Best in Podcasting
Honorable Mention –
CJSW Best in Podcasting Body Slam Poetry (Ben Goodman, Sophie Chardon and Jed Mabazza)
It is my pleasure to nominate Body Slam Poetry for consideration for the Best In Podcasting category for the NCRC42 CRABO awards. Body Slam Poetry is an eight-part podcast series that documents the history, impact and current state of amateur and semi-pro wrestling in Calgary. This series was created by CJSW contributors, Ben Goodman, Sophie Chardon and Jed Mabazza and was funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
For those not aware, Calgary has a storied history, and holds currently a vital place in the world of wrestling. Perhaps most notable is the fact that Stu Hart, a legendary professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, WWII veteran and Order of Canada recipient settled in Calgary in 1951 in the Patterson neighborhood. The home he purchased would eventually become known as “The Dungeon”, a training facility where several generations of pro wrestlers learned all aspects of the business, including Hart’s famous son’s Owen Hart & Brett “The Hitman” Hart. Additionally, Calgary was known as a major hub on the pro wrestling circuit from the 1940s to the present day. Today, there is strong local support and interest in amateur and semi-pro wrestling events in Calgary that harkens back to the pro wrestling heydays of the 1970s and 1980s.
Through the eight episodes of Body Slam Poetry, listeners are exposed to all facets of what life in the ring is all about from the Calgary perspective. Body Slam Poetry goes beyond the traditional conceptions of wrestling and delves into lesser known aspects of wrestling including the intersectionality between wrestling and punk culture and the LGBTQ2+ community.
The producers of Body Slam Poetry approached this unique podcast from the perspective of a true fan of the sport. Each episode is crammed with the unbelievably true history and current story of wrestling in Calgary, but is always treated with the care and attention that only a real fan of wrestling could do. This entertaining eight-part romp is elevated by the original score by Kevin Stebner and original artwork by Ryan Kostel.
We hope you consider Body Slam Poetry for the NCRC42 CRABO award for Best in Podcasting as this podcast series is a high-flying, pile-driving, elbow-smashing listening experience.
Runner Up: Body Slam Poetry
Current Affairs or Magazine Show
Honorable Mention –
CKOA-FM The Coast 89.7 Current Affairs or Magazine Show Dialogue (Sampler of Weekly Current Affairs Program
Veteran Broadcaster Bill MacCuish is host and producer of Dialogue on CKOA-FM The Coast 89.7. A valued member of the news team at CKOA-FM, Bill MacCuish talks with community members and highlights community stories in this one hour program which airs three times per week. In this sampler Bill shares a story of a Cape Breton couple, autism and the legacy of Elvis Presley, An honest look at and conversation with the homeless about affordable housing in our community and the ever challenging situation with the only coal mine remaining in an area where coal was once king. Dialogue is 100% station produced and Bill shares stories of interest with and for Cape Breton listeners.
Sampler of Weekly Current Affairs Program
Syndicated Radio Show
Honorable Mention –
CICK - Smithers Community Radio - The Scoop
The Scoop is a weekly news podcast that gathers stories from 6 remote stations in British Columbia who are involved in the Local Journalism Initiative program, or LJI. The participating stations are StokeFM (Revelstoke), CKTZ (Cortes Island), CJLY (Kootenay Co-Op Radio), CFNR (Terrace), CFUR (Prince George), and CICK (Smithers).
The show is a half hour ‘weekly roundup’ of the most impactful stories of the week from those stations. It features station IDs from the participating journalists and a brief contextualized voice over from CICK News into the (edited) stories from the stations.
The Scoop is a show that takes the matters of our province and relates it to the rural and remote communities of BC.
