Artist spent 15 years knitting gigantic interfaith tapestries as a means of wrestling with ideas of good and evil in a divided world.

A selection of my works.
Artist spent 15 years knitting gigantic interfaith tapestries as a means of wrestling with ideas of good and evil in a divided world.
How can we recognize quiet? Is it the same way that we know a colour is black when we see it? The relativity of quiet in relation to noise intrigued me and I wanted to explore this idea in sounds I collected while exploring.
The MENDing program at the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre works with men in the Peterborough area to educate and prevent gender-based violence. The program approaches ideas of gender expression and how violence factors into how society constructs masculinity – then attempts to break down those rigid ideas. Listen to the interview with Ted Lohrenz, MENding […]
On October 27, 2018 community members gathered by the Otonabee River in downtown Peterborough. They donned hard hats and work boots—picked up pry bars and hammers—and they got to work removing layers of asphalt from a municipal roadway. It’s the first Depave Day of many to come, organized by GreenUp, as part of Green Communities […]
If you drive North of downtown Peterborough, after about a half hour you will pass through the village of Burleigh Falls. There’s a roadside inn, a gas station, a restaurant, a boat launch — and if you stop at this little pit stop and keep a sharp eye you might spot the darting tails of […]
The election on October 28, 2018 wound up being an historic event – because this newly inaugurated City Council is the first in Peterborough’s history that has representation of Black Canadians. And we elected not just one black City Councillor – but two! Kemi Akapo and Stephen Wright will represent Town Ward and Northcrest Ward […]
Gender Journeys is a program offered by the Canadian Mental Health Association — and it’s a program I’ve heard about a lot over the last few years from friends of mine. It’s a support program for trans people, their friends, family, partners and other loved ones. For the trans community in Peterborough, it seems like […]
During the 2018 municipal election, Peterborough voters cast their ballots and the majority voted out incumbent mayor Daryl Bennett and voted in Diane Therrien, previously City Councillor for Town Ward. In light of this change, we invited Mayor-elect Diane Therrien to join us on our live show, broadcast through the facilities of Trent Radio. Co-hosts […]
This season, catch Peterborough Currents live on Trent Radio (92.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 10:00-11:30 a.m. You will hear extended versions of interviews and documentaries which will appear in the podcast. Plus there will be live guests in studio and phone in to share your thoughts live on the air. Each week there will […]
A freelance journalist and podcast producer who recently interviewed school board trustee candidates ahead of Monday’s election has a message for voters who may not have given those positions all that much thought. “It’s an important decision and we have to take it seriously,” said Ayesha Barmania, who co-hosts the Peterborough Currents podcast with Will […]
Nine interviews with the candidates for, and the acclaimed trustees and student trustees of the English public school board for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District. City of Peterborough candidates: Wayne Bonner (00:06:20), Dennis Hildebrand (00:18:10), Rose Kitney (00:26:15), and Steve Russell (00:38:50). County of Peterborough candidates and acclaimed trustees: Diane Lloyd (00:50:58), Shirley Patterson (01:00:43), […]
During every municipal election, eligible voters are able to cast their ballots for candidates running for municipal office. In the City of Peterborough, that means voting for the next mayor, voting for your city Councillor, and it also means voting for your local school board trustee. Local media and voters pay a lot of attention […]
In last August and early September, I spotted some posters appearing around downtown Peterborough advertising the Stonewall Revolutionary Committee. The name immediately sparked an interest in me and I wanted to learn more about the people invoking the name of the famous Stonewall Riots for a Peterborough Pride event. I spoke with three organizing members […]
At the National Community Radio Conference awards gala in Fredericton, NB this Spring, Peterborough Currents won the award for ‘Best in Podcasting!’ It was a huge delight to be recognized for our work.
The institution of the university in 2018 has a diversity of programming. It should come as no surprise, then, that university leaders in different disciplines will have vastly different opinions on the purpose of post-secondary education. Alumna Ayesha Barmania reached out to academic deans at Trent University to get their views.
