Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler: Toronto Mike'd #199

Episode Date: October 20, 2016

Mike chats with broadcasters Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler about their years in television news and their new show What She Said.

Welcome to episode 198 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer, and Chef's Plate, delivering delicious and locally sourced farm fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits directly to your door. fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits directly to your door. I'm Mike from Toronto, Mike.com and joining me this week, our broadcasters, Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler.

Can you tell I'm not a broadcaster the way I messed up my intro? That's okay. Too many words. I thought we were podcast one 99. You know what? Kate Wheeler. This is one 99. I know what's

going on. Do you know? See, I'm flustered. I've been following your Twitter and that you said $199. So I just went with $199.

No joke. I think so. This is $199. I have never stated the wrong number until today. This is $199. I know this because

$200 is scheduled for Wednesday. You're absolutely right. This is $199. Is this stage is scheduled for Wednesday. You're absolutely right. This is 199. Is this stage fright, do you think? You know what it is? Two legends at once? I don't normally do that.

I can handle one broadcasting legend at a time, but two at once? No, I can't do that. That is too funny. So I'm worried now people will tune in. They'll hear me say 198. They'll tune out. Oh, I've heard 198.

Hopefully they give it a chance and hear that this is 199. Well, don't forget you were talking about beer. So they'll probably stick around. They're probably just cracking a beer and going, what the hey, let's just listen. Welcome, you guys. Thank you for dropping by the Toronto Mic Studios. We are happy to be here. Am I allowed to mention the guy

you brought with you? Yeah, absolutely. Alex is our videographer and our associate producer, and he's filming this. I had no chance to put on makeup. But you can do post, right? Filters. We have filters. At least I could have put on a pair of pants. Oh, my goodness.

I need more beer. Obviously, more beer. That's too funny. Christine, were you the one who's waiting for your car to die? I am. It's become sort of a family pastime. We're just going to wait and see. This was the car I bought originally before my boys turned 16 for them to learn to drive on.

So I thought, I bought a Grand Am. It looked kind of sporty, but really it has no guts. But the thing just keeps on going. It won't die. It won't die. Oil changes, do the brakes, the odd starter, tires. But it just keeps on going. I am in the exact same boat.

So I have a 1999 car that I need another seatbelt. It sits five, but the family's six. I need to get a seven-seater. This is something I need another seatbelt. It sits five, but the family's six. I need to get a seven-seater. This is something I need to do. But I'm having trouble pulling the trigger while that car is so darn dependable and so functional. I keep wishing maybe my 99 car will die and then I'll have to buy a new automobile.

Well, Alex will be looking for a new car soon. Honestly, this thing, only 270,000 clicks on it. It's beautiful. I've got a little more than you. I think I'm almost at 274,000. But they don't make them like they used to. No. But do you have your windows

manually? No, no, no. I have electric windows. I mean, the windows come down and the locks, whatever, but it just keeps going. Yeah. So maybe while we're in this, maybe they'll both commit suicide together out there. Maybe we're... Assisted death.

Yeah. Well, somebody who replaced my bumper said, nah, I wouldn't be holding my breath. You've got another 100K on this. I said, really? So my son used to drive it and he had a competition going with his friend. Whose would die first? But the other guy's car died. So then it became no more fun anymore.

So he said, let's trade. This is quite the endorsement, though, that you cannot kill your grandam, which is great. I think it's great. Either of you ladies a Blue Jay fan? Yes. You never know these days. Sometimes there's Tiger fans lurking about or Red Sox fans. Yeah, no, Blue Jays.

Blue Jays all the way until yesterday. Well, I'm wearing my, I'm glad a videographer showed up. I'm wearing my Batista bat flip shirt because I fear we saw Joey Batts' last game. I think so too. As a Blue Jay. I think so too. I don't think he'll be back. Actually, I don't think a few of them will be back.

I hope we re-sign Edwin because he's the other big name out there. But there will be a few guys. Well, definitely Dickie's gone in a few parts like that. But saying goodbye to Joey Batts, who, in my humble opinion, as a diehard Jays fan, best Blue Jay since Roy Halladay. Maybe. But he loves Toronto. I mean, he loves Toronto.

He loves his family. You see him delivering the kids to school on the scooter. I mean, he's, you know, I don't know. It would be hard, but I guess whoever is going to write the paycheck is what really matters. We'll see if Rogers will pony up for some more Joey bats. But yeah, too bad we went out like that, game five, ALCS. And then it perspectives everything because I'm so disappointed. And then I look back to a couple of years ago, and then if somebody said to me, like, game five, ALCS. And then perspective's everything, because I'm so disappointed,

and then I look back to a couple years ago, and then if somebody said to me, like, you know, Mike, you're going to be in the next two ALCSs, I would have taken it in a heartbeat, but it's all where you're coming from, I think. I was at an event last night when the game was on, and sitting next to Jean Chrétien,

who kept on asking me to check the score. So that was interesting. It's like, it's over. It's over by the time we sat down. Like, it's done deal. But it was interesting that more people were interested in the score and then wanted to leave early

to listen to the debate. Okay, listen to the debate. So I watched a bit of it. I did watch a little more of my Maple Leafs, actually, just because I find it tough to stomach Donald Trump in large doses. Like he just upsets me to a point where I just give me anything else. And you're not even a nasty woman. That's right. I did hear that part.

What are your thoughts on this third and final debate last night between Trump and Clinton? Well, he held back more than he normally does, a little bit, because he is still Donald Trump. And they were talking ahead of the debate on whether he could exercise that discipline, and they didn't think he could. But it's really appalling to watch as a Canadian, because we don't get that down and dirty.

I've never seen anything quite that down and dirty on his part. I don't think in my lifetime there's been a major party candidate for president that has gone to the levels Donald Trump sinks to. No. This is like, if this was, we just came out of the Rob Ford era and we're like, you know, I can't believe this is happening, and it's municipal politics, okay? A mayor's got as much, I got almost as much power as the mayor.

It's not too far distance. The president of the United States of America, it's unbelievable how low the standards have sunk, that this man is going to get, I don't know, 45% of the popular vote, and it's going to be. But he's not going to accept the results. That's right. Yeah. That's right. So when there is rioting

on the streets and his cult rises up to take arms against their government for stealing the election, will he be held accountable? This is uncharted territory. No, nothing's his fault. Everything's rigged. If he doesn't win, the election

system's rigged. He didn't win the Emmy. That was rigged. That was rigged. If he doesn't win, the election system's rigged. Everything's rigged. He didn't win the Emmy. That was rigged. And that was rigged. Everything was rigged, didn't you know? No, and at least we can avoid... It's a huge conspiracy. But he is going to lose soundly.

We're all hoping. Well, you know, we who have covered elections for years... It ain't over till it's over. Yes, exactly. You go in thinking that something's sewn up and then I thought OJ was guilty. But he

was guilty. That's okay. Yeah. We'll have to wait the night of because you just never ever know. You never know. We'll hold our breath on the 8th of November and hope reason prevails, I guess, and hope that they don't do anything stupid.

Suspense. He called for it to be suspenseful. It's going to be suspenseful. Well, it's sort of a little like Brexit. Nobody expected that. And then in the end, it happened. So, you know, I'm a little bit queasy about what might happen. Let's hope the polling is accurate because, I mean, if you go to New York Times right now,

they got their little like percentage chance of winning after they've crunched the numbers and everything. I think it's 90%, maybe even higher now. I haven't checked. It was 90%. But Mike, that's a media poll. That's rigged. That is rigged. You're right.

I have drank the Kool-Aid myself. I've got to shake myself out of this. But I should tell everyone listening. So I did offer to have you in separately because without a doubt, you're worthy of your own episodes. This is, I could have a Kate episode.

I could have a Christine episode, but later it will become apparent why you came in together and I think it's great you're in together. But for those who don't know, the voices, everybody in Toronto

should know these voices, but just in case, just to set us up here. Christine, you joined CTV in 1977 if that's possible. Ouch. Is that possible?

Am I allowed to say that? That's possible. And this voice, so that Am I allowed to say that? That's possible. And this voice. So that's Christine. That's me. That's you. And you're the one whose car won't die. And you were there from 77 to 2012.

And we'll dive a little deeper in a moment. But Kate, you were on CFTO, which is the CTV affiliate, in 1987. Is that right? Is that when you started? Well, I actually started doing work. You're going to love this. I started working. My mother was a producer there, and she produced shows such as Just Like Mom, Definition, Headline Hunters, Miss Canada.

I was kitchen manager on Just Like Mom. I had an idea when I was watching Just Like Mom as a kid that if I were going into the show, I would just tell my mom that I was the one who put all the ketchup in there. And you don't think every kid did that? So let me tell you. I had to take up the concoctions. I had to buy all the food, which was sponsors products, mainly like Robin Hood flowers

and stuff. And I had to take the things that they mixed in the bowl, put them in three patty cups, you know, cupcake things, throw them in the bowl, put them in three patty cups, cupcake things, throw them in the microwave for two minutes, and cook them. People would always be trying

to... If you look at the thing, Catherine Swing would move along the row and say, oh, it looks like you need more of this. It looks like you need more of that. That's what she was doing. She was balancing out. Sneaky, huh?

