Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Farah Nasser: Toronto Mike'd #892

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

Mike chats with Global News anchor Farah Nasser about her media stops on the way to co-anchoring Global Toronto's 5:30pm and 6pm newscast alongside Alan Carter, her experiences as a Muslim woman, and the value of on-air chemistry. Please note, there will be a sequel as Farah had to jet to pick up her children at camp.

Welcome to episode 892 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery and the GTA. Order online for free local home delivery and the GTA. McKay CEO Forums. The highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1,200 CEOs, executives and business owners around the world. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta.

Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majeski. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com.

And joining me this week is Farah Nasser. Welcome, Farah. Thank you. Honestly, what a pleasure it is to meet you. I met you via Zoom once. That's right. And I realized I dove right in. um here a little housekeeping here the these unidirectional mics i gotta get you like so we can move that yeah we can move down yeah yeah and you can know this by now well sorry about that

it's okay i had the same problem with mike apple earlier in the week so and he's he's seen a few mics in his day so uh and now you're seeing another mic Toronto mic here, but, uh, what a pleasure it is to meet you. We met on zoom because, uh, you appeared on, on the DL. That's right. What a great podcast. What a wonderful producer of that podcast. Now, uh, shout out to Dana Levinson, uh, who hosts, uh, on the DL and you were great. In fact, listening to you on the DL is like the best pre-interview a podcast host could hope for. You were fantastic. And the pre-interviewer who gets kind of everything out of you,

that Dana Levinson. Well, you guys, again, I heard this on your show with Dana, but you guys have been like around each other a lot, but she mentioned like you wouldn't go out for coffee together or like chat on the phone, but you're very friendly because you're in the same media circle for a long time. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of people like that, right? So it's such a small industry and there's so few of us

that you see each other at events and you, you know, you don't necessarily hang out outside of work often, but when you're at these work events, it's like, you know, no yeah you see them and you're like hey yeah you i know you so another uh connection uh a mild connection it's pretty mild but the great alan carter has been on toronto mic'd that's right i listened to that episode it was a very good one was that your uh first exposure to what's happening here with the real talk? It, uh,

yeah, it probably was. And how did Alan do? Like, how would you rate his performance? You know, he, uh,

he, I, I have to be tough on him cause there's not a lot of people who are. So, uh, no, he did, he did really well.

He did really well. And most importantly, like, do you think he looks like Nick Nurse? In certain angles with, with, with certain hairstyles. I don't know if you think he looks like Nick Nurse? In certain angles. With certain hairstyles. I don't know if you know about his recent hair experience. I'm out of the Alan Carter loop.

Oh, you are? Tell me. You're not following day to day. Okay, well let me fill you in. He grew a ponytail that turned into a man bun over COVID. Oh my goodness. Which was kind of the highlight of my day, seeing him try to do his hair in the makeup room. And then I got tons of viewer seeing him try to do his hair in the makeup room. Sure. And then I, yeah, got tons of viewer mail

asking me to cut his hair for him or help him with his hair and our viewers were very offended by his long, long hair. I would think, and I almost know this from experience because I get copied on some of these tweets and stuff, but being on like a popular news program and in people's living rooms every

night, they feel like people who watch you have some sense of ownership on what you wear and how you wear your hair. Like you can't just, I saw some tweets actually from some members of your mainstream media about like what the CBC hosts were wearing in their Olympic coverage last night. And I was thinking like, it's gotta be tough to be on TV because everyone's a critic and they're going to comment about what they, they almost will tell you what they think like you're a long-time

friend or something like far out that dress is not working for you you know what I mean and even like when you gain weight when you lose weight oh yeah they're all over you there's nowhere to hide and look most of it is really really nice but yeah, but it's really funny when some people think they're complimenting you and you're like, I don't know if that makes me feel good. And if you're like, you know, if you're with child, like people are like difficult. Yeah. Like, do you even like can you even bother trying to hide it? Like everybody's like loves to like be the first to guess correctly. My mom plays this game.

Like there's a, the woman who took Dana's gig when Gaina stepped down. Yeah. Lindsay Morrison, I think her name is, but my mom is like sending me notes. Like he's pregnant. There's a bump there.

And I was like, leave her alone. Like maybe, maybe she had too many Big Macs, like leave her alone. And then, and then eventually when it, you know,

she discloses that she's having a child. Your mom's like, I told you. I was right. I think it's having a child. Your mom's like, I told you. I was right. I think it's also a female thing, especially a female mom thing. Because even with me, it's like you can tell the signs. Because we've all gone through it. We know how bodies change.

We know what changes in the body. So, yeah, it's interesting to watch. But look, everybody was generally really nice. I had some horrible, horrible messages. Because I came back really early about, you know. I had some horrible, horrible messages when I came, cause I came back really early, um, about, you know,

what kind of horrible messages did people think you came back too soon or you had a baby weight or something? What kind of, I think there was both. There was some people who thought I came back too soon and, and, uh, yeah.

And then there was, there was definitely like, you know, she's gained weight and it's like, uh, maybe you haven't been watching. Like I just had a kid, you know, but you know but you just i created life yeah like this is a miracle you a baby was born like from you like every time i think about it because i will never have this

experience giving birth but i've witnessed like four children wow yeah so i've had four times i've been in uh i guess i guess the average guy doesn't get four times unless they're like a ob-gyn or something like that but I got so my weight is four children enter the world and every time it's like like that's kind of awesome that that's just like that just happened right it's when you think on it like it's incredible it's incredible and you think about other places in the world where they don't have what we have and then you think about like 200 years ago and there was no modern medicine or, you know, epidural. And it's just like, how are all these babies, how did they survive? How were they born? How did this all work?

Yeah. And you've, so how old are your kids now? Mine are five and eight. So I can relate to that because I have a five and seven here in this house. So I know those almost exactly those ages. So if I'm, and again, not every kid's the same, but that eight-year-old I bet you is shockingly independent. Like, are you kind of blown away by like, oh, I guess every kid's different.

I shouldn't. No, no, no. It's no, he is definitely more independent than, yeah, he has been. I mean, in the pandemic, it's like, I think the big turning point, and actually Alan said this, he goes, when your kids can make breakfast for themselves.

When they can pour the milk. They can pour the milk. And they just go downstairs on a weekend morning. They watch their cartoons. They make their breakfast. And you're like, what is happening? You know what? That's so astute of Mr. Carter.

Because that is actually the moment, the demarcation line. That's when you're like, when you don't have to get up on the Saturday morning to get them breakfast. They can get the bowl, pour the Cheerios in there. They can get the milk, pour it in, put it back in the fridge, and you can kind of stay in bed for a while while they eat and watch their shows and they can stream whatever. Totally. That's the moment.

Oh, it totally is. So your 8-year-old's... Does that for a sister too. So we're good on the weekend mornings these days. Okay. So the 8-year-old is a boy or a girl? Sorry, he's a boy. Okay, so yeah,

very, look at us. Okay, because I get a seven-year-old boy, five-year-old girl. Very exciting. So we're going to get into a whole whack of this. Okay.

Again, very happy to have you here and I've already given much love to Dana Levinson but she was actually here yesterday because she... I saw that on her Instagram

and it was raining. Yeah, oh no, that was actually like... Oh, that was a few days ago. I missed actually like a few days ago I missed a few weeks ago okay so she came on Toronto mic'd a few weeks ago but yesterday we were recording something else like not Toronto mic'd okay so she came over to get on the mic and like I got to like produce her in this like other thing so I got to see her yesterday and uh today I get to see you what do you think of the uh toronto mic backyard studio um i'm totally feeling it it's very cozy very comfortable and um like i was telling you i just i love this area like it's just such a such a great hidden gem in the city well you're a mississauga girl right i am so you're like i would say you're comfortable with like west end

totally totally yeah but i moved to leslieville after I had my first and I started to appreciate the East End too. There's a lot to appreciate there. You know, it's what you're comfortable with. But when I do spend time, like if I'm just, even if it's just like in East York or whatever and I spend some time, I always have this same thought, which is like, oh yeah, they got a good here too. Like you're just so, like I would say we're so like West Toronto centric

and are like everything we're doing here. And it's like, yeah, I'm going to BMO Field that's in, you know, West of Toronto and I'm going to this concert. It's West of Yonge, I should say. That's always like the line there, West of Yonge. And then you spend some time and you're like, yeah, this is some cool action in Leslieville. Like this is, the beaches is pretty damn cool.

