Talkingbooksandstuff's podcast
Episodes
Episode 319 - Crystal Shawanda
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Crystal Shawanda is an Ojibwe Potawatomi blues and country music artist from Canada. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: L...
Episode 318 - Ben Ladouceur
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The first novel from award-winning poet Ben Ladouceur, I Remember Lights depicts a time when the world promised everything to everyone, however irresp...
Episode 317 - Russel Thornton
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
His book House Built of Rain (2003) was a shortlisted nominee for the 2004 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the 2004 ReLit Award.
Episode 316 - Rebekah Martin
13 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Creating dark, pop‑inspired illustrations and write poetry that leans into the bittersweet and the bizarre. Also running Lobotomy Press, where she ...
Episode 315 - Felicia Fox
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Food, with Felicia Fox
Episode 314 - Monica Goertzen Hertlein
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Author of Star-Crossed Alliance and A Valley Girl Dilemma
Episode 313 - Keriann Mcgoogan
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Since the 1970s, the field of primatology has been characterized by a predominance of women. Against the backdrop of McGoogan's journey as a field sci...
Episode 312 - John Cullen
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing on author John Cullen's years of experience as both a stand-up comic and an elite curler, Curling Rocks! offers a lighthearted, expertly detai...
Episode 311 - Chester L Richards
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Chester L. Richards: Aerospace Engineer (Ret.), Inventor, Adventurer, Author, Storyteller, Romantic.
Episode 310 - Angela Jamieson
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever feel like life's full of crap? Good. You're not alone—and you're not wrong. Deinnis talks with author Angela Jamieson, about this refreshingly ...
Episode 309 - Miya Wears Orange
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Miya loves her school and she especially loves storytime. One day, her teacher shares a story about a little girl who was taken away to a residential ...
Episode 308 - Cathy Langdon
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Gathering Stones, poet Cathy Langdon invites readers to wander with her down a forest path, pausing by the creek to reflect on memory, love, loss, ...
Episode 307 - Kevin Christopher
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Californian musician Kevin Christopher
Episode 306 - Andy Kim Christmas
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Andy Kim Christmas is an annual charity concert event founded by musician Andy Kim that raises money for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Healt...
Episode 305 - Wendy Donawa
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Her poems arise from memories, both personal and historical. They also develop from observation and constant reading, and from the natural world. Thes...
Episode 304 - Chris Hall
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Chris Hall, President of the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association
Episode 303 - Meg Todd
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meg Todd grew up in the Alberta prairies. She is a two-time finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize, and her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie...
Episode 301 - Ginger Ngo
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ginger Ngo is an author and illustrator based in Vancouver, BC
Episode 300 - Colleen Carr
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Colleen is a vocalist/pianist raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. At the age of 20 Colleen joined a group of 5 called "Sahara", played the Wurlizter p...
Episode 299 - Rob Mclennan
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rob is an Ottawa based writer, editor, publisher, and critic. They discuss the book of sentences
Episode 298 - Charlie Angus
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis and Charlie talk about Charlie's book "Dangerous Memory", in which Charlie does a major re-think of the political shifts of the 1980s, a decade...
Episode 297 - Suzy Krause
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis discusses her book, "I Think We've Been Here Before" --a family is shaken when they receive news of a terminal illness, and that humanity will ...
Episode 296 - Men Without Hats
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Men Without Hats is a Canadian new wave and synth-pop band, from Montreal, QC. Known for Safety Dance and Pop Goes the World, they are characterized b...
Episode 295- Sara Winokur
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sara Winokur is a geneticist, researcher, and author. Her historical fiction and cultural thrillers embody elements of DNA and forensic science, as sh...
Episode 294 - Christine Stringer
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis talks about Charity Trickett Is Not So Glamorous, a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's time working in the film industry in Vanc...
Episode 293 - Eve Lazarus
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 292 - Ed Willes
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Ed Willes about hockey and books and hockey books
Episode 291 - Tom Wayman
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets with Tom Wayman.
Episode 290 - Tong Ge
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tong Ge was born and raised in China and moved to Canada in 1988. She began writing the China China trilogy in 2004 with the first book: The House Fil...
Episode 289 - Candace Macphie
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis speaks to Candace Macphie - author of the Back in a Year Series
Episode 288 - Jeff City Archives
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Saskatoon's city archivist Jeff O'Brien.
Episode 287 - Bob McDonald
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Revered science reporter and radio host Bob McDonald has devoted his career to turning our attention away from everyday perspectives and outward to th...
Episode 286 -David Roche
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Roche is an inspirational humorist, keynote speaker and performer who has transformed the challenges and gifts of living with a facial differenc...
Episode 285 - Adelle Purdham
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Adelle Purdham is a writer, teacher, and parent disability advocate. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from the University of King's Col...
Episode 284 - Pamela Cross
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In her new book, Cross offers practical and hopeful ideas for how each of us can engage in the vital work of eradicating intimate partner violence. Th...
Episode 283 - Ron Base
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ron Base has written and produced a number of screenplays. A former journalist, magazine writer, and movie critic, Base spent four years in Los Angele...