How was she and Fergie? Because nowadays, somebody did a clever editing job on a YouTube video that has basically destroyed the man's reputation. Yeah, it's awful. Fergie was nothing like that. Obviously, he, you know, it is.

It's an edit and you called it correctly. He was friendly. He was is. It's an edit and you called it correctly. He was friendly. He was warm. He's loving. His young daughter was on the set all the time. No, I mean, that is not what they made out of that. I was shocked. And believe me, I would have, you know, reported it.

I mean, I think when I was working there, I was like 20, early 20s. And I saw nothing like that. Nothing like that. And remember, we taped six shows on Saturday, eight shows on Sunday. There was no time. We were just, it was a half hour shows. They were moving through, moving through.

But it's terrible that, because I'm a Blue Jay fan, as I mentioned. So I remember him as, you know, how about those Blue Jays, right? He's the CFTO Blue Jay game of the week or whatever. And of course I watched Just Like Mom. And yeah, you can edit, you can do that with anything, right? Like you can edit parts and make it He's the CFTO Blue Jay Game of the Week or whatever. And of course I watch Just Like Mom. And yeah, you can edit.

You can do that with anything. You can edit parts and put it to certain, slow it down. Everything seems a little creepy if you have a good editor behind it. Have you listened to the drunk Donald Trump? No. Oh, that's a riot. They slow his voice down to half speed.

And it's like, hello, balcony. Everything he says. It's quite quite funny but yeah no editing is you know did you uh on set asian court right that's where this all happens did you ever bump into uncle bobby or is that way before yep no he was there he was there and circus performers and all kinds of things okay i have to. I had a guest on. His name is Retro Ontario. This is what we call him. But he archives old. In fact, I'm going to play a clip of you, Christine, in a moment that Retro Ontario provided me with.

But he was on the show. And he told a story on this podcast that Uncle Bobby had a trailer. And he would disappear with the moms into this trailer. Do you know anything about that? I don't know anything about that. Neither do I. It wouldn't surprise me. Hashtag real talk. Studio 6 then in those days

was far removed from us. The newsroom had nothing to do with it. We didn't go down there. It was a Glenn Warren production. It was a Glenn Warren production. Those were the days we had film. We were running.

We were driving up from Queen's Park or City Hall or downtown way out to Agent Court, which was farmland in those days. Right, right, yeah. And so we had nothing to do with production. And neither of you have ever been in this trailer, then, it's fair to say. No. No, no. I have never been in Uncle Bobby's, it's fair to say. No. No, no. I have never been in Uncle Bobby's trailer. Ever.

And don't you edit that to say she was. Oh, I don't edit anything, don't worry. Or I would change that 198 to a 199 if you had even a minute. Okay, and thank you for defending Fergie Oliver. I think you're the first person I've had on who worked with Fergie, and I never liked that nowadays

kids are thinking he's a predator. It's awful. He would have done sports with you. He did sports. He was not like that at all. And you both drink beer. I do. I do once about every five years.

Good. Are you due for a beer? I'm probably due for a beer. This six-pack in front of you is yours to take home. Courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery, which is a southwest Toronto craft brewery. A Royal York and Queensway kind of area.

Not far from here. You know where that Costco is? It's kind of between the Costco and the highway. There's like a street there. Well, I hear lots about it from my boys who only drink craft and talk about this brand. That's kind of between the Costco and the highway. There's like a street there. Well, I hear lots about it from my boys who only drink craft and talk about this brand. That's the thing now. You have to be a beer snob. Yeah, they're beer snobs for sure. You can't go drink a butt or anything.

I think one of them actually joined a beer club where you get a new selection of six every month or ten or something. That's super pretentious. Well, it's just for fun to try it out, you know? No, I'm just kidding. Hopefully you like that beer.

They're good guys over there. And I want to tell you that there's a company called Chef's Plate. Chef's Plate, and I've done this. I'm going to do this from memory, no script or anything,

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I'm going to make sure they give two to each of you. So you're each getting two free plates from chefsplate.ca. Thank you. And anyone listening who wants to have a similar deal, if you use the promo code TorontoMike on chefsplate.ca, you get

two free plates. That's $22 in savings, and you can try this for yourself it's um it's a really awesome local company and you know they're awesome because they sponsor a podcast like this in my beautiful basement it's not beautiful no there is a videographer in the room. Yeah, they're going to see it. Prove you wrong. One day I'll buy a can of paint. It's a man cave. It's a man cave. Yeah, it's a man and a kid cave.

I see kid toys. So can I, let me focus on Christine for a bit, then come back to you, and then we're going to talk about everything. So Christine, CKVR. CKVR. Yeah, that was the beginning. That was the beginning.

Tell me how it all begins at CKVR before you moved to CFTO in Toronto. A complete accident. I had a degree in languages and literature. I was debating whether to go to drama school or whether to go to law school. My father was a diplomat but had come from 20 generations of lawyers. So I wrote the LSATs and he said to me, you know, because I did a lot of drama and theater through high school and university, I think when you think of law,

you think of Perry Mason and doing the big speech and getting somebody off. You know, it's pretty dry. It's not like that. It's like that for 1% of the time. Anyway, I had a girlfriend who was working at CKVR. And she said, why don't you come up and talk to them? Because maybe you should go to journalism school, because it's kind of a blend of performance and cerebral, it might be good for you. So I went up and I met a man called Bill French. And I had an interview. And then he said, since you're here, we talked about journalism schools, you know, which ones he hired from, and liked, and why, and said, oh, since you're here, why don't you do an audition? You know, I'll just tell you if you're any good on camera. So,

did an audition, came back in, he said, yeah, you can start Monday at nine, it's $75 a week, and I said, uh, big bucks, yeah, big bucks, I said, said uh I don't know how to do anything and he said let me see well you've got an honors BA you graduated summa cum laude you are willing to go back to school for two years so and and and you seem fine on camera so you know you'll figure you'll figure it out yes and in those days we had you know feet of film. They expected a two-minute story. We processed the film. We edited the film. And they expected about four stories a day.

So we traveled down almost to Toronto and way up north and west and east and everywhere. So it was a great education. And you said $75 a week. $75 a week. I lived in a house just down the street from the station

on Little Avenue with five other people. I bought a bed at the Salvation Army that had a big sag in it like this. In those days, of course,

you didn't ask your parents for anything. Right. But that's actually the starting rate today, I believe, in TV is $75 a week. So it hasn't gone up.

But it was great. It was great. You had a chance to make all your mistakes. And then I was bitten by the bug. Yeah, you cut your teeth. You put in your reps, if you will. You get better because you're doing it. I mean, even though I fumbled that in,

I got the wrong number and I fumbled it twice. You should have heard episode one, okay? I've come a long way on there. But you learn things like if you have 100 feet of film, you learn that if you do the interview and you actually let it go you're not going to have any b-reel you i learned to do stand-ups one take because otherwise i'd have no b-reel and they wanted two minutes out of that hundred feet so and with the interviews you had a little signal with a cameraman so he would start and then you would signal him when to start shooting

and then you knew when your answer was done you wait five seconds you signaled him he still stood there pretended but he'd stopped shooting and then did the cutaways it was down to an art so when we went to video at at ctv and the and the editors were saying my, I've got four hours of tape here for a one-in-store, you know, a minute 15. I mean, this is insane. Except for you, Christine. Right, yeah. Because I was so used to doing it. That's great.

So we learned a lot of good things. Now you end up in Toronto and you're going to tell me how you end up in Toronto, but I just, way past your time at CKVR, they rebranded as the new VR. The new VR, yeah. But they were the new VR for way too long. There's a statute of limitations on how long you can be the new anything. Yeah, was it a decade or something?

I'm going to say at least a decade. It was bizarre. Ten years after launch, they were the new VR. Please, come on. I know. That always upset me. I know. I'm still trying to get over it.

You upset easily. Yeah. And that's why the beer keeps getting delivered. Self-medicate. Now, CFTO, the CTV affiliate in Toronto, big time station where, you know, where you guys would both work. But how did you end up there from this? Sorry, CKVR, which was in Barrie.

Of course. Well, what happened was I got a summer job at CBC in Toronto. And not to denigrate the CBC, but it was really the most bizarre newsroom I've ever heard of at the time. So at the time that I was there, there were three different executive producers that came in and out. One was slaughtered, and the next one would come in. Their career, I mean. And then the next one, and the next one.

And it was bizarre. And they sent me off to do an inquest with a woman whose five children had mysteriously died and thought, great, we'll just put her out there. They used to say to me, just go shopping. We have nothing for you today. And I'd say, well, don't you have something I can sort of do some research on or do some prep on? Just go to this inquest. So I basically spent most of the summer at this inquest. And for whatever reason, she came in at 5.30 in the morning and walked for me. So we had two hours of video with her, and she did an interview with me, not anything about the inquest, but just talking.