Like, you know, we're trying here. We're trying to be the beaches. We're not there yet. Like this is this, the beaches is pretty damn cool. Like, uh, you know, we're trying here. We're trying to be the beaches. We're not there yet. Like we know it. So, uh, so you're now like a East of young Torontonian. Is that what you are now? I, yeah, I am. But I definitely, I mean, I growing up in Mississauga, like it was just, it's even Etobicoke. I was, I lived right near the border of Etobicoke and Mississauga. So we were kind of right, right there. Okay. Um, near the 427, uh, Burnhamthorpe, around that area. I would say you're near Cloverdale Mall. Very good.

Sherway, Cloverdale. You know, I worked in square one. It was, yeah. Wow. My thoughts on Cloverdale and Sherway, I always felt like there were these three tiers of like West End malls. Right.

If you had lots of money, you might spend more time at Sherwood Gardens. Right. If you had no money, you were at the Dixie Value Mall. Oh, that's where I was. Right. And if you were in the middle, like, you know, kind of in the middle, because they've really done a good job fixing it up in the last 15, 20 years. But you'll hang out at like Cloverdale Mall.

And that's also like God's waiting room. Like if you ever, you know, at least pre-COVID, I don't know what it's like with COVID, but if you wanted to feel young, like you would just walk through Cloverdale. My grandparents really appreciated Cloverdale Mall. Many walks were had there, you know, with my grandparents for sure.

I feel like a kid when I walk Cloverdale Mall. I still have all my teeth. Life is good. And they're all calling you kiddo it's a good scene so yeah okay so i know exactly where you you're from so yeah you'd be atobico friendly as they say are you far are you watching uh any olympics i am i watched uh women's weightlifting yesterday it was uh yeah yeah, Maud Charon. It was incredible to watch. And I watched the repeat in the evening with my kids.

Yes. And, oh, it was just amazing. Like, they were, they had, like, you know how the weightlifters, after they do this big feat, they have this emotion, right? This, like, release. And my kids, I saw, had that, too. They were like, oh, because they didn't know she had won the medal by then. So I didn't tell them.

So it was just, it was really cool to see them cheer and watch. And two years ago we were in Tokyo. And so I bought them, we bought all this Tokyo 2020 gear, like all of this stuff. So they're very excited to now finally be able to wear it, even though it's too small, because it was supposed to be worn last year. But didn't you know how quickly these kids grow? Very quickly, like weeds. And I remember that moment early yesterday.

It kind of happened live pretty early yesterday, but the Canadian weightlifting gold. And when I showed the replay to my turning 17 tomorrow, who's in there right now, Michelle, so she's almost 17. But she loved the whole, like the emotions, the human side, like the fact that, you know, that the emotion from the gold medal winner, but also those women who did the clean, couldn't do the jerk. And they did some collapse to the ground.

It's like five years of like effort and training for that one moment. Totally. So much like humanity there. So much emotions. And it's a moment, like it's, it's really a moment, right? Especially in the weightlifting one. Like it's, it's really a moment, right? Especially in the weightlifting one. Like it's, it's that moment that they have to get it.

And like you said, they were like the woman from Britain. You just, your heart just broke for her, you know? Right. Oh, right.

You know, and that's what I love about the Olympics. So like, I know a lot of people are kind of down on it this year because of COVID and those people in the stands, et cetera. I got to say, I'm like a,

ever since 84, I'm a little older than you, but I've been like addicted to the olympics like i absolutely i plan my whole night around what's live there's gonna be like i check where do canadians have a medal opportunity or whatever and then unless obviously if it's happening at 2 a.m i'm gonna actually be asleep but if it's happening at like any time before i don't know midnight you'll watch i'll watch and then I wake up in the morning, I look at what's live and I'll stream. I'm a sucker for all the Olympic stuff.

Yeah, no, I hear you. And it's funny, like I think we, at the beginning, everyone was like, why is the Olympics happening? And this is crazy. And now I think the tide has kind of turned a little bit. We all need something and people to cheer. Absolutely. And Penny last night had the sixth medal of her young career, like kind of amazing. And she's not done yet. She's got more chances this time. And she's only I think she's like now she's like 21 or something. So she should be she should have more Olympics in her, especially since the next one's only three years away. And yeah, so I interviewed her when she won her first medal and she went back to high school and I met her at school that day.

And I was like, what is it like to go to high school? And everyone's crowding. And she just was, she's so grounded, that girl. And has so much humility. And we were walking in an Easter parade together years ago and my son was with me and he met her and he's like, I don't like to put my face in the water. And she sat with him and she talked to him. Amazing. Yeah, she was so sweet.

And she's like, listen, you know, you have to do front crawl. You've got to put your face in the water. Do you want to be fast? And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And she said, you know, and she kind of convinced him. And I'll never forget that. It was really sweet. And she's 6'1". So it hurts your neck to have a conversation with her.

But yeah, so shout out to Petty and all the Olympians. And the thing is, right now, of course, there's a little chatter about how all our medals belong to women. And I mean, I think it's obvious that the funding for women athletics is not the same throughout the world, where Canada, I think, is very progressive on this front. So if you look at it, it would make sense that we'd have more women podium people. i think that's how i'll say that

versus men now that doesn't mean it should be a shutout for the men i hope there are some some men are going to come through and andre the grass is next week and i'm excited about that but congrats to the canadian women who are carrying the day so far and it's been awesome yeah and they did well in rio too like i mean we are our female athletes it's been awesome. And they did well in Rio too. Our female athletes, the program that we have is clearly working. You're at Global News. I'm here to tell you where you are. You're on Global News and we're going to talk about your great career and it's pretty damn

interesting. I did this with Mike Epple but I'll do it with you since you're at Global. Peter Truman passed away and I always thought of him as he's like the global guy I remember from my youth. The first anchor ever on global television. And I don't know if you know this, but his son is the producer of our show.

No, I did not know that. Mark Truman is the producer. He's our senior producer at Global News. And his grandson, Devin Truman, Mark's son, is in the control room. And he operates the cameras. And so, yeah, so three generations. And so his legacy, like, truly lives on in them. And just to say, like, you know, you keep hearing all these great things from Peter Truman.

I didn't know him, but he seemed like an incredible human. These two are so humble, so kind, thoughtful, just, like, two of the nicest people to work in that organization. They're his legacy. I know when Peter stepped down, I remember he was kind of fiery on his way out. One of those full of

integrity and he had something to say on his way out. Good on Peter Truman for that and a life well lived. I think he made it to 86, I something to say on his way out. But good on Peter Truman for that and a life well lived. I think he made it to 86, I want to say. Yeah, right. So there's a great loss in the global newsroom.

But it's interesting, his legacy is still there with his offspring scattered about. So that's pretty darn cool here. Hey, here's a note I got from a listener when I said you were coming on. So this gentleman's name is Brian Dunn, and he says, my mom was an advisor when Farah was in high school. Yes, Mrs. Dunn. She was my guidance counselor. Oh, wow. Yeah. And everything's connected here. Totally. And she, she was amazing. My parents didn't really know what to do with me because you know I I wasn't

uh I didn't have good marks in in uh science and math and that's kind of where they saw you know my trajectory and um being immigrant parents they wanted me to just do well and and and do well in the subjects and I'm from a family of doctors and engineers and so um they my dad's an engineer so they they, with the Englishes, with the English, with the public speaking, with all, you know, social studies. And this is what I love world issues, history. So, um, Mrs. Dunn kind of convinced them. She brought them in one day and she said, listen, this girl, like, don't worry about that stuff. She doesn't have to do that stuff. It's, it's, you know, the other subjects that she's really excelling in and

she loves it. And when she speaks, people listen, like you need to, you know, and she, she kind of gave them this thought. And I remember that meeting cause they came home and, and they were like, well, I don't know. I know she's talking about journalism. I don't know, you know, but, um, eventually when my parents realized how much I liked it and it was important to me, um, and they don't even realize they even realize, my parents are the ones who made me a journalist, accidentally, and my brother. But Mrs. Dunn really pushed that along and I'm forever grateful to her. What a small world. I met Brian at, we have Toronto Mike listener experiences.

In fact, our eighth TMLX event is on August 27 on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery. I'll be looking for Faran Asar in the crowd. But Brian, I met him at one of these events, I think one at Palmer's Kitchen. And he's like the world's biggest Barenaked Ladies fan. I didn't know that about him. Wow. Absolute.

