Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Amanda Cupido: Toronto Mike'd #1006

Episode Date: March 1, 2022

In this 1006th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by Director of Talk & Talent at 640 Toronto Amanda Cupido as they chat about her podcasting background, her mandate at 640 Toronto, recent on-air changes there, future changes and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and RYOBI Tools.

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is Director of Talk and Talent at 640 Toronto, Amanda Cupido. Hi. Welcome, Amanda. How you doing? Good. How are you? Like, I'm so psyched to meet you, it's quite the honor and you might know I'm rather interested in how the sausage gets made, particularly. I know, no I'm happy to be here, I've listened to your show for a while so it's a great honor. Okay, look that changes things now, It's softer touch now. You're a big fan.

Now, you know, I love radio and I love knowing how that, you know, cake gets baked. But like what's really exciting me is that you have a podcasting background. Yeah. Like it's... Tell me about that. It's interesting because I also think that I'm not the typical hire for like a program director, this kind of role. And I'm glad that they even considered me given that I left talk radio world for a bit there,

but yeah, I have loved podcasting for a very long time. I was making them even while I was a student at Ryerson more than 10 years ago and starting, you know, starting conversations, explaining what is a podcast. And so I've been making them all the while and kind of on the side, off the side of my desk while I worked in radio. But yeah, it really took a boom. I really saw the industry shift in Canada probably around 2016, 2017, it started getting taken very seriously. So this was like an audio nerd's dream come true. I'm just so happy we're here now. And yeah, so I run my own podcasting business called Lead Podcasting. Okay. Cause I do that too. So it's like, I was looking into you and I saw your website and I'm

like, okay, she's like, she's got her own TMDS. Yeah, we do. But that's why our minds are in the same space. But you, here you are. And I mean, the title, I read it in the intro there, but the official title is Director of Talk and Talent at 640 Toronto. But that's just a fancy way of saying program director, right? Am I right? That's right. Yeah. Okay. Which I know is confusing for people in the industry. But so that's just a fancy way of saying program director, right? Am I right? That's right. Yeah. Okay. Which I know is confusing for people in the industry. So that's why I say both. Okay.

But you had a radio background. You mentioned it briefly there. But before you became a podcasting person, which is what I consider myself, you had a radio background. Yes. Which, I mean, you know, the mediums are so intertwined though. There are best practices that go for each individual medium and don't really cross over, but I started in talk radio at New Stockton 10 CFRB made the rounds there worked as a producer and a news anchor and a reporter. And I did sports like I really got involved. But and yeah, and I've always loved radio on audio storytelling. And then the podcasting piece was always there.

And I then went full force into it with the company. But now my company kind of I've stepped away. I'm just an advisor and I'm full force back into radio at 640 Toronto. And I'm full force back into radio at 640 Toronto. Okay. Obviously, I need to know, like, did you apply for a job at 640 Toronto? Or did somebody tap you on the shoulder and say, hey, Amanda, we like what you're doing with the podcast. We'd like to talk to you about, you know, working here. Like, how did you end up at 640?

Yes. Well, it. Yes, all of the above. I did. I know. I did get tapped on the shoulder I did um but it's great because well I love podcasting and I was ready to keep going in that sphere it's it still really excites me um and I know 640 had been looking looking for um looking to fill this position for a while actually and the person who was in the role before me was also Jeff story. Great guy. Also overseeing CHML and Hamilton. And so that's why there wasn't this immediate need for, um, this position to get filled. I think they

were really looking for the right person. I'd like to say that. And then when the opportunity, so yeah, many people in the industry will know that they were having lots of conversations with people for months. And, um, then the conversation was, was, was, was me and, and I think it was a good fit on both ends. And so, yeah, I was, it happened very quickly. We had a conversation. I got tapped. I was, uh, interested, but not completely sold. I had some great conversations with management at Chorus, which very quickly made me decide that this was an opportunity I really did want to pursue. And here I am.

Okay, look, I'm a little jealous as we, you know, continue our chat because I never get tapped on the shoulder. Like my shoulders are untapped. I would have always said that too. Honestly, I'm like one day, look, okay, look, this is a bit of a humble brag here because I'm just gonna I just feel like interrupting our program I'm just gonna read read the paper thank you know that so those who are listening on the podcast which is most people I'm holding up

the front section of the together section of the the Toronto Star on Sunday and I'm on this thing maybe I'll get a tap next week after my Toronto star exposure. But I was never the one to get to get tapped like this either. OK, so when it happens to you, you'll just hop over to the other side, you know, like if I get that tap, I might just like I just want to have the opportunity to say no. You know what I mean? Like just, you know, yeah, you know, give me a chance. And I did. There were a couple others. Most recently for me, there was a couple of opportunities that were floated my way and I did say no. So this was not like, oh, first time I'm reached out to, you know, reaching a deal with Chorus. So you're not allowed, as I understand it, you're not allowed to actually use the slide that's in Chorus Key there.

You know, I asked this, but I got more of an answer that it just like wasn't cool to use the slide. No, no, I heard. I heard. Let me give you some real talk here. No, no, I heard, I heard, let me give you some real talk here. Okay. Okay. Early, shortly after it opened, I understand somebody hurt themselves using the slide. And you know what it's like with liability. Yeah.

Liability. You understand now that you're in management there. They said it's not worth the risk. And now it's just like to like to, to see not to use. You know what? I'm, I'm been shaking some things up at course. so maybe this will be one thing i add to my list all right let's get into it uh first i need to uh compliment you further so that you get warmed up and then you let your guard down and then i can strike okay so i have it when i said amanda cupido is coming on the show right away. Linda, who's a great FOTM. She said, amazing.

She's great. Oh, came in from Linda. And then FOTM Evelyn Mako wrote me a note. She's lovely. A sponge for knowledge to be better. When she was in North Bay, she would send me her newscasts to ask for tips.

She's clever, not conniving. I have all the time in the world for tips. She's clever, not conniving. I have all the time in the world for her. Love Evelyn Mako. Bless her heart for saying that. I actually sent her a text. I saw her tweet that. I sent her a text afterwards.

