EPISODES

There are a million people online trying to crack the algorithm. Sam Bird might be better off because he never really tried. Sam is a comedian, content creator, podcaster and host of CBC’s Street Cents. He grew up around broadcasting, experimented with stand-up and acting, made a hockey comedy podcast, created branded content and worked behind a bar and at Starbucks while figuring out exactly where he fit in the media business. Then this summer, something clicked. A series o

We remember David Marsden, who passed away on September 25 at the age of 85, by revisiting a conversation recorded in December 2016, during the early days of the Sound Off Podcast. David helped shape the Spirit of Radio at CFNY, and his passion for discovery continued through NYthespirit.com. When we spoke, he was looking ahead—exploring how the internet could give broadcasters the freedom to be creative and listeners the chance to discover music they wouldn’t hear elsewhere.

Maria Palmer is the morning co-host on the Morning Mosh Pit on Rock 95.5 in Chicago.

Susan Reade got her start in Edmonton radio wearing an orange Tina Turner wig and leopard-print pants as CHED’s “Janet from Another Planet.” As she prepares to retire from Stingray, I catch up with her to talk about a career that took her from the morning show to sales and leadership—and why she still believes in radio. Susan shares how a difficult experience as a talk show producer in Vancouver led to selling postage meters at Pitney Bowes. The sales training was valuable; t

Did you know that one of the top countries that listen to the Sound Off Podcast is Nigeria? In the last ten years, this is only the 4th episode we have done with a Nigerian. Dami Dawson began his career believing he had the right voice for radio, but quickly learned that a voice wasn’t enough. He studied the craft, worked as a researcher and intern, and eventually moved behind the microphone. Today, he leads digital entertainment initiatives at TVC Communications and manages

How PodSummit Builds Canada’s Creator-Focused Podcast Community Podcasting may sound like a social medium, but creating a show can be surprisingly isolating. Independent podcasters often spend countless hours recording, editing, publishing and promoting episodes alone. Outside Canada’s largest media centres, simply finding other creators who understand that experience can be difficult. That challenge inspired Tim Truax to help build PodSummit: a distinctly Canadian podcast ev

In October 2020, I released an episode of The Sound Off Podcast called Death of the Diary. Asking people to remember what they listened to—and then record a week's worht accurately— felt like a tall order when media was being consumed at record pace. And Now It's a New Era in Measurement Numeris is preparing to introduce Radio Local Plus in 22 Canadian markets. The new system combines streaming information with online and telephone surveys to estimate both digital and over-th

OMG—it has been seven years since Kolter Bouchard was last on The Sound Off Podcast. When Kolter joined me in September 2019, he was hosting afternoons at Toronto’s 102.1 The Edge. Since then, his life has taken some dramatic turns: a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, a stem-cell transplant, leaving radio, launching a creative agency with his wife, Dominique, and building a new career as a content creator, entrepreneur and author. This conversation took place on an especially meani

It has been a brutal summer for radio. Layoffs at Cumulus, iHeart, Rogers, Audacy, Corus and others have dominated industry headlines—and filled the social feeds of talented people whose final station post is often the announcement that they are no longer there. That should matter, because radio has always been at its best when it is built around people. Not just formats, clocks, promotions, songs and spots—but personalities who create a relationship with listeners. When that

Gaëtan Harris tells me what it really takes to make branded podcasts sound world‑class. From his early days in Winnipeg radio working at Power 97 with yours truly, to award‑winning work with Pacific Content, Gaëtan has built a career around creating immersive, story‑driven audio that keeps listeners coming back. We talked about the practical side of podcast sound design: choosing the right microphones, removing mouth clicks, capturing clean remote recordings with Zoom H4/H5 r

If you've worked in radio for any length of time, you've probably heard some version of "radio needs to go digital." The funny thing is, we've been saying that for nearly 30 years. Chris Brunt from Jacobs Media, someone who's been there from the earliest days of station websites, streaming audio, social media, and now the short-form video era. What I appreciated most about our conversation is that Chris doesn't look at digital as a collection of shiny objects. He sees it as a

We hear a lot these days about radio folks who've jumped ship in favor of careers in TV. Who can blame them? It usually means more prestige, a bigger audience, and probably better pay. What we don't hear about often is TV people who left for radio and podcasting- but that's exactly who Lynda Steele is. Straight out of BCIT, Lynda began her career by learning on the job at CK View Television. She transitioned from there into working at ITV in Edmonton for several years, includ

With Podcast Movement 2026 right around the corner, this week seemed like the perfect time to brush up on podcasting knowledge and learn what makes the event so special. And who better to sit down with than the President of Podcast Movement himself? This year's Podcast Movement is a big one. It'll be taking place in New York City, and Bryan and his team are making sure the event itself matches the gravitas of The Big Apple. Rather than the usual small-scale, stand-around-the-

Justin Jackson is the founder of Transistor.fm and shared his thoughts about podcasting today.

Jason Rockman had spent years grinding with Slaves on Dope—a Montreal nu-metal band that never quite fit on the radio erfectly. Not grunge enough. Not polished enough. A group of musicians influenced by Faith No More and Jane's Addiction, forging their own path in a Canadian radio industry that didn't know what to do with them. They won CHOM L'Esprit in '94. They toured across Canada twelve times. And still—nothing stuck. Then their manager said: "Move to Los Angeles. That's

The download became the proxy for everything—audience size, engagement, ad value, show success. But it was never designed to carry that weight. Dan Misener and I talked this week about why the podcasting industry is finally ready to move beyond the download. Not because the download is fake or wrong—it's a real measure of file delivery. But because it doesn't answer the questions that matter most. Did a person hit play? Did they listen long enough to hear an ad? Did they come

Nails Mahoney will reframe how you think about talent development.We talked about what makes being a radio presenter so difficult today, and I expected him to point at consolidation, budget cuts, or programming restrictions. Instead, he said something I hadn't considered: "The radio presenters themselves. They overthink everything." He walked me through how the word "content" changed the entire industry psychology. We went from DJs and presenters to content creators overnight

The tension between RSS and proprietary distribution models isn't just a technical debate — it's a philosophical one about who owns the relationship with the audience. Rob Greenlee pointed out something critical in this podcast episode: large platforms have been waging a slow, deliberate campaign to disrupt RSS because it doesn't give them control. RSS allows creators to publish once and distribute everywhere. That's powerful for creators — and threatening for platforms. Appl

Anthony McNutt didn't sleep well the night COVID sent everyone home. He is the senior imaging producer at Stingray Radio, and found himself sitting in his apartment with a blanket draped over his head — not out of despair, but necessity. The echo in his space made voicing commercials impossible without it. But here's what he did next: he asked a simple question. "Is there any reason I can't do what I do from home?" That question turned into a trial run. The trial run turned i

Jen Austin is the founder of Riply Media. We talked about how AI can actually strengthen local news rather than replace journalists. Jen walks me through her journey from a shy high school student in rural Nebraska to working at iconic stations like KZKX, later producing for The Dorsey Gang in Dallas, and reporting news on 9/11 with support from the CBS News network. We talk about the long, slow decline of newsrooms—layoffs, shrinking staffs, and the closure of CBS News Radio