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The award-winning journalist and lawyer Karin Wells discusses her new book Women Who Woke Up the Law: Inside the Cases That Changed Women’s Rights in Canada (Second Story Press, 2025), with Joseph Planta. Women Who Woke Up the Law: Inside the Cases That Changed Women’s Rights in Canada by Karin Wells (Second Story Press, 2025). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Women Who Woke Up the Law Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.   Karin Wells joins me now. She’s just published a new book, Women Who Woke Up the Law: Inside the Cases That Changed Women’s Rights in Canada. In the book, you read some gripping stories about women integral to advancing rights in the country. Irene Florence Murdoch, Chantale Daigle, Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, are just some of the women in the book who faced injustice and sought remedy through the legal system. And what did the women in the book seek? Abortion rights, the right for half of matrimonial assets, whether a woman was a person, maternity leave benefits, are among just a few of the landmark decisions kicked off by women in this book. Unfortunately, for some the cases don’t go the way of those who initialised them, however a lot of them ended up cited in landmark decisions because the jurisprudence catches up. Karin, who joined me from Port Hope, Ontario nearly one month ago, also focuses on the future. She looks at the requirement and enforcement of Non-Disclosure Agreements, and the protracted dispute between Jan Wong and her former employer, the Globe and Mail, (which Jan writes about in her bestselling memoir Out of the Blue, which she appeared on the program with in 2012), as well as the Nygard situation, where thanks to NDA’s he managed to insulate himself, for a while at least. I’ll also get Karin to reflect on how we should not get so comfortable with rights we might have in our society, which are not always guaranteed, and which could be taken away with a change of government, like we’re seeing in the United States. Karin Wells is a lawyer and well-known for her work on CBC Radio. She’s one of the finest documentarians in the history of the public broadcaster. Her previous books include The Abortion Caravan: When Women Shut Down Government in the Battle for the Right to Choose, and More Than a Footnote: Canadian Women You Should Know. This new book, published by Second Story Press, is not just an important book, it makes for a terrific read, because Karin’s writing makes these stories come alive to great effect. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Karin Wells; Karin, good morning.  The post Karin Wells first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The writer and producer Heather Christie discusses the collection she’s edited LoveNotes! Real Stories. Real People. Real Love. (71st Street Books, 2024), with Joseph Planta. LoveNotes! Real Stories. Real People. Real Love. edited by Heather Christie (71st Street Books, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: LoveNotes! Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Heather Christie joins me now. The writer, producer and educator has recently published LoveNotes! Real Stories. Real People. Real Love. It’s a terrific collection of stories she sought from those seeking love, finding love, losing love, and experiencing love at various points in one’s life. Heather has raised two daughters, divorced, and experienced dating disappointment. She sought these stories and presented them in the live storytelling event LoveNotes!, which debuted in 2024 and sold out Off-Broadway, and expanded elsewhere. I’ll ask Heather if she gleaned any wisdom from the stories presented in the show and in this book. The book is hardly an instruction manual, as not everything works for everybody. For example, you’ll read stories about love at first sight, and there are a number of examples in the book. But there are also stories where people who’ve known each other for a while, even disliked one another, and yet eventually find there’s something between them. There are prompts and puzzles between the stories that make for breaks in the collection that also get the reader involved. You can write down your own thoughts, and or draw. I’ll ask Heather about the upcoming podcast that will involve LoveNotes! Heather Christie is the award-winning author of the Young Adult novels What the Valley Knows, and The Lying Season, and the producer/director of the storytelling show Listen to Your Mother NYC. Visit www.HeatherChristieBooks.com for more. The book is published by 71st Street Books. We spoke in February, with Heather joining me from New York City. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Heather Christie; Ms. Christie, good morning. The post Heather Christie first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The acclaimed author and journalist Omar El Akkad discusses his new book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (McClelland & Stewart, 2025), with Joseph Planta. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (McClelland & Stewart, 2025). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.   Omar El Akkad joins me again. The bestselling author and reporter has just published a new book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. It’s a powerful book, where the author chronicles how his own life fits within the narratives of the worlds he inhabits, as a son of immigrants, as a father, as a citizen, and whether it’s journalism in Canada, living in the United States, being a writer; he speaks truth to power. This book is described as a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in the heart of an empire that doesn’t consider you fully human. The title of the book is adapted from a tweet Omar put out in October 2023, three weeks after the bombardment of Gaza. Going back from then he reflects on his work as a journalist, a career he began in university just after September 11, 2001. He takes the timeline of then and now, and provides examples of how he views the West as no longer to be trusted to police the world, morally or otherwise. I’ll ask Omar about the writing of the book, and the conclusions he comes to, deeply personal ones that calls into question home, as well as electoral politics, the media, and what it means to be an artist. Omar El Akkad has reported from Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He’s been on the program in the past for his previous novels, American War, and What Strange Paradise. Both were bestsellers and critically acclaimed. This new book is published by McClelland & Stewart. We spoke one week ago, with Omar joining me from Toronto. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Omar El Akkad; Mr. El Akkad, good morning.   The post Omar El Akkad first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The tenor and concert producer Sam Champagne previews Twilight in Concert (at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, Friday, 14 March 2025), singing, music, and more, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.   Sam Champagne joins me now. He will be starring in a unique concert experience, Twilight in Concert. It’s this Friday night, 14 March 2025 at the Orpheum Theatre. The film-to-concert experience will feature the original Twilight movie, a live 12-piece band on stage, candles, and Mr. Champagne performing the iconic score. You’ve got the live music in perfect synchronisation with the full-length film, on a big screen in the legendary Orpheum. I’ll ask Sam about the Twilight movies, and the music, as well as how nostalgic everything is considering it’s been fifteen years since the original film was released. And I forgot that a number of keys scenes in the picture were shot in and around British Columbia. Visit https://www.twilightinconcert.com for tickets and information. Sam Champagne is a Canadian tenor and concert producer. His voice has been described as having “impeccable intonation, correct diction, expression and musicality.” He’s been touring the country in Twilight in Concert since 2024, and later in the year, he’ll headline the Symphonic Bond tour, as well as Frozen in Concert. Visit www.samchampagne.com for more. We spoke last week with Sam joining me from Montreal. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Sam Champagne; Mr. Champagne, good morning.  The post Sam Champagne first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The actor Derek Chan discusses the new production he’s starring in A Taste of Hong Kong (06-15 March 2025, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Derek Chan joins me again. He is starring in the world premiere of A Taste of Hong Kong, a new production from Pi Theatre in association with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. The play is written by Anonymous. I’ll ask Derek about why the playwright has chosen anonymity, which is especially interesting considering the politics in and around Hong Kong, and frankly, around the world at the moment. As the production’s director Richard Wolfe says, the show indirectly shines a light on the reality of self-censorship in Canada. I’ll also get Derek to reflect on the timeliness of this show, in light of the rise of authoritarianism not just around the world but next door. In the show, Derek’s character Jackie Z provides insight as to the history of Hong Kong from the colonial era to the present, and through food. We’ll discuss the tasty samples to be had at the show, and just how resilient the people of Hong Kong are, and have been throughout its history. The show begins in previews Thursday, 06 March 2025, opening the next evening, and runs until March 15th at the Vancity Culture Lab, 1895 Venables Street. Visit www.thecultch.com for tickets and information. Before we get to the interview that we taped ten days ago, I should like to note that Derek’s been on the program before about a show he’s performing in or one that he’s conceived. His work has always dealt with the personal and the political, and invariably the two are inseparable. In the past, in 2023 and 2021, we’ve talked about contemporary challenges that the people in Hong Kong face amidst a larger superpower right next door with other designs. The conversations are always timely with Derek, and unfortunately today, the talk about how to contend with questions of sovereignty and self-determination are not only timely but urgent. A Taste of Hong Kong also has a lot of heart and joy, as you’ll hear from Derek. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Derek Chan; Mr. Chan, good morning. The post Derek Chan first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The academic and writer Ira Wells discusses his new book On Book Banning (Biblioasis, 2025), with Joseph Planta. On Book Banning by Ira Wells (Biblioasis, 2025). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: On Book Banning The text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. The history of book banning is interesting enough, but in his new book, out today, Ira Wells takes a fascinating survey of literary censorship through the ages, and looks at the current efforts to ban books both emanating from the right, as well as the left. Libraries are seen by a lot of people as sites of contagion and exposure, and the front line as to what affects children’s minds, and so activists want to suppress opposing viewpoints in the pursuit of their ideological agenda. The arguments range from certain books causing harm because they promote social deviance, or harm can be had through racist language or non-inclusive narratives. The book opens with Mr. Wells, who joins me now, attending a public meeting regarding the books in his children’s school library. The librarian there wanted to do away with books that were written prior to 2008. I’ll ask Ira about the survey that happened, and why a greater role for parents should be played in the schools and libraries where their children learn. Ira Wells is a critic, essayist, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Globe and Mail, Guardian, and The New Republic, among many other publications. He was first on the program back in 2021 when his acclaimed biography Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life was published. On Book Banning is published by Biblioasis. We spoke in late January. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Ira Wells; Professor Wells, good morning. The post Ira Wells first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The dancer, actor, teacher and director James E. Hibbard discusses his new memoir Can’t Stop Dancing (BearManor Media, 2024), with Joseph Planta. Can’t Stop Dancing by James E. Hibbard (BearManor Media, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Can’t Stop Dancing Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.   