“I found that COVID period really, really difficult, even though we were so essential to people. It took a lot of the joy out of doing what I do. So, this is a return to it in an even bigger fashion.”
—Robyn Bresnahan
Where do you find love when you’ve given up on online dating? What’s it like to live above the stadium at Lansdowne Park? How can Ottawa make snow removal better for everyone? CBC’s new podcast, This is Ottawa, takes the time to answer these questions and more.
This is Ottawa is hosted by Robyn Bresnahan, who also hosts CBC’s Ottawa Morning. I sat down with her recently to ask why we need the new podcast.
“It’s really meant to be a celebration of living in Ottawa,” Bresnahan says, “and there are so many smart, amazing, wonderful people who choose to call this place home and so it’s a celebration of that.”
“Now that my kids are getting to the age where they’re doing sports and stuff, I’m in different communities, and I realize I have no idea—what is that like? What is this community that’s being built like? I feel like it’s really good to get out into the community and also find new voices.”
“You can expect to hear different parts of the city, and different characters and different questions in every episode,” Bresnahan adds. “I hope that you’re going to hear—from week to week—a curiosity, meet new characters in this city.”
So, the podcast is about talking with people where they are, but is it really that different from in-studio radio interviews?
“I don’t know if you’ve ever come in and done a studio interview before,” Bresnahan says, “but it’s a really intimidating thing for a lot of people. It’s an environment where there are big lights because we have TV cameras in there … just the virtue of being somewhere that is so foreign to people, it can actually clamp them up a little bit.”
When it comes to in-studio radio shows, clamping up can affect hosts in a way as well. Bresnahan worked with the BBC for many years, where personal impartiality was key to reporting.
“You’re never sharing anything about yourself,” she explains of the BBC. “Radio in its natural form is an intimate thing … And I would say podcasting is one step even further because you’re listening, and a lot of people are listening on their earbuds. So, you’re walking with them.”
This is Ottawa is one of seven hyperlocal pilot podcasts across Canada, keen to take on the kinds of questions that pique the interest of our communities.
“The podcast drops on a Monday… You can find it wherever you get your podcasts and on the CBC Listen app and, if you hit the follow button, then the new ones pop up in your feed. You don’t have to go looking for them every week,” Bresnahan says.
Keep the Ottawa content flowing and check it out!
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