Episodes
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Lee Kvern (she/her) has been writing for almost thirty years, and she hasn’t met a writer that she doesn’t like. Lee can always find the good in people—or, at the very least, the interesting—and her award-winning short stories ("White", 2007 CBC Prize for Fiction; "Visibility", 2006 CBC Alberta Anthology; "Fourteen", 2007 CBC Alberta Anthology; "Detachment", 2010 Malahat Open Season Award finalist; "The Nothing Yard", 1999 Heritage Short Story Contest) and celebrated novels (The Matter of Sylvie, Afterall) tend to feature characters you might call 'unlikeable'—but that's the fun of writing them, and seeing where their stories end up. Lee joins Gio and Renée to talk about how far she's come in her career and how far she still wants to go, story building craft, and how to have it all as a parent, an employee and an author—hint: you have to pick your priorities. Detours include the odd jobs authors tend to have, the joy of making yourself a nuisance to elected officials, and the pleasure of teaching yourself how to make art for art's sake. Find Lee on social media @leekvern.
Want to support the show? Check out our bonus content on Patreon.
Gio Petrucci: giografik.com
Renée Meloche: reneewrought.com
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Daven Seebarran (he/him) may be a natural introvert, but you'd never know it from his work advocating for non-profit funding, social equity and resource accessibility. On top of his regular work, Daven used the 2020 quarantine to translate his lifelong love of drag into an online space where fans could connect with drag performers and aspiring queens could learn from virtual drag instructors. That has since become the booming online Drag Academy—dedicated to digital programming that includes performances, a podcast, virtual drag classes and bursaries. Daven talks about writing bursaries, the early drag scene in Edmonton, leveraging creativity in order to solve complex issues of social inequity, and the importance of intersectionality, diversity and authenticity in artistic programming. Check out the dragacademy.ca for available programs, and find Daven at davenseebarran.com.
Support L2M by checking out our bonus content on Patreon.
Gio Petrucci: giografik.com
Renée Meloche: reneewrought.com
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Missing episodes?
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In the spring of 2020, 16-year-old playwright, poet, screenwriter and filmmaker Eli Smart (he/they) and 14-year-old artist and filmmaker Caelan Bell (he/him) found themselves "coping" as best they could with the upheaval and uncertainty of quarantine, online learning, social isolation and political divisiveness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of collaborators and their mentor, author and playwright Kim Firmston (she/he/they), Eli Caelan set out to make sense of this strange new world through the medium of film with their docu-short Adaptation in the Impoverished City. Caelan, Eli and Kim join Renée and Gio to discuss how the project came together, what these accomplished young creatives are going to pursue next, and how connecting with other creatives during such a fraught time inspired them to keep going. Stay up to date on the Adaptation in the Impoverished City by following them @adaptationyyc.
Support L2M by checking out our Patreon.
Gio Petrucci: giografik.com
Renée Meloche: reneewrought.com
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In this light-hearted, chatty episode, Renée and Gio catch up on each other's creative efforts, recent dietary choices, and their mental health as uncertainty about the world's safety and health persists. Renée asks the timely question: "What is wrong with coasting?" and Gio explores what working to his potential has meant for his mental health for the past few decades, and why creative work can be so challenging when it all depends on self-motivating. 🚧 Detours include RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Season 6 spoilers!), Gio's love of disco mixes, empathy burnout, internal family system therapy and how, if you try hard enough, you can actually reprogram your personality.
Like the show? Drop some love on our socials @listen2mepod or check out our Patreon for bonus content!
