Midweek - The Radio Show

Once again, our Midweek team set the bar high for this week’s broadcast with an impressive variety of stories.Reporters and production team members organized an exciting line-up of stories centred around local news, current affairs, arts & culture, and animals. After having done some advanced planning for same-day stories, the team was ahead of schedule and scripts were printed and assembled nearly 20 minutes before show time – a new record for our class this semester!Sophie Blake and Hannah Wanamaker sat behind the hosting mics this week to present this week’s news, which continues to improve after every show.Our opening news story featured Hannah Wanamaker’s interview with Dr. Katie Muldoon, an epidemiologist and the president of Planned Parenthood Ottawa’s board of directors. The pair discussed the ongoing Padmore vs Hemmings case and the arguments that arose about informed consent and medical negligence.Next, Alexa MacKie reported on the potential closing of Ottawa’s Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) site, which offers support and guidance for people convicted of sexual offences to re-enter society after prison time. She spoke with COSA Ottawa’s program director, Michaela De Curtis, to learn more.Following a triumphant win at this past weekend’s Super Bowl, Seattle Seahawks fans are celebrating a historic milestone for the team. Simone Brown spoke with a long-time Seahawks fan, Tainu Cousins, to take a walk down memory lane and recap the game.The Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games kicked off last week, and excitement is sky high as fans continue to cheer on Team Canada. Sophie Blake spoke with Mallory Terry, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Science at McMaster University, to talk about perceptual cognitive skills amongst athletes, and how it sets them apart.Later in the show, listeners were treated to some stories all about animals! Kaitlin Gruehl looked into the drop of salmon population monitoring and why it’s concerning researchers, while Kaitlyn Ostapyk attended the Ottawa Humane Society’s “Tails of Love” family event held ahead of Valentine’s Day.Our reporters continued to transport listeners to some of Ottawa’s latest arts and culture events: Simone Brown took us to this year’s Ottawa Black Creative Hub showcase, Samantha Carrillo Brito checked out a Stew Showdown fundraiser held for the Westboro Region Food Bank, Hannah Wanamaker attended the Arts Ottawa Awards ceremony at the National Arts Centre, and Maia Tustonic recapped the thrilling snowmobile freestyle shows held at the ByWard Market.While we were missing a few team members this week due to internships, our team learned to be resilient and confidently produced another successful show.Next week, our reporters will be off the air to take a well-deserved rest during the reading week. But, you can tune in same time as usual to hear our “Reading Week Special” compilation show featuring some of our best work so far.There will also be a slight change in class leadership for our next broadcast as Professor Nana aba will be away… stay tuned to find out who our surprise and temporary senior producer will be!You can catch our next Midweek of the season at noon on Feb. 25. You can listen to past episodes on CKCU-FM or via our podcast.

Our Midweek team truly brought their A-game this week for their second broadcast this semester. After a successful first run, their confidence and ambition shone through all the content they produced for a rather informative and entertaining show.The team assembled and had concrete plans to tackle their same-day stories. Before we went on-air, our production team realized that we had an abundance of new content in addition to some older docs and Q&A’s that were produced at the beginning of the term. While we had to sadly cut some of the older segments due to time for the live broadcast, you can listen to them in full via our on-demand podcast.This week’s broadcast included the similar tied and true local news stories that our Midweek listeners can expect, introduced by hosts Alexa MacKie and Alea St.Jacques, and there were a few stories that you might consider out of this world.Stories about space exploration and sustainability were at the top of the hour. Laura Gillis interviewed Tim Cole, former president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Ottawa chapter, to talk about the significance of NASA’s Artemis missions following their decision to delay their latest launch. After, Alea St.Jacques brought listeners to this year’s Canadian Space Conference, hosted by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Canada.Following the latest recommendation from Algonquin College’s Board of Governors to suspend 30 programs, Marley Bradfield reported on its impact on current and incoming students. Later, Jadie Leung spoke with Danni Sinclair, head coach of Carleton’s Women’s Basketball Team about this year’s Capital Hoops game.Alea St. Jacques then introduced listeners to Ottawa’s Queer Lifting Club taking place at a local church for transgender and queer residents, to help relieve the stress of justifying their identity.A new podcast focused around Ottawa’s creative scene has also launched! Simone Brown interviewed Pearly Pouponneau, one of the co-creative directors and hosts of the “OOH WEE” podcast to learn more about the series.Samantha Carrillo Brito interviewed Theresa Qadri from the Stittsville Food Bank to learn more about their operations and volunteer efforts heading into the colder months.Following two successful tape talks last week, three of our reporters decided to hop on the bandwagon: Kaitlin Gruehl spoke about what Canadians should know about Canada and China solidifying their trade deal, Sophie Blake let us in on Health Canada’s approval of the sale of gene-edited pork, and Alexa MacKie took us behind the curtain of a new local theatre production company in Ottawa.Considering this was only our second show, our team has demonstrated an impressive strong start and continues to power through.