Like he goes on the ships and dips. They have cruises like pre-COVID times. Yeah. And you would go on these cruises and then maybe playing the cruise would be some like can con band like maybe sloan would be there or something like that or the odds or whatever but bare naked ladies would be the obviously that's the big headliner and brian goes on these things and he's just a diehard bnl fan and it's funny that his mom was like the advisor

because he finishes that note by saying uh that his mom knew you were on to big things then and now and this is a he calls you a bfd because when i tweeted you were coming on i called you a bfd and it was kind of nice but interesting to me when doug thompson who spent forever at in in chum radio like he's a he was behind the scenes work and producing a lot of stuff for 1050 Chum for decades and decades, asked me, you know, what's a BFD? And then I had to tell. So, okay, just full disclosure, I was so happy he asked that because I had no idea either. And then I thought, oh, that's really nice. I guess if you don't know what it is, it's like, is that a rude thing? But you know what it is now. No, I do. And thank you. That's a real big compliment. But do you find that too? I mean,

sometimes people use these, you know, these expressions or acronyms and acronyms and I got to look them up because I have no idea what they mean. Oh, I do. Yeah. All the time. Yeah. When I'm older than you, I have to, I'm always looking up acronyms, but I also like to invent acronyms and then I like to use them as if they're like commonplace.

Right. Like I do that all. I do it. Like, so you're now an FOTM. Okay. What does that mean? I'm a friend of Toronto Mike. Oh, nice. Because you do it like, so you're now an FOTM. Okay. What does that mean? Friend of Toronto Mike. Oh,

nice. Because you've appeared on Toronto Mike. You're an FOTM and I'll speak to, oh, that FOTM this and then FOTM that. And then I, but I'll, I know,

I know, like I'm not, I'm, I know in the back of my head, I invented this term. I've been using it for years now and I'm going to keep using it as if everyone knows what an FOTM is because it's kind of fun to me to do that. And I mentioned the TMLX, that's the Toronto mic listener experience.

Like I realize most, unless you're a listener of the program, you don't know what, what, what's a TMLX, but it's like, yeah, so BFD, uh, I'm going to use BFD as if everybody knows what's a BFD and you Farah are a BFD. And you, Farah, are a BFD. Thank you. What a compliment. I don't know if I've ever been called that. Thank you. And you mentioned, okay,

we already talked about you in high school and Brian Dunn's mom. But can you shout out the high school? What high school is it? Glen Forest Secondary School. Okay, Glen Forest Secondary School. And that's in Mississauga. That is.

And you know what? Brian Dunn also spent an evening with me. I think it might have even been New Year's. I was doing overnights at 1010. Mrs. Dunn said, Brian, can you come check out your work? I'm like, yeah, for sure. Nobody else is here.

He's doing some stuff with Treehouse Television, which I guess is in your family. Yeah, he's a big deal in Korea. He also has a show in Korea, like a kid's show. Yeah, he's pretty awesome. Forget you, Farah. Brian Dunn's a BFD for sure. He can come over

and we'll just dive deep into the Barenaked Ladies and we'll just kick out the jams here. Okay, so high school. Now, can we talk a little bit maybe off the top here about your brother because your brother's kicking ass

and taking names himself. My brother is a BFD, okay? Yeah, his show, we talked yesterday on the phone and it was like a five second conversation. He's like, oh, I gotta tell you something. And I said, what? He said, my show's nominated for an Emmy. And I thought, oh, the Netflix show. I don't even know which show because we stopped talking

and then, well, he has a couple shows and I'm assuming it's a Netflix show. But I think he's only got one eligible for an Emmy. Yeah, so that's probably what it was. But at one point I was thinking, I don't even know which show. Was this his podcast? Like, what is happening? But I guess it wouldn't be nominated for an Emmy. Yeah. So that's probably what it was. But at one point I was thinking, I don't even know which show was this, his podcast, like what is happening? But I guess it wouldn't be nominated for an Emmy, but he is, uh, wow. He's pretty amazing. Okay. So let's, okay. So your brother, uh, Latif. Yeah. Latif. Yeah. Oh, you see, I butchered that completely. Say it again. Latif. Latif. Okay. Latif. Latif. But what is the, what is the uh consonant you can say latif if you want latif yeah that's good

perfect perfect you know what you have to trust me because i'm looking at the t and i don't know what sound you're making for the t can you slow it down i know i i can't pronounce most words correctly so so it's la like l-u-. Luh? Tiff. But is that like a B? Tiff. D? I don't know. I can't even. What is that, like, of our 26 letters here?

Which one would it be? I guess there isn't one. It's an Arabic name, so I guess there isn't a proper. But he must get Latif a lot. Oh, yeah. That's what everybody calls him. Yeah. And then once in a while he gets a Latif or something like that.

Yeah, that's right. Probably. Okay. So, Latif or something like that. Yeah, that's right. Probably. Okay. So Latif. Good. He co-hosts Radiolab. Right. Which is a big deal.

And then as you mentioned, as we mentioned, a Netflix show called Connect. And he lives in the States, right? He's in LA. So, okay. A lot of BFDs in this neck of the woods they might end up in the states like I feel like the media world in the states and we are going to walk through your bio and everything and there's lots to cover here

actually but would you consider an offer from a big US network because often that's also often how you cash in on being a BFD. So I did have an offer from a big network about 10 years ago Okay. I'm not surprised. My, my husband is, uh, his, his work is in, in the Valley and Silicon Valley. And, um,

so he, we were thinking about moving there. His company wanted him to move there. So, um, yeah. And I, I turned it down and I, I still wonder what the trajectory would have been if I had gone there and started in San Francisco and then kind of worked my way to other markets. I mean, cream always rises and you no longer have to be a straight white guy to be a BFD in the States, right? So I feel like

I mean, again, money isn't everything and fame isn't everything, right? But I would like to go through that sliding door and see where you're at if you accept that offer. Yeah, I think, listen, there was a few years ago, I said, I'll never go to the States. I'll never want to move there. And you know, especially under what was happening there. Well, Trump was not kind to Muslim people. No, he was not. And I didn't even, I kept asking my brother, like, how are you even living there?

It must be so hard. And I don't know. I feel like out of COVID, I'll never say never to anything. I don't think you can put absolutes on anything. My parents are there right now with my brother, and they're having such a great time. And I wonder if they were to go there, what that would mean for me. And, you know, so, and my husband's work is there, but, but having said that, I am very, very happy with my life right now.

Like I, I. Cause things are cooking with gas for you right now. Like I know you have a national program at global and Donna takes summertime off. Is this like, like, you're like, you're like the, the Jay Leno to the, the tonight show. I mean, Joan Rivers, who used to help out if Johnny Carson was not working or whatever. But you're like the,

you're the go-to host when Donna's on vacay. Is that right? Yeah, yeah. And the fill-in, which is like, which is a real honor to get that experience and that exposure and work with that team. I mean, that, the Global National team is unbelievable. Well, you want to shout them out?

Because they'll be listening for sure. They are amazing. Under this guy Tristan. And there's a woman named Ingrid. And Megan and Shelly. And there's just a bunch of them that I, this guy Cam and Nick. And there's so many, Heather. And I just, I talk to them.

And I literally learn every experience I have. And I just appreciate it so much. And they're so patient with me. but it's it's a different it's a different vibe right like it's a different show it has there's so many different markets we're in so um and it's a 22 minute show so every single sentence you're saying is well thought out like it's not like on the Toronto show where Alan and I just chit chat you know we have an hour to fill it's not like that the Toronto show where Alan and I just chit chat, you know, we have an hour to fill. It's not like that. So there's an economy. Yeah. The economy of your verbiage,

like every, every syllable has to pack an appropriate punch. Absolutely. Wow. And you're also thinking, I mean, you're, you're,

we're not just thinking about our Toronto audience, right? There's, there's, we have such a big West coast audience. So, so things that matter that I think are that, that should be the biggest story.

My team will quickly say to me, well, Hey, what about here? Or the, you know, it's, it's just, it's such a, it's such a wonderful experience. Well, that is a good point. You typically wear like a GTA centric hat and you see things through that lens. And then on the national program, all of a sudden, right. You're, you're serving up, you know, from, you know, Halifax to, to, to, to Calgary,

to Vancouver and everything in between, et cetera. Like you must completely like have to change the lens almost like on a camera. Totally. That's a really great way to put it. Thank you. You can use it. If you want to use it, if you want to use it, honestly, just every time you say it, say, thank you, Toronto Mike. Oh no, I need an acronym. I can't just say Toronto Mike. Just say, I can use that. I'm an FOTM. Just show your new FOTM tattoo. Yeah, good idea. So it is a different lens and it requires a lot of research, right?

