Podcast
Canada Reads Inspired
Hosted by Canada Reads Inspired · EN
Two friends -- one American, one Canadian -- who share a love for CBC’s Canada Reads and Canadian literature! https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads
38episodes
Episodes
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Interview - Kasia Van Schaik and Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius
Feb 2400:47:06Tap to summarizeRebecca is excited to chat with Dr. Kasia Van Schaik about her latest book, Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius, published on February 17, 2026 by Dundurn Books. https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459752627-women-among-monuments : A lyrical meditation on the enduring obstacles women artists and writers face in a world still unaccustomed to recognizing female genius. What does it take for a woman to don the mantle of genius — a title long reserved for male artists? From her studies in Montreal to a dead-end job in Berlin, a midnight tour of Paris, a bankrupt art residency on the Toronto Islands, and a mysterious sculpture garden in the Karoo desert, South African—Canadian author and professor Kasia Van Schaik considers what it means for a young woman to call herself an artist and claim a creative life. Drawing on a diverse web of literary and cultural sources and artistic icons — from Georgia O’Keeffe to Ana Mendieta, Gertrude Stein to Jamaica Kincaid, Leslie Marmon Silko to Bernadette Mayer — Women Among Monuments asks, What, beyond a room of one’s own, are the necessary conditions for female genius? Where does the inner flint of artistic permission come from? What is the oxygen that keeps it burning? In her memoir interwoven with incisive biographies of female solitude, constraint, and perseverance, Van Schaik blazes a trail for more inclusive artmaking practices, communities, and monuments. Books and Authors mentioned: The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Along by Olivia Lainy Ginny Ross series (Amelia Earhart) by Heather Stemp Voyage in the Dark; Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson https://www.unb.ca/faculty-staff/directory/arts-fr-english/van-schaik-kasia.html https://gillerprize.ca/scotiabank-giller-prize-spotlight-kasia-van-schaik/ https://www.instagram.com/kasia_writes https://electricliterature.com/why-i-left-men-for-books/
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Book Chat 32
Feb 1500:56:08Tap to summarizeRebecca and Tara both share a book in which the main character is seeking a return to community. And Tara brings more horror to the podcast! Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Anne of Windy Willows by L.M. Montgomery (British edition) Walls: Travels Along the Barricades by Marcello Di Cintio Patrick Bird Mysteries: Opposite Sully's Gym #2 (03-31-26); The Road to Heaven #1 by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard The Breakwater (04-26-26) by Leslie Shimotakahara The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History; Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined by David F. Walker; illustrated by Marcus Kwame Anderson Tara (@onabranchreads): Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby The Winter Witch by Jennifer Chevalier Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality: Stories; The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family by Lindsay Wong The Chorus Beneath Our Feet by Melanie Schnell Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin Definitely Thriving (03/17/26) by Kerry Clare If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com
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Interview - Tyler Hellard and Searching for Terry Punchout
Feb 1000:44:38Tap to summarizeRebecca welcomes Canadian Tyler Hellard, the author of Searching for Terry Punchout, a funny, heartwarming novel published in 2018 by Invisible Publishing that will be defended on CBC’s Canada Reads by Steve “Dangle” Glynn beginning April 13, 2026. (https://invisiblepublishing.com/product/searching-for-terry-punchout/?srsltid=AfmBOorr4I4nKSYii0VC97AkHUZzFN7b4XOqjmVDik46RSnQWhXeiC6B) : A 2026 CBC Canada Reads Selection Shortlisted for the 2019 Amazon Canada First Novel Award Shortlisted for the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Garden State meets King Leary in this slapshot debut novel. Adam Macallister’s sportswriting career is about to end before it begins, but he’s got one last shot—a Sports Illustrated profile about hockey’s most notorious goon, the reclusive Terry Punchout—who also happens to be Adam’s estranged father. Adam returns to Pennington, Nova Scotia, where Terry now lives in the local rink and drives the Zamboni. Going home means drinking with old friends, revisiting neglected relationships, and dealing with lingering feelings about his father and dead mother—and discovering that his friends and family are kinder and more complicated than he ever gave them credit for. Searching for Terry Punchout is a charming and funny tale of hockey, small-town Maritime life, and how, despite our best efforts, nothing can save us from becoming our parents. https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2026-contenders-9.7040200 https://tylerhellard.com/
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Interview - Marcello Di Cintio and Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers
Feb 600:39:16Tap to summarizeRebecca welcomes award-winning Canadian author Marcello Di Cintio for his third podcast visit to discuss his latest book, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, published by Biblioasis in September 2025. A Globe 100 Best Book of 2025 • One of The Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Books in 2025 • Winner of the 2024 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers/ In 2023, after weeks of investigation, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused, intimidated, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. In Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields, bathe our elderly, and serve us our Double Doubles, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance, resilience, and humanity, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity. Please check out Rebecca's previous interviews with Marcello: January 11, 2021 - Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine June 28, 2021 - Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers https://www.instagram.com/marcello.di.cintio/
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Alice Fitzpatrick and the Meredith Island Mysteries