I know. I like it. I mean, I just had Mike Cooper on last week, and we were talking about Evelyn as well, because I'm a little older than you, and I used to hear her on 680 cftr so macco's a big macco's a great fixture here but uh now that i've warmed you up uh you know you're a podcaster you know you had a podcasting business you got the tap on the shoulder you're director

of talk and talent at 640 so right off the top before we get into some of the details what is the difference between podcasting and a radio as we chat here in March 2022 in my opinion I think that radio the secret sauce to radio is that it's live and you have engagement from people and this might change your podcasting as tech evolves but for now that's like the biggest differentiating factor and radio is still very regional in its jurisdictions and the rules and regulation and in its physical broadcast and yeah we stream online but we still know most people physically listen over over our radio you know um so um and podcasting is more global i think there's um a lot of rule breaking happening and and medium defining which is cool the boundaries are being pushed because tech allows it to be and radio we do have a little bit more constraints with time

time is a big thing for radio podcasting doesn't exist um and um and i just think that the medium as a whole okay my dog is going to join us no that's okay this is simmy okay hello still sit with us but yeah and i think podcasting you know and it's available on demand you download it when you want and you can listen when you want and a lot of the content tends to be very evergreen and that's not necessarily the case for radio i don't know there's a meandering answer no no i'm hearing you and i'm listening closely because again we're uh like-minded in many ways i think and i agree with you on one in one regard which is the live part i mean podcast by definition can't be live sure Sure, you can live stream, but it's by definition, it can't actually be live to be a true podcast.

And the, but what I, where I disagree with you is on the local part, because you're on a show right now called Toronto Mic'd. Yes, I know, but it can be local, but it's not, it's not, we know that local leans more to traditional radio and global leans more to the podcasting audiences. But I actually really am a fan of local podcasts because I think there's a lot of niches that are not served over radio.

And that's where podcasts can fill that gap. But just the lean, it leans that way right now. And the governing bodies are very different. That's the biggest thing. Oh, that's a big one. That's a big one. So, but in a lot of those points, you're pointing out like the fact that, uh, you know, on, on six 40, you have, you have to stop down for ad breaks and it's not on demand. And there's a time constraint. Like a lot of these, as I hear you talk, it really makes it sound like, Oh, podcasting is the way to go. So like, I'm curious, what is the podcast strategy at six 40 now that you're there? Well, I got to redo it. That's the thing for 640

specifically. I think this is why they wanted to bring me in because, um, yeah. And maybe that sounds negative to radio and I don't, I really don't see it that way. I think it's, you have to understand what, what arena you're playing in and then you got to maximize given the variables around you and knowing what can be pushed and changed. So podcast strategy at 640, I think right now, I mean, we have a brilliant podcast network, Curious Cast, award winning and has a bunch of shows that are fantastic. But we're seeing a gap, I think, with how we include what we do on the radio within the network and as podcasts. include what we do on the radio within the network and as podcasts. And previously, we'd be packaging shows and putting them up as individual show podcasts. And I think there's a lot of room to redefine that, look at that closely and develop something that's really

going to shake things up in both the radio and podcast space. Like, as you know, since you've listened to a couple of episodes of Toronto Mic'd along the way, you know, I like to keep track of what's happening in the GTA radio scene. And not too long ago, the 590, most of that 590, the fan 590 lineup kind of changed. And it sort of became what I call like a series of podcasts that are recorded live on the radio. You know what I mean? Like, so these are like, so then you come on and I'm wondering if that's the future of 640, like similarly to what they've done on 590, where you sort of, you record your podcasts live on the radio. I don't have that in the plans in the immediate, but I am at right now just evaluating everything,

looking closely at it. And I don't think that's why I didn't come in with a big master plan and, and, um, idea to blow everything up. I came in really open and I have some vision, big picture visions, but, um, I think it's really important for us to look at what's happening around us, look at what's successful and then pick apart what works and how we can define it as our own. We already have podcasts that air, obviously, as a show, the Curious Cast Podcast Hour on the weekends. up the most immediate thing on my on my mind is how can we continue to make great talk radio but also make a great podcast that's not necessarily just taking the show off the air and throwing it up afterwards and calling it a podcast and how long you been there i started just after the new year so jan 4 is my first day wow okay so i can't okay so you're you're relatively uh you're you're fresh meat over there okay yeah so okay so uh we know you're pro podcast because of

your background and i look forward to seeing you know how how the podcast strategy at 640 evolves uh while you're there but predating your arrival uh there was a rebrand there so uh for a while i don't know how long but for a couple years or so 640 was known as global news radio yeah because i would always call it gnr because of course you know i love guns and roses so yeah gnr 640 and it seemed like there was a like a like a movement there to align closer to the TV brand of global news, etc., etc. But then suddenly, maybe this is related to your arrival. You'll tell me in a minute, but they rebranded it now at 640 Toronto. So do you have any insight into why the change of heart with regards to the global news branding there?

Yeah, I can talk about that. This was in the works of happening while I was being brought on and then rolled out to 640 Toronto in my first month of being there. So really, the relationship with global is still quite strong. And we're still going to have reporters from global TV on on the radio side. Like that partnership is still definitely alive and well, I think it was more so to avoid confusion from listeners. I think people were getting really confused when they heard global news radio, they assume that all of our talk hosts were journalists. And as they started to give opinions and have right their own ideas it was really causing confusion and um and we really did it in a way to just draw the line clearly our our newscast still at the top

of our hours our global news and that is because that newsroom is connected to the tv side a newsroom is the newsroom and then our hosts our talk hosts we want them to have opinions. And we just wanted to kind of clearly define that. And that wasn't just in Toronto. That was a Canada-wide decision to rebrand. It makes sense to me because the biggest difference between what you hear on 640, your station, and let's take, for example, 680. Is that 680 is a news station and it's delivering news. But 640 is a talk station. Right. So this is where, you know, a Greg Brady, John Oakley or whatever, they're going to share their opinions on different matters.

And you don't want to like pollute those waters, I suppose, of opinion versus, you know, news. Exactly. And we take our news really seriously and we just wouldn't want people to be exactly getting confused or muddying the waters. Yeah, gotcha. And the reason I brought up 680 is because subsequent like so between the changes of heart at 640 where so you've gone global news radio. And then they, of course, rebranded as well to align themselves with the television news arm like becoming city news 680 so it's interesting they went there and then you reverse course and decided but theirs makes sense because they're full news well that's exactly what i'm saying right that's exactly what i'm saying that's where it makes sense for 680 versus 640 okay i have a question from uh elicitor who goes by the handle be tailored and i'm curious as well but but be tailored would like me to ask you,

what guidelines were given to you about the direction of the company? No, sorry, I better read this properly, Mike. What guidelines were given to you about the direction the company wants to move forward with, Amanda? Yeah, well, I think in our exploratory calls, we were just kind of batting around ideas. And I think they didn't give me strict guidelines. I think in our exploratory calls, we were just kind of batting around ideas. And I think they didn't give me strict guidelines. I think it just so happened that what they were saying, what I was saying was lining up organically, which was why I was put in this position. And ultimately, that was to redefine talk radio in Canada. A tall ask.

