Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Reshmi Nair: Toronto Mike'd #1076

Episode Date: July 5, 2022

In this 1076th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Reshmi Nair about her years at the CBC, her move to Bell Media to be a part of Quibi, what happened to Quibi, and how she ended up on Newstalk 1010 co-hosting The Rush with Scott MacArthur. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

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Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. And Canna Cabana, the lowest prices on cannabis. Guaranteed over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. Joining me this week, making her Toronto mic debut, is Reshmi Nair. Hello. Thank you for having me.

Welcome, Reshmi. It feels great to be here in your basement. Amazing that you're here. You were literally on the air on your dial at 1010. You were on the air at like six o'clock, I guess. And here you are like 45 minutes later, which is amazing. Two to six, Monday to Friday, and I'm ready to keep talking. Wow.

Okay. Do your friends call you Resh? Like is Resh a nickname a friend of yours might use? Great first question. Growing up, I only let my older brother call me Resh. So when friends in elementary school would do it, I'd punch them and say, you're not allowed to call me Resh. Right in the nose.

Okay, so people have to call you Resh me. Yeah, you can call me Resh now, I'm older. Okay. My brother's lost the title. I would think if I were a Resh me, and I'm not, but if I were, I would want to be Resh. To me, that would be like, if I'm a Michael and I want to be Mike, I would want to be Resh for what it's worth.

Okay, cool. You can call me Reshmi. I can call you Resh. Just don't call me late for dinner. By the way, you're leaving here with, since I mentioned dinner, you're leaving here with a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. I just want you to know that. Thank you.

We're taking that home with you. What neck of the woods in this city or GTA, what neck of the woods do you live in? I'm in Leslieville. Okay. I love it. I was there for a concert. I was at, where was I?

I was at the History. History. History. You know this new music venue, History? Yeah. Queen and Coxwell. Yeah, that's what Drake opened up, right? Yeah, yeah. And so you went to it to i was there saturday night how was it it was great because i saw i saw moist and tea

party the tea party what and it was like i was back in the 90s where i belong so i had a good time but uh david usher yeah well you know he still looks good i believe it i believe he was a hottie and he's still a hottie. So there's hope for all of us, I think. If you look like David Usher. But, okay, so you're from East End. I always wonder which neck of the woods people are calling home. Yeah, Leslieville has been home since I moved back to Toronto.

Well, 09-ish, I was at Bathurst and Queen's Quay near the public broadcaster when i was working there sure and then i was in parkdale for a brief moment uh my dog was finding needles everywhere so i had to get out of parkdale a little sketchy but uh i kind of dig the character of parkdale but you're right it's a little sketchy queen west is so nice for all of the different kinds of food that you can find around the world uh but then i found a home in 2011 in the East End and I just love the East End. And you're no longer homeless. You've got a home now.

And I don't know why I said that. I was in Scarborough today and I only say that like that, like what big deal, you know, that's whatever, six boroughs. Like that's a part of Toronto, Mike, except I almost never get to Scarborough because I like to go everywhere on bike.

And Scarborough is so far away. Like I rarely have time. But today, because I had a couple of cancellations i carved out this chunk of time to make believe it or not i'm an old man this is my first ride to the scarborough bluffs i did that today ever first time yeah like ever yeah i had never been in person in that scarborough bluffs park or whatever at the beach there with all the bluffs this today was the first time I was there. What'd you make of it? No, I dug it. It was beautiful. And I took some great photos and it was a great ride. It was a 67 kilometer round trip and felt good. And my hair is still wet because I said, oh, I just had a long ride. I have to clean myself up before Reshmi Nair.

Nair, two syllables. Because I want to say nair, but it's nair. Say nair. Nair. Call me whatever you want. You don't care. It's not a big deal. I noticed some ink.

How many tattoos do you have? Or is that too personal? My arms are covered. You know what? I just don't think I ever knew this because on television, we don't see it, right? No, you would never see it.

This is my first time seeing the ink. Yeah, so I've got some tattoos on this arm, like a tree of life. Wow. I got different tattoos at different times. I think the total would be 7 to 11. But there's words on this side. What is that? This is a letter from my dad.

