CFRU 93.3FM Radio & Media Centre presents:
Join us from November 6-15 for an in-depth journey into the world of interviewing, offering a unique chance to learn about different styles and techniques from some of the most experienced voices on our airwaves. Whether you’re an aspiring journalist, a podcast enthusiast, or just curious about the art of conversation, this series will equip you with practical skills and a deeper appreciation for the craft.
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Interview Panel: Series Kickoff
November 6, 2024 | 7-9pm | location TBA | RSVP here
Facilitated by Taylor Pipe (The Ontarion)
Our kick-off event, an interview panel, will feature seasoned hosts who will share their insights, tips, and behind-the-mic stories on conducting engaging and effective interviews.
Panellists:
Adam Donaldson – Open Sources Guelph
When he’s not the main/only contributor to Guelph Politico, Adam A. Donaldson also contributes to GuelphToday.com as their city hall columnist and co-hosts a political and current affairs show on CFRU 93.3 fm called “Open Sources Guelph.” When not being political, Adam co-hosts the movies and pop culture show “End Credits“, and as a freelance writer he has contributed to various papers, periodicals and websites including Nightmare on Film Street, Nerd Bastards, We Got This Covered, the Guelph Mercury, the Waterloo Region Record, Press+1, Lucid Forge, and Women’s Post. Adam was also named one of the Guelph Mercury’s 40 Under 40 in 2013 for his work with Ed Video Media Arts Centre.
Open Sources Guelph is a weekly news, politics and current events radio show on CFRU 93.3 fm, campus and community radio in Guelph.
Picking up the baton passed down by the Beyond the Ballot Box and Gang of Four shows, Open Sources will remain a dedicated, informative and alternative media source in the Royal City. Our mission is to bring Guelph all the latest news, insight and interviews on both the big issues of the day, and the issues being overlooked by the mainstream media.
You can listen to Open Sources live on CFRU 93.3fm and cfru.ca every Thursday at 5 pm and listen online to past and present episodes at opensourcesguelph.com
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Amara Sheppard and Sophia Edross – CFRULive
Amara is a recent graduate with a degree in International Development and a minor in Spanish. They have been volunteering with CFRU since 2022, and are now co-producer for CFRULive’s in-studio performances. Amara is one of CFRULive’s regular interview hosts. They have been using their skills from their time at CFRU in their new job as Production Assistant at Good Company Productions in Kitchener. They are so grateful for the opportunities CFRU has provided to become more integrated in Southern Ontario’s music scene and the Guelph community at large!
Sophia has been a huge help with the in-studio performances this year, offering set-up and production support, and contributing to the social media promotions, and she is one of CFRULive’s regular hosts. She is a second year vocal studies major at the University of Guelph, and is currently singing and playing in indie-rock groups strwbrry jam, and Boy Banned
CFRULive is a tight-knit group of Guelph students and graduates committed to the local music scene. Each week, they put on live shows in CFRU’s vinyl library, providing a space for local artists to showcase their music, artistry, and personality. Between the eight of them, they divide the roles of outreach, promotion, set-up, video engineering, sound engineering, and interviewing to produce a live-to-air radio show.
You can listen to CFRULive on CFRU 93.3fm and cfru.ca Tuesdays at noon, and you can check out past episodes (and the video content) on CFRU’s youtube channel and follow them/CFRU on instagram @cfrulive.
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Jenny Mitchell – Bridging the Social Distance, The Mobile Community Radio Show
Jenny Mitchell is a local musician, artist, mother, and bus driver who has been performing in bands in Guelph since she was fifteen. She works as CFRU’s Volunteer and Mobile Studio Coordinator, recruiting, training, helping and celebrating volunteers at the station, and developing and coordinating “mobile studio projects” to get more and different voices on our airwaves. Jenny oversees both The Mobile Community Radio Show and Bridging the Social Distance as part of her work as CFRU’s “Mobile Studio Coordinator. The Mobile Studio is any and all radio created outside the station, with a focus on engaging voices and sharing perspectives from voices that may be underrepresented and/or have additional barriers to access for making radio at our station at the University. Much of Jenny’s interviewing takes place at retirement and long-term care homes, schools, and community centres.