Like it's people say, oh, don't you just go and read the newscast? No, it doesn't work that way. I mean, it doesn't work that way in Toronto, but it also doesn't work that way on a national scale. You really have to understand the issues that are happening in different parts of the country. Absolutely. Okay. And we will get to all this. We're kind of doing some sneak preview stuff here. So, okay. What I found interesting when I was kind of listening to you and Dana chat is something that was just dropped, like just dropped in your bio. And I'm like, I need a little more detail here. So that's what you're on Toronto Mic'd for. We're going to fill in some of these facts.

As a very young woman, you're in New Delhi, India're going to fill in some of these cracks right as a very young woman you're in New Delhi India working for CNN right like I need to know how does this happen and like what's that about like that's not your run-of-the-mill uh internship right that's wild yeah so I wanted to get some sort of international experience I mean my goal was never to really be a news anchor back then it was more to be a foreign correspondent and um know, I was just obsessed with like Christiane Amanpour. Like I wanted to just cover wars and do all kinds of crazy things. And I, so I applied to every CNN bureau in the world. And back then it was, you know, we were all glued to CNN. You know, if you remember back in like, you know, 2000, around that time.

And so the summer before 9-11, I got two responses. One was Miami and one was New Delhi. And I chose New Delhi. So went there. Is that because it was more international? Yeah, exactly. That was the reason. It wasn't because I'm Indian and it was just it was an international experience. But where did your parents come from? They are from East Africa, Tanzania. That's where they film Star Wars. I feel like I feel like there's like some of those desert scenes in Tanzania. I think so. I feel like that's where there's some of those desert scenes. In Tanzania? I think so.

Huh, that's interesting. I feel like that's in the back of my head. Okay, I've got to look that up. I don't have the crack research. Yeah, fact check that, but please continue. Okay, I will, because my kid would be all over that. I think so. Yeah? Okay, cool.

I'll check it out. Some of those desert scenes in the original, The New Hope. Right. So there was a bunch of South Asians, of Indians, know, where we're from, which is Gujarat, that moved, and actually all over, moved to India generations ago. And so our family, even my grandparents were born in East Africa. So we're ethnically Indian, but I'd never been there. Interesting. Okay, cool.

And at 20 years old, you're working there. I'm working there, yeah. It was incredible. It was also the summer before. It was, it was the, also the summer before the summit between India and Pakistan. And it was just, there was a lot of big news that was happening and I just couldn't believe it. Like it was, it was just cool to be in, in the thick of it. Yeah. And the summer before 9-11 as well, which, uh, and then everything changed. It was a rather large news event, uh, for sure. Okay. And, uh, just to bring it back

closer to home, you're also, uh, yet another, uh, Ryerson, uh just to bring it back closer to home you're also yet another uh ryerson uh grad here you graduated from ryerson university yeah i graduated a long time ago i wonder what percentage of like our uh our mainstream media peoples went to ryerson i feel like it's pretty large yeah yeah shout out and you went to the university, not the Polytechnical Institute. When I was in university. Yeah. Did you go to Ryerson too? No, no.

I went to U of T. Okay. But, you know, at that time I was in university. Ryerson was not a university. It was a Polytechnical Institute. That's when Alan went. Yeah. Well, Alan and I are both old men.

So you also then end up, this is kind of neat too. And I, I, I just find these things that are different, kind of interesting that you end up going to school in London and not London, Ontario, like many people listening to us, uh, but university of Westminster in London, England. Yeah. Yeah. I went to, uh, I was thinking at one point, you know, I want to work at the BBC and you know, that might be my trajectory. I want to go to London. I went to, I was thinking at one point, you know, I want to work at the BBC. And you know, that might be my trajectory. I want to go to London, I want to see how things work there. So that was a really cool process to, you know, really study the way European media works. We there was a whole course on like tabloid journalism that I took, there was, you know,

the courts, just just how things work. There was just fascinating. And, um, and I really enjoyed it. And of course the life experience, right? You're in your mid twenties and you're in London. Did you start to develop an accent? Um, not that trip, but when I was 14 and I went to London for two weeks before school started, I started grade nine with a mild fake accent and, uh, yeah. Like Madonna. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And quickly, my friends were like, what are you doing? What is that? Did you consider keeping it?

I just think that's kind of neat. Everything sounds, you know. Two weeks in London. Well, you know, as a news person, news reader, like everything sounds, has more weight to it when it's in a British accent. Totally.

I totally agree. And especially like, you can watch a soccer match, like you say, and some schlub from london ontario is calling in and it's like whatever but then you hear like even maybe even a little scottish accent or at least a british accent like suddenly it's like it just feels more important you're like where'd this guy go oxford like wow right yeah and you need like a dictionary to know

what they're saying i always it always makes me feel smarter okay or dumber okay you're, now that you've gone to like all these different schools in these many different countries here, uh, does it begin Rogers Cable 10? Is that where it all begins for you? Like in terms of entering the, uh, the world of media? Yeah, that was, uh, in high school. That was before all that. And that was, um, Mrs. Dunn partially too. Uh, but it was our fantastic co-op teachers as well who just saw. I didn't even think, I wouldn't have even thought of that,

but they kind of put me in this, they were like, apply for this. It's a television station. And I thought, okay, let's see what happens. And I just fell in love with the craft, with news, with television news. I just didn't want to leave there. I just wanted to be with the craft, with like news, with television news. I just didn't want to leave there. I just wanted to be there all the time.

And I never looked back. It was fantastic. Do they have that anymore or is it gone? No, they don't. And even when they did, it wasn't the same opportunity. So I was on TV, I think, when I was 17 doing news reports, you know, and I don't think that it was such a unique experience. I love these Cable 10 shows.

We get a little bird song in the background. I know, I love it. You don't get that at Global. Soundtrack. Come on. Okay. So where am I going? Oh, yeah.

So every week I record these Pandemic Friday episodes at Toronto Mic'd and Cam Gordon from Twitter and Stu Stone from everything. Join me. And they had a show on at Newton Brook cable 10, which I think is like Thornhill or North York. I don't know. But bottom line is it's one of the cable 10s. Like they had their own sports show when they were teens.

Like it's just, where else do you get this opportunity? You know, we wouldn't have Ed the sock if it wasn't for cable 10 and That might be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. But Mike Wilner, I'm just thinking of people that have come on it. Carolyn Cameron, who's now doing the Olympic stuff with Sportsnet. Like, she's another one that I know she was doing cable tendering. It's just a shame that that doesn't exist anymore.

But, you know, I think the difference now is you can create your own content, right? So you can do it any way, like exactly what's happening, you know, right now. So I think there is, there's, I remember having to like buy a case of beer for a camera guy to shoot a demo tape for me. You know what I mean? Like, it was like, it was, it wasn't Great Lakes beer. Sure. You know, it was, I remember not, I never drank beer, so I didn't even know what kind of beer. I think I bought him beer. He didn't like poor guy. So, but he, but it was still like, should have been Great Lakes, but it's, to me, you know, it's this, this time where young people can kind of make their own content and they can stand out. The problem is there's just so much out there to sift through to, to be, yeah, there's a lot of noise. Like, I don't even know how I, I often

wonder, like if I start, I started this thing nine years ago but like if I started it now could I even cut through the noise where like a far Nasser Nasser Nasser Nasser you thought about it though yeah I thought about it I was like which one is it Nasser long yeah okay uh like like that you're right now chatting with me in my backyard like could I start a show now and do that I often think about it it. Like it's, it's so much noise now in the whole, like, you know, roll your own, do it yourself broadcasting world. So it's tough. But I think people like you stand out. I mean, you're very well-researched, you're, you're well-known and people trust you because you, you ask really smart, interesting questions. So I think, I think you, I think there is a way to stand out, right? But it's work,

it's work to stand out. Okay, you just earned yourself a large meat lasagna. It's in the freezer. So before you go today, palm of pasta. I do. I just got a delivery here. You're taking home a lasagna for the family because you said such kind words there. So Rogers Cable 10, that's actually before all those, that's schooling because I got my order wrong.

So tell me a bit about, you mentioned it when Brian Dunn visited you at New Talk 1010. But how did you get the gig at News Talk 1010 and what was that like? So that's also an interesting story. So there was a show on Saturday nights called Generation Next back in the day. It was the worst time slot for young people. It was a show catered to young people on a Saturday night on News Talk 1010.

