Director.
As the studio director, I played a key role in shaping the sound of CBC's weeknight supper-hour current affairs show. My duties included coordinating with the senior producer, technician, and co-hosts to take the show to air five days a week. I was responsible for selecting interstitial music to seamlessly "glue together" often tonally-different news items, fact-checking the scripts to ensure accuracy, and keeping a watchful eye over the timing of the show. With attention to detail, I ensured that every broadcast was of the highest quality, and updated and maintained the website and podcast feed daily.
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I also filled in for the head writer when he was away, in addition to chase producing and editing scripts and tape – more about that below.
Writer.
As it Happens: Radio that separates pundits from pundisn'ts.
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Wordplay is requisite to writing for AIH. And I love playing with words. A small sample of the many I strung together for the show.
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BILLS (SHOW OPEN):
MONDAY 01/15/20 EDITION
Tonight:
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As It Happens,the Wednesday Edition. Radio that guesses there are 47 Shades of Grey.
SCRIPT:
MUSICIANS INSIDE CASES
Variations on a scheme. News that a fugitive business tycoon smuggled himself out of Japan in a musical instrument case prompts Yamaha to issue a warning to copycat customers: do not try this at home.
As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that prefers to be on the case, rather than in it.
SCRIPT:
THE CASE OF THE MISSING LORAX
Here's a story I'm sorry I must introduce I'd sooner not have to ⸺ that's of no use. 'Cuz it happened. So really, I have no excuse Not to tell you this news: It's about Dr. Seuss. That is, it pertains to the author's estate, And a statue that stood there, that's missing of late. A three-hundred pound statue⸺'twas cast in pure bronze Of the Lorax, that stood on a stump, on the lawns. The Doc's widow's named Audrey, and to her dismay Somebody has lifted the Lorax away. They came in the night, they came without warning The family reported the theft Monday morning. Whoever the thieves are, they left little trace. San Diego's police force is now on the case. It seems that the Lorax, from the research so far, Was rolled down the hill, to a getaway car. It's a mystery, though, just what happened from there, Or why someone grabbed it and took it somewhere. For their part, the family is only concerned With ensuring the splendid bronze statue's return. But that's not to say if the crook, or the crooks Bring back the Lorax, they're then off the hooks. Police may keep searching, 'til the guilty are found, Says a police lieutenant named Andrea Brown. I'm sure by consid'ring all possible leads, That sooner or later the cops will succeed. There's one thing I don't think they've thought of yet, though: Why not ask the Once-ler? I bet he might know.
Producer.
From headline to lighthearted and everything in between, AIH has it covered. And behind every story is a dogged producer, who drives every step of the process from pitch to chase to edit to air. Here's a few I cast for and netted.
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BUDDY THE ASS
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*One of the first interviews I produced fresh off my internship – it soon became a classic, still requested by listeners today.
When Dallas attorney Gregory Shamoun brought his donkey Buddy to court in April 2007 to defend himself against donkey-related noise complaints, host Carol Off couldn't resist having a little fun.
Like most children, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings' Tom Wilson asked his parents a lot of questions growing up.
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But they refused to answer his most burning questions.
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"There are secrets about you, Tommy, that I'll be taking to my grave," Bunny would tell him when he would ask her about the day he was born.
FEATURE: MUSICIAN TOM WILSON
MAN WHO FORGAVE SON'S KILLER REUNITES WITH MUSICIAN WHO SANG HIS STORY
Toronto-based singer/songwriter Peter Katz was driving in his car when he heard an interview on As it Happens that stopped him short.
The man being interviewed was Michael Berg, whose son Nicholas suffered a gruesome death two years earlier, after he was captured by al-Qaeda forces while working as a contractor in Iraq.
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​Twelve years later, the two men reunited on As It Happens.