Coastal Shellfish in Prince Rupert, B.C., is raising sustainable scallops. The company grew out of Coastal First Nations Corporation, an alliance of several First Nations communities, including Gitga’at First Nation.
Every Monday in Peterborough, right when City Council sits down for their weekly meetings, across the street Food Not Bombs Peterborough is setting up tables and laying out a free community meal, open to all.
Radio is often called the “intimate medium” – the ability for sound to connect with audiences is unparalleled. Learn how to tell stories in this delicate craft and go from passive listener to critically engaged producer. At the conclusion of this course you will have the technical skills to create your own smart and incisive audio productions.
Seven years ago, Janice Keil set out on a mission to find a perfect plot of land. She loaded up her bike, took the GO train, and cycled around Southern Ontario looking for an ideal location for her new home.
What is it like to confront Harvey Weinstein or to be swept up by the ‘antifa’ movement? Listen to the most significant stories of this year.
During the First World War, many women embarked on an adventure going overseas to serve in the Armed Forces as Nursing Sisters. For some, it was the farthest they’ve ever been from home and in many ways it was a lonely, harrowing and somber experience. We know this based on letters these nursing sisters wrote and sent back home.
Every little nook and cranny of Sadleir House was filled with music for two days in July of 2017 thanks to the organizing efforts of summer student Angelica Cooper. Unfortunately I couldn’t speak with all the artists, but I did speak with a lot of them! Hear them speak about the festival, their music and Sadleir House in this sound collage from Sad Fest.
It was a peaceful gathering for most of the day. The counter rally ‘Love Lives Here’ congregated at Emmanuel United Church, across the street from the park where a rally planned by Kevin Goudreau, a known white supremacist, was expected to be held.
The panel engaged in conversation about the critical importance of art and performance to the shaping of national identities and the emergence of a post-colonial Canada. This relevant and important discussion will include participating VOAN artists and local indigenous artists and intellectuals: Rebecca Cuddy, Ian Cusson, Nadia McLaren, Cara Mumford, Brian Solomon, Alice Williams, William […]
A master canoe builder visits Peterborough and shares his knowledge with young people, and with me in this radio documentary.
These are the highlights from Trent Radio’s live broadcast from Hunter Street on July 1 during the day-long street festival celebrating arts and culture in Peterborough. Electric City Culture Council and Artspace invited media artists to create a silent film with the theme of “recasting the past and inventing alternative futures.” Musicians and sound artists […]
A holiday program about disability disclosure for CBC Radio.
Peterborough has long embraced the extraordinary beauty of the heritage buildings that grace its downtown and the value and significance of both their architectural and social history. These buildings are the “jewels in our crown” and so are the dozens of artists, curators, writers, and gallerists who live and work there. Numerous restaurants, bars and […]
In speeches delivered at The Walrus Talks, accessibility advocate Aimee Louw imagines a future when she can access services without barriers, and Azeezah Kanji, director of the Noor Cultural Centre, interrogates racism and systems of exclusion in Canada.
Live from Sadleir House, Sounds Like Life braved a performance in front of a live studio audience. Part of Peterborough Independent Podcasters Pints & Podcasts pub night, I joined a number of other vulnerable podcasters getting onto the stage to lay our podcasts bare for all to see. I selected some sounds from the past […]
Eskasoni is a First Nation community on Cape Breton Island, and by many accounts, the Mi’kmaq language is alive and well amongst residents of this fairly large reserve. Speaking with many people who live there, Cross Country Checkup heard repeatedly how highly they value their language, and how integral it is to their culture.
A video about Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue and his radio sign-off.
Originally published: https://soundslikelife.ptbopodcasters.ca/podcast/episode-4-the-one-with-all-the-donkeys/ There’s no question that the donkeys, mules and miniature horses at the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary in Roseneath, Ont. are well taken care of. Sheila Burns and her volunteers make the rounds every day to take care of these retired animals, many of which have stories of abuse and neglect. One afternoon in […]
The Primrose Donkey Sanctuary gives a home to discarded animals in Ontario. With the price of hay so high, there’s a lot of donkeys up for auction and owner Sheila Burns has her hands full with these guys.