So you can imagine the ratings. And I, we were driving down to a club with girlfriends in the car. And I loved, I love like news and news, news talk. And they always be like, listen to music. And I'm like, no, you're in my car. We're listening to talk radio. And you know, everybody's like trying to get ready to like party. And here I am like listening to big issues. Anyway, so there was, we were driving down and they were doing a show on University Strike. Like there was a strike that year at York. And I actually, another story, if you want to get into it, we can. I actually went to York for a few days before I went to Ryerson. I was on the wait list.

And I have to tell you how I got in. It's kind of crazy. But anyway. Tell me everything. Okay. So let me finish this one. So it was Mike Van Dixon and Ryan Doyle were on the show. Hannah Sung as well.

Yeah, so they were all on the show. So I called in and gave my experience on being part of a strike or how I felt about it. My friends had long gone in the club. I was just sitting in the car in the parking lot, I remember. And I said, listen, I'm going, you know, I'm really interested in broadcasting. Would you mind if I just came and like took a look

at what you guys are doing? And Ryan was like, yeah, sure, come by anytime. So next Saturday night, I came by and the call screener had quit. And they said, do you want the job screening calls? $25 every Saturday night you can get. And I did it. That's big money from News Talk 1010.

Big money, big money for like a 19 year old. Yeah. But that gets you in the, now you're in the real station. This is, you're probably thinking, oh man, my parents listened to CFRB all the time. Like what a juggernaut that was. Totally, totally. My parents were big fans of that station at that time.

And so. I think half the city was listening to CFRB at some point back in the day. Like it was just a monster. Yeah. Yeah, totally. So anyway, it was it was and then I got it. Then the weekend producer also quit. So I took that job and I was producing for like Mark Saltzman and all these people who had the tech guys. Erica M.

You know, he was in a band. He was in a band before No way. He was in a band before he became like the tech guy and you can find like footage of this band on YouTube actually. There's a fun fact

about Mark Saltzman. I'll bury you in the fun fact. Search for that. And Ryan Doyle, you mentioned, he's been on the show so he came on with

Mad Dog. Oh. Jay Michaels. Also a fake name because he did a fake name on a fake name. So I don't know. Your name's real, right? Mine's real.

You never know. Born this way, yeah. You never know these radio people here. But I have a question for you from Andrew. Andrew Ward says, Farah started at CFRB and radio. Ask her what the transition was like to television and did it make it more difficult when bringing the visual element to storytelling so this is kind of a neat way to segue you to the oh the legendary

toronto one okay i have so many questions but uh you you did that's kind of neat you did the uh you do i guess you serve a few years at news Talk 1010. And then next thing you know what, you're joining this news station, Toronto One. Like, tell me that story. Yeah. So we were, I was doing, I'd done weekend producing that I went into overnight anchoring and on the weekends at 1010. So I had to put these stories into these tiny little, you know, 30 second snippets. And it's really hard to tell a story that way. Right. Yes. So I just found TV was a lot easier. I mean, having the visuals,'s really hard to tell a story that way right yes so I just find found tv was was a lot easier I mean having the visuals having two minutes to tell a story you know

uh was a lot a lot easier and then I had also had that you know Rogers experience so it wasn't like it was a huge transition but I just felt I don't know I love the visual medium I loved writing to pictures I just I was really passionate about that. Now, do you want to remind people who don't remember Toronto One? Can we give them like, just remind them? All right. So it was the station that, oh God, when did it debut? It would have been, I graduated, so I graduated 2003. So it would have been in 2003 because I got the job right after I graduated. And it was the station that just wanted to do things in a different way. I mean, the newscast instead of six o'clock was at seven o'clock. They wanted to do, instead of news stories that were two minutes, like five-minute little documentaries about Toronto.

There was a morning show, which I was helping produce, which maybe that's why it got cancelled. I don't know, but, you know, eventually it got cancelled. Do you remember some of the on-air personalities at Toronto One? Because a lot of them we know today still. But do you want to shout out some of the Toronto One alumni? Well, someone I'm very good friends with still is Tracy Moore and also Arissa Cox. There was Andrea Bain, Natasha Ramsahai. We had a little group, you know, we'd always hang out together, Michael Serapio. Yes. Yeah. And then

there was Roz Weston there. Roz Weston was also there. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Shout out to Roz. Yeah, yeah. And I work with Roz now at Global. He's at ET. Yeah, he's one of those I don't think anyone else has a deal where they work

for Chorus and for Rogers. He's pretty special. He's a pretty special guy. I don't know. Can you name anyone else that you know of who has a No, I always found that very interesting.

Yeah. Well, I had him on and obviously I asked the tough questions on this show. So I asked him straight how he finangled it and he kind of gave me some like lawyer-y answer right you know whatever but i think he might be the last man standing who was able to have like a yeah gig at like those places usually you have to because i know like a lot of times like be it maryland dennis or whatever they're like no you you got to come over to our

our version of that show now at bell media whatever like you got to come over to our version of that show now at Bell Media, whatever. You got to come over to our site. But, okay, so shout out to Roz Weston. But, okay, so you're at Toronto One, and I'm hoping you learned a lot there, but your next move is going to be Barrie. Right. So I'm at Toronto One. I'm reporting on the weekends and just trying to, you know, get any news reporting time I can. And then get a job at A Channel up in Barrie and covering the York region market specifically.

And for me to really get to know the York region market because I never, I didn't, I'd never lived there. I moved there. I actually moved there to try to, yeah, really. So you actually like ate your own dog food there. Like you made the move. Everywhere I've worked, I've moved beside. I just feel like it's really, I don't know. First of all, I don't like sitting in traffic,

but also it helps me kind of get to know the area, the community, and I think that's really important. Amazing. Now, A Channel, of course, it was CKVR. That's right, when I got there. The new VR. And then A Channel. Far, full due respect to the station.

You can't be the new something for that long. Right? I agree. I agree. Like that's ridiculous. Yeah, no, it was,

it was a little strange. What is the statute of limits? Like how long do you get to brand yourself the new? I think it's like a year or less, honestly. I, I, but it went on for quite a long time.

I think 15 years. I don't know. I, cause I used to watch like leave it to beaver reruns on the new VR or whatever. Well, they had Raptor games. That was the big thing in the mid nineties.

They had Raptor games. Before like the Raptors games were all over. Yeah. Like, well, when the Raptors were new, they stuck them on the new VR, but the,

okay. So the a channel and today it's CTV Barry. That's right. Yeah. I know my stuff and shout out to Siobhan Morris, who is a good FO2. Former 1010 reporter too, right? Yeah.

For sure. Long time that she was at 1010. And I think she got out of 1010 just before they got rid of their news team. It's gone, right? Yeah. Pretty much gone. Wicked timing. Also, you might not know, her father built the White House of Rock, which is he was one of the big guys behind Hits FM in St. Catharines.

I didn't know that. In 97, Pauly Morris. Ah. So next time you see Siobhan, you can say shout out to Pauly Morris. Okay. So where do you go from the A-Channel? Where did I go from? Oh, City TV.

So that was kind of the... Everywhere. Everywhere. That was kind of the dream back then, you know, go to Citi. And, you know, A Channel was their sister station. And I would file for them, too, if there was a story up there. I'd file for Citi. They would take my content.

And then, yeah. And then I just, I was there. I started off as the 905 transportation reporter, which was kind of, they wanted to, because so many of us were commuting and they wanted to really increase that market and it worked for a while and then they got rid of the Bureau and we, yeah, we worked out of the downtown building and then CP24 after that. Yeah.

Amazing. So at City News, I just had Mike Epple here. He's, well, he's at 680 News and he appears on Breakfast Television, which is kind of like the City News family. They're going to rebrand 680 News. I don't know if you caught wind of this. I didn't. No. I'm here to educate you what's going on in your industry.

But I guess they're doing what your station 640 did when they became like Global News Radio. Right. So they're going to do. It'll be like. It makes sense. It's a strong brand. I mean you know 680 News though we've been saying it since 93 but it'll be like 680 City News 680 strong brand. I mean, you know, 680 News, though, we've been saying it since 93. That's true. But it'll be like 680, City News 680 or something. I don't know.