CFRU’s “Mobile Community Radio Show began in 2015, and was followed by “Bridging the Social Distance”, which began as platform for sharing feelings, ideas and perspectives during the Global Pandemic of COVID 19. “When CFRU decided to temporarily close the radio station to our volunteers and public, my first thought was that I wouldn’t have any work to do, I wouldn’t have volunteers to work with, and I’d have to cancel my Mobile Studio projects. Then my perspective shifted. I was looking through posts on the newly created Facebook page: ’CareMongering Guelph—Leaning Into Community During COVID19’, and saw beautiful and generous offers from folks with cars, offering to pick up groceries, supplies, etc. I too have a car, but it didn’t seem like there was any lack of that form of support. So I tried to think what I could offer that hadn’t been suggested yet, something that I’d be uniquely suited to offer. I thought about my comfort with strangers, my endless capacity and passion for stories, and decided to offer myself and my platform at the radio station for people who wanted to connect and share ideas, feelings and perspectives”
You can listen to Bridging the Social Distance on CFRU 93.3fm and cfru.ca every Thursday and Friday at noon, and you can listen online at bridgingthesocialdistance.com and cfrumobile.com
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Mike Ashkewe – This Week in Geek
A prophecy has been foretold of a nerd who shall rise from the Internet and usher in a new era of glory and stupidity.
It is a tale that began simply enough in a small town filled with Lovecraftian horror and occasionally old people. Mike “The Birdman” Ashkewe began assimilating data like a Borg drone and saw information flow from places strange and unusual at a young age. Geekery flowed in his veins and he took pride in it. Luke Skywalker, Jason Voorhes, and many others would become late night companions from the local VHS rental store and the desire to know more grew more intense. Ashkewe began to feel the need to wander and increase what he could do with his life and soon grew tired of the small town life and with that in mind, he left Owen Sound.
Mike discovered a passion for radio broadcasting and with that, he decided he needed higher education. He went to Niagara College for radio, television and film and found like minded individuals who wished to create a new geek empire. The years passed and the true tests of nerdity. After several years, Mike emerged victorious and began to carve his path into the world as a pop culture expert on radio and television across Canada and in the United states. Birdman has never stopped fighting for the geek, nerd and dork and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. Mike is also a member of CFRU’s Board of Directors.
This Week in Geek is one of Canada’s longest running podcasts and has been on air since 2007. TWiG has interviewed actors from sci fi, anime and countless other genres during its history. During the history of the podcast, TWiG was one of the first shows to produce TTRPG actual plays with “Terrible warriors”. Its hosts have appeared on AMC, Spike TV, CBC, CTV, Global and BBC and been apart of Clear Channel communications at various points during its broadcast tenure.
You can listen to This Week In Geek at thisweekingeek.net some episode highlights include:
https://thisweekingeek.net/blog/2024/10/23/alex-the-producers-bioware-segment-on-cbc-radio/
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Omorowa Eguakun – RadiOPIRG
Omorowa Eguakun became OPIRG Guelph’s Coordinator of Volunteer Programming and Community Engagement in 2021 and has been a co-host of RadiOPIRG since that time! She has overseen several long-form interviews, including with community figures such as Wayne Smythe, Chelsey Edwards, and the Beehive Collective, and has covered local events such as the GWWIC December 2021 vigil. These programs have received a great response among CFRU’s staff and listeners!
Omorowa is dedicated to Black and Indigenous liberation and to solidarity among other marginalized communities, with a focus on transformative justice and abolitionism, all of which has informed her work at OPIRG and on CFRU’s airwaves.
RadiOPIRG is our weekly spoken word show on CFRU 93.3FM, Guelph’s campus and community radio station, where we showcase the exciting work OPIRG is doing, and talk about current issues in the community related to social and environmental justice. Generally the show consists of recorded talks, live and pre-recorded interviews, spoken word pieces and music.
