Shows
Let's Find Out68 - How to Make a National ParkDid you know that Elk Island National Park used to have a bison abattoir? Have you ever heard of the national parks in Alberta that were dissolved? In this live podcast recording, we explore the wild history of making national parks in our area, and what it can teach us about the current plans to build a new urban national park in Edmonton’s river valley.Special guests for this episode include Lauren Markewicz, Miranda Jimmy, and Mack Male.This episode was recorded on September 21, 2023 at the Alfred H. Savage Centre in Edmonton, or Amiskwaciwâska...
2023-10-041h 06Let's Find OutThe Best Playground EverKathryn Gwun-Yeen 君妍 Lennon asks: what is the best playground in Edmonton? We crawl and swing through the past and present of playgrounds in our city to help her and her toddler on their quest.Kathryn and her family find themselves easily visiting 4 playgrounds in a day lately, and she estimates she visited 30 or 40 different playgrounds last summer. So she’s been curious about finding the best one in town. She’s been thinking about how much shade and gathering space that playgrounds have, how close they are to other amenities, and how much her kid Yassin can challeng...
2023-09-061h 03Let's Find OutLive Show Sep 21 - How to Make a National ParkDid you know that Elk Island National Park used to have a bison abattoir? Have you ever heard of the national parks in Alberta that were dissolved? Join us for a live podcast on September 21 recording exploring the wild history of making national parks in our area, and what it can teach us about the current plans to build a new urban national park in Edmonton’s river valley.The evening will be hosted by Chris Chang-Yen Phillips, with special guests including Lauren Markewicz – a public historian, member of the IUCN Bison Specialist Group, and author of Like...
2023-08-2900 minLet's Find OutPlayground UpdateWe're taking a summer break this month, but we have some updates:
Our next episode will be a search for Edmonton's best ever playground. Tell us which one is your favourite! You can send us a message or an audio clip on Instagram, Facebook, or to chris@letsfindoutpodcast.com
We are planning a live show to wrap up our season on the history of parks and natural areas in Edmonton. It'll be September 21 at the Alfred H. Savage Centre in Whitemud Creek Ravine. We'll explore what past national park experiences could teach us about building a national urban...
2023-08-0206 minLet's Find Out66 - Manifesting Peltigera ParkYou may be tired of parks named after dead white men. Kyla Tichkowsky? She's railing against a different kind of tyranny. We have parks named for: Elk. Wood Buffalo. Aspen Beach. Cypress Hills. Dinosaurs even! And yet, not one single lichen.Why not? Lichen are, in fact, fantastically diverse and fascinating organisms. From a conservation standpoint, they are excellent bioindicators. So for conservation organizations, a lichen preserve would make a lot of sense. Together with Kyla, we set out to understand more about lichens and their place in Edmonton's conservation scene. Wh...
2023-07-0553 minLet's Find Out65 - The Riverlot RevisionsZulima Acuña noticed that some of Edmonton's old riverlots are highly developed, and some not at all. She asked us to help her learn why some of them became parks and others didn't.Zulima is a mom, teacher, and artist who has lived in Edmonton for the last ten years, and is eager to know as many stories about the land in Edmonton as her old hometown. It’s easy to take our spaces for granted: the way our roads are laid out, how big our parks are, where they are, the funny angles where some spa...
2023-06-0753 minLet's Find Out64 - Return of the Snow Goose FestivalBack in 2016, the very first episode of Let’s Find Out was about a festival in Tofield, a town about 45 minutes southeast of Edmonton: The Snow Goose Festival. In that episode, we set out to find out how this big festival that started in the 90’s with thousands of bird watchers coming to Tofield to admire the geese migrating through in the spring became a convoy of school bus tours run by the Edmonton Nature Club. In that episode what we found out was that the festival was centred on Beaverhill Lake, which mostly dried up a decade later, lead...
2023-05-0339 min
Speaking MunicipallyHow are we making history? Let's Find OutLet's Find Out has joined Taproot — we speak with host Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and producer Trevor Chow-Fraser to learn more. Plus, the Talus Dome incident has breathed new life into the discussion about interactive public art.Here are the relevant links for this episode:Pothole repairNews Release: City's pothole repair is in motionEPS FOIPInformation and Privacy Unit expanding, launching online system to address demandUrban coyotesInside the den: Edmonton's urban coyotes rear their young close to human habitat, study findsLet's Find OutLet's Fi...
2023-04-1435 minLet's Find Out63 – A Park for All SeasonsEdmonton calls itself a winter city, which partly means we’ve got a lot of wintery festivals. This episode, our producer Trevor Chow-Fraser asks: what does that mean for our parks? How are they changing to live up to the winter city ideal?
Trevor started out by taking his daughter Eliot to Victoria Park to take advantage of its free snowshoeing and fort building. He spoke to activity leader Ryanne Osguthorpe. Victoria Park is one of a few parks in Edmonton that now feature geodesic dome warming huts in the winter.
That got us curious ab...