Feb 100:34:13Tap to summarizeJoin Tara for a captivating interview with Alice Fitzpatrick and discover her connection with Carol Burnett and notable Canadian poet George Bowering. Alice is the author of the Meredith Island Mysteries, which include Secrets in the Water and A Dark Death. The Meredith Island Christmas Mystery, A Killing Cold, will be released June 2026. The traditional mystery appeals to Alice's fascination with what makes seemingly ordinary people commit murder. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, but dreams of a cottage on the Welsh coast. Books for your TBR: Ruth Galloway series; Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffiths Magpie Murders series; Moonflower Murders series; Marble Hall series by Anthony Horowitz Helen Dexter - Seaview Hotel series by Glenda Young Cait Morgan series; WISE Enquiries Agency series by Cathy Ace Christine Lane Mystery series by Dianne Scott https://www.alicefitzpatrick.com/ https://www.alicefitzpatrick.com/newsletter https://www.stonehousepublishing.ca/
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2026 CBC’s Canada Reads Short List
Jan 2300:24:24Tap to summarizeWith the announcement of the five titles and defenders, Rebecca and Tara make their predictions for the winner of the 25th Anniversary edition of CBC's Canada Reads! Per the CBC website: "This year's edition will air April 13 to 16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Listen, CBC Gem and CBC Books. It will also be on YouTube and available as a podcast." https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2026-contenders-9.7040200 The defenders, titles, and authors: Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com
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Book Chat 31
Jan 2200:43:56Tap to summarizeRebecca and Tara are back with Book Chat #31. Included are the books they are currently reading as well as their first recommendations of the New Year! Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Patrick Bird Mysteries: Opposite Sully's Gym #2; The Road to Heaven #1 by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson The Breakwater; Sisters of the Spruce by Leslie Shimotakahara To Touch the Water; The Solace of Open Spaces; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning by Gretel Ehrlich Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers; Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers; Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense by Marcello Di Cintio Tara (@onabranchreads): Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #20: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien; The Wintermen trilogy by Brit Griffin The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig How about This by Michael Mirolla If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com
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Hidden Gems with Garnett Kilberg Cohen
Jan 1400:20:05Tap to summarizeWelcome to the podcast's first Hidden Gems episode of 2026! This is a special feature Rebecca and Tara offer in which they invite guests to recommend authors or titles that may be new to their listeners. Today’s guest is author and retired professor Garnett Kilberg Cohen from Chicago, IL. Garnett is the author of four short story collections: Cravings; Lost Women, Banished Souls; How We Move the Air; and Swarm to Glory. Her chapbook, Passion Tour, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker online, Rumpus, The Gettysburg Review, Witness, The Literary Review, StoryQuarterly, The Antioch Review and elsewhere. Check out Rebecca's interview with Garnett on Feb 13, 2024: https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-garnett-kilberg-cohen-and-cravings/ Garnett's Hidden Gems: The Registry of Forgotten Objects: Stories by Miles Harvey Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Down the Steep by A.D. Nauman The Adventures of Cancer Bitch by S.L. Wisenberg French Girl by Jesse Lee Kercheval Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel You've Told Me Before by Jennifer Moses Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway https://garnettcohenauthor.com/ https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/06/06/review-of-jesse-lee-kerchevals-french-girl-by-garnett-cohen/
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Interview - Emily A. Weedon and Hemo Sapiens
Sep 2400:22:47Tap to summarizeTara chats with Emily Weedon, a Canadian author and screenwriter, currently living in Toronto. Her web series Chateau Laurier was the most awarded web series in 2023 and won a Canadian Screen Award. Her debut novel Autokrator reimagines gender and power in society against the backdrop of a dystopian world. Her new novel, Hemo Sapiens, will be released into the world on September 30, 2025 from Dundurn Press. It is an erotic noir thriller that reimagines vampires through a lens of female sexuality and anthropology. Books mentioned for Currently Reading: The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgård The Problem with Having a Body by Jessica Popeski All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety by David A. Robertson Runs in the Blood by Matthew J. Trafford https://toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca/ https://emilyweedon.com/ https://www.instagram.com/emily.weedon.creates/ https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-emily-a-weedon-and-autokrator/
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Interview - Jen Sookfong Lee and The Hunger We Pass Down
Sep 1800:20:11Tap to summarizeTara speaks with Canadian author Jen Sookfong Lee regarding her latest novel, The Hunger We Pass Down, which is available September 30, 2025 from Erewhon Books. Jen was born and raised in Vancouver's East Side and now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her memoir, Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, was a finalist for the 2024 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award, was named a best book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books Canada, and was a Today Show recommended read. Jen is also the author of The Conjoined, long listed for the International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Books Award; The Shadow List; and Finding Home. In addition to writing, Jen also acquires and edits books for ECW Press. Recommended titles: Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert Variations on a Dream by Angelique LaLonde http://sookfong.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jensookfonglee/
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