Episode 282 - Thomas F. Pedersen
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Thomas F Pedersen about his book, "The Carbon Tax Question", described as "A timely and insightful exploration of the implementation...
Episode 281 - Rebecca Hendricks
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Hendricks is a writer and author of the new novel Hound Dogged. Rebecca has made a career doing accounting and Judicial Assistant work, but he...
Episode 280 - Gitz Crazyboy
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gitz is a Canadian Indigenous Author, Actor, Activist and Youth Educator. His debut novel, 'Secret of the Stars' is quickly heating up and has caugh...
Episode 279 - Chase Joynt
02 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chase Joynt is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, video artist, actor, and professor. He attracted acclaim as co-director with Aisling Chin-Yee of the docu...
Episode 278 - Scott Ryan
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Scott Ryan about his book Last Decade of Cinema, where Scott argues that the 1990s was the last decade in which films were made for ...
Episode 277 - Jacob Wren
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wren makes literature, performances, and exhibitions. His books include Revenge Fantasies of the Politically Dispossessed ; Polyamorous Love Song (fin...
Episode 276 - Don Butler
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Don Butler is back, as the author of the 2024 novel, Norman's Conquest
Episode 275 - Dave Margoshes
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Margoshes is a Saskatoon-area writer whose work has appeared widely in Canadian literary magazines and anthologies, including six times in the Be...
Episode 274 - Farzana Doctor
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Farzana Doctor is a writer, activist, and psychotherapist. Her ancestry is Indian, and she was born in Zambia while her family was based there for fiv...
Episode 273 - Rod Carley
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rod is the award-winning author of four works of literary fiction: RUFF (September 2024), GRIN REAPING (long listed for the 2023 Leacock Medal for Hum...
Episode 272 - Margot Kinberg
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A university professor and mystery novelist, originally from the US East Coast, Margot writes two crime fiction series: the Joel Williams series, and ...
Episode 271 - Marlis Wesseler
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets with Marlis Wesseler about The Beech Forest---Lisa Braun struggles to understand both her own life and the tragic historic events that ha...
Episode 270 - Connie Gault
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Connie Gault is a Canadian novelist, playwright and short story writer. She is best known for her novel A Beauty, which was a longlisted nominee for t...
Episode 269 - Caroline Woodward
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets with Caroline Woodward about her book "Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale?"
Episode 268 - Sam Wiebe
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We meet again with Sam Wiebe to discuss his book, Ocean Drive.
Episode 267 - Steve Burgess
03 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He writes the Please Advise! column and other effluvia as required. He is a former CBC host and author of the 2011 book Who Killed Mom? from Greystone...
Episode 266 - Doug Kari
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At daybreak on January 6, 1986, a couple on a camping trip in the Mojave Desert set out for a stroll and never returned. The local sheriff eventual...
Episode 265 - Rita Miceli
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rita Miceli, a seasoned educator, and award-winning author, provides the compass for this journey. Her memoir, "Giaci and Me: A Mother's Journey of Lo...
Episode 264 - Myriam Chancy
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis talks with Myriam Chancy about "Village Weavers", A deeply reflective book about the resilience of the relationship between two women, which ev...
Episode 263 - John Bemrose
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John Bemrose is a Canadian arts journalist, novelist, poet and playwright. His arts reviews have appeared in Maclean's, The Globe and Mail, the Nation...
Episode 262 - Bury the Lead
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We meet with Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti and discuss their debut murder mystery, Bury the Lead.
Episode 261- Joan Havelange
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We meet again with Joan Havelange
Episode 260 - John M Gray
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John MacLachlan Gray is a writer-composer-performer for the stage, film, television, radio and print. Dennis talks Mr. Good-Evening with John MacLachl...
Episode 259 - Brooke Lockyer
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brooke Lockyer holds a BA from Barnard College and an MA in English in the Field of Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. She was the winne...
Episode 258 - Amanda Swinimer
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda Swinimer's deep love of the ocean brought her to the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada where she started her own business, Dakini Tidal Wi...
Episode 257 - Deborah Kimmett
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
She is a regular on CBC's Winnipeg Comedy Festival, CBC Debaters, LOL and is an accomplished author of four books, Reality is Overrated and That Which...
Episode 256 - Brent Butt
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brent Butt- known for Corner Gas, is with us today to talk about his book "Huge"
Episode 255 - Caroll Simpson
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Caroll Simpson is the author and illustrator of Coastal Spirit Tales—a series of children's books that take inspiration from the art, mythology, and...
Episode 254 - Stephen Joseph
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Joseph is a first-generation American, veteran attorney, negotiator, prolific speaker, and a modern humorist. He's a real New Yorker. A fully c...
Episode 253 - Michael Redhead Champagne
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Redhead Champagne is working towards a revolution that dismantles harmful systems and builds up new ones based on justice, equity and love. A ...
Episode 252 - Tim Blackett
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Blackett is a Canadian writer whose work has appeared in Briarpatch, [spaces], Grain Magazine and a small Saskatchewan journal called Swift, Flowi...