Gio Petrucci: giografik.com
Renée Meloche: reneewrought.com
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Myspace Forever! In this two-parter, Gio and Renée explore the creation and advent of popular social media platforms and their evolution into content farms, where creatives feel the pressure to market themselves and their work in an authentic, accessible way while still getting those ad revenue dollars. 📱 In Part 1, Renée takes Gio down a historical rabbit hole of social media sites and the most popular ones through the years up to now, including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and TikTok and Renée's forever fave, Tumblr. We're talking about ads, verification, flaming in the comment sections, and DMs. In Part 2, Gio and Renée discuss their experience using the sites (the successes and failures) for promotion of their work, and what they've seen other creatives accomplish. 🚧 Detours in this part include Gio's coffee detox, Renée's ADHD rambles and Gio's vision of a WALL-E style future. 🤖 Go to patreon.com/listen2mepod to listen to Part 2 of this episode! 💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Representation in film and media for anyone other than white dudes has been an on-going problem, from the inception of Hollywood to present day. But representation and diversity in the film industry is also a huge problem. Andrea Beça (they/them) is a filmmaker, editor and writer from Edmonton (currently based in British Columbia) who created Solidarity Film Camp, for diverse individuals interested in learning the ins and outs of the film industry in a safe and accessible space. Andrea created a documentary about Solidarity Film Camp (watch it here) and in this episode, they join Gio and Renée to talk about how crucial representation and diversity are, Andrea's experience in film school, theatre productions vs films, and the importance of community collaboration. Find Andrea at abecaproductions.com and on social media @contessabessa. Like the show? Subscribe, rate us on iTunes, and check out our Patreon if you want to support the show.💖 Connect with Renée at reneewrought.com and Gio at giografik.com.
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Have you ever wondered how hiking to Mt. Everest basecamp relates to writing and producing a poetry-based, one-woman show? Ellen Kartz (she/her) is here to tell you. Ellen joins Gio and Renée to talk about her diverse career in Alberta's writing scene, the launch of her small press, Armistice, for emerging, local 2SLGBTQIA+ poets, and her involvement with the Edmonton Poetry Festival and the Writers' Guild of Alberta. Go to armisticepress.blogspot.com to find out more about Armistice Press and follow Ellen on social media @e_kartz. Like the show? Check out patreon.com/listen2mepod to find out how you can support it! 💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Lannie Johnston (they/them) is a printmaker and visual artist whose fascination with corporeal shapes is a thread through their art. Renée and Gio chat with Lannie about how they fell in love with the study of printmaking, what draws them to the aesthetic of body horror, and their experience with mental health and chronic illness and how those factors have shaped their relationship to their art. ⚠️TW: discussions of depression and chronic pain. Detours include Renée's recent unemployment and attempts to destigmatize social benefits, Studio Ghibli's film canon, and monsterf*cking. See more of Lannie's art on Instagram @sumzerbutt and go to patreon.com/listen2mepod for more information on how to keep Listen 2 Me podcast online! Connect with Gio: giografik.com and Renee: reneewrought.com.
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Lisa Murphy-Lamb (she/her) came to writing through education, and her passion for creating inclusive, artist-friendly spaces has made her a fixture of the southern Alberta writing community. Lisa joins Gio and Renée to talk about her many projects: from publishing her young adult novel, Jesus on the Dashboard, her work as an editor at small press Stonehouse Publishing, the founding of New Forum Magazine and Loft 112 and its current community art installations. We cover so much! Detours include Dolly Parton, teenage bus drivers, and the impact of mentorship on creatives' success. A rising tide lifts all boats, baby! See more of Lisa's initiatives on social media: @newforumab @loft112 @stonehousepbl • Enjoying L2M? Leave us some love in a review, and check out patreon.com/listen2mepod to see how you can support the show! Find us online: Gio at giografik.com and Renee: reneewrought.com
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Haui, aka Howard J. Davis (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist who defies categorization. His latest project, Mixed↑ (MixedUp Film) is available to stream on Amazon Prime, AppleTV, OutTV, FROOT and TVNZ OnDemand. Mixed↑ is part documentary, part visual performance, part spoken word poem, and part personal essay about the challenges and triumphs that come with straddling different identities. Haui joins Gio and Renée for a special two-part interview: in this part, we discuss their career in many disciplines, their creative path so far and their experiences creating a personal project like Mixed↑. In a second, bonus episode available exclusively on Listen 2 Me Patreon, we dive deeper into the behind-the-scenes of Mixed↑ film. Find Haui at haui.ca and on the socials @hauidavis; and if you like what you hear, help support the show by going to patreon.com/listen2mepod. For as little as $1 a month you can help us keep the creativity flowing right into your earholes!
