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The author Renée D. Bondy discusses her debut novel [non]disclosure (Second Story Press, 2024), with Joseph Planta. [non]disclosure by Renée D. Bondy (Second Story Press, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: [non]disclosur Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. I started reading a novel recently [non]disclosure. It’s an engaging, well-plotted read. The book opens with a young girl whose family’s life is quite involved in their Catholic church. As the story continues, she is abused by her parish priest. She doesn’t tell anybody for a long time, but when she does, it’s because she’s read in the paper that the priest involved was in the news because he was accused of other abuses. She tells her parents, who tell the Archdiocese. As she goes into adulthood, we can see how this abuse affects her. And as she finds herself working in an underground hospice for men dying from the still-taboo AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, she comes to realise how much damage the silence enveloping her life has wrought. The book’s author, Renée D. Bondy joins me now to talk about the book, the impetus to write it, and the voice she gives her central character, and more. She taught Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Windsor, and her writing has appeared in Herizons, Bitch, Bearings Online, and the Humber Literary Review. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. This new novel is published by Second Story Press. She joined me two weeks ago from her home in Chatham, Ontario. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Renée Bondy; Dr. Bondy, good morning. The post Renée D. Bondy first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The YouTuber and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn discusses his new book Hockey Rants and Raves (HarperCollins, 2024), with Joseph Planta. Hockey Rants and Raves by Steve “Dangle” Glynn (HarperCollins, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Hockey Rants and Raves Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. One of the more engaging books of the season is the latest from Steve “Dangle” Glynn. The popular broadcaster, podcaster, and YouTube star delivers his signature enthusiasm and frankness in Hockey Rants and Raves. He is both humorous and honest as he takes on some of the greatest arguments amongst hockey fans, as well as starts new ones. Take coming up with a Mount Rushmore for goalies, the greatest goalies, he comes up with his four and then another four, and whether you agree with his case or not, the reader then thinks of their own, making for a fun experience reading the book. And as a casual hockey observer, the book is immediately accessible and one can see why so many are drawn to the game. Steve is a long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs fan and he examines the joys and traumas of being a strident supporter of the team. He looks critically at the fan bases of not just his team but others through the league. He speaks for the fan experience too, critical of the cost of seeing the game, but lovingly painting the experience of going to a game in a way that makes it aspirational despite the price of admission. We’ll talk about all of this and more, including where the name Dangle came from. Steve Glynn spent nine seasons with Sportsnet, and co-founded SDPN, a sports podcast network with the motto Sports Are Fun. You can find him throughout the world of social media @stevedangle is the usual handle. This new book is published by HarperCollins. We spoke last Thursday, with Steve joining me from Ajax, Ontario. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Steve Glynn; Mr. Glynn, good morning. The post Steve “Dangle” Glynn first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The former astronaut and cabinet minister the Honourable Marc Garneau discusses his memoir A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream (Signal, 2024), with Joseph Planta. A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream by Marc Garneau (Signal, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: A Most Extraordinary Ride Text of introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Forty years ago this month, Marc Garneau became the first Canadian to fly to outer space. It was one of the country’s proudest moments, and inspired a nation into a new era of space exploration. Garneau would return to space two more times, and after a career as a naval officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as leading the Canadian Space Agency, he entered the world of politics, winning election to the House of Commons in 2008. When the Liberal Party was elected the government in 2015, he was appointed Minister of Transport, and later on in 2021, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He recounts all that and more in a new memoir A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream. I’ll ask him about space, what it’s like to experience space physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. As well, I’ll ask about the future of space travel and exploration. We’ll talk about his time in politics. He was Transport Minister, as well as Foreign Minister through a tumultuous time in Canadian politics, the pandemic, the arbitrary detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor; among many other notable events over the last decade. And I’ll get him to reflect on whatever his relationship was with Justin Trudeau. This new book is published by Signal. We spoke last Wednesday. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, the Honourable Marc Garneau; Mr. Garneau, good morning. The post Marc Garneau first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The director Mark Carter discusses the new CTORA Theatre production Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (11-27 October 2024 at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre), and more, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Mark Carter joins me again. The director and designer is on to preview the latest CTORA Theatre production, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starting this Friday, 11 October 2024. It’ll be at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre through to 27 October 2024. We all know those classic songs “Candy Man,” and “Pure Imagination.” This new musical blends those favourites with fresh numbers. And whether you remember the 1971 film or the original novel by Roald Dahl, there’ll be something familiar and welcome. I’ll ask Mark about the piece, as well as this production. It’s a big cast and a live 8-piece orchestra. You can visit www.ctora.ca for tickets and information. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Mark Carter; Mr. Carter, good morning. The post Mark Carter first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The science journalist, author and broadcaster Bob McDonald discusses his memoir Just Say Yes (Douglas & McIntyre, 2024), with Joseph Planta. Just Say Yes by Bob McDonald (Douglas & McIntyre, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Just Say Yes Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. For over four decades now, Bob McDonald has devoted his working life to reporting on science. And in his inimitable way, he’s brought the study of the world and the world around us closer to audiences on television, through his writing, and of course, over thirty years on CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks. In his new memoir Just Say Yes, he tells the story of not just of how he ended up one of the preeminent science correspondents in the country, but his beginnings in Orilla, Ontario. It was a blue-collar experience for Bob and his family. He writes of the challenges of living in a small town, and the childhood abuse he suffered. He writes about all of his life candidly and captivatingly. It’s, as I tell him in our interview we taped about ten days ago, as though we can hear his voice as we read. Bob McDonald has hosted Quirks and Quarks since 1992. He is a regular science commentator on CBC News Network, and science correspondent for CBC’s The National. Before that he was the host and one of the producers of the television program Wonderstruck. He has received the 2001 Michael Smith Award for science promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council, as well as the 2002 Sandford Fleming medal from the Royal Canadian Institute for Science. He also received the 2005 McNeil Medal from the Royal Society of Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and the recipient of thirteen honorary doctorates. In 2014, asteroid 332324 was officially named BOBMCDONALD. This new book is published by Douglas & McIntyre. He joined me from his home in Victoria, BC. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Bob McDonald; Mr. McDonald, good morning. The post Bob McDonald first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The author and veteran sports writer Ed Willes discusses his new book Never Boring: The Up and Down History of the Vancouver Canucks (Harbour Publishing, 2024), with Joseph Planta. Never Boring: The Up and Down History of the Vancouver Canucks by Ed Willes (Harbour Publishing, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Never Boring Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Ed Willes joins me now. He’s just published a great read, Never Boring: The Up and Down History of the Vancouver Canucks. He takes the reader beginning in the 1960s when Vancouver desperate for an NHL franchise is left out thanks to the various machinations of people here and elsewhere, Central Canada specifically. It might be a conspiracy of sorts or not. The book looks at the various ownership groups over the last fifty-four years, from those early days in the 1970s, through to the Frank Griffiths era, McCaw, and now the Aquilinis. We see the challenges of owning an NHL franchise, and how the owners are regarded by fan and foe alike. We are regaled with stories of unforgettable players, characters through the highs and lows of wins and losses; players who dazzle fans with skill or personality or both. As Mr. Willes tells me in this interview we taped a couple of weeks ago, this book from Harbour Publishing was to have come out last fall but because of a delay turned fortuitous, the book is out now with a hell of a last chapter. He narrates just how the Canucks seem to have gotten out of that funk from the time of the management of Jim Benning, through to the coaching of Bruce Boudreau through today’s management group of Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin, and award-winning head coach Rick Tocchet. The excitement surrounding the team during that playoff run comes through the page, and it either bodes well for the season ahead, or perhaps signifies an aberration. I’ll ask Ed about all that and more. The book is also a great tribute to daily sports journalism. We see once more glimpses of the writing of Jim Kearney, Jim Coleman, Jim Taylor, and even Allan Fotheringham, among many others. There’s also a lot of Mr. Willes’s own work as he spent some forty years covering sports at newspapers across Canada, including many years at The Province here in Vancouver. Ed Willes is also the author of The Rebel League, Gretzky to Lemieux, and End Zones and Border Wars. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Ed Willes; Mr. Willes, good morning. The post Ed Willes first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The writer and director of Lucky Star Gillian McKercher discusses the feature film that boasts an Asian-Canadian cast (Terry Chen, Olivia Cheng, Conni Miu) and reflects on family, deceit and luck (screening this week at the Vancouver International Film Festival), with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Gillian McKercher joins me now. She’s a written and directed a new film, Lucky Star. It’s a terrific movie set in Calgary, where Lucky played by Terry Chen, once a gambler, has since settled down with a wife, two daughters, a business and a mortgage. He falls for a tax scam, and after losing a good chunk of money, and saddled with more bills that pile up, he realises he might have to go back to his gambling ways to recover his losses and keep afloat. His wife Noel, played by Olivia Cheng, and daughter Grace, played by Conni Miu, also have moral dilemmas of their own. Naturally, they’re opposed to his gambling. The film is a great look at familial bonds, deceit, and sacrifice. It’s wonderfully paced, and gripping to watch. It’s a marvelous addition to the Asian-Canadian film genre. Gillian joins me now to talk about this film, identity and more. She is a writer, director and producer based out of Calgary. Her first feature Circle of Steel was critically acclaimed and the winner of the Audience Award at the 2018 Calgary International Film Festival. Visit www.gillianmckercher.com for more. The film screens 6.30pm Thursday, 03 October 2024 at the International Village Cinema. There’s another screening Saturday, 05 October 2024 at 12.30pm. Gillian is scheduled to attend both screenings for Q&A’s. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Gillian McKercher; Ms. McKercher, good morning. The post Gillian McKercher first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The filmmaker Josephine Anderson talks to Joseph Planta about her debut feature documentary Curl Power, screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival this week. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Another great documentary screening this week at the Vancouver International Film Festival is Curl Power. In the film, director Josephine Anderson follows a teenage curling team from Maple Ridge, 4KGirl$. They’re a hardworking group of friends who strive to be curling champions, who are coached by three of their mothers who happen to be former Olympians. In the film, we see them curl, but we also see them grow up, and contend with all those issues that young people have to deal with, self-esteem, body image, anxiety, depression, breakups and all the other transitions that people in high school go through. And as they go through them together curling is both incidental, as well as what keeps them together. The film captures these young women often in vulnerable ways, and through Josephine’s well-placed camera, we see how they grow up throughout the film. The films quiet nature allows the viewer to think about their own formative years and how they’ve been leavened by the friendships formed in those all-too important years. Curl Power is Josephine Anderson’s debut feature. She previously appeared on the program in 2020 when her short On Falling premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. This new film screens 03 October 2024 at 6.00pm and Saturday, 05 October 2024 at 3.45pm at SFU Woodwards. Visit www.viff.org for tickets and information. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program Josephine Anderson; Ms. Anderson, good morning. The post Josephine Anderson first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The filmmaker Mads K. Baekkevold discusses his debut feature having its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival, a film looking at the life, work and identity of chef Hidekazu Tojo, The Chef and the Daruma, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. For nearly forty years now, Tojo’s has been a popular mainstay in Vancouver’s food scene. One of the more anticipated documentaries of the year, The Chef and the Daruma had its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival last night. And just before the screening, I talked to the film’s director Mads K. Baekkevold about this movie and what it was like working with Hidekazu Tojo as reveals so much about his life and work. The film retraces in a trip to Japan, what sort of upbringing it was, and how from early on to today, family was so important to Chef Tojo. We see the influence on his work and artistry as he narrates jobs he had in Japan in various kitchens before he immigrated to Canada in the early 1970s. Even in contemporary sequences, where Tojo dines throughout Japan, we see the clever inventor at work, taking in the tastes that might find its way back to Vancouver and his menus at the West Broadway location where he holds court nightly. I’ll also ask Mads about what it was like to make the movie, and the various pieces of advice that Tojo deploys throughout. One of the things we don’t talk about, and I purposely didn’t talk about it in our conversation is the Daruma, these dolls that appear throughout the film that are central in the goalsetting that Chef Tojo does through the year. They’re such a special part of Tojo’s outlook in life and how the film unfolds, that I’ll leave it to viewers to find out more about them. Mads K. Baekkevold is a freelance director, creative, writer, and editor. He has created content for various clients, including television commercials that have earned him two Cannes Lions awards, and a Clio. Visit https://www.madskarlsenb.com/ for more. The film screens at least three more times, and though they might be sold out by the time this runs, visit www.viff.org for updates on additional screenings. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Mads Baekkevold; Mr. Baekkevold, good morning. The post Mads K. Baekkevold first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The filmmaker Thea Loo discusses her new documentary Inay (Mama), having its premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Inay (Mama) (Filipino for Mama), is a new documentary that is having its Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival tomorrow night. It’s a moving film that looks at the impact of the Live-In Caregiver Program that from the 1990s on has brought thousands of women from The Philippines as migrant workers rearing the children or elderly family members of Canadians, enabling them to send their earnings back home, where many of their children were left behind. After a certain period of time, these women were able to gain permanent residency and then bring their children to Canada. It’s an often-harrowing journey, as there are issues of abandonment, as well as cultural and psychological shock once these children build a new life in a new country, and try and rebuild a relationship with a missing parent. Thea Loo is the film’s director and she joins me now to talk about the film. Early in the movie, she and her husband, cinematographer Jeremiah Reyes talk about the depression that Reyes contends with. And soon, he and her friend Shirley, are interviewed on camera about the intergenerational trauma and lack of belonging that they seemingly have each had to navigate through. In Jeremiah’s case, addressing a lot of this might just help he and Thea adjust better to their recent marriage. Both he and Shirley have to deal with secrets that they grew up with, and by the end of the film, each of them sit down with their respective mothers and talk, often frankly, always emotionally, and hopefully charting a new path. The repercussions of governmental policies, and its effect on generations of Filipino Canadians is something this documentary sheds light on and it’s enlightening and enlightened in its approach. Thea Loo is a graduate of Simon Fraser University. Other than filmmaking, she has worked in other disciplines like photography, music, and theatre. The film screens tomorrow (October 2nd at 7.00pm) and Friday (October 4th at 4.00pm) at International Village. Thea and Jeremiah will participate at Q&As at both screenings. We taped this interview a couple of weeks ago. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Thea Loo; Ms. Loo, good morning. The post Thea Loo first appeared on thecommentary.ca.