So I was the only person in Toronto who had video of her, her walking, her talking, whatever. So I finished the inquest, and then, of course, when they came out with the recommendations, they brought in another reporter to do that story. So because of that video, I hounded CFTO and got a job at CFTO. And it was on the basis of that. Just that simple. Yeah, that's interesting. That simple thing. And when I came, the reporter who covered it said, you made my life hell. I'm going to try and forgive you,

but my summer was hell every day I came back and Bob Hurst would say, look, this is a kid. This is a summer student who got this. Like, go and get some video. But it ends on a happy note because you do end up at CFTO. And I'm going to play a clip. This is 1985. Okay, so my buddy Retro Ontario cut this from an old VHS tape that he had lying around.

So let's listen. Are you going to embarrass me? No, you sound great in this. But this is just to give everyone a taste of what CFTO news sounded like in 1985, just a little bit. Reds, coming later this month to CFTO-TV. This is Ontario's most watched local newscast, Nightbeat News, with Ken Shaw, Christine Bentley, and the award-winning CFTO News team.

Tonight on Nightbeat, Metro Police are uncovering bizarre new evidence in their investigation into Friday night's triple homicide. So just a little taste. So this is 1985. And you're co-hosting with Ken Shaw, who's still co-hosting news on CTV. Of course he is. Yeah. But we'll get to that in a moment.

So we're hearing you. I think David Duvall, I think, is the weather guy. Dave Duvall. Yes. We're still very good friends. Okay, great. So let's talk about your time at, briefly before we get to Kate, your time at CFTO. Yes.

So you can tell me, but I believe you're co-anchoring the 1130 News with Ken Shaw, but you're also doing the 6 o 11 30 news with ken shaw but you're also doing the six o'clock news and the new news like are you just everywhere no well it started at the beginning i was a reporter and i did city hall queens park first i was a general reporter then i think i did city hall queens park then i did weekends for i think almost a year then i was put on the late, and I did that for 15 and a half years. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I got to raise my children

and be home during the day. I mean, we all raised our children, but I loved being home during... My kids didn't even know I worked until they were seven or eight because... So what time would you leave for the office? Well, I would be in the office at eight o'clock, which is when the six o'clock show would end at 7,

and at 8, they would come back from dinner, and at 8, we'd be sitting there, and we would write everything, because it was only a half hour. That really is perfect for raising your... And then... But we were there later. We were there till 12.30.

12.30, yeah. Yeah, so we would write, and then at 11 o'clock, we'd get makeup and do the promos, and then we'd do the show. So... And for a while, they tried to get us in for an eight-hour day, but they had no seats. So we all stood around waiting.

There were no seats, no computers, no typewriters. There was no space for us in the old newsroom. Christine and I was doing the six then, and we would basically change seats. It was like if you want both anchors in for an eight hour day you need more more space right so so that was it so Kate and I um you know knew one another for a long long time because she she would we would fill in for one another if she was away on vacation or I was or whatever so we but I did that primarily and then I went to six and then I would fill in for the noon anchor.

And then the noon anchor left and they thought, yeah, well, that sounds like an eight-hour day to me. Let's have her in and do that permanently. And then eventually Ken did that too. Gotcha. Gotcha. And then let's talk about this September 12, 2012. Okay. So September 12, 2012, you're doing the CTV News at 6, and then basically you announce

you're going to leave the station to pursue other interests. This is 35 years you're a CFTO, and you basically say you're stepping down, and you get replaced by Michelle Dubé, who's still there with Ken Shaw. Is that...

Okay, let me ask you this, looking in your eyes right now. Did you leave on your own or did you get pushed out? I got pushed out. Of course I did. I mean... They told her it was time. But

Ken Shaw's time should have passed as well. Like, is it a different time? Is it just like a different clock? He's a guy. I mean, there certainly is ageism in the business. But I think what most stations are doing is they generally cannot afford what they consider to be expensive talent. So they'll pick a few people.

They've kept a few women, older women. The odd ones, so they can point to them and say, no, no, it's not, you know, it's not, we're not about that. And then they replace them with people who are less expensive. I mean, the media generally is changing and they don't, they can't afford talent. I mean, look at, you know, Ann Moskowski went at Citi and then Gord Martineau went at Citi finally. Global, the same thing. It's happening everywhere. So I don't think, you know, I think it's part of the times. Now, I have more to ask on this topic, but I actually want, I want to get to Kate and then bring us kind of up to here. So you are asked,

you said you were told it's time. So they let you spin it, I guess. They say, hey, just make it look like you are retiring because a lot of people think you retired. Well, it was made to look that way. But I don't, it was never said because I said, you're not ever going to say that. Um, but I mean, I guess at the end of the day, um, I had a chance to say goodbye. It was inevitable. Uh, and I wanted to be graceful about it because, because what was the alternative? No, I totally understand. So I'm just going to find out what Kate was up to. And then we're going to talk a little more on that only because very, very recently I sat across this table with Ann Roszkowski and we talked about this and it really like, I'm a guy who's never worked in the industry. So like, I'm just learning from people I talk to and, and we're going to,

I want to get to that very soon. But Kate, this is what I learned about you that I thought is fascinating. Is that, tragic I guess at the time, but this is City TV's The Kate Wheeler Story, Diary of a Victim. Which I understand, I don't remember this, I have to plead ignorance here, but I understand it aired in 84. You were stabbed in a Toronto mall by a stranger who was deemed criminally insane. Can you tell me what happened about this Kate Wheeler story that aired in the city? April 17th, 1981. My mother's friend ran a hat shop in the Sheraton Centre, Queen Street, right? And she was away on holiday.

And she wasn't overly fond of her manager, so asked if I could go and pick up the day's takings and make the bank deposit and I said sure and I went in there one day and I'm behind the counter and it's like a u-shaped counter so you were like stuck in there I turn around and there's a guy standing there with a steak knife in his hand. And he said, Are you the owner? And I said, No, but I'm in charge while she's away. And I had that steak knife in my chest. Oh, my gosh. So pushed him away, went past him went down on the floor, put my elbow up because he was going to slash my face slash my arm. He stabbed me in the abdomen, managed to sever my fallopian tubes, a couple of slashes in the leg. I thought my life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was dead. And woke up, well, I opened

my eyes and there was an off-duty paramedic from, no, an off-duty firefighter from Michigan up there. He said, don't worry, I've seen worse. You're going to survive. But it was the first day the paramedics were on the road in Toronto and there was a hotel strike. Think of it. I'm like at basically opposite City Hall and it took them an hour and a half to get me to hospital. Wow. Yeah. To get me through the strike. And the media is there, right? The media is everywhere. Now, the one thing that I have always thanked CFTO at the time for is my grandmother watched that show. My mother was a producer there and she watched the news, you know, every night. And my mother phoned the station and said, we haven't been able to reach her mother. Please don't air the story.

And at the family station at the time. And that story didn't air. It aired on every other network that, you know, young slash actress you know stabbed in downtown toronto and um yeah they didn't air it and i thought that was pretty damn decent yeah that's yeah good to hear and so she found out there and i was declared clinically dead and um and revived i almost exangulated. I learned a new word. That means bled to death. I almost bled to death.

This is everyone's worst nightmare, right? Which is a random attack by somebody. He didn't like... You know those baseball hats that they have and they have a pile of poop on them and then it says... Can I swear on a podcast? Yeah, you can swear.

It says shithead across that hat. Okay, yeah, yeah. He was a paranoid schizophrenic, and he thought the hat display in the window, she sold very nice hats as well, was specifically aimed at him, and that he was going to take revenge. So he suffered delusions.

He was in and out of the Queen Street Mental Health Center. Apparently, he had been following me for going in and picking up the money, so he thought i was the boss and yeah he wanted to no i go ahead sorry no he um uh he was arrested he was sent to the uh penitentiary institute for the criminally insane i did not like the way that um everything was basically handed to him on a silver platter mental health physical health um if I hadn't had parents with money, I wouldn't have got any psychological help. I wouldn't have had the plastic surgery. My modeling career was ended because of the scars across my body. So I didn't like the way that

victims fell through the cracks. So started a group that became victims of violence, still occasionally get called in to talk to people that have been through traumatic events like that. And I was talking to, I was working on a film with Marilyn Lightstone, who is Moses Nimer's partner. She told Moses the story, and I ended up getting the law changed. So Victims of Violence now get money for psychological help

up front from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. And so we did a series. We did a series on it, and that was my entree into journalism. That's how I got in. So five-part series. Yes. And, yeah, that story is amazing because, obviously, you mentioned that you were revived.

Thank goodness because I was on the, you know, I was just on suspenseful needles there finding out what happened there. But you went on to have a great career. We'll talk about it. But I guess it's just scars at this point. It's just these, you're left with scars. It took a long time before I could use a steak knife. Oh, yeah.

It really did. And I had agoraphobia. I didn't go out of the house for maybe 18 months. I had to be taken everywhere. What about trust issues with the guy who doesn't look like he's playing a full deck on Yonge Street?