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Are you tired of feeling like you're missing out on all the good stuff in life? Is it getting harder to reconnect with the joy of your creative practice as we continue to live with the uncertainty of a peri-pandemic world? Same here! Allow Gio and Renée to introduce you to the alternative: JOMO (or, the Joy of Missing Out). In this episode, we walk you through our own struggles connecting to our creative practices, and our strategies for reconnecting with the things that actually matter (hint: it rhymes with "get off the smocial smedia"). Detours include the recent online writing conference Renée attended; the no-f*cks threshold age; and a quick recap of some of Renée and Gio's fave Vines (RIP). ⚠️Trigger warning: mentions of Canadian Indian Residential Schools; violence against trans people; police brutality; depression and death. We'd love to keep bringing new episodes to you! Check out our Patreon for ways to support the show: patreon.com/listen2mepod! 💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Dustin Archibald (he/him) is always open to learning new things: whether it's martial arts, computer programming, or how to get into character as a college-student-stalking stranger on the set of an indie movie in rural Alberta (pro tip: duct tape an x-acto knife to yourself). But one thing has consistently drawn him in: the love of storytelling. Gio and Renée hear about Dustin's experience writing his Asha Anderson series for young adults (The Dragon and The Way Station available now); his creative approach to editing and writing; and the impact of mental illness on writing productivity. You can find Dustin at dcarchibald.com, and the socials @DCArchibald. We're trying to grow our audience, so every follow, review and retweet helps! Check out our Patreon for more on how you can support the show: patreon.com/listen2mepod.💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Chantelle Quow (she/her) is a Business Strategy and Finance Consultant, and the President of CQ Business Consulting Inc. She improves organizations and businesses by evaluating, developing, and implementing strategic plans—basically, she uses her multiple areas of expertise to teach business owners the way to get from Point A to Point B better. Chantelle chats with Gio and Renée about her work as a business blueprint and community builder, collaborating with other entrepreneurs to leverage resources each might not otherwise have, her advocacy and research around the challenges the BIPOC community faces when navigating Canada's entrepreneurial industry. You can connect with Chantelle at cqbusinesscoach.com, and on Instagram and Twitter @cqbc_inc. Like the show? Go to patreon.com/listen2mepod to support us! See more of our work: Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Brian R. Williams (he/him) is an artist, graphic designer, college art instructor and webcomic creator. He joins Gio and Renée to chat about his studies in Illustration, Fine Art and Art History, and art crime; his success in turning several part-time jobs into a full-time career; his experience working in museums; his fascination with Bigfoot and his comic Orick & Argyle; the way he links narrative storytelling with visual expression; and the inspiration behind his evocative illustrations that fuse the history of human industry with the intriguing forms of the natural world. Bonus topics include repatriation of artefacts stolen by museums, the Bigfoot Research Organization, and Brian and Renée discovering that they are creative soul sisters. You can subscribe to Brian's comic Orick & Argyle at www.patreon.com/orickandargyle. Find more of Brian's work at brianrwilliams.com and @grey_graphite on Instagram. Want to keep Listen 2 Me pumping? Check out patreon.com/listen2mepod! 💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Gio and Renée use this Work In Progress episode to check in on multiple topics, including: soft and hard g's, Gio's audio mixing and censoring, taking a break from pushing ourselves through pandemic-induced brain fog, heteroflexibility and whatever the hell Omegle is. The conversation quickly devolves into Gio asking Renée what they've been reading lately, and a discussion of the 🌶️️descriptive sex🌶️ in modern romance novels. ⚠️WARNING: a lot of spicy language during that segment.⚠️ Bonus topics include Renée speaking to her experience with burning herself out in order to distract from anxiety, and Gio waxing poetic about the joy of planning and hosting dinner parties. Trigger warning for discussion of depression, anxiety, alcoholism and gender dysphoria. If you want to support the show, please check out patreon.com/listen2mepod! 