Episode 251 - Wilson Coneybeare
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A professional writer since late teens, Wilson has written film, television, theatre - even radio - and yet "A Feast of Wolves" is his first novel. ...
Episode 250 - Kelly Anne Manuel
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kelly Anne Manuel is the good kind of contagious. She is an eternal optimist who strives to see the good in all her days and throughout all aspects of...
Episode 249 - Felicia Fox
24 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After becoming a mom she wanted to feed her children well, as all mothers do. She began learning about the impact of processed food and started cookin...
Episode 248 - Rob Vanstone (Brave Face)
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis and Rob dive in to his new book, Brave Face - about hockey's earliest maskless warriors.
Episode 247 - Joel Selvin
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets again with Joel to talk his new book Drums and Demons - The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon
Episode 246 - Jacinta Gallant
03 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Going Steady was created by Jacinta and Taylor – mother-daughter divorce lawyers, who work together! They were sick of breaking people up and though...
Episode 245 - Samantha Reynolds
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Samantha is an author, actor and award-winning filmmaker living in Toronto, Canada. She is a certified Dr. Shefali Conscious Parenting Coach and rec...
Episode 244 - Hana Shafi
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis interviews Hana Shafi about her latest book, People You Know, Places You've Been, a collection of peoms and illustrations.
Episode 243 - Dustin Galer
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dustin Galer is an award-winning writer, biographer, and historian. He is known for his exceptional contributions to the world of disability hist...
Episode 242 - Lori Hahnel
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lori writes fiction about love, loss, longing, music, history, and the lives of women. Her first novel was loosely based on the formative experience i...
Episode 241 - Rona Maynard
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rona Maynard had lost her spark. Then she agreed to let a dog into her life—and found a whole new way to meet the world.
Episode 240 - Meg Braem
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Meg Braem's plays have won the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama at the Alberta Literary Awards and the Alberta Playwriting Competition, and Blood:...
Episode 239 - Bruce Belland
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bruce Gerald Belland was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 22nd, 1936, the second son of Rev. Stanley G. Belland, a Fundamentalist minister and his...
Episode 238 - Nick Bantok
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Bantock is a British artist and author based in Saltspring Island, British Columbia, known for his series, The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy. In 1...
Episode 237 - Rupert Adams
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Adams specializes in growing medicinal herbs and runs his own medicinal herb and tincture business, Kairos Botanicals. Adams worked for three y...
Episode 236 - Stephen R. Bown
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen has written ten books on the history of exploration, science, and ideas--including books on the medical mystery of scurvy, the Treaty or Torde...
Episode 235 - Tara Sidhoo Fraser
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets with Tara Sidhoo Fraser about her book When My Ghost Sings, a brave tale of of disability and queerness.
Episode 234 - Charlotte Gray
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Charlotte Gray is one of Canada's best-known writers of literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the Lo...
Episode 233 - Steve Ivings
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Ivings is a comedian, impressionist, actor, MC, radio announcer, public speaker, recording artist, comedy writer, playwright, author, lyricist, ...
Episode 232 - Ron Base and Prudence Emery
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meets with Ron and Prudence to discuss life at the Savoy
Episode 231 - Jenny Kay Dupuis
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis talks with Jenny Kay Dupuis about her book Heart Berry Bling
Episode 230 - Ken Cuthbertson
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis meet with Ken again to discuss "Blood on the Coal", the riveting true story of one of Canada's worst mining disasters, told in the voices of th...
Episode 229 - Mike Boone
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis speaks to reporter Mike Boone.
Episode 228 - Max Wyman
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vancouver writer and arts policy consultant, and one of Canada's leading cultural commentators. Born and educated in England, he spent several years a...
Episode 227 - Kevin Miller Returns
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin Miller returns to talk about Book 7 of the Milligan Creek Series
Episode 226 - Catherine Graham
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine Graham started to write poetry as a way to explore and make sense of the death of her parents, whom she lost while she was an undergraduate ...
Episode 225 - Nick Marino
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) is a Vancouver tradition, an annual fair started in 1910 that is famous for its farm animals, dog trick shows, a...
Episode 224 - Buffy Cram
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Buffy Cram's fiction and non-fiction have appeared in multiple literary publications on both sides of the border as well as in the best-selling anthol...
Episode 223 - Jon Klassen
25 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Klassen is a Canadian-born author/illustrator. He has written and illustrated three picture books of his own and illustrated many other author's t...
Episode 222 - Sam Wiebe
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis talks to award winning crime author, Sam Wiebe.
Episode 221 - Ted Chamberlin
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis discusses Ted Chamberlin's book "Storylines"
Episode 220 - Naomi Hansen
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Naomi Hansen is an author, writer, and editor. Her first book, Only in Saskatchewan: Recipes & Stories from the Province's Best-Loved Eateries, was pu...
Episode 219 - Iron Dog Books
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dennis talks with Hilary Atleo from Iron Dog Books, in Vancouver, BC