For over sixty-five years now, James Hibbard has worked as professional dancer, singer, actor, director, writer and teacher. He can add writer to his many personal and professional achievements as he’s just published a new memoir, Can’t Stop Dancing. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and fell in love with the movies, especially the dancing. His parents notice his talent and skill, and nurture it with lessons two and a half hours away in Boise, Idaho. Soon, his mother takes him to Los Angeles for further study, and seeing Hollywood as he writes about it in the book, provides for a charming view into a company town in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Soon he gets his start in movies, dancing in the film version of Gypsy, starring Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. That’s followed by Bye Bye Birdie with Ann-Margret, a number of films with Elvis Presley, and Hello, Dolly! directed by his childhood idol Gene Kelly. Throughout there’s television work, as well as theatre and nightclubs. But he moves permanently to Vancouver in the 1970s, and soon a whole new life as well as professional vistas open for Jim and his family. Jim, who joins me now has worked with everybody, and it’s very tempting to just throw out a name and get his reaction or experience with some famed show business personality. But the book is more than just name-dropping. You get as sense of the hard work artisans like Jim go through when working in the glamourous business of show, in Hollywood especially at the height and the decline of the movie musical. We see in Canada how he rises with the increase in film and television production in Vancouver. In the book, we get that very Vancouver story of somebody who falls in love with the city the first time they arrive. That happened for Jim in the mid-1960s when he came to do a production of West Side Story produced by Hugh Pickett and directed by Aida Broadbent. On that run, he met his wife, Charlene Brandolini, who herself has deep roots in Vancouver history. I spoke to Jim last week, who joined me from his home in the Okanagan. This new memoir is published by BearManor Media. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Jim Hibbard; Mr. Hibbard, good morning.   The post James E. Hibbard first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The author and historian Nancy Marguerite Anderson discusses her recent book The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade (Ronsdale Press, 2024), with Joseph Planta. The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade by Nancy Marguerite Anderson (Ronsdale Press, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The HBC Brigades Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. One of the more interesting books of last year was The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade. It’s author Nancy Marguerite Anderson joins me now to talk about the book which is a lively recounting of the thousand-mile trails encountered by the brigades of the Hudson’s Bay Company. They would travel over mountains and through river crossings to reach isolated fur-trading posts. Ms. Anderson writes of the size of these brigades, and the challenges they would encounter amongst themselves and naturally, along the way. And Nancy’s book illustrates how formative these trails are to the shaping of the British Columbia we know today; as a lot of the highways or roads we know now follow a lot of these paths. Nancy Anderson is Métis and an accepted member of Métis Nation British Columbia. She is, as we’ll hear in the interview, descended from a North West Company voyageur. Visit her website at www.nancymargueriteanderson.com for more. This book is published by Ronsdale Press. We spoke in late December 2024. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Nancy Marguerite Anderson; Ms. Anderson, good morning. The post Nancy Marguerite Anderson first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The award-winning singer and songwriter Kellylee Evans previews her upcoming concert in New Westminster (Saturday, 16 February 2025), recovering her health, and more, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. Kellylee Evans joins me now. The JUNO Award winning singer and songwriter will be at New Westminster’s Anvil Theatre this Saturday, 15 February 2023. In fact, tomorrow night, she’ll be in Victoria Thursday night (13 February 2025), as part of nearly a dozen dates between now and late spring across Canada. Visit www.kellyleeevans.com for more. Whether she’s performing jazz or R&B or pop, Ms. Evans manages to perform widely and with such ease. I went on a deep dive through her discography on Apple Music the last week, and she brings energy and verve to every song she performs. She had to put her burgeoning career on hold in 2013 after experiencing a life altering lightning strike. Then concussions a couple of years later impeded her recovery and her return to the concert stage. Hers is a story of recovery that’s inspiring and helpful as she shares her path on the journey of self-care. I’ll ask her about her work, the music, these upcoming dates, and more. We spoke earlier this week, with Kellylee joining me from Ottawa. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Kellylee Evans; Ms. Evans, good morning. The post Kellylee Evans first appeared on thecommentary.ca.

The artistic director of Music on Main David Pay previews their Big Bang Festival at The Roundhouse, Sunday, 16 February 2025, with Joseph Planta. Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta: I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca. David Pay joins me again. The artistic director of Music on Main previews their Big Bang Festival, an adventurous music event for young audiences. It’s Sunday, 16 February 2025.  That’s Family Day weekend, and it’ll be a good time to get children aged five and up to The Roundhouse, where there’ll be all sorts of free activities like face painting, origami, and a bounce house that I’ll get David to tell us about. There’ll be concerts as well, with a ticket fee of only $5. Visit www.musiconmain.ca for information on the festival which stresses the importance of music for all ages, but especially for the young people in our lives. I’ll ask David about how important music was to his own upbringing, and how running an arts organisation like Music on Main has fared as we’ve come out of the pandemic. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, David Pay; Mr. Pay, good morning. The post David Pay first appeared on thecommentary.ca.