Would you cross the street, maybe not pass him? Anything like that? Any trust issues like that? With the specific type of the man that attacked me, yes would i would cross the street but i mean he had no family had a cousin you know somewhere else nobody cared about him um and again it was a failure of the system i mean if you don't have enough room to house people with mental health issues and you send them out on the street with no address nowhere to go no support you just

say goodbye we think you're cured and they're not this is what happens i was recently the foreman of a jury and i can't speak too much about the trial but i can say that the person pled not criminally responsible ncr and then artists so we had to decide whether this person was NCR or guilty of second-degree murder on the jury. And so I got a very good education, basically, on when somebody is not criminally responsible and when you have these delusional episodes, they're called. So you hear from psychiatrists, from CAMH, et cetera, et cetera. And yes, you mentioned schizophrenia.

So that's a disease that does come with delusions. And somebody would think you're right. That, that, that, that the attacking you is somehow serving a greater good in no sense of it being wrong. That's right. But, but in court he said, when I get out, I'm going to finish the job. Wow. That was, and I think the whole thing about doing that series, the thing that weighed most on me, and you can actually, if you look at it, you can see a weight lift off my shoulders. Because a victim has no right to find out what happened. So we're doing this series, and I'm trying to find out where he is. Is he being moved?

He threatened me. So I've lived for years, well, like four or five years by the time we did the series thinking that every guy coming up behind me could be the guy right so finally a decent person you know at the pen and hang machine institute for the criminal insane said i'm not allowed to tell you this i'm not meant to tell you this he died three years ago of a heart attack are I'm like, are you kidding? So for three years, I've been living in fear, and you don't, like, what is wrong with our system that somebody can't say, you know, he threatened her in court,

she'd probably be pleased to know that he's never coming to get her because he's not around anymore. But they wouldn't tell you. And my mother, too. What's your reaction when you hear that he had passed away? Like, what is that? You can can see it i hear it on camera yeah you can see it's it's every time i see it now and i haven't looked at it in years because really it's an old story life goes

on um you can see me breathe i just i just like oh my god like, like it's over. It's an over. And that was the moment it was over. And this five part series somehow ends with you being on city TV, right? This is your start in broadcasting. Yeah, it was. I ended up working for the news department as a writer. And then my mother was still at CFTO. And they had a show called Toronto Today. And I did a lot of work with artists and jewelers and artisans. My boyfriend at the time was a jeweler. And I said, there's so many great artisans. My

mother sort of said, like, why don't you have Kate do a segment called Kate's People? And it was all about local artists and artisans. So I was actually, and I had to get the okay from Moses and the okay from Doug Bassett. I think I'm the only person ever to work at City and CFTO at the same time. Wow, yeah. Because I do my weekend, I do four or five days at City writing for news, and I would film one segment on a Thursday, because Thursday, Fridays were my day off, and I would film that segment for Toronto Today.

That would run, and then I was offered a full-time job as a reporter at CF2. Man, times have changed. Now, if you're working for Bell, Rogers doesn't want you on any other properties. It's a whole different culture now, but that's great that you were allowed to have that opportunity.

So, at CFTO, you're reporting I guess in 1987. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you become an anchor the following year, and you end up the weekend news anchor in 1990? Yeah, I think. And then promoted to co-anchor of CFTO's News

at Six. With Tom Gibney in 91, right? Somebody on Twitter, I think, was being funny with me, wanted to ask how you felt that Tom Gibney would sometimes film with no pants on. That's not true. I don't think that's true. Utter nonsense. Dave Duvall would wear

shorts and sandals, but we'd occasionally make him stand up and say, look, they come off the golf course. There's nothing wrong with shorts and sandals. But they'd just wear their suit jackets and ties. And occasionally a skirt. A kilt. No, no, a kilt.

A kilt. What kind of guy is Tom? He's an old curmudgeon. No, he's remained a lifelong friend he's he's a great guy um he's a great guy he's a shopaholic he likes to shop um but he you know he he was good to work with he was a great guy to work with no problem and what about okay you end up doing national news right because you sit in for Lloyd Robertson and Sandy Rinaldo on CTV National News. I have done.

Lloyd Robertson, who I believe is the inspiration for Kent Brockman on The Simpsons. I don't know if that's fact. I don't know if that's ever been declared. But that's my feeling. Anyway. What kind of guy is Lloyd Robertson? Honestly. Real talk.

What kind of guy? In what way? I mean, he's a solid news anchor. Everyone walks in and says, oh, he's shorter than I thought he was. But he would probably still bump his head above us. I don't think so. Is that right? Lloyd Robertson is one of those guys who was allowed to get old on the air. We got to see him age in front of the camera and then was given a very big farewell. Christine, just to go back to your situation before we're going to jump back forth,

it would have been nice if you had that same opportunity, I would think. Well, I think Lloyd was iconic. He's a legend in his time, and he stayed on to do W5, and he was an integral part of the newsroom, and I think that that was always the intention. I think that the day-to-day, they wanted to pass that on to somebody else, but he still remains, I think, to this day and will until the day he dies. Does he still bring ice cream in on Friday nights? We'll have to find that out. Yes, we'll have to find that out.

He used to bring ice cream for the crew every Friday night. And he was a big supporter, actually, of Lisa LaFlem getting that job. Oh, good. Yeah, and a big supporter of Wendy Freeman becoming news director. Does he know Ken Brockman was based on his person? I don't know.

We haven't asked him that, but we will next time we see him. Good. Do that for me, please. Canada AM is a show that was recently cancelled and you appeared on Canada AM as well. I did six months for Canada AM. When Beverly

left Global, they enforced. A lot of people don't enforce, but they did enforce her contract. There was six months that she couldn't. She was doing a lot of pre-tapes and doing interviews enforce, but they did enforce her contract. So there was six months that she couldn't. So she was non-compete. So she was doing a lot of

pre-tapes and doing interviews and things that would air afterwards. So six months, but then actually turned into nine months because poor Marcy Ann was involved in a bad car accident. So then between doing the six months as host and three months doing the news, nine months

I could have given birth. That's right. I did not enjoy doing that show. No? No. There's nothing like you have to go to bed at 9 o'clock at night because they come and get you at 3, 3.30 in the morning, and then you've got any kind of family life.

I always used to say it felt like I was always getting in and out of bed and not having any fun doing it. Because you always needed a nap so that you could see your kids, see your husband. And a 3 a.m. wake up can't be healthy for your body, right? It's not healthy. No, it's not. I have a lot of morning show hosts that come in and they have this schedule and they seem fine with it, but

I also have people come in and I'll say, hey, would you be interested in the morning gig? I had Joanne Wilder in two days ago and I was just asking her about the global morning show because they have this new synergy, I guess, Chorus owns Shaw now or something. And she's like, no, you'd have to park a Brinks truck in her driveway

because that is, it can change your whole lifestyle. It's brutal. But at the end of the day in broadcasting, generally speaking, no matter what it is, there are no nine to five Monday to Friday hours. So you pick your poison. You're either working late at night. Weekends.

Weekends. Or you're working early in the morning. But I think early in the morning was the worst. People never, ever, even after 20 years, ever got over it. And I just was speaking to Marcy a couple of nights ago, and she just said she just loved, just loved, because your body clock needs to go back. And I don't think your body clock is geared for 3 a.m.

Right. Now, Kate, CTV News Channel, you're a daytime news anchor there, senior reporter from 2001 until November 2008 when you were... When I got fired. But you were on a lengthy list of people who were let go. It was all the Ws that day. It was Tim Weber, Kate Wheeler, and Jacinta Wessling.

It was a bad day to have your name N and W. Can I ask, is this because you made too much money? You were on a budgetary target list? No. It's because I complained about... I had an ongoing battle with my immediate boss in that my immediate boss was dating a politician, engaged to a politician, and would repeatedly tell me what I could and could not ask.

No good. That said politician. Exactly. So I went to my boss, her boss, and said, like, this is going on. And I got, ah, Kate, don't worry about it. Lots of politicians sleep with journalists. And I said, yeah, but the journalists, you know, aren't telling the journalists that work for them what they can and cannot ask. This is bad. So it was poo-pooed, sent away, happened again, went over, here's my mistake, went over that boss's head to the big boss who immediately saw it as wrong, had the woman recuse herself from any discussions. And this guy's name was coming up a lot at the time.

And so she immediately had hate on for me. So she changed my shift daily. I had moved from doing the regular shift there because of my family so that I would get a regular day shift. That's so shitty. Like that's incredibly shitty. Incredibly shitty. Like, that's incredibly shitty. Yeah, incredibly shitty. And then they were given, everyone was given a budget. Like, they had to cut a certain amount.