find talk radio in Canada, a tall ask, but we wanted to have a more balanced station with a wide variety of guests. We wanted to incorporate digital in a more meaningful way. We wanted to be, um, you know, just broadening what we do and pushing boundaries and breaking out of some of the traditional talk radio molds and really looking closely and critically and question assumptions about what we're doing and why. And we want to move away from having really angry radio. We want to move away from hanging up on callers. We wanted to create a station where people would tune in and feel like they were learning something and walking away feeling heard. And even if they don't agree with the host, feeling that the host handled the topic in a really respectful way. And so that's, we've done deep research in all of this too. So we're backed

by some strong strategy, which is exciting. No, it's all very exciting. It's absolutely. But just a quick follow-up from B. Taylor. And I'm curious about this as well. I like these questions from B. Taylor. He knew what my answer would be? Okay. Well, it's tied to the, he wants to know, do you, like, so Amanda Cupido,

do you have like hiring and firing powers? Like, are you there to make suggestions to management and then they make those calls? Like, and it's? Like, are you, are you there to make, uh, suggestions to management and then they make those calls? Like, and it's how much can you reveal about the, the great powers you would have there at 640? Well, I mean, just like any program director. Yeah. I have those powers, I guess, if you want to call them that. Um, but there was no mandate of, of me being given, like, you got it, you got to cut 10 people, figure it out. It's definitely a negotiation. And I'm also not making these decisions in a silo or in isolation.

I am reviewing what's going on and then working with management and then putting forward plans that we think will help make the station successful. And you know this well, but with great power comes great responsibility. Oh, I know. I think about it all the time. Wow. Okay. Love this. And by the way, kudos to you for being here. I think that these sometimes people in your position don't want to come on Toronto, Mike. Not that I'll be unfair or hit below the belt, because I won't. I'll be very, you know, I'll be very respectful, etc. But etc but like you know the fact that you're gonna face all these questions from me for the next uh several hours Amanda is kind of awesome so kudos to you it's great well and kudos to Chorus they're the ones who really encouraged it so I'm yeah I'm happy why is it that again kudos to Chorus because

this is the second time in recent memory that Chorus was really behind a Chorus person being on Toronto Mic. The first time was Farah Nasser came into my backyard last summer, and we had a great chat. And I should point out, Chorus never tells me anything about what I can ask or what I can do. They just sort of, like, bless it, I suppose. But I have, like, there are competitors, Chorus competitors,

mainly Bell media who who like literally i'll make a request to speak to somebody in bell media news and they'll say you are not allowed to speak to this person who's under our employee and i've never understood it like it just blows my mind that these people are not allowed to come on toronto mic it doesn't make sense to me at all yeah i agree I agree. So kudos to Chorus. Yeah. All right. You mentioned that, you mentioned the word angry. You said angry. Now, that's sort of a segue. And I'm just going to ask about a few voices that are, this is way before you got there. Well, one of them's not way before you got there, but

the few people that would have been heard on like 640 over the last few years that you will not hear on 640 anymore. One of the most recent one, I suppose, is Peter Sherman. So do you have any insight into, and I mean, I had Peter on since then. And you might have listened. Did you listen to Peter Sherman on Toronto Mike? No, I should have listened to that episode, I guess. I did not listen to that one.

Because we played the clip that, you know, got him in trouble. And then we discussed, you know, the fallout and everything. But he was not, I should point out from an HR perspective, Peter Sherman was like a fill-in guy, which I'm sure makes things easier. But Peter's not heard anymore since then. And a couple of other voices that you don't hear one would be like a loose skeezes and then there's a sue ann levy and it does you know is that all part of like being less angry combative well i don't want to put words in your mouth but

is that is that is this all kind of trying to make it more of a of a fair conversation and less uh you know dashboard dashboard pounding am talk radio so i think those all those decisions were made before me so i have no gossip or behind the scenes intel on what went down on those um but i just think overall we are moving towards that direction and so i think we're we've been probably slowly positioning ourselves that way and although i can't get into i don't know the specifics of all of these cases it wouldn't surprise me if this was all just part of this vision which was set out you know before me no fair like i said well before your time there but yeah but listen to that. It's a second appearance by Peter Sherman on Toronto Mic'd because I feel like as PD of 640, it might be

worth your while to. Okay, thank you. I will. I'll check it out. Thank you so much. Okay, now, FOTM Jean Valaitis sent in a note and just said, and this is just, I'm just reading this for fun because we're not in the same era. And we can to that as well but gene volaitis writes uh a chat i challenged the morning show on 640 to beat the jesse and gene ratings or to even come close it will never happen so gene volaitis is sort of i guess that's a challenge to greg brady to i know i was about to say we should i know you've had greg on too i'm sure greg would have a bone to pick with him as well but go ahead i think the morning show is is an excite it's exciting the morning show it's fresh it's new it's still yet to be fully defined and

so let's see what happens uh i don't know you know and and if you're talking percentage of whole then that's fine because it's the pie might be shrinking, but percentages is a percentage. But in terms of ears, you know, Jesse and Jean were on the radio in this market before the Internet. So it's to me, it's, you know, the Internet's a game. Like, would you say? It's different. Yeah. Yeah.

Go ahead. No, well, I guess I was going to say it's different. And so it's not you. Go ahead. No, well, I guess I was going to say it's different. And so it's not, you're definitely not comparing apples to apples, but there's also so many other elements that are going to contribute to what we deem as success for the station. And it will include digital elements and all of these other things

that they also didn't have. And so it'll be more, it'll be beyond just the numbers of the ratings. You know, there's more to it. Let's address, okay, so I did open up for questions, as I always do when there's a guest coming on, and a number of people who I would consider to be, like, legacy 640 listeners, like people who, some have been listening for, like, 21 years. So I got a number of a similar, I'm going to just read a few of them,

but you'll get the vibe very quickly. Sure. PT players wants to know, uh, ask her when staff is coming back. It's not the same since he left staff. Of course is Mike Stafford, who was there before Greg Brady as morning show host.

Jeremy Scott said, uh, since I had faithfully listened for years since the mojo days and was a huge Stafford fan, I'd lovefully listened for years, since the Mojo days and was a huge Stafford fan, I'd love to know, I'd love her to know that I've tried to stay loyal, but struggle greatly. And most days I find myself tuning out and finding a pod.