💖Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Stacey Gonder (she/her) isn't shy about putting her passion for glitter and sass into clothing that looks as good as it feels, constructed for people who like to move. 💃🕺 Her love of dance and creative expression helped birth Flash Design Co. and the House of Sass & Magic, and her experience and expertise in constructing garments and costumes is what has helped her cater to underrepresented segments of the dance community. Gio and Renée hear from Stacey about how surprising her career trajectory has been so far, what we can all take away from rave culture, and the joy of connecting with other creatives through her Maker Monday and Friends Friday podcast series. Follow @flashdesignco and @housesmtdot to see more of Stacey's work and designs. Like this episode? Want to keep the L2M party going? Check out patreon.com/listen2mepod! Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Sarah Feinstein (she/her) takes the time to connect with Gio and Renée from her home in northwest India to talk about the journey of her life so far: from studying analog photography as an art student in Toronto, to working as a medic in the backwoods of Yukon to pay off her student loans, then moving to northern India to study with a meditation community in the mountains, and finally setting up Superfein Design, her boutique design studio, from her current home in Himchal Pradesh. Sarah shares her wisdom about trying, failing, and persevering; learning from some (epic) failures, and bringing the spirit of inquiry and growth to her business practice. Follow @superfein on Instagram for more, and bookmark theselfreunion.com to see what Sarah's been working on. Love the show? Interested in keeping it going? Become a patron at patreon.com/listen2mepod! Connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Have you ever wanted to hear Gio and Renée ask each other icebreaker questions from a 1970s corporate team-building exercise? Well, you're in luck! Gio and Renée ask each other questions like "who are your heroes", "what is your ideal karaoke song", "what's one thing you would change about yourself" and "what is your favourite book" (a question Renée declined to answer). TW for mentions of suicide, death, and a horse snuff film Gio watched. Can't get enough L2M in your life? Go to patreon.com/listen2mepod to find out how you can keep the show going! See more of our work: Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Gregg Brown (he/him) joins Gio and Renée to talk about how he brings the lens of organizational psychology, behavioral science, change management, and talent development to individuals and teams looking to harness change and develop leadership skills in their personal and professional lives. From his early days teaching kids to canoe and macramé as a camp counsellor, working in harm reduction, and counselling sex workers, Gregg has always tried to use his "bleeding heart" in the service of meeting people where they are and helping them. Gregg discusses how these days, he's helping people figure out what makes their own brains tick, and coaching them in applying change management principles to create the behaviors and beliefs they want to see in their work and personal lives. Sidebars include the COVID-19 pandemic's long-term fallout and impact, young Gregg's Farrah Fawcett hair, and the universal human desire to be seen. Like the show? Go to patreon.com/listen2mepod to find out how you can support it! See more of our work: Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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Author Alison Clarke (she/her) has been creating magical worlds as soon as she could put pen (or brush) to paper. She was awarded 2016 Writer of the Year by Diversity Magazine for The Sisterhood, Book One of her middle grade fantasy trilogy; has been featured in the Edmonton Journal; her latest book, Phillis, was featured on a CBC Book List; and she is the 2021 Writer in Residence for the Alexandra Writers' Centre Society. Alison takes Gio and Renée through her beginnings as a writer; how the themes in her work emerge organically from her interest in diverse mythology, cultures, and the power of the collective; how crucial it is for people of colour to see themselves represented in media; and why it's so important to listen to your own voice when it comes to your creative work. You can find Alison online on Twitter and Instagram, and more of her work at RealmofWyrniverdon.com. Like the show? Check out patreon.com/listen2mepod to learn more about how you can support the show, and connect with Gio at giografik.com and Renée at reneewrought.com.
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