2023-04-0557 minLet's Find Out62 – About Sohan Singh Bhullar ParkSoni Dasmohapatra asks: Who is Sohan Singh Bullar? Why is there a park named after them?
2023-03-0142 minLet's Find Out61 – How a Park Gets a NameMathew Thomson asks: what’s the process for naming a park in Edmonton? We investigate: who has authority, how much do names mean, and what happens when someone goes rogue on Google Maps?
2023-02-0152 minLet's Find Out60 – A Beautiful Ex-Garbage DumpKaren Unland asks: When did we stop dumping garbage into river valley spaces and start turning them into parks?
In this episode, former historian laureate Shirley Lowe walks us through three stories: how the Grierson Hill dump became Louise McKinney Park, how the Strathcona dump and gravel mine became Hawrelak (aka Mayfair) Park, and how the Beverly Dump became Rundle Park.
2023-01-0443 min2022-12-0852 minLet's Find Out58 – The MacKinnon Ravine MysteryKay Rollans asks who hung two effigies from the 142nd Street Bridge amid 1965 protests against a freeway slated to be built through MacKinnon Ravine. This episode is part of our season exploring the history of parks and natural areas in Edmonton.
2022-11-031h 06Let's Find Out57 – About ParksEdmontonians take a lot of pride in our parks and natural areas. But how did they come to be the way they are, and how well do they make space for humans and other species? On September 29, Let’s Find Out hosted a live podcast recording at the Aviary, with short talks and activities about parks. At the end, listeners had a chance to submit a question for our upcoming season about parks and natural areas in and around our city.
Guest speakers on the episode include Marilyn Dumont, Tara Russell, and Sarah De Lano.
2022-10-051h 12Let's Find OutSep 29 Live Show – Let’s Find Out About ParksEdmontonians take a lot of pride in our parks and natural areas. But how did they come to be the way they are, and how well do they make space for humans and other species? Join Let’s Find Out host Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and producer Trevor Chow-Fraser for a live podcast recording at the Aviary, with short talks and activities about parks and a chance to meet fellow listeners.
At the end, you’ll get a chance to submit a question for our upcoming season about parks and natural areas in and around our city.
Se...
2022-09-1000 minLet's Find Out56 – We Made ItAs Chris wraps up year one of his history master’s degree, Chris and Trevor do one last regular check-in about the pile of essays, grantwriting, and paddling. After this episode, we’ll be back to doing another season of listener questions! Send us your questions about parks and natural areas around Edmonton. What are you curious about? Email us at chris@letsfindoutpodcast.com or drop us a line on social media.
2022-05-3134 minLet's Find OutApril 24: Live Recording at Calgary ExpoGreat news! Our first Let’s Find Out live show in a while is coming up this weekend. We’re as surprised as you are. Thanks to the great folks at the Alberta Podcast Network, we’ll be at Calgary Expo this weekend.
Have you ever taken a picture of all the pretty bubbles under the ice at Lake Abraham in the Rockies? Come to Calgary Expo on April 24, and you can join in a live hands-on workshop exploring three ways history can help us think about one of those photographs. We’ll be recording it for the podc...
2022-04-2010 minLet's Find Out55 – Making Space for FossilsIn this episode, we travel to the Burgess Shale: a set of incredible fossil beds in Yoho National Park, preserving 500-million-year-old soft-bodied sea creatures. Today, it is part of a huge World Heritage Site: it has expanded to encompass all of Yoho National Park here in BC, Jasper and Banff, Kootenay, and three BC provincial parks. But back in 1980, the Burgess Shale sites at the Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds and the Walcott Quarry became the first little nucleus of that World Heritage site.
We find out how these fossil sites ended up on that list, what kind...
2022-03-2923 minLet's Find Out54 – RoadblocksIn this episode, Chris tells Trevor about some of the comic (and cosmic) roadblocks on the road to learning about paleontology and power in Yoho National Park, and just generally the challenges facing students right now. Trevor offers some advice (and a hug). Guest co-host Eliot joins us for hot tips about the best songs from Encanto.
2022-02-2840 minLet's Find Out53 – Right to the SourceWhat’s the difference between a library and an archive? Why might you want to go into one versus the other? In this episode, Chris talks about some heartbreaking and complicated diary entries he read in the City of Edmonton Archives, what it’s like getting into libraries and archives right now with Omicron, and why it matters that it’s so tough.
2022-01-2540 minLet's Find Out52 – With Intent to Destroy a GroupThis December, Dr. Andrew Woolford delivered the Western Canadian Lecture, presented by the University of Alberta’s Department of History, Classics, & Religion the 2021 Western Canadian Lecture. Dr. Woolford is a prominent scholar in Genocide Studies who has worked on the history of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. His talk was titled: “With intent to destroy a group: Genocide’s past and present in Canada.”
In this episode, Chris and Dylan Hall ask Dr. Woolford about his work, about defining genocide in Canada, and about some of the innovative ways Indigenous scholars and communities are moving beyond settler colonial...
