INSIDE STORIES People in Places Podcast

Photo Credit: Zahra SiddiquiDean Lobo (AKA Unlearn) shares his brilliant perspective on what it means to be queer, the importance of grace, and how play and rest are radical acts in a world bent on transactional productivity. This conversation is as warm and wonderful as Dean himself. It's a treasure of an episode and could be used in educational settings the world over. GUEST BIO: Dean is a queer, racialized settler and a soul searcher. His immigration to Canada opened doors for him to ...

Jeff Harry (AKA Uche) and I discuss the epidemic of loneliness, key contributors and potential solutions, the essential nature of play, and how it once stopped a war for a day. This episode is high energy and a bit of an intense ride. Buckle up! And stick around until the end, when Jeff shares two of his tried and true methods for welcoming play back into your life. Give them a try and let us know how you go. GUEST BIO: Jeff Harry combines positive psychology and play to heal workplaces...

This episode is dedicated to the family and friends of Michael Murray in his memory. Nikola Steer (AKA Paradise) talks about her roots in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood of Toronto, her passion for weaving together contrasting and complimentary aspects of art and the architecture of life, and her passion for play and wonder. GUEST BIO: Nikola Steer is a polyonymous and multidisciplinary artist with an ever-expanding practice in visual, performance, photography-based, and immersive ex...

Bobby Beckett [AKA Bobby Valen] (AKA Reef) explores the question, "Who are you?", the critical need for a reexamination of how public spaces are designed and used, and lessons gleaned from observing life under water. GUEST BIO: Bobby Beckett is Queer, Trans, born and raised in Toronto, a creative producer, production manager of live events, and community organizer whose life’s work is to bring people together in all kinds of interesting ways. In their spare time you will find them...

Annisha Lashand (AKA Bliss) talks about sacred internal places and her relationship with trees, her struggle with integrating dualistic aspects of Self, and the moment she knew the People of Reset were her people.GUEST BIO: Annisha Lashand is a writer, artist, and healer. She's served as the Director of Marketing for two (going on three) years on Reset's Collective. She loves to flirt with life by traveling, dabbling, and making new friends.::RESET is a non-profit social enterprise that addre...

Danila Stone (AKA Cloud) talks about their place of origin, trusting their instincts in their journey to Selfhood, and how they navigated the expectations of others while drawing their own roadmap. This conversation is, like Cloud, raw and real and at times hilarious. GUEST BIO: Danila Stone (they/them) is a multifaceted creative who explores and expresses their inner world and feelings of home and belonging through song, collage, writing, and ceramics. As an emerging artist, they enjoy...

Monika (AKA Plantain) discusses her lived experience as a third-culture kid—the daughter of a Russian mother and Nigerian father—the gift of belonging everywhere and nowhere, how seeing her multi-faceted self in the faces of Reset is what drew her in, and the way the Reset community helps fulfill her need for "Vitamin I". GUEST BIO: Monika is a vibrant, Black, mixed race, multilingual, cis woman who finds her place in intersections and in the margins. She was born on one continent...

Russell Winkelaar (AKA Spiff) discusses accessibility and the lack of it at all levels of society, simple solutions that could be immediately implemented, and the cost to society as a whole when the right voices are absent from the rooms in which accessibility decisions are made. In his gentle manner Russell offers perspective, humour, and humility. This is an important conversation and one from which everyone can benefit—for the sake of understanding and a more inclusive, and therefore bette...

Arwyn Carpenter (AKA Gorge) talks about how he figured out he was Trans, the challenges and liberation of living into his true identity, the joy derived from his recent foray into the art of Burlesque (Stage Name: Gorge Michael), the fluidity of gender, and breaking down the colonization of bodies. GUEST BIO: Arwyn is a Queer Trans dancer, writer, and teacher, committed to decolonized arts practice. He holds an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and taught for the Toronto Distri...

Genevieve Melito (AKA Rain) talks about her journey of self-discovery after some major life changes, the perils of conflating productivity with self-worth, why a fellow Resetter (Mars) likens her to a cartoon character, and how she (Rain) believes Reset is bound by magic.GUEST BIO: Genevieve Melito is currently on a search for self after completing her masters of management innovation and entrepreneurship and leaving her role with Queen’s University as a program manager. She is a co-cha...

Cover Photo Credit: Zahra Siddiqui, @the_invisiblemajoritye.m.lourde (AKA Duke) talks about music, courage, his connection to his faith and family, and his commitment to changing the collective narrative. You can find him on socials @e.m.lourde and on his YouTube channel: EMLOURDE. GUEST BIO: E.M. Lourde is a hip-hop musician born in St. Lucia; based in Toronto, Canada. Lourde uses music and film to tell stories that inspire black boys and girls to pursue their dreams. Lourde has collaborated...