With a brand new theme song and team, Midweek returned to the CKCU-FM airwaves this week to kick off its Winter 2026 season.Reporters arrived bright and early in Midweek’s newsroom located at Richcraft Hall and hit the ground running on their same-day stories. Scripts were printed and packaged with minutes to spare before air time, and excitement was high.Our hosts Marley Bradfield and Laura Gillis guided listeners through a series of interviews, docs, and more that covered local issues as well as arts and culture events in Ottawa. This week’s show featured many stories related to Ottawa’s transit service. Samantha Carrillo Brito interviewed local filmmaker Gio Petti about his new documentary “The Train to Nowhere” where they discussed the LRT Line 2’s past and present. Maia Tustonic also contributed two separate interviews: one with Alto’s Peter Paz about Canada’s first high-speed train project, and another with Free Transit Ottawa’s Donald Swartz about OC Transpo’s proposed fare hike.Hockey was another popular topic this week: Marley Bradfield spoke with Jean-Francois Plante, the Ottawa Charge’s media and community relations manager to talk about the Charge’s final game before the Olympic send-off, while Alea St.Jacques spoke with Stephen Spence of Ottawa Pride Hockey to discuss the significance of the television series “Heated Rivalry” for queer athletes.In addition to the variety of recorded content produced, we also successfully produced TWO live tape talks! Leia Fourney discussed the importance of third spaces for Korean-Canadians, featuring interviews with a local photographer and hip-hop artist, while Jadie Leung gave an informative explainer about carbon monoxide poisoning in light of the Ontario Fire Code’s new regulations.We even had a live interview with Carleton Political Science and Political Economy PhD student Josée Lalonde to discuss Premier Doug Ford’s involvement with Canadian defense manufacturer Roshel’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Some of our reporters also kept our listeners up to date on various community and arts events taking place across the city, including an erasure poetry event, a music fundraiser for the Ottawa Humane Society, Ottawa’s DJ scene, and the premiere of a new sci-fi musical taking place at the Gladstone Theatre.While the beginning of the day was filled with a bit of initial panic, our reporters felt relief and more confident knowing that their first show was a success.

It’s a wrap—almost!Our final Midweek of the season walked before it could run. Reporter Zoe Pierce spoke to one of the leaders of a movement movement—”designed walking,” which combines route planning with storytelling, and social interaction.Then, the fallout of a racist act of vandalism at a grocery store in Ottawa’s Chinatown. Midweek’s Colson Swinarchin sat down with the head of the neighbourhood’s BIA to discuss how hateful acts hurt us all.In happier happenings, Pierce joined hosts Marilyn Madlion and Matthew Garwolinski to break down Carleton University’s historic women’s basketball win in Brazil this past weekend. The Ravens were undefeated through their entire International University Sports Federation three-on-three Basketball University World Cup run, becoming the first Canadian team to take home the gold.In other student news, Swinarchin returned with the head of a environmental activist group, which is getting young people involved with climate action through its annual summit at Carleton this weekend.Reporter Allison Young gave us the latest on Ottawa’s plans to bid on a private landfill in the east end from Capital Ward councillor Shawn Menard. Following a more than two-hour closed session council meeting, councillors voted to approve the bid just after the show ended.In an arts update, Midweek’s Clarisa Gonzalez joined our hosts in studio to break down how a local arts organization is challenging artistic ideals with more representative depictions of the human form.Going back to city hall, reporter Julie Chadwick had more on a simple ask from Ottawa’s finest. Firefighters are asking for just over $50,000 to put a washer and dryer in every fire station—something advocates say would greatly reduce their high risk of cancers and other occupational illnesses.In our last reporter deep-dive of the fall term, Madlion shone a light on a recent rash of kidnappings in Nigeria. Hundreds of schoolchildren and staff have been taken in recent weeks by a to-be-named extremist group.Taking things back to Ottawa, Midweek’s Hannah Daramola dove into the pile of clothes forming at the Carleton University Women’s Centre ahead of a winter gear swap.And in what might be a genuine first for the program, Garwolinski rounded out the season with an honest-to-goodness nature documentary about Ottawa’s raven-haired (and feathered, and beaked, and taloned) residents.Midweek will return with an all-new production crew in January.