2021-12-1539 minLet's Find Out51 – That’s a Good QuestionHow do you form a good historical question? In this episode, Chris and Trevor talk about trying to do that for a very specific reason: a Canada Graduate Scholarship grant application.
2021-11-3031 minLet's Find Out50 – A Community of ScholarsChris just started a masters in history at the University of Alberta. In this episode we wanted to give you a peek into his day to day life studying to be a historian. Hopefully you’ll understand a little more what it’s actually like in the fall of 2021 to go to grad school when the pandemic’s still on, the university’s open, and most of your classwork and job are actually in person on campus.
2021-11-0142 minLet's Find Out49 – First Day(s) in ClassChris talks to Trevor about what it’s like being on campus in a pandemic (surprisingly great), feelings of FOMO picking classes, and studying with John Acorn the Nature Nut. Plus, a little bit about Tacitus and a lot of thoughts on what we owe each other (and/or the state).
2021-09-2843 minLet's Find Out48 – Back to SchoolThe next chapter for Let’s Find Out (and Chris).
Trevor Chow-Fraser asks Chris Chang-Yen Phillips to talk through his days as a wee student starting school, what the purpose of a university education is, and why he’s headed to the University of Alberta to pursue a Masters’ degree in history.
In the next phase of Let’s Find Out, Chris will be sharing what he’s learning, and how.
We won’t be taking listener questions at the moment, but we are inviting you to send in audio clips for a new segment...
2021-08-3148 minLet's Find Out47 – The Adventure of the Golden MailbagChris and Trevor rifle through listener questions and messages.
2020-09-1037 minLet's Find OutGarden UpdateUpdates on some pod stuff coming up:
A mailbag episode next week! Email your messages to chris@letsfindoutpodcast.com by September 7 and as long as they require absolutely no research, we’ll try to read them out on air.
Back by popular demand, we’ll be doing another Ritchie historical walking tour this September, in collaboration with the Ritchie Community League. The Ritchie area is filled with fascinating stories, from its cameo appearance on SCTV to the cattle that escaped from the Gainers Meatpacking Plant. Send us your questions and Oumar Salifou will use them to build this year...
2020-09-0202 minLet's Find Out46 – Marriage and Murder at the MiramaPart 4 of our miniseries about the Mirama Dining & Lounge dim sum restaurant: what exactly happened at the 2004 fight in the restaurant and what is there to know about Asian gangs in Edmonton around the early 2000s?
2020-08-2649 minLet's Find Out45 – A Feast for VeteransPart 3 of our miniseries about the Mirama Dining & Lounge dim sum restaurant: Mike Tulley is a former sound engineer with CJSR. Reporter Nathan Fung talks to Mike about his time working at fundraising events held at the Mirama restaurant, which were organized to help out Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) veterans in Edmonton.
2020-08-1226 minLet's Find Out44 – Salad Days at Mirama
Part 2 of our miniseries about the Mirama Dining & Lounge dim sum restaurant: How does Mirama fit in the wider history of Edmonton’s Chinatown? How did business go for Mirama after the alleged gang incident in 2004? And why did Mirama eventually shut down? Reporter Nathan Fung asks Lan Chan-Marples and Games Choi for their insights.
2020-07-2235 minLet's Find Out43 – Mirama MemoriesReporter Nathan Fung asks Grace Law what she remembers of the old Mirama restaurant on 94 St. and Jasper Ave, and what did this old dim sum place mean to her and possibly other Chinese Canadians living in Edmonton. Part 1 of a miniseries about the Mirama restaurant.
2020-07-0822 minLet's Find OutComing Soon: Mirama Restaurant MiniseriesStarting July 8, we’re going to be starting a summer miniseries about Edmonton’s lost Mirama Restaurant. The series will be produced by Nathan Fung, and episodes will be out every two weeks.
2020-07-0600 min
The Well Endowed PodcastEpisode 74 – 桥梁 | Qiáoliáng: Building bridges within and beyond Edmonton’s Chinese CommunityOn this episode, correspondents Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and Sophia Yang do lunch with Keren Tang and Sarah Chan to discuss how Chinese communities in Edmonton continue to grow strong.
Hungry? Here are the restaurants featured on this episode: BaoBao, Silk Road, Padmanadi, Saiwoo Garden and Happy Noodles (no website, but you can find them at 4204 115 street; 780-709-2686).
Links:
Visit Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association.
Learn more about the Chinese Cultural Legacy Fund.
Check out United Way Alberta Capital Region.
Follow Keren Tang and Sarah Chan on Twitter.
Hear more f...