Then there's live in Lakefield who says, I would ask as a faithful listener since 2001, why should I listen to 640 with Stafford and Sherman gone? You know, both reasons for their dismissals were bullshit. That's live in Lakefield who's saying that, not Toronto Mike, by the way. So I guess maybe Amanda, just speak to the fact that,

you know, when people have a station, and I know this from my own personal experience listening to radio, when you have a station and you enjoy a personality, they become a bit like family. They're in your car with you. You know, they become a bit like family. Like they're in their, they're in your car with you. You know, they're, they're, you know, they, they're part of your lives. And then when they're no longer part of your lives, it can be,

it could be a rather like traumatic and stressful. Yeah. Like, so how many, I'm wondering when people find out you're at 640 and, you know, you'll get, you'll hear from a lot of people who loved Mike Stafford because he was there for so damn long. He's there since Mojo launched. What do you say to the people who just want it to stay the same? Yeah, well, you kind of set me up there.

Is that like it just can't stay the same, unfortunately? And unfortunately, change is tough for people. And I think this happens every time a host, especially a morning host leaves a station. There's always going to be people that miss them and send these kinds of messages. And it's tough. I don't you know, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. I think we all know it. It's hard and there will always be fans and that's just always the case. But in this instance, we are really trying to redefine talk radio and we are going to be shifting. And I hope that people stay tuned long enough to see if they like it. And

that's what I ask. Give us a chance. Keep listening to see. And maybe it won't be for them. And hey, that's OK. We we can't be for everyone. But the type of radio we're building, I think, is really needed in Canada and hasn't really been heard from a talk radio station. And so that to me is worth pursuing and is exciting and might give people something really that they don't even know that they want to hear until they hear it. So maybe instead of me pounding you about all these people who aren't on the station, let's say a word or two about some people on the station. And you mentioned Greg Brady coming over here. So he's a great FOTM. He's on episode 1000. He's been over, he's been over, I would, I think five times, to be honest. And last summer, he was just fantastic on Toronto Mic'd in the backyard. People should hear hear that but how's Brady doing in the morning uh speak to the

Greg Brady doing mornings on your station well he's a breath of fresh air he's got so much energy which you know and anyone who's listened can tell he is just and he is like that I think with most talk hosts which I people always tend to ask but what they are on the radio is typically how they are all the time you know we want them to be authentic and he's one that is going a mile minute he is just firing all cylinders and it's been really lovely to work with him and get to know him and we're in the midst right now with working closely with him and shiba sadiki who's our on in the midst right now with working closely with him and Shiba Siddiqui,

who's our on-air contributor and producer with really trying. You might have heard if people have been listening, but the show kind of has changed even these last couple of months. There's been new segments popping up.

There's been segments that have been dropped. There's been segments that have been altered. We're in this exciting time of trying to really nail down what we're going to stick with and what we're going to keep. And there's a little bit of experimentation and fun and play happening.

And so, yeah, we're just in the middle of it all and we're, and I'm working closely with the team to help define that. And, and I think it's been going really well and the team has taken it really well. We're really just having fun with it and seeing what works. Yeah. And I can imagine that you'll have, and sort of revisiting that point from a moment ago, but you'll have the loyalists, I call them the loyalists, but the people who listen to the whole show

and have been doing so forever. And Greg Brady is great, but Greg Brady is very different from Mike Stafford. And I know I'm trying to think back, I guess it's been a while now since Stafford was on the air. You know, I'm talking like it was last week or something.

It's been a while. He was there a long time. So I suppose, you know, Greg just has to deal with those diehards who want him to transform into Mike Stafford. Well, yeah. And at the same time, he's attracting a new

audience that has never listened. And so those two realities will live at this, you know, at the same time and that's okay. It's that's what change is about. You know who else I dig on your station? Kelly Cotrera. Yeah, she's great. I mean, I've gotten to, I haven't actually met any of the hosts face-to-face yet. Is that right? I was on board remotely. Amanda, wow. I know.

That's a mind blow. All the virtual hangouts and phone calls with all the hosts. Wow. But Kelly and I did cross paths briefly at CFRB 1010. And she also has been, you know, kind of a different time slots on the station and she's, um, yeah, she's someone who I think has a lot to offer. She's very, she's just an interesting person. I find her a very interesting person. Um, and I also used to work for world vision and she had gone on a World Vision

trip. So we had this connection through that as well. And anyway, I just think that she has a really unique worldview, which is what we're also really trying to push, you know, hosts that have a unique worldview. I think it's important. She has a great voice too, Kelly. You know, I hear her on the Olympics. Yeah. At Olympics, you'd hear a lot of Kelly Couture on. Yes. She did have time off from 6 40 to do that so good for her okay here's a gentleman i've never met but uh jeff mccarthur yes he is also on the morning show on global so he has a dual role and it's been really interesting having him and seeing what kind of show he puts together because he's able to repurpose and repackage some really interesting things from the global TV morning show and then use it on air and expand upon it.

And comment on it in a in a talk show host capacity. in a talk show host capacity. And I think that that mix, which also goes for Alan Carter, who is on alongside Jeff, both of them have this really interesting mix of being on the TV side and radio side of things. Absolutely. I was going to mention Alan next,

who has been over here and looks a little like Nick Nurse. I never thought of that. But especially when he wears his glasses yeah without a doubt so shout out to fotm alan carter as well all right amanda so next to these many stafford notes i was getting when you were as if and i was like you know she wasn't there when the staff i know i can't i'm not the person to ask and i mean from what i understand because let's face it there was canada land and some other places were very clear on what went down. It really reeks to me of a HR issue. It's not,

it doesn't even feel like, oh, this is a performance issue or a, so I mean, really, what do you say about an HR issue? Except, you know, it's an HR issue and that's that. So yeah. Yeah. Amanda, I'm wearing a new hoodie. I know you can see it here. Ryobi. So I'd like to just take a moment, if I may, to welcome a new sponsor to Toronto Mike. It's always exciting when I get to do this. This is March 1st. So I get to welcome a new sponsor. Nice. Ryobi. So welcome Ryobi. The Ryobi 18 volt one plus highacity lithium battery provides four times more run time, four times longer-lasting charge, and 20% lighter weight than NiCad batteries. The full gauge lets you know the battery status before the work begins.

Lithium-ion batteries provide fade-free power for maximum performance throughout the charge. And best of all, it works with all Ryobi 18-volt OnePlus tools and chargers. So we'll be talking a lot more about Ryobi as the weeks progress here, but I just want to welcome Ryobi to the family here. Do you do any woodworking, Amanda? to the family here. Do you do any woodworking, Amanda? You know, I worked a power drill for the first time two summers ago, and now I feel like I'm a pro.