You can listen to RadiOPIRG on CFRU 93.3fm and cfru.ca every Thursday from 3 to 4pm, and you can learn more about Radiopirg at http://opirgguelph.org/what-we-do/radiopirg/ Listen to past episodes at https://www.cfru.ca/?s=RadiOPIRG&posttype_search=mcm_recording
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Tristan Curtis – Tales from the Bridge
Tristan is the producer and co-host of Tales From The Bridge and has interviewed New York Times best-selling authors, Academy Award winning & nominated filmmakers, and notable actors from Star Trek to Lord of the Rings. Since 2021, Tales from the Bridge has been dedicated to creating compelling discussions with the people who bring new worlds and ideas to life through storytelling.
Tales from the Bridge is a podcast that discusses big ideas within the science fiction genre. Episodes consist of book clubs, trivia specials, film clubs, and most extensively, interviews with authors & filmmakers, among other creatives within the science fiction / fantasy genre.
You can listen to Tales from the Bridge on CFRU 93.3fm and cfru.ca on Thursdays at 9am, and you can listen online at: https://talesfromthebridge.buzzsprout.com/
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About our Facilitator:
Taylor Pipe – Editor-in-Chief of The Ontarion
Taylor graduated from Mohawk College’s journalism program in 2019. She’s been featured in publications like GuelphToday and The Hamilton Spectator. You can often find Taylor having a pint at Jimmy Jazz, attending sweaty rock shows at the Guelph Concert Theatre or watching Big Brother with her partner and her cat.
The Ontarion: The first Ontarion student newspaper was published on campus March 29, 1951. The lead story included this photo of OAC students wielding shovels in the basement of Massey Hall to make way for a student lounge. Another story summarized the findings of a research project that compared commercial mix cakes with homemade.
The newspaper was intended to serve students at all three founding colleges. One early editor reported that the paper’s name came from the idea that the three schools might one day become the University of Ontario.
The Ontarion has changed over the years, reflecting changes on campus and in society, as well as the individuality of each new editor.
Following the social club atmosphere of the 1950s, the 1960s Ontarion editors tried to stir up controversy with articles about communism and boarding houses that advertised “whites preferred.” One issue in fall 1970 was confiscated by the RCMP at the printers because it contained a bulletin with the FLQ manifesto – illegal under the War Measures Act.
Later editors have varied the focus from news and intellectual discussion to letters and opinion pieces in an effort to hear all voices on campus. One 1990s editor told students: “If you don’t like what we’re doing with the paper, you can volunteer to help change it . . . . It’s your paper.”
After 50 years of publication, the Ontarion is still one of the few completely autonomous student newspapers in the country.
You can find physical print issues of The Ontarion on campus at the University of Guelph, you can find their offices on the second floor of the UC (across from Brass Taps), and you can find them online at theontarion.com.
Podcast Interview Lab pt 1 with Karim Mosna
November 7, 2024 | 3-5pm | CFRU 93.3FM, UC 201-211 | Reserve your spot
The Podcast interview Labs with Karim Mosna will be a hands-on opportunity to learn how to prepare and research for an interview, follow best practices of guiding the interview, learning basic on-air articulation and recording skills, and editing and post-production skills.
Limited spots! Please email Karim to register.
From Formation to Now with CFRUlive
November 13, 2024 | 7-9pm | location TBA | RSVP here
Learn about how the CFRUlive team met and brought in amazing bands like Apollo Suns, Calderalls, Yes Chef! and more. Beyond their great performances, the hour is also intercut with interviews. Hear about how they conduct their interviews and how they’ve grown as a group to be a powerhouse in the station.
Podcast Interview Lab pt 2 with Karim Mosna
November 14, 2024 | 3-5pm | CFRU 93.3FM (UC 201-211) | Reserve your spot
Improvised Interview Workshop with Jenny Mitchell
November 15, 2024 | 7-9pm | location TBA | RSVP here
To wrap up our series, Jenny Mitchell will give you the opportunity to take everything you’ve learned and put it into practice! You’ll review the different approaches to interviewing, talk about best tips and practices, and have the opportunity to try out your skills and interview other attendees. This lighthearted and stress-free workshop will have you walking away feeling as though you can take on anything.
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More details to come. Join us and discover what truly happens Behind the Mic!