2020-07-0200 min
Community News Updates from CJSRCall Your Grandma - Calling With Good NewsLike everybody else, here at CJSR we've been missing seeing our people. And we've been thinking especially about the seniors in our lives who we miss, and who are feeling a little isolated right during the pandemic. So we've started a little summer show where we call hem up to let them know we're thinking about them.In this episode, three phone calls:- Ryan Lacanilao calls his grandaunt Juaning in Montana to deliver some good news- Russ Cobb helps his kids Henry and August call their grandparents Lenore and Mark Dolin in California
2020-06-0933 minSpeaking MunicipallySpecial: What the pandemic can teach us about the climate crisisA Taproot reader submitted a question to the COVID-19 in Edmonton site asking whether people were thinking about the pandemic response in relation to the climate crisis. This seemed like a job for Chris Chang-Yen Phillips of Let's Find Out, and he obliged, gathering three perspectives on this question in audio form. Now his story is easily accessible to listeners of Speaking Municipally.For more on Chris's interviewees — Miranda Lucas, Shelley Boulianne, and Chad Park — see the full story on Taproot Edmonton.This story is part of Covering Climate Now's week of coverage focu...
2020-04-2839 minLet's Find OutThe Covid Call-In ShowWith Covid-19 rolling through all of our lives right now, we had a really basic question: how are you holding up? For this bonus episode, we held a live call-in show to find out. Karen Unland, Marlena Wyman, Jaya Chauhan, and Allan Farrell called in.
2020-04-0246 minLet's Find OutMar 26 – Live Call-In ShowHow are you doing? We’re hosting a live call-in show this week to find out. It’ll be Thursday March 26 from 10 AM – 11 AM Mountain Time, and we’ll share it later on the podcast. Join by clicking the Zoom meeting link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/897659176
2020-03-2401 minLet's Find Out42 – Icons of RitchieWe’re back with another historical walking tour of Edmonton’s Ritchie neighbourhood, presented by the Ritchie Community League. In this bonus episode, we explore the history of meatpacking, German immigration, and iconic local species in the neighbourhood.
2020-01-2958 minThe Well Endowed PodcastEpisode 61 – YEG History SeriesOn this episode, we bring you a compilation of the wonderful history series produced by Edmonton’s former historian laureate, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips.
To help Edmonton Community Foundation celebrate its 30th anniversary, Chris had been investigating and gathering stories with a historical connection to Edmonton. And we’ve been sharing those stories on this podcast throughout 2019. From a look at Edmonton during prohibition to visiting the childhood home of Marshall McLuhan, it is our pleasure to bring you on a YEG history adventure this holiday season.
Links:
Find out more about ECF’s home, Hillto...
2019-12-1900 minLet's Find Out41 – How We Make NatureThe way we think about a thing can totally change the way we behave. We talk about nature as if it’s something outside of us. Separate from us. In this live episode wrapping up our season on humans and nature, we present three short talks to help you shake up your ideas about what’s natural and what’s not.
Luke Wonneck, Emily Riddle, and Stephen Raitz share three different lenses on how we build nature where we live: both the idea of nature, and the physical manifestation of those ideas. And then we let the audien...
2019-12-111h 02Let's Find Out40 – Is Jasper a Wild Place?Dylan Hall and Chris Chang-Yen Phillips take a road trip to the Rockies, to figure out whether Jasper National Park is a wild place.
2019-11-2845 minLet's Find OutDecember 1 Live Show: How We Make NatureJoin us for an afternoon of short talks at a live recording of Let’s Find Out. Throughout this season of the podcast, we’ve answered listener questions about how humans and nature have shaped each other in Edmonton. At this event, we’ll share stories that’ll really make you think about how we create nature where we live, and you’ll have a chance to get your hands dirty playing around with visions of what our city could become.
When: Sunday, December 1
Doors will be open at 1:30 PM, and the event will begin at 2 PM.
Wh...
2019-11-1000 minLet's Find Out39 – The Most Edmonton SpeciesMarlena Wyman asks what wildlife species are so adapted to city life that they depend on the city to survive. We decided to answer with a gameshow, pitting a cockroach, a magpie, an elm, and a hare against each other to claim the title of The Most Edmonton Species.
2019-10-301h 01Let's Find Out38 – Leaving BruderheimDustin Bajer asks whether we have a responsibility to help local species adapt to climate change by helping them migrate.
2019-09-2541 minThe Well Endowed PodcastEpisode 54 – Where There’s A WillOn this episode, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips tells us about a holographic last will and testament from WW II. Then, Allison McCollum and Mike Simons share their expertise on why it’s a really good idea to have a plan for your estate. It’s not as depressing as you think! Okay, maybe it is. But it’s really important to talk about.
Links:
Join us for a free session at Wills Week.
Find out why millennials need Wills in our Late Edition.
Learn more about Allison McCollum and Mike Simons.
Grants:
Young Edmon...
2019-09-1700 min
Edmonton Chinatown StoriesJessica Mah on the Mah Society's early days as a boarding houseThe Mah Society's Jessica Mah talks about the surprising early days of the organization, and how it's changed over the years.Interview and editing by Chris Chang-Yen Phillips. This documentary was produced as part of a multimedia project capturing the history of Edmonton's Chinatown, called Figure 一，二，三，六，八.
2019-09-1203 minLet's Find Out37 – The Case of the Capilano ApricotsBrooklin Schneider asks us to help her find out who planted the Capilano apricots – three apricot trees growing beside the road on 75 Street.