I help build a playground. Well, my wife has been doing a lot of woodworking, and she swears by the Ryobi 18-volt, one-plus high-capacity system. So I'll be getting her input as we progress here. But Amanda, a few more sponsors I want to thank. Canna Cabana. Canna Cabana was created for and by people who love weed,

love to smoke it, buy it, chat about it, and share it with their friends. I urge FOTMs to go to cannacabana.com and sign up for the Cabana Club. There's always a sale going on, and their prices are unbeatable on cannabis and smoking accessories. Much love to StickerU. StickerU.com is where you're going to get your AM, your 640

Toronto stickers. They're at Liberty Village, but you can order online at StickerU.com. Ridley Funeral Home. Amanda, I hope you never have to use their services, but they're there for you. You know, they're great to talk to. Brad's got a great new podcast, Speaking of Podcasts, and you can subscribe to Brad Jones' podcast. His Ridley Funeral Home podcast is called Life's Undertaking. Paul Mopasa, Amanda, you're of Italian descent. Is that an assumption I'm allowed to make?

Yes, I am. My mom was born in Italy. How close was it? Were you born on the plane? What was going on there? No, I'm Canadian. I'm Canadian to make? Yes, I am. My mom was born in Italy. How close was it? Were you born on the plane? What was going on there? No, I'm Canadian. I'm Canadian through and through. But like my family doesn't speak English. You know, yeah, we're like full,

fully into the cultural traditions and making our own tomato sauce and wine. It's all good. It's all happening. So the best Italian, the most authentic Italian food you can buy from a store, you get it at Palma Pasta. The Petrurucci family they're the real deal uh they're in

mississauga and oakville go to palmapasta.com i wish i could give you a lasagna amanda maybe one day when i meet you i'll get you a lasagna and i'll get you some fresh craft beer from great lakes brewery because you've earned it so thank you okay i'll take it john oakley now john oakley i'd love to just spend a bit of time on john oakley because i've never met john oakley but he's been in this toronto radio market forever i mean yeah like forever and he actually on 640 fun fact oakley took over the morning show because humble and fred left to go to Mix 99.9. And the fun fact is that as I speak to you today, I produce Humble and Fred shows.

So there's my very loose connection to John Oakley, which is probably not a connection at all. Not a connection at all now that I think about it. But you get, you know, he does get a reaction. Like James Edgar writes, why is, and again, I'm quoting him here. Why is that lying idiot John Oakley still on air? Now, I did ask James for some specifics of the lies,

and I guess there were too many for him to mention because I didn't get a specific, but Chris Fin says, Ms. Cupido, there's one in your employ. I think he goes by Oakley. He just is not delivering. Where are we with that? And meanwhile, Mark Weisblatt, who will be on my show Thursday to sit here in the studio for three hours to discuss everything going on in the universe for, you know, in February 2022. Mark Weisblatt for months now

has been suggesting that Oakley is going to retire. What the heck can you tell us about John Oakley on 640 Toronto? Well, I have not heard about him retiring. That's news to me. I hope John tells me that if that's the case. But John is, yeah, he's a legend. He's a talk radio legend. And I don't know if people know this, but in our studio, we actually have the large like vinyl sticker in our newsroom that says, it's a great day for talk radio. Ding, ding.

Like I just, there's something kind of special and magical about that. And I think it is important to, you know, it's looking at these kinds of legends and thinking what got them here, what worked and how can we shift them to being even better? And so there's room for all of our hosts to be better, for sure. I mean, I think as humans, there's always better. There's room for us to be better. And especially in a medium that's evolving and needing to evolve, we are going to be asking our hosts to try new things and him included, just because he's been around and has, you know, had a great

success. It doesn't mean that we leave anyone as the status quo. We're going to be trying new things with all of our shows, including John's and John is really open. He's great. I've had some really wonderful conversations with him. And, um, he's, he's very thoughtful even when you talk to him, you know, and you could probably tell on his radio with his cadence and he's like that when you talk to him on the phone and he's, he'll let you say all your pieces and then he thinks and he responds and i just really appreciate that and i think um you know in a couple of conversations that we've had i just thought we really got along and it was great yeah again mark wiseblood might be just uh thinking out loud that maybe he's i don't think wiseblood has it like from i don't think oakley

himself has told that i don't't Oakley. And again, cause I've been hosting Toronto mic for 10 years now. Oakley comes across to me as a very private guy. Like I don't know how to get that guy on Toronto mic to like, he just, you know, he doesn't seem particularly interested in, you know, talking about himself on another show for, you know, 90 minutes. But if you do talk to John Oakley and he is up to coming on toronto mike he's a guy i've wanted to talk to for a very long time okay i'll let him know i'm gonna be talking to him because of his uh his resume like he's been he's been all over the place and uh it's quite so i love talking i just had mike cooper on i love talking to these toronto radio feds

so yeah let him know it's great great chat uh okay so uh speaking of Mark Wiseblood, because, you know, we should, he used to be on 640 back in the day. So there's a connection there, but. So many connections. It's a small world. It's a small, very small world. He also floats the idea of Ryan Doyle taking the place of John Oakley.

Should John Oakley decide to retire? Please, Ms. Cupido. I don't even, I'm only calling that because Chris has been calling you that. Amanda, what say you about this theory Wiseblood has about Ryan Doyle coming to 640? I will say that's not in the cards. And there's a couple things. I mean, I like Ryan a lot.

We worked with each other at 10, 10 and we stay in touch and I really do wish him well. I just think that six 40 in the past has had a habit of picking up other talk hosts, especially and producers and technical operators, like across the board, six 40 is love to pick up 1010, people from 1010. Like you.

And okay, but in some instances, and I can even get to an example that I personally have done, but in some instances it makes sense or we're using them in a different capacity. We're growing an idea around someone who dipped their foot into talk radio with 1010. So I wasn't a 1010 discard that was picked up from 640.

I would just like to. Oh, by the way, shout out to FOTM Siobhan Morris, who's been over here a couple of times. And I quite like her. So shout out to Siobhan. She must be listening. Yes. And she's a good friend of mine as well.

So, you know, I think I just want to change that pattern and I want to actually bring in new voices. So when we're looking for some, even as we are fleshing out our fill-in host slate, I'm not necessarily interested in recycling people that have been heard over and over again in Toronto. I'm really excited about the idea of growing talent and bringing in fresh voices and again helping talk radio be redefined and not necessarily just trying you know following in the footsteps of 1010 no i hear you and by the way again thank you for being so candid about that uh what i'm hearing in fotms will be excited to hear we can now start floating the rumor that uh stew stone is going

to take over for john oakley this is the new rumor for fotms and those who know what i'm saying know what i'm saying okay uh now alex pearson has also been over she's also an fotm uh and she's there i have an interesting question about her show this is a little bit uh in the weeds but i get in the weeds on toronto mic because why not let's do it radioactive is the handle of this individual. And Radioactive writes, why do they insist on starting Alex Pearson's show at 6.30 p.m. when it's going to be interrupted for an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays

only to resume 50 minutes later? Talk about killing a show's momentum and encouraging tune-out. Wouldn't it make more sense to air Global National at 6.30, then start Pearson's program at 7 every night for consistency, if nothing else? She could then go straight through until 10 with original interviews instead of repeating that first half hour at 9.30 p.m. Well, that is a very thoughtful message.