The attached clip features:
- The Scoop Intro
- CFUR’s Ian Gregg interview with Bruce Ralston re: wood fiber industry and climate change
- ‘Community Connections’ in Revelstoke aims to raise $150,000 to feed the families of Revelstoke (hosted by StokeFM’s Meagan Deuling, original air date December 17, 2023)
- The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI), an organization that monitors the health of local ecosystems celebrates 33 years on Cortes Island (hosted by CKTZ’s Kim Paulley, original air date: November 30, 2023)
The Scoop
Music: Variety Program
Honorable Mention –
CKVE-FM /Cove FM - When We Wake
When We Wake is a weekly radio program showcases new Canadian indie, rock, singer-songwriter and folk artists. It is produced and hosted by veteran actor (IMdB) and highly regarded songwriter (Clever Hopes) Andrew Shaver. The show is a mix of music and candid conversation between Andrew and other songwriters from across Canada. Andrew edits these conversations and distributes them in podcast form as When We Wake with Andrew Shaver. He has spoken with dozens of songwriters and musicians, including Bahamas, Brandon Wolfe Scott, Elisapie, Jenn Grant, Aquakulture, Aysanabee, Doug Paisley, Noah Reid, Jill Barber, Slow Leaves, Wyatt C Louis, Clerel and many more. He's also spoken with industry adjacent artists, such as Raina Douris, host of World Cafe on WXPN, and Blanche Israel, newly appointed CEO of the East Coast Music Awards. The weekly playlists from the broadcasts are compiled on Spotify and updated weekly. The program was recently shortlisted for Best Radio Show in Halifax by readers of the Coast.
Andrew began his career in theatre after graduating from, what many people refer to as, a clown school in Paris. While that's not exactly how he'd put it, they're not entirely wrong. Over the past 20 years he has performed and directed across North America on stages big and small. He was the first Anglophone to direct the French language mega-musical for Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, winning the Grand Prix du Festival, along the way. While in Montreal he also worked as a Cultural Correspondent for All in a Weekend on CBC Radio One. He is currently a Realization Director at Ubisoft, the video game developer, where most recently he was responsible for the cinematics in Assassin's Creed Nexus VR. He is also a seasoned voice performer for animation, video games, audiobooks and commercials - he is currently the national radio voice for Rona. The next Clever Hopes album will be released in May 2024 and was produced and mixed by his longtime friend and collaborator Matthew Barber. The first single Blue Parachutes can be heard now on CBC and SiriusXM North Americana.
When We Wake
Documentary
Honorable Mention –
CJSW - Body Slam Poetry
Wrestling is more than just entertainment for some, and Body Slam Poetry is an insight into how a passion can grow within a fan, a city, and the entire world. As a mainly educational documentary series, each episode dives deep into the history of the different parts of wrestling that come together to create a globally followed sport. In a more precise scope, the series explores how Calgary, Alberta has had an impact on the growth of the industry, inviting local professionals and historians to share their knowledge on the specific topics. With a range of episodes, the series covers: the history of wrestling in Calgary from its roots in Stampede Wrestling, it discusses wrestling legacies and iconic local families, addresses the “fake” rumours head on, the importance of gimmicks and story lines, the connections between punk music and the sport, and Queer representation in the ring from past to present. These topics are all covered thoroughly through eight, thirty minute episodes that aired throughout 2023 (3rd Tuesday of each month @11am and 8pm), but learning about the production allows insight into the passion and care that went into this series.
Body Slam Poetry has some special elements that are unique to the usual process of spoken word or podcast production at CJSW. The most important difference is that the production was funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canda (CRFC), who’s Radiometres grant provided funding to our station which went towards hiring a production team and creating the series. We brought in three team members, and a local artist was paid to create the cover art, along with episode specific artwork we could use for our website and social media promotion. Alongside the artwork, we were able to pay a local artist who produced a full instrumental album of music to match the style of the series. A lot of care went into those two components, which allow the series to stand out as an exemplary form of spoken word or podcast media. This care translated in every aspect of the series, but the passion came from a combination of the production team and guests.