2019-08-3044 minLet's Find OutSeptember 8: A Ritchie Tour with Oumar SalifouComing up on Sunday, September 8 we’re offering another historical walking tour of Edmonton’s Ritchie Neighbourhood. This year’s walk will be led by Oumar Salifou.
Grab your free tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ritchie-historical-walking-tours-tickets-66142380641
2019-08-1901 minLet's Find Out36 – The Climate-Proof FarmDenise Chang-Yen (yes, Chris’ mom) asks whether climate change will end up being a net benefit for farms in our area.
2019-07-3152 minLet's Find Out35 – Bear CountryShelley Jodoin-Chouinard asks if the proliferation of lawns in Edmonton has anything to do with the absence of bears in the city.
More on this story: http://letsfindoutpodcast.com/2019/06/26/episode-35-bear-country/
2019-06-2656 minLet's Find Out34 – The Dredge ReportAllan Farrell asks what’s up with a picture of a gold dredge he saw on a plaque downtown, and where the gold in the North Saskatchewan River comes from.
2019-05-2943 minLet's Find Out33 – Kalyna CountryAlison Brooks-Starks asks how folks from Ukraine settled where they did in Canada – was it because the landscapes here looked like places in the Ukraine?
To explore her question, we dug into a stack of academic research. We also went to the University of Alberta’s Pembina Hall to meet Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Director Jars Balan.
That inspired us to try making some juice from kalyna – aka high bush cranberry – berries using this recipe.
Come say hi before NorthwestFest’s May 4 screening of The Trouble With Wolves at 12 PM at Metro Cinema. Us...
2019-04-2552 minLet's Find Out32 – Dam ComplicatedAmandah van Merlin asks how have dams changed our relationship with the North Saskatchewan River. To explore her question, we brought Amandah to the Provincial Archives of Alberta, to dig for files on the two dams upstream of Edmonton: the Brazeau Dam and the Bighorn Dam. We also met up with local writer Billie Milholland, author of Living in the Shed: Alberta’s North Saskatchewan River Watershed.
2019-03-2755 minLet's Find Out31 – How Nature Shapes UsThis year, we’re embarking on a new season of Let’s Find Out, exploring these ideas. We kicked things off with a live show at The Almanac this February. It featured short talks about humans and natural history in the Edmonton area, and games for audience members to play.
In this episode, you’ll hear from Marlena Wyman, Miranda Lucas, Jacquelyn Cardinal, and Hunter Cardinal.
More info and a bevy of pictures and links from the event:
http://letsfindoutpodcast.com/2019/02/26/episode-31-how-nature-shapes-us/
2019-02-2746 minThe Well Endowed PodcastEpisode 37 – Sharing KnowledgeOn this episode, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips speaks with Edmonton Community Foundation’s CEO, Martin Garber-Conrad about the history of our home at Hilltop House. Then, Hunter Cardinal joins us to discuss his new play Lake of the Strangers and the process of working with community to create new myths.
Links:
Find out more about the history of Edmonton Community Foundation.
Get your tickets for Lake of the Strangers, which runs January 22-February 2 in the Backstage Theatre in the ATB Financial Arts Barns.
The Well Endowed Podcast is produced by Edmonton Community Foundation. And is a p...
2019-01-2100 minLet's Find OutLive Event Feb 9 – How Nature Shapes UsFrom clearing the prairies with fire to planting elm trees along our streets, humans have been shaping the land in the Edmonton area for millennia. And it’s been shaping us right back.
Join us Saturday, February 9 at 2 PM for an afternoon of short talks and a live recording of Let’s Find Out! Ever wondered how Edmontonians helped create the river valley parks? Curious about how lawns mould the locals who live nearby? We’ll share short stories about how humans and nature have shaped each other in our city.
At the end of the da...
2019-01-0902 minSpeaking MunicipallyJeoPEARdyHere are the relevant links for this episode:Our GuestsLet's Find Out by Chris Chang-Yen PhillipsEdmonton's transit stations are dead, empty, soulless places. An extra security guard won't change that by Elise StoltePhoto: Chris, Mack, EliseLocal LinksKingsway - there's no Avenue!Coat of arms of EdmontonBylaw 2202: Parkland BylawKeillor Point Viewing AreaRutherford the Time-Travelling MooseSpeaking Municipally is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB. This week we talked about the Edmonton Community Foundation which acts as a bridge between donors and charities to create a strong...
2018-12-2239 minLet's Find Out30 – The Class Photo EnigmaIn our second episode, we wondered about the name of a black student in an Edmonton Technical School class photo from 1932. In this episode, Kyle Muzyka explains how he found out the answer.
2018-10-3123 minLet's Find Out29 – About the Green Onion Cake ManEarlier in 2018, we hosted a live panel dedicated to one of the most important questions in Edmonton’s food history: how the heck did green onion cakes get so popular in Edmonton? These delicious, flaky, greasy little circles of fried goodness didn’t just magically worm their way into our hearts. This episode, we’re getting a taste of what’s changed for green onion cake master Siu To since that episode.