And it is an overall sentiment that I also noticed when I first came to 640. And I will, I guess, break the news here that as of March 21st, Alex's show will start at 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, 7 to 10, consistent. Wow, you just broke that news here. Anytime you want to break news here, I just love that stuff. But that radioactive is going to be a very happy man. Yeah, well, and I agree. And this is a win-win for both her and the reason for the interruption was because of a a great paid client that we have sim furo does a law show and they would typically run

from seven to eight on monday and wednesdays and upon looking at the research and numbers and listening habits and and taking all factors into account we really saw a win-win where we would move that show to running from 630 to seven Monday to Friday, and then putting Alex behind that at seven o'clock afterwards. So I think it's going to, the show will be, the law show will be packing a punch. Alex is going to, and in getting some great, great time slot time slot Alex is gonna have her start at seven o'clock and go straight through it's like a true win-win and we're really excited to roll that out later this month okay look at this we're getting making things happen here on yes we are making things happen wow I'm in the groove now I'm in the groove now uh I'm gonna plead a little

ignorance on this gentleman's name and uh no to this gentleman, but tell me about Roy Green. Well, I don't, Roy Green actually doesn't report in to me, although he is on 640 and he's on on the weekends. He is out of our Hamilton station, CHML, another radio, a longtime talk radio host and reports into Jeff Story who's over there and we are happy to have that show syndicated on 640 okay cool i'm just unfamiliar but i saw him on the lineup and i'm like i gotta ask yes okay now you mentioned the bench here okay so uh with peter sherman and

some others no longer heard you need a you need a bench of course when people go on vacation and get sick etc etc now Pei Chen I know Pei Chen because I would many I don't know I won't age her here but a long time ago I would see Pei Chen I think on CFMT am I right do you know maybe you don't know she's been around

she's been around she has done YTV with Chorus and she's done Winnipeg morning shows yep she's been around ytv right chorus and she's done winnipeg morning shows yep she's done um she's been on on yeah doing a lot of cooking shows like she she has a very wide instagram following like she's everywhere yeah and pay chen she'll she'll come off the bench like this is like a basketball game like when uh you know when fred van vliet needs to take a breather uh pay chen will come off the bench and play some guard. That's right.

And so this was the example I was alluding to that I, Paige Chen was the first person I hired. And this was because we definitely needed a bench. And she is someone who was on at 10-10. But again, this was not, in my eyes, this is not the same as, as taking, um, someone and just putting them on because they were on a 1010. I think at 1010, she wasn't actually, she didn't get the time that she could have gotten and maybe deserved. Um, I think that she has,

she's, she's a great person. She a really again interesting world view she comes with a wide range of experience with regard to broadcasting and journalism but also with regard to her cultural roots and food expertise and so she was someone who i was happy to bring on as a fill-in host and is now yeah part of our bench so to. When is the call being made to the legend that is Lorne Honickman to get him back on the bench? Perhaps. I mean, we have Lorne as on our list as a paid contributor,

and I'm still in the midst of getting to know all these folks. And so anyway, I have a long list of people to go through. Idea, idea. Bring me on board. I'll work with you on this. I know these cats. I can tell you who would be good on 640.

But Lorne Honigman, just a legal specialist with a great media background on City TV. You know, we'll talk more about this later, but he'd be fantastic. Okay. But also you yourself saying that well he's on city tv so we are also well he was in the uh this is going back to the uh well this is the thing too

is that like yeah so i know that he's still really he's he's still being booked and he's beloved by our producers so there's nothing against him i just think that um we want to be looking at our at our contributors that we have on a regular basis and really championing the ones that are going to be part of the 640 family and lifting them up. And that's part of what we're going to be doing. Another question from a listener, whose career in Canadian radio do you admire and respect? And I'm sure there's a long list, but I mean, if you had to pick one to just shine a light on somebody in Canadian radio that you admire and respect. Yeah, it is tough to pick one.

And I was recently on another podcast and listed some. So I'll list a different one. Let's give shout outs to different people who I respect. Marilyn Dennis is someone who has had obviously a long career in Canadian radio. And I interned on her show when it first launched the TV show City Line um oh no sorry no I was gonna I've dated myself no the Marilyn Denny of course yeah right of course yes and um and she was just an absolute pleasure to work with and she treated everyone on respect with respect on that show from top to

bottom and that's something that so on air you know that's one thing and i really respect her there but behind the scenes is what you know it's that extra check mark and they say you know don't meet your heroes but she's one that i would i would recommend everyone meeting if they can she won't disappoint oh i'd love to uh i did have her uh producer on last week uh tom jokic oh nice toronto mike who's been with her uh producing that show although he's on a little break right now actually for health reasons but he's been producing that show since the mid 80s when maryland showed up so yeah he goes way back with her uh and now with pay chan might be a great example of this but uh like how important is it for you to increase the number of women and people of color as on-air talent on 640?

Yeah, I think that I don't like going about this with like a checkbox because that feels really tokenistic to me. And there's no quota that I was given, nor do I want to embrace for myself, but I am very intentionally trying to diversify the voices that we have on the air. And like I said, to really broaden different worldviews, different political leans, we want to make sure that we just have a really robust, and this goes for both on-air talent, so robust on-air talent, but also robust guests that are being booked and really looking at who we are featuring and lifting on the air. I think it's important to be looking at holistically. And so I'm definitely doing that. Good, good, good, good. I mean, you are broadcasting to what may be, I mean,

maybe New York City is up there too, but basically one of the most diverse cities culturally. It has to reflect the city. We have to reflect the city. It's a no-brainer. Because one of the debates that I sometimes overhear would be like, do you need to reflect the city or do you reflect the listenership? And then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because if you only reflect the listenership and then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because

if you only reflect the listenership then your ship then your your your listenership will never change it'll change right so it's like do you reflect the city and then you get like a you know because i uh i've often i was speaking specifically about the fan 590 lineup for a long time was awfully male and awfully white for, and not much different today, but mildly different, not much. But, but, but it's good to hear that you want to reflect the city as opposed to the. Yes.

And we need to honor the audience and appreciate what they would find interesting and what they would learn, what would give them something to learn from, right? Like that's what it comes down to. interesting and what they would learn, what would give them something to learn from, right? Like that's what it comes down to. And so even from an age perspective, just because someone is older, it doesn't mean they only want to hear people that are in, that is their same age. And just because someone is white or male, it doesn't mean that they wouldn't want to hear from a woman or a person of color. And so I think it's just, um, it's keeping, it's keeping that front and center.

