I’m really, really excited for you to hear today’s conversation with author, Kate Robson, about the magic of using metaphor. This is episode 301, and as I’ve been inching closer towards the 300 episode mark, I’ve been thinking a lot about how this podcast has evolved and how I might describe it using metaphor. Here’s my best try… This podcast has become a space not unlike a community garden . I collect the necessary components, tend to space, plant seeds that allow for great

"This is the conclusion of a successful semester, where concept, creation, and distribution plans came together. Professor Diana welcomes the class for a final reflection and listening party, handing hosting duties over to Shana and Alex. This episode is a celebration of the creative energy poured into the course, covering everything from the development of a central concept to planning final distribution strategies. The discussion explores the powerful concept of "class citi

"If you're stuck in the planning phase, you're losing the game. The secret to success in any venture, especially podcasting, is fast feedback and radical adaptation. This is 100 Ways to Make 100K, and this week, host Javon Martin is going behind the scenes of his own show. For over 70 episodes, Javon has been on a relentless hunt to find 100 different paths to generating $100,000 per month. In this special session, Javon reveals the brutal, yet necessary, truth about what it

Quick Summary - Show Notes Nick Thorburn (the musician behind The Unicorns and Islands ) talks with host Shana about creating one of the most recognizable pieces of podcast music ever: the theme song for Serial. The whole thing happened almost by accident. A friend made a connection, and Nick treated it like any other freelance gig. He listened to the pilot episode, got inspired by the dark, true-crime vibe, and cranked out a library of music in one weekend. He had zero clue

“ Welcome to Ctrl+Alt+Narrate , the show that explores the diverse journeys behind digital media creation. But what happens when the creators become the story? In this episode, host Alex flips the camera around to interview the brilliant team that brings the show to life: Sneesha, Alisha, and Victoria. Together, they dive deep into the production process of " Ctrl+Alt+Narrate ," covering everything from managing a massive post-production backlog to the learning curve of hosti

Hello Everybody! The next 6 weeks of this podcast, we’re doing something a little different. I can’t wait for you to hear what’s to come. In the Fall 2025 semester, I had the great fortune of teaching my first for-credit course in podcasting. Since I started Talk Paper Scissors  in 2019, I’ve informally helped and consulted on a number of projects in the space, but I had never (until now!) planned a full curriculum, thinking through what I would’ve loved to know when I was fi

This episode has been three conversations in the making. It started in episode #273, when I spoke with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine, who mentioned being inspired by George Wylesol’s grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, 2120 . In episode #276, George joined me to talk about the book and how Internet culture and GeoCities websites shape his work. Then, in episode #280, I spoke with Jill Blackmore Evans, creator of GeoCities Memory , a personal and scholarly project arc

Happy Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina 2026! I’m here with Paul Twa, four years after he and I originally spoke about the games in Beijing in Episode 095: Olympic Design Systems with Paul Twa . He’s back, he’s full of insights, and just a wonderful, passionate resource about Olympic design joy! Paul Twa  is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Toronto. Born and raised in Edmonton, Paul graduated from the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Design program. After t

It’s a big book day! Today I sit down with two authors with two new books on two interrelated topics. David Berry (H ow Artists Make Money & How Money Makes Artists ) and Raymond Biesinger ( 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off: An Informal Self-Defence Guide for Independent Creatives ) are here with me today. David Berry  profiled and critiqued the book, film, music and theatre scenes for a local alt-weekly, and then nationally for the National Post, and has contributed essay

If you’re a frequent listener of this podcast, you may recall an episode released earlier this fall: Episode #273 - On a Trip with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine . Without knowing it at the time, episode 273 marks the start of a little experiment—a journey down the rabbit hole. Each conversation in this series connects in unexpected ways; each new episode spurring a new line of inquiry, like a tunnel turning off in a different direction, each with an origin that’s traced b

Today’s guest and her team’s most recent book project is truly emotional and inspiring. As always, this episode is not sponsored, however I do want to disclose that I received an advance copy of the book and after experiencing it, I absolutely had to chat with our guest about the incredible technology, typography, and hope behind this project. In this conversation, you’ll hear from Rachel Arthur, Founder and Editor of boom saloon , “an independent publisher dedicated to democ

I read a book a few months ago called Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting a Life Beyond Productivity. It stirred something up inside of me in the best way possible. I felt like the author, Maria Bowler, was speaking directly to me.  So I reached out to Maria to see if she'd be interested in chatting about her book, and I was thrilled that she said yes. In this conversation, Maria and I dive deep into the world of problematic ideas around productivity, the ways in which the

Welcome back everybody!  We’re 6+ weeks into the fall semester and I have the great pleasure of teaching my first podcasting course at Toronto Metropolitan University! The course is called MDM Podcast Lab: Design, Develop Distribute  with around 20 students actively working to create their own podcasts. It’s been so much fun to imagine what a more linear path to podcasting than my own experience would look like, and build a workshop-style course to help guide digital media st

We’ve come so far in this series and I’m thrilled that you’ve been along for the ride. I really, truly, unequivocally believe this...

I invite you to close your eyes.  Imagine yourself as a kid, a fresh box of crayons in one hand and a colouring book in the other. You...

Failure has a lot to teach us. We can learn far more from a failed experience – whether large or small, big F “Fail” or little f “fail” – than a perfectly smooth, frictionless experience will ever make possible. I stumbled upon a post on social media recently (by someone named @brightwanderer) about their perspective on “success” and “failure”. It was a breath of fresh, “muddy middle” air in a sea of right and wrong. Here's what they said: “I think a lot about how we as a cul

Failure: friend or foe? One of my very favourite exercises I use to help others summon their creative confidence is a sensory exercise around failure and it’s the first step in decoupling our identity with the idea of failure.  My thinking is that if we can sense failure’s presence when we’re experiencing it, we can begin to recognize its pattern; that it’s a feeling that comes and goes, but ultimately doesn’t have to be entangled with our identity and that by the very nature

To celebrate the launch of my first book, Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You...

Today is the day! Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You is now available in...

One of my very favourite ways to produce creative work is when it unfolds naturally, like a constant flicker of ideas lighting each step...