But it's inevitable, I guess. Right. But you were with, I'm trying to say, what exactly were you doing at City News? So I was a reporter. So I started off in that beat, the 905 beat, and then I just became a general assignment reporter. And then when 2-4, well, we had 2-4 then, but it wasn't the iteration it is now. So they were trying to change it slightly

to have like live reporters because all it was doing was kind of feeding the beast. So you just put people's stories on, right? Their news stories from the night before. It was not live. It wasn't as dynamic. So this guy named Brian Carr, who was in charge to kind of change that him and i kind of

worked uh you know the first type live hits that's when twitter first started amber macarthur as well was part of that too and and we blogged for the first time and tried and started this real new iteration of cp24 so that was a really cool part of the of the uh of my career there oh yeah for sure for sure and um you were with roger peterson was one of the guys you were that's right he was my co-anchor yeah you know i've never met roger if you had him on you should have him on i i would love to have roger on uh i haven't got an invitation to him yet but maybe you'll have to broker that deal but i would totally have roger on uh for sure um he uh i feel like I feel like he's a nice guy.

Is he like straight up? He seems like a nice guy. He's a hilarious guy. He's probably one of the funniest people. I don't want someone funnier than me. He's quite funny. He's, he's a really nice guy.

He's a great guy. And he's got the right pigmentation in his hair. Like I, I always like people, guys who have the white hair. Right, right, right.

You might be able to take the show on the road and do it on his boat. Cause, yeah, where is that docked? Is that in Port Credit? Where do I have to go? right, right. You might be able to take the show on the road and do it on his boat. Where is that docked? Is that in Port Credit? No, no. Far away? Yeah, I think it's in Toronto. I don't know. I don't even know where he has a dock.

All right. I would tell you. If I can plug in, I would do it. So Roger, if you're listening, I'm coming for you, brother. Who else? I'm trying to think. Oh, lots of great people. I'm going to think of CP24.

When did that get called? I think it was Cable Pulse 24, but when did they call it CP24? So I'm trying to, oh, so what happened was there was that split. Remember? Bell split from Rogers. Remember it well because Steve Anthony, yeah, they had to. Right. Yes.

Yeah. There's a whole thing. So that's when that split happened, which was 2010. Yeah. I went to two, so I got laid off from City and then there was Ann Marszkowski, a bunch of us got, I was in that. How well do you know Ann Marszkowski? Well, through work, like, yeah, yeah,

we don't hang out or anything, but yeah. There's a woman who understands real talk. Like she came on this show. I heard that episode. Honestly, it's one of the greats. Oh, it truly is. And then when Gord Martineau came on, I had to play some Anne because you need an opportunity to respond.

But just it's wild what's going on behind the scenes sometimes and you have no idea. So if you want to, I don't know how much real talk you want. But she wasn't there anymore. It's much easier to deliver the real talk when you're not at the organization. No, I mean, look, it was, if for me it was, it was like, it was, it was a money thing. They got rid of a bunch of us and then 6%. Yeah.

And then they called me two days later and asked, asked me to get my, take my job back and offered me my job again. And I had already had three job offers. So I said, it was honestly like a scorn. I was like, it was like a scorn lover. Like it was just, I was, I wanted to work there so bad, you know? And then, and I didn't, there was no signs that this relationship wasn't working at all. And then it's like, you know, I just got dumped.

So how do they choose? I mean, you won't have these answers, but I wonder aloud, like, okay, the bean counters say 6% of staff need to be let go. And now you're somebody, someone, someone's going through the list or whatever. I think I might have just made a nice round number that they were like, we need to get rid of this. You were making too much money. I don't think it was too much money. Those people were making much more than me there,

but they needed to cut and then they apologized two days later and offered me a bit more money to come back and I didn't. Because usually it works the other way. The move I've heard from CHCH did this, for example. But you're laid off. But you can now reapply for your old job at a smaller rate.

Like this is the CHCH move in Hamilton. And I don't know why it's allowed. I'm not at all suggesting anything like that. City TV obviously can't do that game because you have to declare bankruptcy and then start a numbered company that kind of rises from the ashes like a Phoenix. Like there's a whole move there,

but I don't know how that, a quick aside, but I don't know how that's legal. Like, I don't understand how that can be allowed because you don't have to pay severance to the people you let go because you declared bankruptcy. And then you've just created a new numbered company that is now essentially to the visual public.

It's the same company. It's all of a game. It's very sneaky public it's the same company it's all of like it's very sneaky it's very sneaky yeah criminal i think can we can we launch an invest can global launch an investigation maybe somebody's done quite a bit though it's done quite a bit so it's it's and listen our industry right now is not making a lot of money like it's very there are very few jobs i'm very lucky to be employed. It's a, yeah, difficult time. But is that because of the internet? Like, what is causing the industry to

see the pie shrink? Is that digital? Yeah, I think there's a confluence of factors. Everything's happening kind of at the same time. I think there's that. I think there's misinformation. I think there's distrust. I think there's a lot of things. I think people also are kind of tired of all this heavy news and just want to kind of binge on Netflix at night.

And, you know, might not. The dumbing down of society. That's why the dumb shows are the most popular. Have you noticed that? I don't know if it's a dumb. Yeah. I don't know if it's a dumbing down or people just want an escape. But you're right.

I can't watch these. So many people in my life watch these shows like The Bachelorette. Yeah. Okay. I'm with you. Yeah. And I just, I cannot get. Because you feel dumber watching those shows. life watch these shows like the bachelorette and yeah yeah okay i'm with you yeah and i just i cannot get i i like you feel dumber watching those shows like they they don't at all get you thinking

i like a show and i'm not the smartest yeah i'm not the brightest light in the chandelier but i like it when i'm on my bike ride the next day and i'm thinking about the show yeah like i like to or it makes it makes me reimagine something or like it just makes me ponder something. And all that is like, it's like popcorn. Like it's sort of like of the moment. And then later you're kind of like, oh, I shouldn't have eaten that. Why did I eat that? Why did I eat that? No, that's a good point.

I mean, for me right now, anything I do outside of consuming news is just, it has to be fiction. Even like I can't read any self-help books or anything. I need to read fiction and watch shows. Like I can't, I need an escape from real life. So I get why people want to watch things. But you literally live you you literally live and breathe news you're sort of a different animal but for the and and okay i don't know that this i don't want to sound like uh abe simpson gonna yell at the clouds or whatever but uh okay i totally can see that there would be like uh people would be like i'm not going to sit down there and take in the news. Like they get their news by, uh, I don't know, via Facebook or something, which, and then, and then there is

probably very little like, like, Oh, what is the source of this thing? And is it a trustworthy source? And I don't think that particular exercise happens all that often either. So you're in a tough fight. We are. And I think it's think it's how also putting context to that news, right? Like, what are you getting in a tweet that you would, you know, maybe in a two-minute news story, you might understand it more. But then maybe you prefer to read the article on globalnews.ca. I don't know, but it's... Well, here, let me

get you to Global Toronto here, and then I can ask some more of my news questions. So you said you had multiple offers when you were laid off in a massive company-wide layoff that, again, 6% is a big number of city staff. And you get caught up in this, unfortunately. And you get a couple offers. And even though they did ask you to come back, you flipped them the bird.

No, I don't know if you did that or not. But that's my words, not Farah's. But you took an offer for Global Toronto. Actually, I went to CP24. That's where I went. Okay. So that was when Citi and CP24 had split. And I worked for...

So that's Bell Media now at that point. Yeah. So I'm working for Bell Media at CP24. And during that time, Ward Smith, who is the vice president of news at Global, he had been in touch even before that about, you know, how do we get you to Global? How do we get you to Global? And there was never really a right opportunity.

And then until there was. His name's Ward Smith? Yeah. Sounds like Word Smith. Huh, I never thought about it that way. It's amazing to be named Ward Smith. Okay, so shout out to Ward Smith. Okay, so this is, I guess this is May 2015, 2015 when you're named a co-anchor of global Toronto's five 30 and 6

PM newscast alongside, uh, and the press really said this FOTM, Alan Carter. No, he hadn't, he wasn't an FOTM yet, but alongside on car.

