Fresh Air
with Mary Ito

0730 Jane's Walk is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their communities. Jane's Walk is named in honour of the late urban activist Jane Jacobs. The 2010 Jane's Walk takes place throughout Ontario on the first weekend in May. Mary Ito got an advance "listen" to what's in store by talking with three Jane's Walk guides - Diane Dyson in Toronto, Leigh Thorpe in Ottawa and Kris Longston in Sudbury.
Information about all the walks in Ontario is as close as the Jane's Walk website.

0800 Nick Saul is executive director of The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto. He's part of a campaign to ensure that everyone in Ontario has access to a guaranteed supply of nutritious food. Nick joined Mary to discuss the challenge of making food an issue in a society that often takes ready access to it for granted. You can learn more at The Stop's and at the Ontario Association of Food Banks websites.

0830 It's the TV show that everyone is talking about. And now Glee has produced a homage in Toronto. It's called Gleeks and it's a singing & dancin' impov extravaganza. Gleeks co-producer Darryl Pring and show improv actors Jen Goodhue and Rob Norman joined Mary to talk about the appeal of Glee and why they're getting "gleeful" on stage. Learn more about this April 24th event at the Comedy Bar website.

Postscript The Earth Day "Payback" events are taking place tonight in Burlington, and on Earth Day (April 22), in Bolton (in the Town of Caledon). You can get more information by visiting the Earth Day Payback website.

0730 Toronto-based singer/songwriter Justin Nozuka has a new album. It's called You I Wind Land and Sea. It's the follow-up to his hugely-successful CD called Holly. And it's a huge musical step forward. Justin joined Mary to talk about his life and his music.
Listen (runs 12:20) to Justin's conversation with Mary.
NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions we are unable to include the music that was part of this interview.
Get the goods on the new album and his schedule of gigs at Justin's website.

0800 Today (April 17) is Record Store Day in Ontario...and across Canada. It's a celebration of the people who run independently-owned music outlets. Our Karen Gordon knows a thing or two about the music industry---she joined Mary to talk about the signifigance of the "classic" record store and how it's changed.
Check out the Record Store Day website for more info. Karen also suggests the following websites if you're into music:
Pulmyears and Bob Lefsetz

0830 The summer camp experience was life-changing for Stuart McLean and Andy Barrie. And now they're doing something to help kids who might not be able to afford to GO to summer camp. These two CBC icons are headlining a benefit concert for Kids In Camp. It's a registered charity whose mandate is to provide financial assistance to children-in-need so they can attend summer camps throughout Ontario.
Stuart and Andy came by the studio to talk with Mary about the value of being able to go to camp.
Listen (runs 12:18) to that conversation.
The special benefit performance for Kids In Camp is taking place at the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Friday, April 23.
For full details, visit the Kids In Camp website.

0700 Gayla Trail is the creator of a popular gardening website. She's also just released a new book on organic gardening called Grow Great Grub. In it she's says that your patio, balcony, front stoop, windowsill - even your fire escape---are potential gardens. Gayla should know - she's grown a garden on her rooftop for more than ten years. Gayla talked with Fresh Air host Mary Ito.
Listen (runs 8:42) to their conversation. Gayla's book is published by Random House. Get more gardening info at Gayla's YouGrowGirl website.

0730 Irene Atman's love affair with the jazz standards that comprise the American songbook began when she was just 12 years old. Now she's recorded an album called New York Rendezvous. It's her musical take on those timeless songs. Irene Atman joined Mary to talk about the CD which she'll officially launch with a concert at the Jane Mallet Theatre at Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on April 16.
Listen (runs 12:05) to their conversation. NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions we are unable to include the music that was part of this interview.
Learn more about Irene's concert and her music at Irene's website.

Postscript: Mary mentioned In the Soil. It's Niagara's "Homegrown Arts Festival", encompassing 70 events at 11 venues over 10 days. In the Soil runs from Thursday April 15 to Saturday April 24. Learn more at the In The Soil website.

0700 Two doting dads - comedians Humble Howard Glassman and Patrick McKenna - tackled a contentious topic in this morning's sneak "listen" to The Debaters. They weighed in on whether it's teenaged daughters or sons who cause their parents the most grief. Hear the entire show when The Debaters airs right after the 1 o'clock news this afternoon. Catch up with the show - and where you can see it recorded---at The Debaters website.

