Alberta Podcast Network
‘Makeshift Stories’ takes you on a journey into the improbable
Sometimes you want to plug in and escape to another world. If that’s your state of mind, Makeshift Stories is here for you.
This long-running podcast offers original speculative fiction, sci-fi and fantasy stories about space, time, alternate realities, alternate histories, the near future and the unexplained. Each episode is written by Alan V Hare, the pseudonym of Vern Hume, who started by making up bedtime stories for his son, and ended up sharing those stories with all of us via his podcast.
“I wanted to create a vehicle to explore various contemporary issues around technology, society and culture in a form that would appeal to a broad age range,” he says. He recently celebrated his show’s 10th anniversary, which is a long time in podcast years!
Let’s learn a little more about the creative force behind Makeshift Stories
Q. Why should people listen to your show?
A. Hopefully to be entertained and at the same time gain a sense of wonderment about the world.
Q. What is the most interesting comment you’ve ever received from a listener?
A. “Very enjoyable, and thought-provoking stories. I think Rod Serling would be impressed.”
Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents that may surprise your listeners?
A. I was a media/visual artist when I was younger and have work in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Q. What’s on your playlist right now?
A. Starship Sofa, Clark’s World, Escape Pod, Make Me Smart, TWIT, This Week in Google, DTNS (Daily Tech News Show), The Feed, IRL.
Q. If you have a co-host, how did you meet and how long have you known each other?
A. I have a narrator, Mitchell Tew. He is a friend of my son and I’ve known him since he was eight years old. He took performing arts in high school, but didn’t pursue it after graduating. I brought him on board to narrate as a creative outlet for him and to encourage his creative side.
Q. What has been your favourite episode so far and why?
A. Hard to say – I have favourites at different points in time. Although it may not be an audience favourite, I would probably pick 77: The Return of Doctor Plastic. This was based on a late-night conversation with a friend 30 years ago and is kind of an ode to their creative spirit.
Be sure to connect with Makeshift Stories on Twitter or Facebook.
Over the next several weeks, Todayville will introduce you to members of the Alberta Podcast Network, so you can invite even more Alberta-made podcasts into your ears! Find Makeshift Stories and dozens of other shows at albertapodcastnetwork.com.
About Alberta Podcast Network
The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB, is on a mission to:
- Help Alberta-based podcasters create podcasts of high quality and reach larger audiences;
- Foster connections among Alberta-based podcasters;
- Provide a powerful marketing opportunity for local businesses and organizations.
Alberta Podcast Network Ltd. is pursuing this mission with funding from ATB Financial and support from other sponsors.
If you’re interested in looking after yourself a little better — and who isn’t? — Healthy Lifestyle Design provides an easy and pleasant step in the right direction.
This is a podcast featuring Janet and Pamella Heikel, a mother and daughter who believe “it takes only a single step to make a positive change in your life: body, mind, and soul.”
Every two weeks, they have frank, intergenerational conversations about health and wellness, grounded in their own experiences. They also offer tips and suggestions, and the episodes often end with a few minutes of guided meditation, to send you into the rest of your day in a more relaxed frame of mind.
Each episode features not only useful insights, but also just the pleasure of hearing two people with a deep love and respect for each other.
Let’s learn a little more about the women of Healthy Lifestyle Design:
Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?
A. Perhaps inspiration, feeling connected to a community, solutions to their health and wellness challenges, a different point of view.
Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want?
A. Janet would want Oprah for sure, just to have the chance to talk to her about how they both are very determined women who don’t let anything hold them back! Pamella would want Peter Rollins. He is a co-host of The Fundamentalists podcast and a modern-day philosopher from Ireland. We would talk about God, religion, and the human condition, while sipping gin.
Q.What podcasts do you listen to?
A. Rob Bell’s The RobCast; You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes; The Fundamentalists; Armchair Expert; Bliss and Grit; Conversation with Alanis Morissette; SuperSoul Conversations; Serial; Under the Skin with Russell Brand; Move Your DNA; The Living Experiment.
Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents?
A. Pamella is a poet (something she doesn’t always talk about but would define herself as solely). Janet is ambidextrous.
Q. Write your own epitaph — what would it say?
A. Pamella: I loved and lived deeply and died passionately.
Janet: I came. I saw. And lived it ALL my way.
Q. What has been your favourite episode and why?
A. Episode 75, Samskara: We got a lot of traction with this topic from listeners. We talked about what this word/idea is and how it shows up in our life. It finds its way into almost all of our episodes. The idea of repeating habits and patterns; stored energy; clinging to life that is always changing. It was a great conversation.
Click to listen to ‘Samskara’
Be sure to connect with the show through Pamella on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and Janet on Instagram.
Over the next several weeks, Todayville will introduce you to members of the Alberta Podcast Network, so you can invite even more Alberta-made podcasts into your ears! You can find Healthy Lifestyle Design and dozens of other shows at albertapodcastnetwork.com.
About Alberta Podcast Network
The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB, is on a mission to:
- Help Alberta-based podcasters create podcasts of high quality and reach larger audiences;
- Foster connections among Alberta-based podcasters;
- Provide a powerful marketing opportunity for local businesses and organizations.
Alberta Podcast Network Ltd. is pursuing this mission with funding from ATB Financial and support from other sponsors.
If you’re looking for advice and inspiration from someone who walks her talk, look no further than Girl Tries Life.
Host Victoria Smith provides women with “the tools, strategies and inspiration to live their best lives.” And she knows whereof she speaks.
Her podcast recently passed the 100-episode mark, which is all the more impressive when you know she had a toddler son when she started, and gave birth to her daughter last year. Plus she has spun her work off into a business, called Stress Less Ladies, which has been accepted into the ATB X incubator.
Girl Tries Life alternates between interviews with women who are living incredible lives and continue to strive for more, and coaching episodes to tackle specific challenges that Smith has observed and sometimes lived through herself.
Let’s learn a little more about empathetic, knowledgeable host of this show:
Q. What will people get out of listening to your podcast?
A. Inspiration from the badass women that I interview. And every coaching episode provides a tangible tool, skill or mindset shift to help them with their daily challenges.
Q. If you could have any guest on your show, who would you want and why?
A. Catherine Reitman, the creator of Working Moms. It’s an incredibly funny show, she’s whip-smart, and I think her perspective on how women can move up in the workforce even when their resumes don’t reflect it would be incredible.
Q. What podcasts do you listen to?
A. Pod Save America, HPX, Rise Podcast, Rise Together, Rise Without Compromise, Armchair Expert, Here to Make Friends
Q. Do you have any unusual hobbies or talents?
A. Does podcasting count? Also, avoiding piles of Lego and other small sharp toys my son leaves on the floor.
Q. Write your own epitaph — what would it say?
A. It’s not about the achievements, it’s about putting in the effort and enjoying the journey.
Q. What has been your favourite episode and why?
A. So hard to choose! Probably one of my favourites would have been when I interviewed Bryony Gordon to talk about mental health. She is someone who I have so respected, and is so well known in her field. I’d say she was my “big fish” of interviewees.
Be sure to connect with Smith on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Over the next several weeks, Todayville will introduce you to members of the Alberta Podcast Network, so you can invite even more Alberta-made podcasts into your ears! You can find Girl Tries Life and dozens of other shows at albertapodcastnetwork.com.
About Alberta Podcast Network
The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB, is on a mission to:
- Help Alberta-based podcasters create podcasts of high quality and reach larger audiences;
- Foster connections among Alberta-based podcasters;
- Provide a powerful marketing opportunity for local businesses and organizations.
Alberta Podcast Network Ltd. is pursuing this mission with funding from ATB Financial and support from other sponsors.
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