Each guest was carefully picked to discuss the topic that the production team felt they would have expertise and more knowledge on, and the team was able to bring in some high-profile guests to help provide insight and perspective on their research. The production team consisted of three members: Ben Goodman (Lead Producer and Host), Sophie Chardon (Production Assistant), and Jed Mabazza (Editor). This series would not have been possible without all three of these individuals, with incredible commitment from Sophie and Jed in their respective roles to ensure the vision came to fruition; but this series would not have even existed as an idea without Ben Goodman. Ben’s love for wrestling is what drove this entire series and his ability to show his passion and love for the content is something that comes easy to him, but I believe is difficult to find in a lot of modern media.
Creating a spoken word series - of any kind - for Radio is a difficult task, but documentary series have an even more difficult challenge in trying to connect specific topics to the larger audience it will be reaching. Body Slam Poetry did exactly that, giving listeners a participatory documentary series that provided an educational insight into the history, passion, and tragedy that exist behind wrestling in Calgary; a city that has a lasting and continuous impact on a sport with a global cult following.
Audio Submission Highlights (in order of appearance):
EPISODE 1 - WHY?
EPISODE 2 - THE HISTORY w/ Heath McCoy
EPISODE 4 - IT’S FAKE w/ Ava Lawless & Raj Singh
EPISODE 8 - QUEER REPRESENTATION IN PRO-WRESTLING w/ Ry Levey
Body Slam Poetry
Creative Production
Honorable Mention –
CJSR Creative Production AD - Royal Bison Art & Craft Fair - The FINAL BISON
Hi, I'm Chad Brunet, and I work at CJSR 88.5FM in Edmonton. Since around 2016, I've taken lead on many of our advertising projects, and have been developing as a producer ever since. As part of those duties, I've been making fun, creative ads for this local craft fair for years, using a custom voice filter I've perfected that enhances the performance of my at times deranged, at times goofy "Bison voice"
For this last RB craft fair ever, we went with an extended, double sized ad, loaded with as many bison snorts and rolled r attempts as I could muster. Also, I get to use the word "miscellany" which is always a treat. I think it's both fun AND dumb, so please enjoy.
Royal Bison Art & Craft Fair - The FINAL BISON
Music: Classical Century or similar music
Honorable Mention –
CiTR 101.9FM Music: Classical Century or similar music Saxophone a l'apres midi: Obscure Commentary on American Music
I started Saxophone a l’apres midi to curate and archive music that tracks the historical and philosophical development of music from jazz sub-genres in the 60’s-70’s to contemporary music, improvisation, rap, hiphop, and spoken word. While studying a Western-Classical curriculum and was inspired to start a radio show that developed a more comprehensive music history in America that doesn't exclude Black excellence. I felt like a lot of influential figures from the Black community had been overlooked in American classical music history.
One prominent composer in American music history that most people do know is Duke Ellington. This submission begins with Duke Ellington's prolific composition Come Sunday, mixed with a virtuosic live performance in 1971 by lesser known composer and saxophonist, Anthony Braxton. There is also a sample from a live sermon given by Andraé Crouch who was a prominent figure in American spiritual music in the 70's as well.
This program begins with a mix of Darius Milhaud's La Création du monde and William Grant Still's Fanfare for the 99th Fighter Squadron. La Création du monde is one of the few orchestral works featuring the saxophone (the saxophone was created later than common orchestral instruments). The saxophone itself is strongly connected to the development of American music and African-American culture and it was used in many European compositions that aimed to grasp this quality of American nationalism that was influenced by jazz and blues. William Grant Still, an American composer who has been overlooked historically speaking, because of his race, has produced a discography of many symphonic works that depict this sense of American nationalism and wrote compositions honouring Black American soldiers who lost their lives fighting for a country that didn't recognize them as equals.
I included excerpts from an album called The Albert Ayler Story, who is a saxophonist that I often feature on my radio show. In this record he talks about his experience as a Black American, in the Army, and as a musician.
Another musician important to American history and political movements around the 60s and 70s is Sam Cooke, also included in the program.
The mix for this program aims to depict different forms of American music that have roots in Black excellence and traditions from late night show music, saxophone virtuosity, rap, and spirituality/the church.