2018-10-2414 minLet's Find Out28 – The Not-So-Absent GravestoneBack in 2017, Sheila Thomas asked why there was no headstone to mark the grave of Frank Beevers – the first Edmonton police officer killed in the line of duty. This episode, we find out what it’s like to actually see your idea turn into cold, hard, granite reality.
2018-10-1820 minLet's Find Out27 – The Cree CalendarWith geese flying south in August and snow in September, it sometimes feels like winter in Edmonton spills far outside its season. What if instead of getting frustrated with the weather though, we tweaked the way we measured the year?
Ben Freeland learned that the Cree calendar divides the year into six seasons. So he wondered why we don’t revive the calendar here in Treaty Six territory.
Further reading on this month’s episode:
http://letsfindoutpodcast.com/2018/09/26/episode-27-the-cree-calendar/
Here’s that promo code for $5 off tickets to LitFest:
http://www.li...
2018-09-2636 minLet's Find Out26 – The High Rise InquisitionHow is the proliferation of tall buildings in Edmonton affecting training and planning by Edmonton Fire Rescue? Susan Padget asked that question on Taproot Edmonton‘s story garden. Finding out the answer taught us about a surprisingly tangible transition the city is making.
2018-08-3021 min
Let's Find Out25 – The City That Wanted To Be PrairieHow did Edmonton come to be known as a prairie city? Dustin Bajer asked that question on Taproot Edmonton’s story garden. Finding out the answer – and figuring out whether this area is aspen parkland, or prairie, or forest – challenged our ideas about the land we live on.
2018-07-2547 min
Let's Find Out24 – Back To RitchieWe’re back in the Ritchie neighbourhood for a second set of locals’ questions and a live history walk exploring their answers. Karen Wall wanted to know how one neighbourhood could support two independent cobblers. Nicole Anderson wanted to know the history of her home in Ritchie. And Scott Harris wanted to know what the story was behind the quonset-hut type rounded-roof buildings with the squared off fronting in the industrial area of West Ritchie.
2018-06-2754 min
Let's Find Out23 – The High Level InquisitionSusan Padget asks whether it’s true that workers died during the construction of Edmonton’s High Level Bridge.
Oodles of extra content on our website: http://www.letsfindoutpodcast.com
2018-05-3046 min
Let's Find Out22 – The Glyde MuralWhen Kelsey Chief took an orientation tour at the University of Alberta in 2015, one of the stops took her to a mural in Rutherford Library: Henry Glyde’s painting, “Alberta History.” In this episode, Kelsey talks about the anger she felt seeing that mural. And University of Regina artist and professor David Garneau shares a different take on the mural.
2018-04-2519 min
Let's Find Out21 – About Green Onion CakesDaniel Emberg wanted to know why green onion cakes took hold in Edmonton when they did. He flew in from Winnipeg to join us for a live panel at the Mercury Room to find out the answer. Featuring special guests Linda Tzang, Siu To, and Marty Chan.
2018-03-281h 25
Let's Find Out20 – If It Hadn’t Been For You Meddling KidsMariam Macabanding and Laila Elbery help us investigate how climate change could affect the ways Indigenous peoples around here connect to nature.
We’ve been working with a group of students from Hazeldean Elementary and Queen Elizabeth high school. They gave us some questions about climate change in our area. Then we brought them to CJSR (Edmonton’s campus and community radio station) for a radio camp to teach them how to use radio and podcasting to find out the answers.
This is the second of two episodes adapted for the podcast from that camp.
...
2018-03-0231 min
Let's Find Out19 – And I Would Have Gotten Away With All Those Wildfires Too…Rasha Chebli and Nuha Taha help us investigate whether climate change is affecting wildfires in Alberta.
We’ve been working with a group of students from Hazeldean Elementary and Queen Elizabeth high school. They gave us some questions about climate change in our area. Then we brought them to CJSR (Edmonton’s campus and community radio station) for a radio camp to teach them how to use radio and podcasting to find out the answers.
This is the first of two episodes we’ve adapted for the podcast from that camp.
Find out more a...
2018-02-2826 min
Let's Find Out18 – The Case Of The Christmas TrainGlen Carlson asks us to help him figure out whether the Bay store downtown really used to have a Christmas train on the rooftop.
Get the full story on our website: https://letsfindoutpodcast.com/2018/01/31/episode-18-the-case-of-the-christmas-train/
2018-01-3132 min
Seen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 82: Elizabeth SpencerMeet Elizabeth Spencer, creator and co-host (with me, her mother) of That's a Thing?!, "a sometimes belated, already outdated guide to your teens, tweens and everything under 20." That's a Thing?! is a podcast that grew out of various conversations around the dinner table and elsewhere. Elizabeth and her brother, Jon, would start talking about something in the media they pay attention to, and realize based on their parents' confused reaction that "Oh my god, adults don't know about this!" So we decided to make a show that explores that. In this episode, you'll hear us...