On Saturday October 22, 2016, my family gathered in Sudbury, Ont. We were celebrating the 90th birthday of my lovely grandmother, Margaret. Over 100 people congregated in the church basement that day: a mix of my grandma’s family, extended family, old friends, new friends… people who were mostly strangers to me. Ahead of time, I […]
The Trans-Canada Trail is touted as the longest network of trails in the world. When completed, it will span the length of Canada, going from the tip of Newfoundland, to the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories, and over to Vancouver Island. For my birthday, my partner and I went to none of those places. […]
Since its beginnings in the 1960s, French immersion has polarized many Canadians, and the debate lives on today. Read this backgrounder on French immersion programs and contribute to the Checkup conversation.
Spring of 1968, an 18-year-old ‘unwed mother’ sees her son for the first and last time before a 33 year separation. Jennifer Charles is one of an estimated thousands of Canadian women who alleges that she was coerced into giving up her newborn baby for adoption against her will. Charles became pregnant in an era […]
Throughout the 1940’s to the 1980’s an estimated 350,000 women were coerced into giving their children for adoption without their consent. Now, advocates are campaigning for an inquiry and an apology for government’s involvement.
Fort McMurray evacuees are beginning the long process of coming to terms with what was lost in the flames. The city’s fire chief estimates that 85% of homes in the area are intact: a relief for most evacuees. The evacuation Leanne Shannon escaped the wildfires with her family. She’s one of the lucky majority whose […]
The vast differences in size and cultural practices can prove to be a challenge for many Inuit who go to southern Canadian cities for services like education, healthcare, and jobs. Organizations like the Manitoba Inuit Association work to make the transition easier.
Don Peters is the principal of the Aqsarniit Ilinniarvik Middle School in Iqaluit. In the past seven years that he’s held the position, he’s put his efforts towards finding programs that engage students and improve the attendance rates. http://mp3.cbc.ca/radio/CBC_Radio_VMS/981/979/checkup_20160305_28360_uploaded.mp3 “The attendance rates seven years ago were hovering around 60-62 per cent. Today, our attendance rates […]
Robert van Waarden is a photojournalist who travelled the full route of the Energy East pipeline in 2014, armed with a film camera. He captured the faces and the stories of those living in the direct path of the proposed development, to hear how they felt about this. Listen to him describe the Along the […]
In a previous post I wrote about the work I’ve been doing as CBC Radio’s digital producer for Cross Country Checkup. That work continues with online exclusive content (very fancy, I know). This week I got to produce an extra interview for the program that we put online a few days in advance. The piece […]
Cross Country Checkup is one of CBC’s oldest currently running programs. It began in 1964 as a revolutionary project — and one that has yet to be replicated — an open-line program that airs live in six time zones. Canada is one of the few nations to span so many time zones and to have […]
Originally posted on CBC Books on December 1, 2015 Photo credit: Agência Africa — photo still from a promotional video One publishing group in Brazil, L&PM Editores, is making São Paulo commuters’ subway reading a little easier. Rather than going to the trouble of carrying both your book and your subway fare, they’ve combined the […]
Originally published: http://www.trentarthur.ca/i-really-thought-it-was-going-to-burn-down-to-ashes/ Late in the evening on Saturday November 14, the Peterborough Masjid Al-Salaam was set on fire. The ongoing police investigation claimed that the fire was set deliberately and the timing of the arson attempt, only a day after an attack on Paris by the terrorist group the Daesh (ISIS), has led authorities […]
Around the end of September and beginning of October, I had the amazing experience of helping James Whetung of the Curve Lake First Nation harvest wild rice in what he calls “the wild rice basket of the world”. Wild rice (manoomin in Anishnaabemowin) is a grain indigenous to the Central Ontario area, as well as […]
Need some good old Canadian humour? How about some good new Canadian humour? Check out this list of the Funniest Canadian Books we could think of. Just click here or the link below.
Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. We’ve collected the highlights from the past 25 years here for you – some of the best authors and interviews since the show began! Click below or here to see the 25 most notable books selected by Eleanor Wachtel and her team.