0730 April is Poetry Month...and two poets joined Mary to talk about their craft. Priscila Uppal is a Professor of English. Her latest book of poetry is called "Traumatology" and it's published by Exile Editions. Valentino Assenza's latest book is called "Make Our Peace with Rattlesnakes" and it's published by Lyricalmyrical Press. They discussed the on-going appeal of poetry and how it's transforming itself to appeal to a new generation of poetry enthusiasts.
Listen (runs 14:11) to their discussion with Mary.
Learn more about their work at Priscila and Valentino's websites.

0800 Fresh Air's 2-Wine Comparo columnist is Kathryn Borel and she joined Mary with a pair of vinos. As always, only one would come out on top. Listen to Kathryn's conversation with Mary and get all the info about today's wines by visiting Kathryn's column.

0830 Toronto-based architect Raymond Moriyama's designs include the Ontario Science Centre, the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the Saudi Arabian National Museum in Riyadh and the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. His accolades and honours include being named a Companion of the Order of Canada and the Governor General's Award for Architecture. Tonight (Apr. 10), Raymond Moriyama will be presented with the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre's Sakura Award in Toronto. He joined Mary to talk about his career...beginning with his
first project, a treehouse that he constructed while he and his Japananese-Canadian family were in an internment camp during the Second World War.
Listen (runs 15:28) to that conversation.
Full info about tonight's event is at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre's website.

Postscript: The music that was used at the end of this segment is called Crash . It was composed and performed by Windsor's Kate Beneteau. If you'd like to know more about it and Kate's other compositions, please visit Kate's website.

0730 Mark Rheaume joined Mary Ito to offer his monthly review of new music from Ontario artists. For April, Mark turned the audio spotlight on musicians who are making a splash on CBC Radio 2 with some tracks that are receiving heavy rotation. Visit Mark's column to see who he chose and to find links to the musicians' websites.

0800 Architecture writer Shannon Kyles explores Ontario's Loyalist heritage in the latest edition of Arabella magazine. The United Empire Loyalists brought a new approach to house design when they came to this province. Shannon gave Mary a quick history lesson in what we're retained from those original structures. Listen (runs 11:48) to their conversation. Learn more about Ontario's Loyalist architecture at the Arabella website.

0830 Anne Hines spent many years as a humour columnist for Canadian Living and Chatelaine. But she always had a strong interest in religion. Now, after many twists and turns, she's about to become an ordained minister in the United Church. Anne recounts this life voyage in her latest book. It's called Parting Gifts - Notes On Loss, Love and Life. Anne joined Mary to talk about it. Listen (runs 15:48) to that conversation.
Anne's book is published in Canada by McArthur and Company and you can learn more about her writing at Anne's website.

0700 It's golfing weather, and duffer Derek Edwards will take a whack at convincing scratch golfer Dave Hemstad that golf is a ridiculous pastime on today's edition of The Debaters. It airs right after the 1 o'clock news this afternoon. Catch up with the show - and where you can see it recorded - at The Debaters website.

0730 Here's a chilling thought---imagine the world wide web developing a mind of its own. That's at the heart of science fiction writer Robert Sawyer's latest trilogy. His first book Wake was released last year and now the second, Watch, has just been published by Penguin. The dean of Canadian science fiction joined Mary. Listen (runs 12:55) to Mary's conversation with Robert. And visit Robert's website for more information about his
writing.

0800 Laugh yourself silly, or should that be healthy? Actually that's not as silly as it sounds, not with the increasing attention being paid to laughter as a form of health therapy. Dr. Mike Evans, director of the Health Design Lab at the Lee Ka Shing Institute at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto came in to share the latest research on the topic with Mary. Listen (runs 10:01) to their conversation.

0830 Terry O'Reilly wrote the book about advertising, literally. Terry is co-founder of Toronto ad agency Pirate. He's also host of CBC Radio One's The Age Of Persuasion. Terry joined Mary to talk about how he got into the ad biz and why advertising has such an impact on our lives.
Listen (runs 12:25) to their conversation. For more about Terry on radio, check out The Age Of Persuasion website. And if you'd like to buy the book, The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture by Terry O'Reilly and Mike Tennant is published by Knopf Canada.