2018-01-2236 min
Let's Find Out17 – The Avalanche Of GarbageNicole and Jason Harcus ask whether the hill in Gallagher Park used to be a dump once upon a time.
2017-12-2733 min
Let's Find Out16 – Keep EverythingWhat should we keep, and what should we throw away? We use a case study of three boxes that Chris’ parents asked him to finally sort through. And we bring in expert witnesses: a private records archivist from the Provincial Archives of Alberta, and two people connected to letters we published in a previous episode.
2017-11-2949 minSeen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 77: Meetup with Doug HoyerDoug Hoyer has written more Edmonton podcast music than anyone I know, even though he doesn't live here any more. So when he came back to Edmonton for a few days in October, I grabbed the opportunity to ask him about that work at the Edmonton Podcasting Meetup. This is an edited version of the live audio from that session at Variant Edition on Oct. 21, 2017. We talked about three circumstances in which Doug's music would be used on a podcast: Commissioned work: You can hear original music that Doug specifically wrote for these...
2017-11-0639 min
Let's Find Out15 – The Sign Of The FerryRaymond Matthias asks if he’s found the remains of John Walter’s ferry.
We take a live history walk into the river valley to examine the debris he found and get to the bottom of his question.
2017-10-2548 min
Let's Find Out14 – The Land At HandLauren Crazybull asks what parallels we can see between broken treaties and gentrification in Edmonton. Our journey starts on a hill at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery with Papaschase First Nation’s Chief Calvin Bruneau.
2017-09-2742 minSeen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 74: Sylvia SchneiderMeet Sylvia Schneider, co-host of the Equinely-Inclined podcast for Canada's horse community, and a pioneer of Alberta podcasting. Sylvia wanted to do a podcast before the concept was even a gleam in anyone's eye — she just didn't know that was the name for what she wanted to do. She started finding fellow horse-lovers on message boards, before the World Wide Web made it so much easier for us to connect with each other. And she started a blog, for which she would interview people in the equine community. "I always thought it would be so muc...
2017-09-1134 min
Let's Find Out13 – The Multiplication Of EvilTess Dehoog asks whether it’s true that the German Nazi party came to Edmonton to learn about Alberta’s eugenics program.
2017-08-3043 min
Let's Find Out12 – A Rather Queer RoadtripKory deGroot asks where we can learn about queer history in Edmonton. Answering that takes us through old love letters at the U of A Archives, a sneak peek at some research Fort Ed is doing, and hearing a story about coming out late in life.
2017-07-2658 min
Let's Find Out11 – About RitchieRitchie is a beloved older neighbourhood near Mill Creek Ravine. In this episode, we gathered residents’ questions about a school, a meatpacking plant, and some trees in the area. And then we took a walk to find out the answers together.
2017-06-2836 min
Let's Find Out10 – The Dinosaurs At DanekWhat are paleontologists digging up at Edmonton’s Danek Bonebed? We head down into the ravine to answer that question and a whole lot more questions about dinosaurs from Edmonton kids.
2017-06-0128 min
Let's Find OutLong Weekend UpdateI’m looking for questions about the Ritchie neighbourhood for a historical walk. And we’re hiring! More details on the website:
Long Weekend Update
2017-05-2300 min
Let's Find Out9 – A Lesson In ProtocolNathan Smith asks what food plants have been important to Indigenous peoples in the Edmonton area. A simple question opens up a deep process of learning how to ask questions across cultures, and who knowledge belongs to.
2017-05-0449 minSeen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 63: Building local listenershipOur March podcasting meetup offered a local spin on #trypod, a campaign that started in the U.S. to encourage more people to listen to podcasts. I am, of course, strongly in favour of more people listening to podcasts of all kinds, but I am particularly interested in carving out some mindshare for locally produced shows. That's why I invited Chris Chang-Yen Phillips, creator of Let's Find Out, and Katrina Ingram, interim CEO of CKUA, to give their perspectives on how to do that. Chris's podcast was part of his successful application to be Edmonton's histori...
2017-04-0335 min
Let's Find Out8 – How We Know What’s True (Live)Under an avalanche of fake news and misinformation, it seems more important than ever to understand how we know what’s true. On March 11, 2017 we brought out a panel of speakers to The Needle Vinyl Tavern in Edmonton. They answered audience questions about how they know what’s true in their field.
Our panelists:
– Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis Anthropology Professor & Archaeologist)
– Dave Cournoyer (Writer/Political Watcher at daveberta.ca)
– Sarah Hoyles (Producer behind the ECAMP podcast on Edmonton history)
More information at http://letsfindoutpodcast.com.
2017-03-291h 20Seen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 62: Getting started with The BroadcastOur February meetup was kind of a sequel to an earlier meetup on how to get started. Among the aspiring podcasters in that audience were journalists Trisha Estabrooks and Alex Zabjek. At that point, they knew they wanted to do a podcast, but they had so many questions. They got some answers at that meetup, and found a lot more on their own on their way to launching The Broadcast, a show about women and politics in Alberta. So I decided to have them back to share what it took to pull the trigger. "You g...
2017-03-2132 min
Let's Find Out7 – The Absent GravestoneConstable Frank Beevers was the first Edmonton police officer to be killed in the line of duty. Sheila Thomas asks: why is his grave unmarked?
2017-03-0132 minSeen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 60: Keep it tight or let it run?Our January meetup was billed as a debate between Taylor Chadwick of What It Is against Andrea Beça of That's So Maven on how long a podcast should be. "Debate" turned out to be a bit of a strong term. As Taylor says at one point, "it sounds like we're just going to agree the whole time." I accept responsibility. Everyone's just so nice. They do come from different points of view on what works for the length of their own shows. The sweet spot for What It Is — an arts interview show that Tay...
2017-02-2049 min
Let's Find OutMarch 11 – Let’s Find Out Goes Live At The Needle!Have you been digging listening to Let’s Find Out? Then come bring your history questions to an all-ages live taping!
We’ve got an amazing panel of speakers coming out to The Needle Vinyl Tavern in Edmonton on March 11:
– Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis Anthropology Professor & Archaeologist)
– Dave Cournoyer (Writer/Political Watcher at daveberta.ca)
– Sarah Hoyles (Producer behind the Edmonton City as Museum Project podcast on Edmonton history)
I’ll be asking them how they know what’s true in their field. And you’ll have a chance to submit your questions ab...
2017-02-1601 minSeen and Heard in EdmontonEpisode 59: Tyler ButlerMeet Tyler Butler, the always-learning digital marketing strategist and musician who explores social media on the new podcast Don’t Call Me A Guru. Don't Call Me A Guru is a monthly conversation about social media strategy between Tyler, who works at MacEwan University, and Linda Hoang, who used to work at NAIT and now works at Calder Bateman. They met kibbitzing with each other online, and now we get to listen in on their "conversations we would have had anyway," and learn a lot about social media in the process. Tyler also produces Clock Radio, a...
2017-02-0624 min
Let's Find OutThe Talking TeacupThis month, I have something a little different for you. It’s a one-off podcast I did in June 2016 to capture a little taste of the 2016 Edmonton Chinatown Conference. The 2016 Edmonton Chinatown Conference ran from June 11-12 at the University of Alberta. It was a gathering of city planners, business people, history nerds, young artists, folks from Chinatowns in other cities, and just generally Edmontonians with a strong bond to Chinatown here. The goal: to learn more about Chinatown’s cultural and historical roots, and do some visioning about its future.
This podcast was originally presented on the...
2017-01-2525 min
Let's Find Out6 – The Great Apartment CaperThis episode: The Great Apartment Caper. Pamela Learmond asks me to help her verify whether her grandpa really had an entire apartment building moved down 97 Street.
[Editor’s note: This episode has been slightly edited to remove some personal details]
2016-12-2957 min
Let's Find Out5 – The Ravine RevealWhat has archaeologist Haeden Stewart been digging up in Mill Creek Ravine? I followed him down to the dig site itself. And along the way, I learned about a neighbourhood you might never have known existed, how Edmonton industrialized in the early 20th century, and what caragana can tell you about where to dig.
2016-12-0142 min
Let's Find OutMini-Update – The Klan QueryWe found out the name of the building where the Ku Klux Klan published their newspaper, The Liberator, in the 1930s.
2016-11-2307 min
Let's Find Out4 – The Klan QueryRebecca Jade asks whether we can put a plaque where the KKK used to publish their newspaper in Edmonton – The Liberator. Along the way we learn about the mayor and premier who lent support to the KKK, a fiery picnic, and what the point of a plaque is anyway. The Edmonton Historical Board’s Barbara Hilden helps us figure out whether a plaque is possible.
2016-10-2539 min
Let's Find Out3 – The Story Of The Sheppard HouseThis episode: The Story of the Sheppard House. Christy Boulter asks what exactly is the story behind her home, and its original owner William Sheppard.
Investigating that question gave us a surprising look at booze, the behind-the-scenes machinations around prohibition, and what your dining room says about you.
2016-09-2836 min
Let's Find Out2 – The Trustee EnigmaThis episode: The Trustee Enigma. Bashir Mohamed asks whether Edmonton has ever had a black public school trustee.
Looking for an answer takes us to the Edmonton Public School Board’s archives, a conversation with a current trustee, and to the centre of the conversation about modern-day racism in Edmonton.
This episode contains some explicit language.
Full episode information at http://letsfindoutpodcast.com.
2016-08-2938 min
Let's Find Out1 – The Snow Goose CaseThe first episode of Let’s Find Out, where we take your questions about Edmonton’s history and find out the answer together. This episode: the Snow Goose Case. How did the Snow Goose Festival become the Snow Goose Chase?
The answer reveals something fascinating about us, and what we can get used to, and how quickly normal can change.
Full episode information at http://letsfindoutpodcast.com.
2016-08-2921 min
2016-07-1100 min