Walking Radio

"Magic always comes at a price." Welcome to Walking Radio — a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices of people on the margins and the frontlines.This is a space where lived experience takes center stage, where stories are shared on their own terms, and where conversation happens in motion.In this second of a two part episode, I chat with Yasir—a harm reduction and HIV activist from Pakistan whose work to combat stigma has reached across the globe.Yasir and I strolled through the bustling streets of downtown Toronto on the beautiful evening of Tuesday, May 27, 2025 and made our way to the Lake Ontario waterfront near Sugar Beach. Please pull up an Adirondack chair and join us while we chat the sun down, overlooking Toronto Island.Let’s walk together and see what pathways to better understanding we find along the way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com

"Denial is not a solution." Welcome to Walking Radio — a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices of people on the margins and the frontlines.This is a space where lived experience takes center stage, where stories are shared on their own terms, and where conversation happens in motion.In this episode, I chat with Yasir—a harm reduction and HIV activist from Pakistan whose work to combat stigma has reached across the globe.Yasir and I strolled through the bustling streets of downtown Toronto on the beautiful evening of Tuesday, May 27, 2025. We made our way to the Lake Ontario waterfront near Sugar Beach, where we chatted the sun down, overlooking the Toronto Islands. We explored enough to fill two episodes—so please join Yasir and me as we head south on Mutual Street for Part 1 of 2.Let’s walk together and see what pathways to better understanding we find along the way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com

"The general public is going to be more upset with seeing more needles on the road than they are going to be seeing the bodies." In this episode of Walking Radio, we walk through Toronto’s Sherwood Park with Lee — a nurse whose career spans intensive care, psychotherapy, and substance use care across urban and northern Ontario. Together, we unpack the heartbreak, confusion, and urgency surrounding Ontario’s recent closure of supervised consumption sites.Lee brings not only deep clinical experience, but also a rare emotional clarity as we talk grief, stigma, housing, harm reduction, and the human cost of political decisions made far from the frontlines. From the widening gaps in care to the mythology of “tough love,” Lee shares why supervised consumption is about more than preventing death — it’s about protecting life in all its complexity.We talk about purple heroin, grief as a hidden epidemic, and why Narcan alone isn’t enough. We reflect on the lives lost — and why some deaths are considered grievable, while others pass in silence. Together, we ask: what does ethical care look like in the midst of an overdose crisis?This episode is a walk through memory, systems, and the invisible labour of compassion. It's also a record of connection — human-to-human — at a time when that’s never felt more vital. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com

"They chuck lavender in it."On March 22, I was walking through downtown Guelph when I met someone I’ll never forget.Rone is a butch-presenting trans woman with sharp wit, layered strength, and a quiet vulnerability that invites real conversation. She’s also someone who, like thousands of others across Ontario, depends on supervised consumption services—not just for safety, but as a vital access point to the kind of healthcare most people take for granted.We spent the day wandering the city, sharing stories. One week later, on March 28, we met up again to continue the conversation for Episode 2 of Walking Radio.In this episode, Rone talks candidly about what it means to navigate pain management as a trans person, the medical discrimination she’s faced, and the lifeline the Guelph Community Health Centre has been for her. Rone shares her own story with striking clarity, a story that echoes the experiences of thousands facing the looming threat of service cuts and supervised consumption site closures across the province.This conversation isn’t just about one woman or one site—it’s about how care, connection, and community are built from the ground up. It’s about what we stand to lose when we let political agendas erase the reality of people’s lives.Rone's voice is full of clarity and courage. I’m honoured to share it with you.Walking Radio is recorded on the move, in the elements, and in real time—bringing you into the shared space where stories unfold. No studio. No polish. Just presence.Thanks for walking with us. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com

"You don't get treatment if you're dead."On March 19, 2025, I had the honour of attending the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) Summit on Mental Health and Substance Use in Toronto — less than two weeks before the Ontario government's planned shuttering of supervised consumption and treatment services across the province.In this inaugural episode of Walking Radio, I speak with three nurses — each with unique connections to the toxic drug supply crisis — about the planned closures. Their reflections are shaped not only by their clinical expertise, but by their own lived experiences, community relationships, and long-standing commitments to health justice.This conversation isn’t just about policy. It’s about people — clients, friends, colleagues — and the consequences of silencing those on the frontlines.Walking Radio is a podcast dedicated to amplifying voices that often go unheard. We walk alongside workers, service users, and communities whose wisdom is too often ignored by those in power.This podcast will never accept advertising, sponsorship, or donations. It is independently produced and shared in the spirit of collective care.Together, we can find new pathways to care and kindness.Thank you for walking with us.The opinions and perspectives expressed by the nurses in this episode are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com