Uh, what's the chemistry like between you and Alan? Like, did you instantly like each other or did you have to kind of adapt to each other like what was that like we'd known each other in the field for many years and I think we had a lot of respect I remember one of the first stories new stories I did for city was I had to sit outside a courthouse and he was like there and I'm like can I ask you a really dumb question and you know I think I asked him some silly question he was so kind and wonderful and so we've always had you know a lot of respect for each other and so i don't think it was that difficult it was weird that they tried to like

put us in they wanted us to get to know each other because the chemistry is is really important so uh i was also pregnant when i got hired okay sure we we uh they sent us on this like they wanted to do this like comedians and cars thing me out with and I. So we spent a lot of time driving and getting to know each other and laughing. And there was many times where, you know, they were filming the whole thing, but there was times where I'm like, turn your mic off. Let's like have a real talk right now, you know? And so, um, yeah, we got to know each other and he's, he's just so wonderful. You know,

it's kind of interesting to me that we're sitting here talking about the importance of chemistry and you and Alan getting along when we just, we just literally moments ago talked about the ann muskowski episode where her and on when the red light went on yeah and this is on the record you heard it she said it on the mic and she knew i was recording but when the red light went on at city news or whatever they were calling the city tv news uh whenever that red light went on gordon and would smile and laugh at each other's jokes and seem like they were like a couple like that was how then the red light went on and then the red light would go off and they would not speak at all like so maybe we overvalue the whole

important maybe it's just that like you just you're a pro this is your job but you know maybe you don't have to get along with that you know what what? I just, I can't, I wouldn't be able to do that. I don't think I'd ever be able to do that. I just, I wear my emotion on my sleeve and I think the viewers would be able to tell if I didn't like Alan. The ratings would go through the roof if you were like cutting up Alan on the air

and you were getting in shots. I don't know what would happen, but it's, you know, I witnessed that. I saw that. I was working at City during those years. We all knew what was happening, but it was and it was difficult and I I their example was to me you know you have to have this good relationship like you cannot you have to work at it and Alan and I worked on it there's things there's many things we haven't agreed on and we've we've definitely had debates

heated debates sometimes on different issues but at the end of the day you know we're partners it's like it's almost like a marriage in a way you know you the day you know we're partners it's like it's almost like a marriage in a way you know you got to work at it and and it's possible that you're uh you value authenticity more than maybe like like you could approach your news job in two ways like one is like i am an actress of sorts and like this i'm playing this role and the red light goes on and i play this role but also and i feel this from this from you and I sensed it in the Dana chat that I was witness to on the DL subscribe today that yeah, you,

you, you, you're authentic and you, you would prefer passionately to, to be authentic. And if you hated Alan Carter, that would be impossible. Yeah.

It's, it's just, honestly, I'm, I'm a little lazy and it's just easier. It's just so much easier to be, to be real than put on that front. I think it would be. And Alan's the same way. Like we, he knows he gets that too. And he knows the importance of the relationship and he's so like, you know, another anchor could say, oh, well you're getting all

these, you're getting these national experiences. You got, you got to go to Washington. You got to do all that. And you know, could be in, in, instead of being like, well, how come it's not me? He's like, I am so proud of you. Like, how can I help you? What can I do? You know, he's just, he's such a good, good man. And it's working out. I mean, how many years now have you guys been together? Six years. Which is a long time, I think. So good. Now that you're finally here, I did try to get you on the show many years ago. I know, I don't know why it was, yeah, there was a, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. There was a, yeah. Another factor that was like, are you sure you want to do this podcast kind of thing?

So, but I'm glad I'm here now. Alan's secret is he just showed up. Yeah. He told me he didn't ask permission. I'm like, how did you get allowed to do this? So, but our team actually was, was very happy that when you asked. Oh, Makai Taggart. Yes.

Our news director, who's a big, big fan of your show. I met him at a, I almost said backstage. I met him in the clubhouse or whatever at an Argos playoff game. Like he was hanging out with Jim Richards. Right. Yeah, they're good friends. Yeah. And I'm like, I knew Jim from a variety of channels or whatever. But Makai, and I still remember that like I'd only ever seen his name on Twitter. And I had no idea you pronounced it makai right like and i was like makai like i just i just mckay right like

that's yeah it's in our language actually i've never told him this and he's definitely gonna listen to this episode so he'll probably smile when i say this but i've never better listen in our language uh makai means corn so it's it's so funny. My mom, she was like, when she first heard his name, she was like, Makai? Like Makai? Like corn? And I was like, oh, that's funny. But yeah, he's, he, Makai Taggart

is one of my favorite people on the planet. He is such an incredible leader. I learned so much. We've collaborated. Some of my best work or the best things I've done in my career have been with him, so. Amazing. Okay, that's good to hear. I'm happy to hear that. And he work or the best things I've done in my career have been with him. So amazing. Okay.

That's good to hear. I would hear that. And he's also the first guy I heard of that I had actually met in my life to get COVID-19. Right. Yeah. Him and Anthony Farnell. It was early. First.

Yeah. Yeah. They were on a trip. They were like a March 2020 COVID, which was like, that was like, whoa. Yeah. I know that guy. And he's still alive. So he's fine.

Yeah. We're going to be okay. Okay, good. There's hope for. And he's still alive. He's fine. Yeah, we're going to be okay. Okay, good. There's hope for all of us here. Okay, so now this is something I was hoping you'll be candid about here. But I tried to look this up. It's tough to look up because you have to kind of look at each station and everything. But is it possible that you're the first Muslim news anchor in Toronto News?

Like, is that a possibility? Yes. I think Shireen Mansour at CH was, and I don't know if she's Muslim or not, but her last name sounds Muslim. So it's possible she was the first. Possibly not. But possibly true.

Possibly nationally. Possibly nationally. I don't know. And it's CH Toronto News. Oh, yeah. Well, G-T-H-A as we say. I'm trying to get a claim here for you. Thank you.

No, definitely in Toronto. Out of the three stations, I think that's fair to say. I know that when I started, there were no Muslims in television news that I knew, you know, that were working at Citi or anywhere else. Irshad Manji maybe was one at city, but yeah. So, so many places to go here, but I mean, I have some obvious questions like, like in your career and you've like, when Donna Friesen is on her vacation, they, they, they call you,

this is the phone call they make. They're like, Farah, we need you on the national news desk. This is, this is, and this is like we're speaking now and I do drop these episodes like 15 minutes after you leave. So we're in late July. I know where the, my daughter turned 17 tomorrow. So I know this is July 28.

This is happening like in August. Are you going to be on the national news desk? Yeah. Next week, next week. I'll be on the national desk. Yeah. And then I was,

I was also in July. I was on for, I don't know, 10 days or seven, eight days, something like that. Yeah. Okay. I'll, I'll come back to. I was on for, uh, I don't know, 10 days or seven, eight days, something like that. Yeah. Okay. I'll come back to all that. Cause that's amazing. But, uh, have you experienced what you felt was Islamophobia in your career? Do you think you might have had more opportunities if you were a white Christian woman? Like, like, please, let's hear it. Um, you know, I think, I think at the beginning of my career,

I definitely faced challenges. I think it was very difficult to be the only brown woman, definitely at 1010, especially when 9-11 was happening and things like that. And it was difficult hearing certain things. Wait, so stop there though, because 1010 is a rather, I don't know what it's like today,

but it was very conservative back then. Okay. Very male, very white. The people who were listening were, I like Stephen Harper, he's a great, this sentiment, maybe even Rob Ford is the best mayor we've ever had type mentality going on there. Now, was it difficult to be in that environment?

And it sort of ties into what Supriya Dwivedi said. I don't know if you read her exit statements when she left 640, which is, of course, a full disclosure owned by the same company that signed her checks or whatever course there. But was it difficult? Did you get these hateful emails from the audience that maybe was less accepting of this diversity? Not then. And I think there was this kind of quiet, like, I don't think people were as emboldened and

felt as legitimized as they do now to send those kinds of things. We also didn't have social media then. So I didn't see a lot of it. But it was a different time. I mean, I remember them, people saying that like, if someone has a thick accent, you know, don't put them on air. Right. Like I remember that because, Oh, nobody will understand them. You know, and to me, I love accents. Like, I think that's what is our city. You can't reflect our city with that accent. You know, who loved access Moses on the city. Yeah, totally. Totally. And Jojo Chinto got on the air. Love that guy. So, you know, I think there's, Love that guy. So, you know, I think there's, there was, it was, it was a difficult and different time.

And I was this young Muslim in her twenties when all this was happening and I had a hard time kind of articulating how I felt about things. And yeah, there was definitely hurtful things said about my religion in, you know, as a joke. There was a Toronto one. There was, I mean, everywhere I've worked, it hasn't been, I don't think I have personally not been able to get a job because of who I am. I think they're also, I think life experience has been valued in the past five, 10 years, right? And that has actually, you know, given me opportunities. Now people will say, oh, well, you got hired because of this.