Now, at the time, the only Newsnet employees, because everyone else was put through CTV, were Mike Duffy, Dan Matheson, and me. So she has to cut one. Who is she going to cut? Yeah. That's terrible that she had a position of power where she could do that and in terms of this

I'm surprised that this didn't come out because much less than that has made waves since it caused so much trouble for my family I was complaining about it all the time I was going home saying this is brutal I can't do

this anymore that finally my husband and my kids never wanted to hear this person's name ever again and it was a just walk away i was like damn i'm not going to walk away i actually went in august and asked for a package i said i can't work with her anymore what she's doing is like illegal cruel it's like no no we love you we love you, we love you. That was August. And then in November, it was November 28th, she phones me. It was the day that the one-of-a-kind craft show opens, and I always take my mother to the media breakfast, have done like for 20 years.

So I'm in the car, and it's this woman. You have to come up to the station. It's like, no, I don't. It's my day off. It's like, no, you have to come to the station right now. It's like, if you're firing me, you can do it tomorrow. And then I put the phone down, immediately phoned everyone else that had been let go

and said, what do I do? And they told me what to do and how to handle it. I took advice from some very good people. And I said to my mom, I can't go. I'm going to go in and deal with this now. But what really upset me most about that, after all the years I had been there, I was not allowed to walk into the makeup room,

walk through the studio, say goodbye to anybody. I was escorted out of the door. Security walks you out. Are you effing kidding? Like, really? That is the most insulting thing. And that was the thing why I didn't make a fuss at least you got to say goodbye

well I was never going to do anything on the air I would never do that anyway but it was really nice to be able to say goodbye to people and you know we played the game for the week I mean I think everybody knew but we played the game

and that was fine that was fine for the week. I mean, I think everybody knew, but we played the game. And that was fine. That was fine. Now that we've got you both fired, okay, now that you've both been let go. So Anne Murzkowski, who I had a great 90 minutes chat with her, and I should have pulled the clip,

but she basically said, I asked her something about, does she want to get back in the game? Because she was on, just like you guys, on Toronto television for decades. Right? Institution in the city. She and I were at City Hall together with Christina Pukmarski from Global. And we used to hang out. Like, we'd cover the same stories and, you know.

Yeah. I mean, she's a great reporter. She's got a news nose. I only had the 90 minutes with her, but man, it was a fun chat. And then she said, she looked at me and she said, Mike, she goes, I'm a 60-year-old woman. She says, I will never work in broadcasting again.

No, I don't think so. No, it's tough. Like, this is just a black and white. She knows she will never have another paid broadcasting gig. And she says, because she's a 60-year-old woman and they don't. And she, like, people know about Ann Roszkowski forever on City TV with Gord Martineau.

By the way, have you ever heard this episode of Toronto Mic'd with Ann Roszkowski? Because I feel like you guys should listen to it. Because she says for three years before she was let go, Gord wouldn't talk to her. No, he wouldn't. Only on camera, that was it.

So if the camera wasn't rolling, not even, you know, the fake pleasantries you do with people you work with you don't like. So anyway, she just let it go. She said she was tired

of the smoke and mirrors. She wanted to tell it like it is. And I said to my wife, she was out of fucks to give. Pardon my French, but she was out of fucks to give and she wasn't going to be

bullshitting anybody anymore because it was never going to benefit and it happened to her twice too yeah that's that's i mean that was just awful so uh i guess my question for you is in that context of the ann ruskowski revelation is uh and you know we talked about uh lloyd robertson and everything but uh it there is a perception that women reach a certain age and then they seem to be pushed aside or pushed out. And you mentioned there's exceptions. But it does seem, just anecdotally, it seems like this happens often.

No, but there are exceptions, like Sandy Rinaldo. So if anybody ever said to CTV, your age is, they say, no, no, no, look, we have. But I mean, we worked with somebody when we started what she said, Kimothy from Ottawa. CTV Ottawa. Not even 50.

Yeah, 45, and she got the, no, you're done. Well, people will say, it's not that you're a woman, it's that you are at a point where you make too much money. Yeah, partially that, partially that. But my salary didn't change when I went from CTV Toronto to Newsnet. It was the same salary. So it's not like it goes, it doesn't change. You know, if you, if they move you off the six o'clock and put you on weekends, you're still getting the same salary because they can't change the salary. So that can make it expensive when they're moving people around.

Sure. And, and, and was very, uh, speaking of Ann, but she said, you know,

she was replaced by somebody and she was very clear that she believes that person's making like half her salary or whatnot. Oh yeah. So this is, so we can talk about whether it's a gender thing and maybe there's some validity there, but I think it's clear there's an ageism thing where, you know, you see it all the time.

Somebody, I'm going to make up an age, but somebody hits 50 years old, pushed aside, and then the replacement might be, I don't know, like 29 years old or whatever. But more importantly, not that they're younger, it's that they demand a much lesser salary. The compensation is much lower. Much, much lower.

And my sister works in corporate and she's very high up in corporate and she said her conversation with all her friends she's not in broadcasting um is basically i mean she said to me well what were like you didn't have a plan like what were you thinking everybody in in corporate as they hit 48 50 they're looking over their shoulder they're waiting women are waiting to be let go because there's this feeling that men are the last resort because they have families to support as if women aren't contributing i mean i was literally told well it won't affect you because your husband's well off it's like what the hell has that got to do with anything that was that was insulting yeah the price of tea and so you know

i think the broadcast industry just caught up with with the corporate world because she she said anybody women who are still there at 50 and they're just counting they're waiting they're looking over their shoulder every day waiting for the other shoe to drop. So, yeah, I think Kate and I just kind of bounced along in our little world. And then one day it happened and it was, oh, really? Yeah. No, I hear you. That's terrible. Now, just Kate, just to bring it.

So you do do some work. So post CTV, you do work at Chex? Where's Chex again? Peterborough? I work for Chorus. Well, Chorus owns Chex in Peterborough. And they had a small station in Oshawa that covered the whole of Durham region, Channel 12,

which is actually, you know, most people don't realize that that is the largest federal riding in the country. Jim Flaherty, Bev Oda. I mean, the politicians coming out of there. The stories. We've got the Schwa. We've got Whitby, Pickering, Uxbridge, Scugog.

It goes for everywhere. So they wanted to, like, beef up this station, make it a news station again and do a newscast. So I signed on for a one-year contract and stayed there three years, but then moved from, because I was living in North Pickering, moved from there down and decided I didn't want to do that drive anymore.

And now, but we created, Alex was our videographer here. Alex came to me as a 16-year-old intern. He didn't have that beard back then, did he? No, I made him go back to college and get his degree. He's just got that, just graduated. And

now he's looking for work. He's a very good videographer. Great at social media. Can you get me some picture or video of this that I could share through my social media channels to promote this episode? Thank you very much. So we did a good job there. Alex was a reporter.

I trial by fire threw him out on the first day, told him everything he was doing wrong. And every reporter I hired there, Abigail Beeman is now actually actually she's just come off the anchor desk in Kitchener. She's going to be doing an investigative series. Heather Wright is at CTV Toronto. And Jenna is anchored down, yeah?

Donna Semple, she just got married and she's anchored down in Kingston. Every reporter I hired and trained has gone on to do bigger and better things. That says a lot about you. Yeah, it's fun. It's the best part. One-on-one mentorship is great. I want to talk about what she said. Okay.

This will actually answer the question people have been wondering for 55 minutes, which is, why do you have Kate Wheeler and Christine Bentley on at the same time? You're both out of work and you guys... Open a bottle of Prosecco. Is that what you did?

Okay, my dates. Now let me get the dates right and where are you doing it from? And then I want to tell you why I invited you because it all ties in nicely together. So February 2014, you're co-hosting What She Said. So each of you co-hosted it was on Sirius XM but now it's on the Jewel Radio Network which I know because the Evanov group

their big building is very close to here so it made it easy for us to drive down and it's all downhill so you don't even you can put it in neutral and you'll just end up here which is very nice so why don't you tell me the origin of the show, What She Said, and remind people where you hear it, and then I'll tell my little What She Said story. Your little What She Said story? You have a story? Yeah, well, maybe I'll start with that.

Whatever, I'll tell you that first, then you can tell me all about the show, because I'm very curious in the show. So I had Patti Sullivan coming in, and everyone knows she co-hosted Kids TVO and CBC Kids for like 20 plus years. I have kids that like, I have two kids that are like teenagers, preteen, and then I got two kids that are young.

So I've got like... And she got old, right? Well, she made the mistake of aging, right? But she was let go. They're rebranding the show. I mean, the sad thing is she's still on that. My kid is two and a half, sees her in the morning. the show. I mean, the sad thing is she's still on that. Like my kid is two and a half, sees her in the morning. She hasn't done it since I think, uh, July or something like that, but they still play

her clips because they haven't finished their new thing. They're going to do whatever, but she was out of work. So she was coming in to tell her story and I was doing a little Googling on Patty just to find out some details about her. And then I came across a YouTube clip, Patty Sullivan on what she said. I have to, at the time I never heard of what she said, but there's a YouTube clip. I'm going to watch this. First of all, videographer, did you take that video? Because the production values were very good. I have a podcast too, I'm episode 199. And I was like, this looks really good. I enjoyed it. It was a great conversation. I said, these ladies are doing what I dig. This is the kind of thing I want, these kind of

conversations. And then I reached out to you. Yeah, you did. What we did over at Bola Prosecco is basically we said, okay, so we're too old for television, apparently. What can we do? We don't want to stop what we're doing. We like telling stories. We like sharing information.

We thought there was enough chest thumping male talk radio out there. Nothing specifically targeted to women 35 and up. And on top of that, we as Canadians do not have a star system. Americans do. The rest of the world does. Canadians are very humble. And we have a country, we may not have a huge population given our vast geographic area. But it's a country full of gems, we have the most amazing artists, writers, singers, tech people, businessmen, entrepreneurs,

singers, tech people, businessmen, entrepreneurs. I mean, and who's telling those stories? Who is shining the spotlight on them, whether they're women or not? And so Kate and I have been journalists, so we've been at that end of it. We've also given back to our communities, and we've done that end of it. But what about, we do mentor and we have mentored for years, but what about really shining the spotlight on Canada's best? And so that was really attractive to us. Not accountability interviews,

but rather interviews promoting people and saying, you're fabulous. But see, what I liked about your chat was it wasn't, sometimes on radio, typical terrestrial radio, et cetera, it seems like it's mainly about promoting something like you'll, somebody will come in cause they're, I don't know, their movies coming out or their albums coming out and there's a little idle chit chat and then they plug their product, if you will, go buy this. And then there's, that's it. And you feel like that wasn't a very deep dive.

Like it doesn't feel like an actual conversation happened, but you guys, the first clip I watched with Pattyatti Sullivan, there was an actual interesting conversation that I found compelling. I think the reason I'm in my basement right now doing 199 episodes is because I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere. There's nothing that goes...

There's very little. There are some programs, but there's very little that goes beneath the surface and does a real conversation with somebody who's interesting um we don't have as much when we were on Sirius XM we were on for two hours a day and we we so we had a lot of time to go in depth we um with people and like a 15 minute interview we could stretch it to a half hour we could stretch it to an hour if we wanted to. Now we're on weekends on Jewel Radio, 88.5, 98.5, and 99.3,

and, of course, on YouTube and across all our social media, at WatchESaidTalk. But we only have an hour, so we do two hours, an hour on Saturday and an hour on Sunday. We might expand, but we need sponsors. We need help for that. And we'd like to go daily because there's so many great stories to tell. We were worried about being able to fill the time,

and now we're overbooked. But have you considered throwing away the shackles of a terrestrial radio station and going alone, like podcasting. Sure, that's why we're here. We're checking you out. Yeah, I'd have to get a coat of paint, I think, to fix this place up.

But I have experience working with former people who worked in broadcasting who were found, they were out of a gig, as so many great broadcasters are but wanted to create good content that could be consumed and then if you if you build it and you have good content and the hardest part what i lack okay i'm a guy who called himself toronto mike and does this in his basement but i work with people who've been on like big time terrestrial radio stations morning shows for 20 plus years you two you know everyone knows your voice and face in this market because you're famous.

You are, you have, your name has equity, your brand name. And that is like the, with that and then good content. Well, we do do a podcast. We have an iTunes podcast. Okay, this case. So let's be specific here. So you record your radio show

and then you make it available through syndication podcast. People can subscribe in iTunes. They can. The subscription is subscription is free i mean we're just putting that up um we're trying to get syndicated across other stations across canada um for our our one hour show and we're we put up the clips on on youtube and we put up the full show on YouTube. We pump stuff out on social media. A lot of people want digital. I think when we were on Sirius, a lot of people said they couldn't listen to us because they didn't want to pay the subscription, right? So they would find us on social media,

which is why we built the social media platform that we did. But now, I mean, a lot of people heard us, like Sunday nights, driving home from the cottage, right? That's where they found us. So I think the radio is great. And being on Jewel is great, because that's where people find us. And it's like, oh, well, they recognize Christine's voice, they recognize my hideous laugh, you know, whatever. It's they, they go, oh, there they are. They recognize my hideous laugh, you know, whatever. It's they go, oh, there they are.

And then they found us and then they tell their friends. And so that gives us an extra platform that is free and available. And you own this show, you two. We do. So you essentially, you have a show that airs on Jewel. Yeah. But it also is a podcast that people could, you know, if they can't be in front of the radio or whatever at that time of day or whatever. And what is the

place, if you were going to direct people to a website where they could learn how to subscribe and all that, is there a webpage where people can go? All our social is WhatSheSaidTalk. So at WhatSheSaidTalk on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and the YouTube channel is at WhatSheSaidTalk on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and the YouTube channels at WhatSheSaidTalk.

And the website is WhatSheSaidTalk.com. And you don't have to be a woman to listen, right? Like I can listen. No, no. In fact, we're surprised because I would say that half our listeners or close to half are men. And when I've asked them why, because it's, we really sort of crafted this for women and they say, well, you know, I have four daughters. I married, my wife has two sisters. I have a mother. I have, you know, so I want to know what's going on with women. I want to know what, what makes a woman think like, what, I need to get inside there.

What are they interested in what are they talking about what are they you know and we we know we don't run clips on on guests segments on menopause i was gonna say we're not that different right there's a few areas maybe right like that but we're not that different you know a good conversation is a good conversation it's not all about feminine hygiene and things like that. We do have male guests on. We have women guests, men, lots of talent that

comes on. And one of the key things that we're really happy that we can do is our last segment of every show is called Studio Sessions. And we have up and coming artists and some Julie Black came on. We can't call her an up and coming artist and some julie black came on we can't call her an up and coming artist and we have one coming on soon uh not this weekend but next weekend we're

not gonna we're not not even a clue not a clue i'm still trying to figure out who that politician was megastar megastar so they um so but that final segment um is is them doing live studio sessions. So they sing and perform for us live in session. Yeah, and it fulfills the station's SOCAN obligations, which is good in CanCon. But we want to do that because, as Christine was saying, we found out in our time on satellite radio that there is no star system. That's strange. Plus her son is dj swivel

you know he's he's a grammy you know what okay i'm gonna i did a little homework here and i'm skipping it and i did so basically i have a question here about dj swivel but i felt bad maybe like i that i hadn't heard of dj swivel but i'm not a young man you know what i mean like i i feel like it might be aimed at a lower demographic. No, you don't have to apologize. She's the mother of a well-known actress. So there you go.

Would I know her? Would I have seen her in anything? How old are your kids? 14, 12, and then 2 in 7 months. The girl is 12. They watch The Next Step dance show? Yes. My daughter's Emily.

Yes, okay. This is the faux reality program. I hope I'm getting the right one. Yeah, yeah. Scripted reality. Scripted reality, right. You see. What the hell does that mean?

Repeat the name again for me. The Next Step. My daughter? Yeah. Alexandra Beaton. I'm going to tell Michelle tonight. She's Emily. Okay.

Yeah. And she's back. That's exciting. Okay. She was in 300 with Jared Butler. Now, that was a hell of a set to be on. All those men in leather loincloths working out. So that wasn't post-production.

Those six packs were real. I was there. By the way, great movie. He might have been there too. Look at this. Oh, that's Andre the Giant. But with a loincloth or something. It's a Speedo, I think.

Come on, his famous singlet. Everybody knows. DJ Swivel. He got the Grammy for Beyonce. Can you educate me a little on DJ Swivel? First of all, that's super exciting. And I have this note. I have this note about dj swivel and uh somewhere in here i've got a note about dj swivel but tell like just tell the people like a little bit he does producing and

well he produces he mixes he records so 10 years ago or 11 years ago, here I thought I had a little lawyer on my hands, but he decided he wanted to do music. And so then he convinced me that he needed to go to Full Sail in Orlando, a private American university, where they crammed three years into 12 months. And then, of course course gave them a visa to to intern for no money so this would be two years living in the U.S. and our dollar was at about the same rate it is now right so um eventually he did convince me and off he went and then he ended up working with a very good producer mixer called Duro and ended up working with Beyonce and Jay-Z. That's amazing.

And a whole bunch of great artists. I should know better. No, you don't have to. I mean, I'm not very versed in the music scene particularly. So, yeah, now he's moved to L.A. about a year and a half ago. That's crazy. And doing very well there. Now he's working with now he's moved to LA about a year and a half ago. That's crazy. And doing very well there. And now he's working with another band that Alex would know, but I, the Chainsmokers.

Oh, first of all, my 12 year old, I hear so much Chainsmokers. Like this is the biggest thing in Top 40 right now. Okay, so he's been working with them and grooming, if not grooming, but working with them. Nothing, honestly, nothing bigger right now. And he's working with them. And I said, oh, really? So yeah. But anyway, he's living his dream,

just as her daughter is living her dream. That's amazing. And we as parents want to support them because we, I think Kate and I, lived our dream. Like we did what we wanted to do, what we love doing. That's amazing. So at the end of the day, you know, I just wanted to say when we were talking about getting fired and ageism and all that stuff you know adding to that i am so

grateful that i had the time that i had because i loved my job i loved doing what i did and i think that is a gift not many people can say that they had, you know, a few decades doing something that they love to do. It's kind of a bonus. It's a big, big bonus. So I'm very grateful for that. It is, uh, people would say that, like, I've been at my current job for five years and a lot of people are like blowing away. Like you stayed in one place for five years. Like I'm getting this because people don't do this anymore and this next generation won't be because the job that they have will morph into something else in five years it won't stay the same so the advice that i think we give young people is you know you need to have your foot on a whole lot of lily pads because

it'll never be just one thing at one place like we did that those days are gone that's a much nicer way of saying diversify your portfolio yes the lily pads is great and now you know you have to build up on on multiple platforms i think absolutely uh and what so multiple platforms you mentioned so what said, what's the future of what she said? I know you alluded to sponsorship and stuff. And I know a little bit about this because this is the tough go in this country. We'd like to. I mean, I think we would like to be live.