We’ve reached the final third! Veterans were top of mind and top of show this week. On Remembrance Day, reporter Matthew Garwolinski visited the Canadian War Museum and host Holly Joth-Smith attended Carleton University’s Remembrance Day ceremony. Both heard stories of family connections, wartime valour, and why we honour the occasion.Zoe Pierce then sat down with the head of Carleton University’s College of Humanities, Shane Hawkins, to discuss the University of Ottawa’s recently-suspended honours program in Greek and Roman studies, and whether the same could happen at Carleton. Midweek’s Allie Cruzado joined Joth-Smith and co-host Alex Scott in studio to talk about how two recent typhoons are hitting close to home for Filipinos, in Ottawa and Manila alike. Reporter Marilyn Madlion spoke to a local Black entrepreneur about how the closure of one business during the COVID-19 pandemic spawned a hub for Ottawa’s Black community and its artisans.Pierce returned with the success of a recent musical fundraiser for youth mental health, and its planned second iteration next year. Also in fundraising, Cruzado dropped into the United Way’s garage sale at Carleton, with money set for various causes across Eastern Ontario. Joth-Smith wasn’t the only host to attend an event this week––Scott attended Ottawa’s climate change preparation panel and took listeners through what they need to know about the city’s mitigation plans and how they can prepare for extreme weather events.With the Minoshkite Indigenous Music and Arts Festival back for a third year this week, reporter Clarisa Gonzalez had more on what makes it an important part of Ottawa’s cultural landscape. Scott then presented his interview with one of the leaders of a cycling advocacy group protesting provincial Bill 60. The legislation is aimed at building new homes and infrastructure more quickly, but has drawn heavy criticism for measures making it easier to evict tenants and harder to build bike lanes, among other issues.Closing out the show and completed just in time, Joth-Smith and Pierce joined forces for an interview with Sky News Africa journalist, Yousra Elbagir, ahead of her talk at Carleton. Elbagir will give Carleton’s annual Peter Stursburg Foreign Correspondent Lecture on Nov. 13, addressing selective empathy for Sudan. 

We’ve reached the final third! Veterans were top of mind and top of show this week. On Remembrance Day, reporter Matthew Garwolinski visited the Canadian War Museum and host Holly Joth-Smith attended Carleton University’s Remembrance Day ceremony. Both heard stories of family connections, wartime valour, and why we honour the occasion.Zoe Pierce then sat down with the head of Carleton University’s College of Humanities, Shane Hawkins, to discuss the University of Ottawa’s recently-suspended honours program in Greek and Roman studies, and whether the same could happen at Carleton. Midweek’s Allie Cruzado joined Joth-Smith and co-host Alex Scott in studio to talk about how two recent typhoons are hitting close to home for Filipinos, in Ottawa and Manila alike. Reporter Marilyn Madlion spoke to a local Black entrepreneur about how the closure of one business during the COVID-19 pandemic spawned a hub for Ottawa’s Black community and its artisans.Pierce returned with the success of a recent musical fundraiser for youth mental health, and its planned second iteration next year. Also in fundraising, Cruzado dropped into the United Way’s garage sale at Carleton, with money set for various causes across Eastern Ontario. Joth-Smith wasn’t the only host to attend an event this week––Scott attended Ottawa’s climate change preparation panel and took listeners through what they need to know about the city’s mitigation plans and how they can prepare for extreme weather events.With the Minoshkite Indigenous Music and Arts Festival back for a third year this week, reporter Clarisa Gonzalez had more on what makes it an important part of Ottawa’s cultural landscape. Scott then presented his interview with one of the leaders of a cycling advocacy group protesting provincial Bill 60. The legislation is aimed at building new homes and infrastructure more quickly, but has drawn heavy criticism for measures making it easier to evict tenants and harder to build bike lanes, among other issues.Closing out the show and completed just in time, Joth-Smith and Pierce joined forces for an interview with Sky News Africa journalist, Yousra Elbagir, ahead of her talk at Carleton. Elbagir will give Carleton’s annual Peter Stursburg Foreign Correspondent Lecture on Nov. 13, addressing selective empathy for Sudan. As we wrapped our show, one Midweek reporter made a startling discovery: four people wearing the same outfit!