Podcast Boy
Two recent media appearances for your listening pleasure…
Hello friend!
As regular readers of this newsletter will know, I have always been a talk show person. Whether it was late night television, call‑in radio or a well‑moderated panel, I enjoy the shape of a good conversation and the way it can wander a bit before landing somewhere useful. Over the years, through a mix of professional necessity and genuine interest, I have stayed fairly plugged into both local and wider media. Podcasts feel like a natural extension of that, and I often wish I had the time to say yes to more appearances than I currently can.
As a self‑diagnosed mediocre white male, I am fully aware that there is a magnetic pull toward eventually hosting a podcast of my own. I feel it. I acknowledge it. I have selected my theme music. Unfortunately, my current role, and the travel it demands do not leave much room to do that well. Someday though. I am not ruling it out.
In the meantime, I have been lucky enough to appear on a couple of podcasts recently that were a genuine pleasure.
YXE Underground
The first was Eric Anderson’s YXE Underground, which is easily the best of the many great local podcasts we are fortunate to have here. Eric has built something special by consistently showcasing deserving local figures and projects with care and curiosity. I should also note that I have helped Eric in the past with the visual identity for earlier seasons of the show, so it was nice to finally be on the other side of the microphone.
This episode more than fit the mandate, as the focus was my good buddy Craig Silliphant, who was promoting his documentary How Chee. Like many Saskatonians of a certain age, Craig grew up, as I did, with a fascination for the infamous Great Buffet of China commercial. Whether it was the ad itself or its endless repetition on late night television, it became something approaching folklore here. Craig undertook an in‑depth and even‑handed examination of the story behind the ad, and the unexpected second life it has enjoyed through the internet.
Much of that story comes out on the podcast, so I will not spoil more here.
My involvement, which we discuss on the episode, came a little later when I was asked to draw the above poster for the premiere screening at our beloved Broadway Theatre. The very first film I ever saw was screened there, so seeing my own work under glass in that building was a quietly satisfying moment.
It is also worth mentioning that Eric and Craig, along with my good friend Mike Fisher, founder of our local comic‑con, and I belong to an extremely informal dinner club, focused on creativity and conquering the whole world.
I love having creative and inspiring friends like these, people who get out and do stuff, fulfilling needs and telling stories that no one else has quite stepped up to tell. Being around that energy spurs me to at least try to do the same with my own work, so I am always genuinely flattered when one of them calls me for a collaboration.
Listen to the episode here:
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/8XLmdRl3FU4?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
Partners in Crime
The second appearance was much lighter in nature. I guested on my sister and daughter’s rewatch podcast Partners in Crime, where we discussed the much‑beloved mid‑2000s addition to the long‑running Law and Order family, Law and Order: Criminal Intent. They generously let me choose the episode, and I landed on season two’s “The Pilgrim,” which I still consider one of the high water marks of the series (which, as previously discussed, is a favourite).
It was a relaxed, thoughtful conversation, and a good excuse to revisit a show that remains smarter, stranger and more character‑driven than most people remember.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/su2J5Ceyz5Q?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
If you are a podcast person, I recommend checking out both of these appearances. And if you host one and are feeling especially persuasive, feel free to ask. I cannot promise anything, but I am always happy to talk.
I should have another post coming soon, tons going on at the moment.
Thanks for reading, I love you.