Like I personally, as a white, uh, straight male, I can tell you, I actually really like hearing other perspectives. Like I'm exactly, I'm kind of bored of the, I don't want to, I don't want to hear from another straight white guy. Like I want to hear different perspectives. Well, that's why we want it. We don't want to be making echo chambers here. Like we want to move away from that. And again, and having conversations where you're not being shouted at or spoke down to because you're a straight white guy, but you're part of the conversation. And so that you can feel equipped to have those same conversations at dinner parties

and bring what you've learned from the radio as social currency when you're talking to people in your day to day life. Are you at all concerned with the new format of 93.5 and i only ask that because uh it's now it's sort of uh it's kind of talk it's talk radio with a lot with music i guess there's like yeah you know there's still music not as much as they used to play but there's still music and uh it seems like they don't talk very long. It seems to be, but they are doing kind of a little bit of a talk radio. What's your take on that? I'm just really interested to hear what they do.

And I will say that 93.5, when it was the flow, was my very first radio internship. Okay, so shout out to Jonathan Sathan sendon f-o-t-n and i and i was working with oh gosh i worked so closely with them a lot of their djs james ready i don't know if you recognize that name um who's still djing now but anyway we um i was part of the promotions team so i was this was this was like so long ago um probably i don't even i don't even know the year well you know that's an episode unto itself i'm trying to get it together because it was jonathan sinden and then there's fotm farley flex and we're trying to get this deep dive into the you know the the what was flow supposed to be and and and then

what happened like there's a there's a big story there but I know and it's sad like I I was always rooting for them I really was even even back then but anyway that yeah it's gone through so many iterations and I'm just yeah I'm curious to see what they do now I'll be listening for sure I'm not worried about it if anything I think in radio we want to champion the are you know the people alongside us and more people are listening to radio. That's good for radio. So I really believe in that. I think we say a rising tide floats all boats or lifts all boats or something like that. Okay. Radioactive again. He got a great answer to his first question. So he's back for more. Oh, wow. He says, it's a weird question, but I would like to know why their paid time shows,

like The Injury Lawyer, for example, are interrupted for commercials. If you buy the hour, don't you own that hour? Why would you bother pausing to hear from another advertiser when you're paying for 50, 60 minutes of that airtime? I mentioned off the top, Amanda, I like to learn how the sausage is made or how the cake is baked so give me the detail on this because i'm dying to know sure and i appreciate the astute um nature of of his listening and his question oh i think i mean i won't i won't dox him okay i won't dox him but i know i know but i know his real name and I could tell you he is he had a job in mainstream

media for a long time so I think he speaks as an educated observer well I will say that in our new lineup with our law show airing from 6 30 to 7 there will not be ads from in that in that half hour okay so that's twice now you've uh yeah i mean i guess we have a lot of similar ways of thinking um and then sometimes you know but but sometimes are you radioactive is that your secret handle i'm feeding myself questions no which people have done in the past by the way sometimes really no i didn't i i couldn't be bothered i wanted to know what people want to know um but i think yes sometimes sometimes this has to do with the clock like we just can't be blowing out our clocks for certain hours and like sometimes that show airs on that hour and

sometimes it doesn't and anyway like sometimes it's literally a mechanical issue and then what we do is we'll put uh we'll be very intentional so if anyone wants to buy some airtime on 640 toronto get in touch but what we would do is make sure an ad for your competitor or any sort of We'll be very intentional. So if anyone wants to buy some airtime on 640 Toronto, get in touch. But what we would do is make sure an ad for your competitor or any sort of competitors wouldn't air during your time. So we're really intentional about it. So when we do run ads, that's the approach we take.

What kind of, I mean, you don't have to give me the specifics because you're going to tell me to talk to sales. I know how it works. But you're going to say, hey, Mike, talk to Cliff. Talk to Cliff Cohen. He'll take care of you. But theoretically, I could buy an hour on 640, whatever, during the night or whatever, and air like an hour episode of Toronto Mic'd.

Like this is something that could be through the sales department. I think people know that, but we're not speaking to insiders necessarily. So a lot of people are like, oh yeah, I guess that does exist. Okay. Okay. And I've always found it like it sometimes, I mean, you have to run a disclaimer or something when it's paid.

Yes. Okay. So that's the, yes. If you're not paying attention, that's the stipulation. Yeah. Okay.

Very interesting. Now Hans, I like this question from Hansa because Hansa says, I'm curious why programmers at commercial talk radio stations in Toronto, I think he's talking about the two, 1010 and 640, but now we'll go back to his question, tend to skew their programming to the right when if voting patterns are to any indication,

the potential audience in Toronto and GTA tends to be more centrist or left of center. Don't 1010 and 640 write off most of their potential listeners by prioritizing conservative talk? Great question. This is something that we definitely have noticed and is pretty well known and is tied to what traditional talk radio, especially in Canada, is known for.

And I think that's part of the redefinition that I'm going to be part of in an exciting way where we don't want it to be left nor right. We want to be balanced. We want to have people of both. But we also don't want the shows to be just about politics. We're not trying to pit left versus right. That's not what we're trying to do. I think what we're trying to do is have balanced conversations, have hosts that lean one way or another, but a mix. And sometimes as humans do, we flip-flop and on certain issues, we might lean one way and then on certain issues,

we'll lean another. And I think that's part of humanity and going through life and figuring out where you stand. And I think that's what we want to really highlight. And so that you are tuning in, not necessarily knowing exactly, oh, these are the news of the day and I know what every single person is going to say already. Like, that's not fun radio to me. That's not interesting. We want to be having great, yeah, just great conversations where people can be surprised by what they hear and learn about a different perspective that

doesn't align with them, but that from someone that they still respect. And then that's how you're going to actually be able to have really great discourse. So like, let's say, theoretically speaking, and I'm completely making this up. And again, I've already pledged my admiration for this gentleman. But if Greg Brady were to have a take that you felt was like maybe too extreme or something, would you have a conversation with Greg Brady and ask him to tone that rhetoric down or maybe to, you know, revisit his opinion on that subject matter?

No, not necessarily. That's not what I'm saying. I think it's that Greg Brady, and if you listen, you'll know that he will have hot takes, but he kind of, you never really know what he's going to say or what angle he's going to take. And sometimes you're like, oh, this guy must vote conservative. And oh, this guy's clearly a liberal.

And that's actually the beauty of it, is that he can kind of go both ways and have conversations with, you know, both sides and relate and meet in the middle. And I think that's what's interesting. The times I would be having a sit down with him is if there's like a mass amount of misinformation or a segment that wasn't well researched or very biased without proper due diligence done for the other side of the story. without proper due diligence done for the other side of the story. And I'm not saying we're trying to be journalists, but we're just trying to have balanced conversations.