I've heard that so many times. Oh, like, like I've heard this too, because they're like, there's a diversity checklist somewhere in some boardroom. And you're checking, woman's a diversity checklist somewhere in some boardroom and, uh, you're checking woman, a color box and Muslim. So you probably got two boxes. Right. And, and to me, you know, I definitely was hired at global to give a different perspective. And I'm, I'm not embarrassed if that are shy or feel like I'm not worthy because of that. Um, because I think it's an important perspective. And I think we have, we have moved so far in that sense, right?

Like you think about, we just had, we've just started having news anchors who are, you know, different, of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Like you think about the big stations, they've all been even the national newscast, like white men, you know, like even, so I think it's so important to kind of reflect, especially in this city more than anywhere, you know, what the city looks like. And forget even on camera, just even behind the scenes, providing that perspective. It's just so key right now.

Yeah. I think the first non-white I can remember is Lisa Laflamme, who took over for Lloyd Robertson on the big CTV national news there. Finally, not a white, not a, she's a white person, but not a dude is what I'm saying. But you're at 10-10 when 9-11 happens. Like, was there a noticeable shift with Islamophobia when 9-11 happened? I think there was a noticeable shift in this city. I think there was, you know, I think when I got, the time I felt it was when a friend of mine was, had a flying brochure in his

car that had nothing to do with anything. And he just wanted to take a flight, like a private flight or flight lesson. And yeah, and like C-SIS or whoever went to his door and yeah, and he was like a kid. He was my age, you know, and he didn't have anything to do with anything. And they were concerned about him. And this is somebody I grew up with who was like one of my closest friends. So I think like I felt it more outside than I did within the newsroom.

But I definitely heard comments that were really hurtful. And I've blocked out a lot of it, to be honest. But it was a different time. And again, that perspective wasn't there. And as much as I tried to provide it, it was, it was a different time and people, and again, that perspective wasn't there. And as much as I tried to provide it, I was one of the only women, I was one of the only women of color, you know, and I was definitely the only Muslim. So it was, I found it very difficult to articulate that to my superiors at that age. And so if they had had someone else with that experience in newsrooms across the city. I think it would have been a different experience for Muslims in this, in this city. You told a story to Dana, uh, but when you were

six years old, like this is a, uh, I won't say it, but there's a P word that was used as like a slur against people of brown skin. Right. Right. Uh, like six years old okay it's very young six years old uh but did so when when this i mean if you maybe if you shared the story then i'm wondering like has this is this a story that you know it happened and you you left it in the past or is this something that really uh helped shape your your thoughts thoughts on this city and this country? Yeah, I mean, I think it shaped my work. Like we did a whole series called First Time I Was Called based on that experience that I had and other people's experiences. And I remember telling Makai, you know, how it shook me and how I still remembered it.

And he said, how do you still remember that? I said, because when you're called something like that, it's such a visceral feeling. Like even when I was telling him the story about that time, I felt like I was shaking. I was so angry and it happened when I was six, you know? And it's funny because that same friend who I was telling you about, who, uh, who that with the flight brochure recently, he was, somebody cut him off and, and, or they, there was some sort of like little road rage incident and somebody used that,

that slur on the road just recently, you know, like. Right. Rolled down the thing and said, stupid P, you know? And, and it's just, so it's not something that recently, you know, like rolled down the thing and said stupid P, you know, and it's just so it's not something that's, in fact it kind of hid for a while and it's gotten a little bit worse. Do you think it's got a, possibly some of these racists feel

sort of emboldened or Oh yeah. Is that a Trump effect? Absolutely. I think it's absolutely a Trump effect. I think there was all this simmering tensions, but I think people thought, oh hey, yeah, this is not Absolutely. I think it's absolutely a Trump effect. I think there was always simmering tensions, but I think people thought, oh, hey, yeah, this is not fair. I need to, I, you know, the people are taking my jobs and people are doing this. And, and I think there's a reason behind how everyone feels and everyone's valid, you know, their, their feelings are valid, but when they're hateful to other people, that's where it gets, it gets difficult and challenging and unfair.

But yeah, I, I definitely, definitely blame what, what has happened here on what happened in the States. And, but then there's also policies. I mean, Stephen Harper had a snitch line, remember, like for Muslims, I remember being in that press conference and him talking about, you know, if you see something that's like, you know, suspicious that a mosque or whatever called us, like, how can you, and then there's bill 21 right now in Quebec, that's taking place, right? That some are calling state-sanctioned racism. Like, it's policies that our government makes that legitimizes things. Then it's also a group of people who are so extreme in their thoughts that, you know,

egg each other on online and through social media and on the internet. And it's just all these factors kind of coming together. And then it's media. I mean, when you look at, for example, Muslims on the news, how do you see them on, sorry, not on the news, on television, on shows like Homeland, on, you know, how do you see them portrayed? So I think it's all these factors together kind of in a, wrapped up in a bow to make what we have today happen. So what do you tell your kids now? So you were six when you got the P word hurled at you and now your kids are that age. now so you were six when you got the p word hurled at you and now your kids are that age like do you have conversations about like like i don't even i see again i'm a i'm a straight white guy okay i don't have this person i find this fascinating but i actually do have two kids who

are asian so i'm i'm not the same at all but uh it uh, it will, I do realize that, you know, it, it may be different for kids three and four than it was for kids one and two. Like I am aware of this. Uh, but what, what do you say to your kids? Are you just sort of, I'm curious, like, would you even bring it up? Like, I don't even know. I don't know. I'm honestly just asking. Yeah, no, no. I, we, we haven't talked about it yet. It's funny. Cause we're, I haven't even talked to them about what's happened, uh, in terms of what the, the horrible discoveries at residential schools. I haven't talked about it yet. It's funny because we're, I haven't even talked to them about what's happened in terms of what the, the horrible discoveries at residential schools. I haven't talked to them about Islamophobia. I talked to them about what happened last year with this reckoning after the,

the killing of George Floyd. But these two, I feel like I need a bit more time to talk about. And, and, and I haven't had that recently. Last summer, I did have that time this summer.

I didn't. What about in London when we, London, Ontario? Again, I haven't talked to them about that,, I did have that time. This summer, I didn't. What about in London, Ontario? Again, I haven't talked to them about that, but we're going on vacation in August. And I plan to, because I feel like they're going to have so many questions, and I want to make sure I'm available to them to answer that over a few weeks. So I've done a lot of research in terms of what I'm going to say. And I'm going to be honest with them about what happened in London, and I'm going to be honest with them about what happened in London. And I'm going to be honest with them about what happened. Yeah. In residential school, so-called schools. Yeah.

And again, it might not be a one size fits all. Cause like if you're a five-year-old, anything like my five-year-old, they may not be ready for some of those concepts, but the, your eight-year-old is probably ready. You know, it's funny that, that sentiment that, you know, my five-year-old isn't ready, but you think about, you know, the kids in residential schools who were sent there at five. You know what I mean? So it's like, to me, I think there are ways that we can teach them. You know, I don't, obviously, I would not get into any of the details.

It's definitely not appropriate. Even for my eight-year-old, it's not appropriate. But I think they need to know. They need to know. Like the curriculum doesn't teach them until way too late, in my opinion, what has happened in the history of this country. And I think it's up to. They need to know. Like the curriculum doesn't teach them until way too late in my opinion, what has happened in the history of this country. And I think it's up to us as parents to inform. I feel, and again, I don't have any, there's no, this is an anecdotal, I have a feeling I have that that is going to change now.

Like I feel like this generation, again, if your kids, I don't know, grade two going to grade one, one and three, whatever they're at, this is, that's going to change we are going to be talking about this in schools I got none of it no, I got none of it Farrah, for a Toronto Mike

debut, honestly you hit it out of the park, you were way better than Alan Carter I just want you to know that it's because you're in person, you had to say that and I do have a lasagna for you. And there is fresh beer for you from Great Lakes Beer. And there is a Toronto Mike sticker from stickeru.com and hand sanitizer from Ridley Funeral Home. Honestly.

And at some point, I got to get you back for a sequel because I left some stuff on the cutting room floor. And if you had a decent time, maybe you'll say yes to that invitation here. Totally. Next time playdate with the kids. Oh my god for sure. Absolutely for sure because we didn't even get into the TED talk and the living in college. I have so much stuff. I know I'm so sorry. We have to do part two. We have to do part two. Farah's got to run because

she's a good mother as Jan Arden would say. And that that brings us to the end of our 892nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Farah, what's your handle on Twitter?

It is at Farah Nasser. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. McKay CEO Forums, not McKay. McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH.

And Mike Majeski is at Majeski Group Homes on Instagram. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business

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