That was good. Ideally, if I really had my druthers, Ideally, if I really had my druthers, I think we should be on noon to one, five days a week, opposite Mike Bullard. Do you know Mike Bullard was let go? When? Two weeks ago. Quick, somebody phone News Talk 1010. I know it's a Bell property.

That's funny. It's a Bell property. I didn't know. Okay, so you're talking to the watchdog, the Toronto media watchdog here. You're in good company here. You had no idea. But Mike Bullard, something happened there. He's been let go.

He's no longer on the station. Okay, yeah. Well, I mean, lots happens. Except his ratings were really high. Is that right? Because my understanding, and I'm actually trying to find out what happened because I have friends on the other side.

Your understanding is what? He had a fight with somebody? It's probably cost cutting. I know you don't want to hear that because David Eddy, do you know David Eddy? No. So David Eddy,

I believe he writes for the Globe and Mail. He was live on 1010 every single night, like I think Sunday through Thursday. He had, I want to say, at least two to four hours live. Like he was doing the midnight shift, maybe midnight to two or something. Anyway, his show is now just two hours on Sunday night. So this and now they syndicate Montreal. They syndicate Montreal programming over the air at midnight now on 1010. So it seems the future of radio, when it's not your morning

through drive, is syndication and non-live programming, which is much cheaper. This is the vibe I'm getting. So I believe Bullard, I don't know what happened, maybe something happened, but he was let go and it might be cost-cutting because the David Eddy thing happened at the same time at 1010. And while we're talking radio real quick, is uh 640 which is a chorus company are we okay of chorus we can work there yeah we talked to chorus chorus actually we talked to chorus um a lot about doing it and they were in the middle of being taken over changing revamped yeah the shaw stuff so and um the evanov group just went we we want you. So, but you know. A dear friend of mine

was a program director for the Evanoff stations. He started a proud and I think anyway, he left it for a job at Bell Media and then Bell Media fired him and now he's in Oshawa at The Rock. But this isn't,

sorry, but he was. Rock's a good station. Yeah, it's a great station. But I just think it's funny when you recruit someone from a gig that they're at and then you let them go right away. It just seems like a dink. Yeah, but you know, it's just the way of someone from a gig that they're at and then you let them go right away. It just seems like a dink.

Yeah, but it's just the way of the business now. All right, so 640. I'm sorry, I introduced 640 and I didn't finish up. So real quick, new morning show was announced today. So Oakley, who's been doing mornings on 640 since 2003 or something, when Humble Infrared left for Mix 99.9. Oakley's now going to do Afternoons. And this is boring myself to talk about it,

but Oakley's doing Afternoons and they brought in Matt Gurney, his name is. Do you know Matt? Yep. And a woman whose name eludes me right now, but you might have heard her do some politics stuff on CBC or read her stuff in The Sun, but her name eludes me right now.

But they're going to be a morning show team on 640. So this has just happened. I'm only bringing that up because we brought up the Bullard stuff, and I figured since this is going to go live today, let's give people some Fred Gray interest. That's interesting. So will Matt Gurney, is he still with? National Post?

Yeah. No. I believe he resigned from the National Post in order to take the 640. Wow. So that leaves a big hole at Sirius because he was doing the morning show. Yeah, and the morning show, wasn't that being repeated again? Yes, that's six hours. He was doing the three-hour because Sirius went.

One of the reasons that we left was with the Americans coming in to take it over again, they wanted to go more hard news. We were offered to change our format to that, but we've done that. We want to keep our, you know, women positive news and views mandate. So, but Matt was doing six to nine, and then it was replaying one to four. Okay, because they...

No, not one to four. That was Warden... No, it was replaying ten to one. Right. And then one to four was... And I know he... So I happened to... I was talking to a guy

who was in that office today, Sirius XM on Liberty Street or whatever, who says Matt Gurney was there today broadcasting. But this news came out today and I know the news involves him no longer being at National Post and having this morning show on 640. I'm assuming maybe it was his last show today.

I don't know. But I have a question about the Sirius XM thing. So they have the talks and the laughs, right? That's like 166. So you ladies, I'm just saying, why wouldn't you sound great on Canada Laughs or is that just too comedic for you? You're not funny enough. No, I don't think we're comics.

I don't think we're comics. And in terms of Matt Gurney, maybe that spot's now going to be sponsored by 640. Yeah, who knows? Yeah, maybe. That I don't have any insight into that. I don't know what's going on there. Everything's changing.

We don't know. We don't know. You ladies would have been great doing mornings on 640. Yeah. Well, no, I don't know. Mornings? That's another morning thing. I really like lunchtime for what we're doing.

I think it's a good time of day. You know, 12 to 1 an hour a day, 5 hours a week. We're doing two now, but live, because then we could take a couple of calls. So, and people, whenever we see people, you know, in real life, they say, we miss seeing you, we miss seeing you, which was one of the reasons we started to film,

to start to do the YouTube. And it looks really, I've often thought I should do some video thing, but then I just never get motivated to actually pull the trigger on anything. But you guys, that looked really good. I just thought the production qualities were very high. And I'm not just saying that because he's in the room.

Because Alex is in the room, yeah. Alex Simpson, ladies and gentlemen. He can send me a $5 bill later. Yeah, no, he does a great job, and we like it, and we're trying to grow that. I went through a whole YouTube analytics six hours of hell yesterday with a wonderful guy named Jacob who explained to me how to build campaigns, how to do it, what to do, how to get subscribers,

and how to target things. But it's like when you start delving into even Twitter analytics, I mean, understanding Twitter, understanding Instagram, every time you post, you lose followers. It's unbelievable. There's a window. I mean, just learning the social media, three to four posts a week. If you post more than that, you start losing followers.

Is that right? Yeah. And you have another problem too, I think, which is that you target women. I have a lot of problems. But you target women, you're targeting women over 35. I don't know. You tell me the year you target.

We're targeting women 35 and up, but also we connect to women that are younger than that. Of course. And why is that a problem? It's not a problem. I guess I had to finish the sentence. It's the biggest. Those women make 85% of the household buying decisions. It's not a problem. I guess I had to finish the sentence. It's the biggest, the biggest, it's, those women

make 85% of the household buying decisions. They are the biggest consumers. I needed to finish the sentence. I really did need to finish the sentence. If I stop there,

it doesn't, it's not at all what I'm saying. In that, and YouTube slash Instagram is really a world for young people and I can't,

so the YouTube, my daughter was at this, we, what is it called? We Day. Yeah. We Day. My daughter was there yesterday and she kept talking about superhero,

superwoman, superhero. Yeah. She's great. Yeah. But this person would be, this is the big star to the 12-year-old girls. But we've had her on our show

and she talks about building the business out of her parents or her bedroom in her parents' house. And all of a sudden, like, she's got a hit movie. And we've had Matthew Santoro on, the biggest Snapchatter in the world. You know, Rachel is on. David is on.

We've had her on. We tell those stories. And we tell the stories of how they build their business. Okay, then you're not targeting women over 35. You're just speaking to women. And if men want to listen, that's fine. But just because, I guess the point, which is stupid now I think about it,

is that women, people over the age of 35 are not watching YouTube the same way as the younger people, which is their new television. People over the 35, they still have a television and they're sort of adapting within that. So it's a really stupid point except that for the group you're targeting, social media is a little

I have a friend who's over 50 and she never watches television. She only watches Netflix. That's true. Netflix is a big one. It's not across the board. And it's also for us, for the YouTube show, because we're filming it so that people can put it out on their channels,

whether they're young, up-and-coming artists or whatever. For me, the way I would use it would be I would have it on a computer and be going about my business or have it in the background. And if I heard something I wanted, like, oh, Mariel Hemingway's on. I wonder what she looks like these days. Then I could switch the screens out. So almost use it like a radio, but it's there visually. Or when I can listen to it, the thing is it's there anytime,

like a podcast, but I can also see the visuals. So sometimes, you know, I've got my laptop in the kitchen and I'm cooking dinner or I'm making something, I can listen to the show and sort of watch it. So I use it as background. It's not like I expect people to sit there and watch 48 minutes of us doing an interview. The audio is great.

And Alex is the guy who is cutting these videos, editing these videos, and uploading them to your channel? Alex is the man. What happens when he's seduced with big bucks somewhere and can no longer do that for you? Have you worked in media lately? Could you fill in, Kate, if you had to?

Would you know what to do? Almost. Almost. Almost. Yeah. Almost. I can edit. I can edit.

One of the conditions is he cannot leave unless he finds us a replacement just as good as him. But don't sign that till you talk to a lawyer. No, no. It's already signed. It was signed in blood. Just in time for Halloween. Ladies, I mean, I could spend hours talking about the awards you've won

and all the good work you're doing. Is there any, I mean, I got a long list of this stuff, but is there anything that we haven't touched you would like to share with the subscribers of Toronto Mic'd? Don't get old, Is that the advice? No, enjoy your life. Um, you know, enjoy your life. Everything. I think the trendy word these days is being more mindful. I think just being more aware that, you know, life is short. Life is short. Like take a risk, take a chance. Don't be afraid to fail.

We had a great gentleman in, and you'll remember his name. It's at the tip of my tongue. Yes. Who started a company, his third company for seniors. Oh, Peter Cook. Peter Cook. Career extenders. Career extenders. I mean, talking about people who thought that they wanted to retire and go golfing every day and sit on the, you know, the rocking chair on the, and then after six months

went, Oh no, I can't do this one more day. I need to feel, and he can't even find enough people to fill the demand for them. Yeah. So businesses are realizing that the experience that somebody over 50 has might be useful. And that's one of the things I wanted to say about media. What's changed in newsrooms now is there is – when I started, George McKenzie or Derwin Smith, they helped me craft stories. They were there. Sober second thought. There's no senior people to teach you.

I mean, I think I taught Alex a lot. His professor said he was the best student he ever had, and he could see a lot of me in him, which is like a worry. But it's like there's nobody to guide you. There's nobody to teach you. There's nobody to make your sentence structure better. I've become the old curmudgeon that sits in the balcony and yells at people like, do you not know

what you are saying? Well, you know, you watch The Crawl under CP24 and you realize that the spell check isn't working. There's no copy editor. And we have a friend who has a company dealing with lawyers and she's talking

about the complaint of cases that are thrown out because reporters don't know what voir dire is. Because nobody's told them. There is no training. There's no mentoring. There's no break-in period. It's you're on the job. You're getting paid.

Go do a story. And nobody checks anything because they're young. Everyone that came to me, I i threw them into court it's like you're going to go the new courthouse not sure you're going to cover a court case i'm going to tell you what you did wrong and and they were people that were coming out of school they were asking me to teach them court because i covered courts with rosie and christy for years and it's but but but literally a global reporter managed to have a case completely thrown out because she didn't understand that voir dire means you cannot report what is said without the jury in the room so she

went out and did a hit for the new news right and case is gone that afternoon and that's just just a lack of education this is just uh because there's no one there now if she had phoned up and said i'm doing a live hit on this if if somebody at the assignment desk said, let me put you through to a producer, if they'd said, are you sure you can report this? Was the jury in the room? And she will say no. It's like, yeah, no.

Take that hit down immediately. I had a Toronto Star reporter on this show tell a story, and then 10 seconds after he told the story, he said, we have to edit that out because he wasn't supposed to. It was under some kind of a publication ban. Well, you have to understand that in our day, when we started, we worked for broadcasters. So John Bassett Sr. or Ted Rogers, if you happen to work there, Douglas Bassett, they were news people.

They knew what was going on. And he would call up if you broke a story and say, I can't believe it. You got a cabinet shuffle, the globe and the star and everybody had report. No TV room. They knew and they cared about the story. We don't, nobody works for broadcasters anymore. We all work, well, we used to work for telecoms. Broadcasters were bought to, to provide content for these four, you know, these four screens, your television, your smartphone, they wanted to buy them before the, so they could control the cost of the content. Right.

Because they needed the content to sell the packages, you know, 12 month contract, 24 month contract. Let's not forget that. They are not inherently broadcasters. They don't inherently love or hate the news. They don't really care. They really care about selling X number of iPhones a year. But on that note, so when it comes to choosing which stories you want to give, how much time,

how nowadays it sounds like it's more important what people are interested in. If a Kardashian breaks up, then that might get a lot more, because people are so hungry for that kind of, to absorb that kind of infotainment. And maybe something happening in Syria, for example, might get pushed back because, although it is a bigger story in the world, of course, from a journalistic standpoint, it might not have the same allure. I spent last night, I was at a dinner.

It never leaves your blood. I was at a dinner with Jean-Claude Chan, and I shot him telling a Trump joke on my phone, which I put out on social media, ahead of all the other people putting it out. Then I went home, and I'm reading our scripts for the show because we taped today.

And while I was there, I hit Periscope, and the senior reporter from Build is Periscoping live from the front lines in Mosul. So I watched him for half an hour going, if I had Periscope when I was a reporter starting out, I would have ruled the world. Like, what you can do now is amazing. And I don't, I think the impression that you have is not completely correct.

I think there are, you know, despite the fact that most stations are owned by telecoms, there are still some very credible people working in newsrooms who do not shove stories that are important to the world and to all of us on the back burner for a Kim Kardashian story. I think there is a lot more reality TV to watch on TV, but when it comes to newsrooms, I think those people are extremely devoted and very good at their craft. They just don't have the manpower to check every young reporter. So there isn't, you know, they don't have the six months to let them follow somebody experienced. Yeah, but I don't understand why they can't have, you know, the equivalent of a George McKenzie,

or you or me, you know, sitting in there just vetting scripts and just helping people, helping people get better. Yeah. Mentoring. And I mean, you look in the front page of the paper or the page two, and have you noticed how the corrections column is like growing every day? Just that nobody to give young up and comers guidance that's all and I think it's a big thing and I think they should be you know a senior person literally in the newsroom

to help you learn that's how I learned speaking of learning just to make it clear are you still teaching at Durham College because I know you've alluded to it okay no occasionally okay so you No, I filled in for Tamara Cherry on her course, Victimology

in the Media. And while she was having a baby. And then occasionally I go back and guest lecture. And are you still doing Media Bytes? With Advocate... Well, my media training company? Sure. yeah, I do.

No, I just want to get that in there that you're doing lots of cool things. Yeah, we do some corporate training, help people do videos. And we're also actually, while we get this out, we're also, Christine and I are going to turn Media Bytes

into we're going to do some corporate videos, which Alex will shoot. So if you wanted to do something that was like an extended interview about your company or what have you, or we have 10-minute segments on our radio show, but if they wanted to do something to show their people, then we would continue that and put it out that way.

So yeah, Media Bytes goes. And I'm also a contributor to Advocate Daily, which is our friend's company that works with a whole lot of lawyers, which was a brilliant idea. Wow, what a brilliant idea that she had. So how it works is say you're a reporter and you're covering a trial, like whatever the one was you covered. You know, you always get the same lawyers, right? You always see the Greenspans or whatever.

But they don't necessarily have expertise in that area so what advocate provides for the media is I could phone her up and say I'm covering this story about this weirdo with a weird fetish in Oshawa Court and she'll phone me back and say here's three lawyers available for you now in 15 minutes take your pick cool so connecting the lawyers with the media and then and conversely giving the PR to the lawyers. It's a great idea. Cool. Wish I'd thought of it.

And I mentioned Christine had a long list of awards and stuff, but the one I like the best here is the Scarborough Walk of Fame. Ah, yeah. That's my favorite of the bunch. Really? There's a lot of prestigious things here. I just had no idea we had it so granular. There's a lot of prestigious things here. I just had no idea. Like we had it so granular that there's a Scarborough Walk of Fame. Yeah. You can walk right over it. Is it you and Mike Myers? Is that it? Are you in Maestro Fresh West? Are those the

three? No, there are a whole bunch there. Yeah. They just keep adding them every year. Very cool. And I was, I saw a friend today who did some charity, was emceeing some charity event with you. And then I saw that you're involved in so many charities, like Toy Mountain. Very good women. Canadian Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, the Rouge Valley Centenary.

Centenary. You know what? I'm not actually involved anymore, but I was on their board for about 12 years and then on their foundation so very cool and I'm so glad you ladies came in to tell us about your new show

which I hope people check out when I stumbled upon it through the social media channels I instantly liked it because it's what I'm looking for so keep that going in some format and this is great, can we have a beer now? It's what I'm looking for. So keep that going in some format. Well, thank you. Yeah. And this is great.

Can we have a beer now? Yeah. Some guests drink during the episode. Ah, there are guests that don't have to drive. That's my only rule. When I see you on your third beer, I have to take your keys away from you. That's the only rule.

Thank you so much. I can't believe I said it was the 198th show but it's definitely the 199th show that's right and you can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike but I want to hear

your Twitter handles Christine how do we follow you on Twitter at Chris underscore Bentley 77 good

and how about you Kate I'm Kate Wheeler 007 007 007 very good and our friends at Kate I'm Kate Wheeler 007 007 very good and our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer and Chef's Plate is at Chef's Plate CA

see you all next week for episode 200 woo I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green.

Yeah, the wind is cold, but the sky is blue.