And so, yeah. And I think Greg Brady is a great example of someone who does it very well. Well, speaking of Greg Brady, some gentleman, some guy named Gord Rennie writes in, ask her how awesome her technical producer Weekday Mornings is. And I hear great things about him. So shout out to recent FOTM Gord Rennie, who I guess he's the technical producer

for a couple of shows on your network, on your channel there, Greg Brady and Kelly Kachura. That's right. And he is wonderful. And he is one of the people that I did get to meet in person. So yes, I was happy to do so. He's wonderful. And he worked with the aforementioned Mike Cooper for many, many years.

Okay. Oh, this is a good one too. You were at, because you mentioned you were at 1010 for a long time or for a while there, you were at 1010 CFRB. This listener is interested to hear what you think of the way, and I'll quote this, Bell decimated what was once Ontario's authoritative news voice, leaving its once vaunted and award-winning newsroom almost empty.

Yeah. Well, and it's, of course it's sad. And even though I'm not at a different station now, it's sad for the even though I'm not at a different station now, it's, it's sad for the industry when this stuff happens. And of course I had a lot of friends who I still keep in touch with that were there and part of that. And so it was personal. And, um, and I noticed some of those changes when I went back. So when I went into the, when I started working in the newsroom there, bell had just taken it over and I was witnessing some of these cuts and it unfortunately it was not the type of

talk radio that excited me anymore and then from the newsroom perspective I was having to pre-record newscasts that aired multiple hours after my shift was done and something like that morally just didn't really align with me and that's um you know and that that does an injustice for the medium as a whole and so many people also might know that dave agar was a big name and we had named the newsroom after him when we moved to the bell building and as those cuts happened dave requested to have his name taken off from that newsroom and so that's not a shock to any of us because it's just not the newsroom that he was a part of and not the news that he could stand by and and i echo that it was unfortunate absolutely uh speaking of unfortunate uh has 640 addressed the uh the accusations accusations of sexism and racism that Supriya Dwivedi expressed upon her exit from her role alongside the aforementioned Mike Stafford?

So I obviously don't know what the immediate aftermath of how the Supriya exit was handled. I was not there and don't have transcripts. But what I do know is that they were obviously very intentional with bringing me on as a woman in this position, which 640 has never put a woman in this position before. So that was a big deal. And I am being very treated well and respected and and I I believe it's genuine so I don't really see that sexism myself I also know that part of the issues with Suprio had to do with how we were handling listener feedback and comments and things that were happening online and there has been active moves,

very big and active moves on how management deals with that now. And I think it's been really great. I think the staff have received it really well. And I think it was a long time coming and I'm glad it's coming now. And I hate what happened to Supriya, but right now we seem to be in a much better place. I'm glad it's coming now and I hate what happened to Supriya, but right now we seem to be in a much better place.

I'm glad to hear it because when I, when I heard Supriya speaking as she exited, I was just thinking, man, that's some serious bullshit she had to injure. And I'm glad that it's been cleaned up. Yeah. So it's a process,

right? It doesn't happen overnight. It's, it's happening, but we've, there's definitely been, been some big moves, which I was really happy to see. And the first step is to acknowledge you have a problem, right?

That's number one. And until you do that, there's really not much hope here. But good for you. Now, David Ryder writes for the Toronto Star, and he on Twitter asked a good question here. What is the role of talk and call in radio during a crisis like the pandemic where unchallenged misinformation can steer people to choices that puts their health at risk? Do hosts gut feelings regarding masks, vaccines, et cetera, matter?

et cetera, matter? Mm-hmm. This is so tough. And I think there's two questions there. It's what is the role and do the hosts, do their opinions matter? And so I think the role is to share information, build community, and help people continue to feel connected. Like,

I think that that's a big role of radio and of talk radio. Our news is what's providing the biggest updates and the reliable information, and our hosts are more so to engage with people and to share alternate viewpoints. And maybe some of them think what don't believe in masks and others do. And they we do want them to say their opinion, but we do also want to be mindful. There's a fine line between sharing your opinion and sharing misinformation as fact. And that's where we talk host or not like you can't be doing that and so we pay very careful close attention to um some of the way things are framed and i've already had

some conversations with hosts who have said their opinion and just slightly veered on on the edge there and i just you know it doesn't have to be coming down hard and it just has to be an ongoing conversation that we're having so that we make sure that we are not leading people astray, but that we are there to build that community and to share different viewpoints. Cause that's what this world is made up of. Um, but not to spread blatant misinformation. Well said Amanda. And I mean this in all sincerity. In fact, I'm looking into your eyes here on the Zoom here that, you know, I felt like I could have asked you anything and you were going to answer as openly and honestly as you could.

And I think it's easier for most people to just not bother with that. Like they'll go do some lightweight interview or some friendly, maybe something, somebody who's going to just be, you know, a little softer and gentler, but you were awesome. I really enjoyed this convo. Thanks. Thank you for having me. And I think that that's indicative just who I am and who I've always been. And so if you ever want to have a chat again, this is what you'll get. Okay. Well, we will do this again. Is there anything that you thought, I want to mention this and I didn't pry it out of you before we say goodbye here?

You know what? I'll just do a shout out to the entire 640 team. They've been so hardworking. It has been so tough to be remote. I don't know if people know, but all of our hosts are remote right now, except Greg, Greg Brady.

He comes into the studio. But still, it's like, there's been a lot of, a lot of disconnect and a lot of and work has really changed. And I just have been so, so impressed with everyone and trying to do a little give back. Even just this week, we're having a producer party. So what time should I be there? I produce things. Yeah. Do you want an invite? We're doing trivia

about all our hosts. It's going to be fun. Imagine fun imagine i won that trivia you well you want me to give you one question we have time yeah sure which host we asked all their hosts what our their first job was which host worked at a men's tuxedo shop taking measurements no guess again Greg Brady no Alex Pearson in Hamilton when she was listening to Hamilton Punk ask her about Hamilton Punk okay I got it on my third try I don't think that's

particularly impressive but have a good time at this party and I won't crash it as the embedded journalist but continued success. We'll talk again. And I look forward to seeing the changes you bring, the freshening up of the 640 Toronto landscape. Thanks, Mike.

Appreciate it. And that brings us to the end of our 1006th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Amanda, what is your Twitter handle? Acapito. A-C-U-P-I-D-O. Follow Amanda on Twitter. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at

Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. Canna Cabana are at CannaCabana underscore. And Ryobi are at RyobiToolsUSA. See you all next week. Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years.

It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears