye went off book – he delivered an impromptu set riddled with awkward jokes and guilty confessions and the worst thing that can happen to a comedian happened…no one in the audience laughed.

It was so bad that Kye quit comedy for over 2 years. But now he’s back, has a successful show at Toronto’s Comedy Bar and is touring the country.

I sat down with Kye to talk about what happened that night and why he came back to comedy.

When did you stare failure in the face? What did you do to keep going? Comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

You can learn more about Kye’s show on Twitter @thefakekyefox You can listen to our full conversation, where Kye discusses what his very religious parents think about his comedy and more, here:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Episode_30-FULL_INTERVIEW-Moving_Past_Failure_with_Kye_Fox.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Ainsley Monro about doing purposeful work and some of the barriers to that work.

Since she was four-years-old Ainsley has been trying to lead grassroots movements to affect change. Starting with a kindergarten trash pick-up Ainsley has moved on to work with organizations like Katimavik and The Otesha Project. Now Ainsley dreams of building community spaces and hosting YouTube channels that get young Canadians involved in politics.

In this episode Ainsley and I discuss why this kind of work is so important to her and what barriers she is facing. We explore topics like brainstorming, idea sharing, and creating online identities.

What kind of work are you trying to do, and what barriers are you facing? Comment below, send me an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Ainsley currently works for the David Suzuki Foundation in Toronto. She tweets @SpeakingSpark and posts videos on YouTube under the same name. You can listen to our full conversation here:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Episode_29-FULL_INTERVIEW-Doing_Purposeful_Work_with_Ainsley_Monro.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Steve Ballantyne about loving without expectation.

On his first visit to the week-long festival, Burning Man, Steve was introduced to the idea of loving without expectation. From that point forward this lesson changed his outlook on relationships. For Steve it’s expectations that create most of the problems we have with our friends, family, and romantic lovers.

In this episode Steve explains how he first learned this lesson, some of his hesitations, and which relationships have changed the most for him.

What do you think about loving without expectation? Comment below, send me an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Steve is the founder of Station Cold Brew, a coffee company in downtown Toronto. He also discusses things like modern masculinity and stepping away from technology at Camp Reset. The conversation in this episode was edited from a much longer one I had with Steve. Listen below to hear more about Steve’s experience at Burning Man and his relationship with the first woman he’s loved who is only a friend.

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Episode-28-FULL_INTERVIEW-Loving_Without_Expecation_With_Steve_Ballantyne.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Basil Gerard about the importance of creating something daily.

Basil first discovered that creating was a necessary part of his routine while working at a factory to save money. He has gone on to launch Podcasts, work on Documentaries, and now run his own multimedia company Curyo Media.

In this episode Basil and I talk about why creating is so important to him, when he first learned about the technique “no zero days”, and what happens when he isn’t creating.

Do you have a great story for this podcast? Send me an email or tweet @briancauley.

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Listen to the full, unedited conversation below:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Tiny-Conversations-27-Basil-Gerard-Full-Conversation.mp3

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Zahra Ebrahim about the importance of sharing ideas – from why she believes in sharing an idea right from its inception, to why people are afraid to share and what can go wrong…and right…when we decide to share.

Zahra is a change driven, rule-bending creative. I first heard Zahra speak at a community event awhile back and was so impressed with both her passion and her generosity in cultivating ideas, community, and opportunities to involve people in change. From the moment Zahra and I sat down at a local cafe, she openly shared her ideas.

At the time of recording Zahra was Principal and Founder of archiTEXT. Since then she’s moved on to work as Co-CEO of the Canadian offices at Doblin, a global innovation firm.

Do you have a great story for this podcast? Send me an email or tweet @briancauley.

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Listen to the full, unedited conversation below:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Episode-26-Tiny-Conversations-Zahra-Ibrahim-Full.mp3

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Chris Studer, Executive Director of Get Real. Get Real is a non-profit organization who’s goal is to help others, “unlearn LGBTQ discrimination and bullying.”

In June 2015 Get Real was preparing to host a fundraising event during World Pride at Toronto, ON bar El Furniture Warehouse. During that time Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender in this Vanity Fair article. It was a moment where transgender issues were forced into the public arena. Some responded positively, some negatively, and some made transphobic jokes on Instagram, including someone using the El Furniture Warehouse account. When Buzzfeed published an article outlining the clear discrepancy between Get Real hosting a fundraiser at this bar and the Instagram post from this bar, things came to a grinding halt…

In this episode I talk to Chris about how Get Real chose to respond – not by distancing themselves but by attempting to understand. I asked him why they chose to switch the fundraiser to an education session for the bars’ staff and Management and how that went. I also spoke with him about why LGBTQ issues are so personally important and his own history in an all-boys school.

Click here to learn more about Get Real. Do you have a great story for this podcast? Send me an email or tweet @briancauley.

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Listen to the full, unedited conversation below:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Episode-25-Get-Real-Tiny-Conversations-Full.mp3