Oh, my God. Yeah, so when he passed away. He died suddenly from a heart attack, 2010. So I just took all the letters that we wrote to each other when I lived in Vancouver. See, I dig that. And I got a letter and got some stars. I've got,

yeah, maybe like seven, eight, nine. Do you have any ink? No. I think I'm going to be the last inkless man. I don't have any ink, but I do notice because I'm out on the waterfront trail every day and I see, you know, people are wearing shorts and t-shirts and a lot of skin. Like I did notice that there's more people with ink, I think, than without ink. Like I'm always seeing something on the calf or something when I see Cyclops. Like I always wonder, why don't I have something on my calf? Oh, yeah, yeah. And now the next generation is just putting them on their face. They're just taking it one step further.

Like, well, all my parents are tatted. What am I going to do that's rebellious and different? I'm just going to put stuff on my face. You did it smart. Like I always remember a quote from Brian Setzer from Stray Cats. And he said, as long as you can cover your tats when you're wearing a suit and you're in front of the judge he says you're all good like so nothing on the neck or face or hands a suit has to cover your ink yeah it's a

good rule i got stars on my forearm and i was a radio reporter and my father lost it saying you'll never be on tv now well that's a good point i need my arms to show in order for me to get a job in tv and i know i know we're going to talk because you're on the radio right now but you were on tv i think of you as a tv star so when you're on television do they care like do they ask you to cover it up or do they care about the ink oh absolutely they would care uh no one's ever asked me to cover it up, but I would never present myself as a journalist on camera with tattoos. But why not be the cool journalist who has tattoos? Like that could be you.

You're Rashmi Nair. Now I'm screwing up your last name because I think it's one syllable, but it's two. Oh, you can say one syllable, yeah. Rashmi is the tattooed journalist. Like that could be your thing. You're the cool chick.

I don't think anybody wants to have a thing. I don't think you want to be a thing. I don't want to be a thing. But it's not a thing you faked. It's a real thing. Like it be your thing you're the cool chick i don't think anybody wants to have a thing i don't think you want to be a thing i don't want to be it's not a thing you faked it's a real thing like it's not like you're yeah but the tattoos are my thing they're mine and so you're seeing them now it's a beautiful hot day but when i get to work when i'm in studio when i'm presenting something i think on camera i don't want to see people's tattoos okay i hear you okay okay okay because there are more private spots you could have put those tattoos if you were really worried about people seeing them. Yeah, no, of course. You want tattoos to show when you're showing them.

But when you're professionally presenting on air, it's not in my interest. Because look, this is a letter from my dad. Well, I'm going to say that is beautiful. Like that's a very personal, beautiful thing you did there on your right arm like I think like oh my god like I I mean that if anything happened to somebody I love that's exactly what I would want to do I'd want to like ink myself yeah and when you get tattoos

you want to talk about them it's like I can't I don't understand those people who are like don't ask me about my tattoos yeah yeah because don't ask me it's like of course ask me but when I'm telling you the news around the world do you want to ask me about my tattoos? No. I hear you. I hear you. And I mean, you must have given each tattoo a great deal of thought, right? Because you're thinking this is for life and you have a lot of life ahead of you.

So you didn't just, you didn't get, you know, see something and do it spontaneously. I'm guessing you gave this great thought before you got inked. Am I right? Yeah, you should put a lot of thought into it. I would hope so. But then also, you know, no judgments on anyone who makes mistakes. No judgments. Okay, good, good. By the way, I have some lovely notes for you before we get into this. Before we crack our first Great Lakes beer and have a nice convo, I recently had a woman you

may know. Her name is Amber Paye. Yes, yes, we love amber pay okay because amber pay got very excited i think we had just booked this appearance when i was talking and she's in like arizona yeah it was like we were zooming she didn't get a fresh craft beer from great lakes here but i just mentioned who was coming up and i said rush me there and she like lit up and said said, rush me there. And she like lit up and said, BFFs. Like she's very excited to, I guess you guys are buddies. Oh, I'm so lucky to be in her orbit. She is outstanding, isn't she? So you've only met her virtually? Have you been in the same room as Amber Pei? No, I've never been. No, no, no. Only twice. She's been on two Zooms because she was on episode 1050, which I had a bunch of chum, 1050 chum veterans, is that what I call them? Veterans on. And we were talking about the history of 1050 chum and she is what i call veterans on and we were talking about the

history of 1050 chum and she was on that zoom so i met her there and then i invited her for her own episode much like you're experiencing right now and then she came back but both times via zoom tell me about being like in the same room as oh she is a breath of fresh air and really genuinely it was when i was working at the public broadcaster that she came in as a fill-in traffic reporter and so she just like here and now oh yeah and she walked into the studio boom sunshine right in your face positive energy I have seen her have low moments and she still stays high she's just high on life and it's contagious. It's inspiring. I miss her so much just talking about her. You got to laugh at life and she'll find the laughter in anything. Now you're not rooting against her marriage or anything. I feel like if her marriage didn't

work out, she'd be back here. Oh, Dion is amazing. Is he? Dion is amazing. He flies planes. So I figure he's got to be cool guy. And he's an incredible cook. I've been blessed with the food that he makes. My goodness. He makes her a better person. She makes him a better person. And everybody knows I'm just kidding.

I'm rooting for Amber and Dion. Dion. Okay. Like Marcel Dion. I like that. Okay. But I'm not done yet with the notes. Like Amber Paye, excited you're coming on.

Someone named Jay Michaels. We might know him better as Mad Dog. But Mad Dog says, a wonderful human and a massive Oasis fan. She's tops in my book. Ask her about her conversation with Noel about eBay. So lots to unpack there, but firstly, how do you know Jay Michaels?

Oh, Jay Michaels, I know from News Talk 1010. He is an incredible person as well, you know, of the same ilk as Amber Pei. Genuine person, big heart, finds the laughter in anything. And these are people who are very important to our industry. Truly, you need that. But we lost him. He's in Montreal now.

We've lost him in this market. Yeah, that's true. But they're blessed over there. They're lucky. We're unlucky. I will say, unlike Amber, who I've only met on Zoom, Jay has actually been here not once, not twice, but three times he sat in that seat. Oh, I'm so lucky. I'm so lucky.

And you and Jay have something in common. There's not, my brain tells me there's only four maybe and then some fill-in people, but you're in an exclusive club of like Rush hosts, right? Yeah. Right. Because we'll get to all this later. But Jay Michaels and Ryan Doyle came here when they launched Rush like to announce, hey, we have a new show. It's called Rush. And now you you and FOTM Scott MacArthur are the co-hosts of Rush. So we're going to talk about Rush later. Can you tell me about Oasis and this conversation with Noel about eBay. Yeah, I'm just a huge Oasis fan. I don't know what the eBay part is, but I was telling Jay that I was just obsessed with Much Music as well. So I really love that I work in that building. I was at CP24 for about a year

before moving over to Newstalk 1010. And it's all the same company. It's an amazing building to be in. But when I would fill in with Jay on The Rush, I would just talk about how I loved being in two 99. And I was this teenager who took the subway down to two 99 to see any rock star at any moment. I was out there getting autographs and all the rest of it.

Just obsessed. Noel Gallagher, very obsessed with, um, I'd seen him a few times, never saw Liam. Jay knows that. Liam,

it seems like a bit of a dink, but I wish I could singer handsome guy, but I feel like he's a bit of a dink. Oh, but I wish I saw Liam. Like good singer, handsome guy, but I feel like he's a bit of a dink where I feel Noel, he writes the songs. He's a bit more of the soulful songwriter, poet guy. Yeah, I know. I feel like we're back in the 90s again, but damn, Liam is so hot. And so

I get into much music this one time that Noel Gallagher is going to be interviewed by Bill Wilichka and they sit me and my friend on this ledge and they're filling the space in the area for the interview. The environment. Oasis fans drove me nuts because they were all just yapping away for hours about all

of these different theories as to why Noel wrote any of the lyrics. None of them ever make sense. That is the conclusion in 2022. Every Oasis fan will agree. Thank you. But they were arguing over this one song. What is a champagne supernova, right? That's been haunting this one song. What is a champagne supernova, right? That's been haunting me for years. What is a champagne supernova?

Well, this was a B-side song that they couldn't figure out. And so during the live interview, I interrupted Bill Wilichka's interview with Noel Gallagher because I had chatted with him during the commercial break about the song, confirmed, this is pre-journalism too, but confirmed that what they were all gossiping about wasn't true got got it straight from the source felt pretty you're only a teenager yeah just in high supposed to be in high school and uh and then during the live interview bill wilichka said well

when are you going to come back because they weren't in town for a show no just happened to be in toronto he said oh we'll come back in may i said oh when in may my birthday's in may and he said yeah mine too when's your birthday and we just started talking about our birthdays in May. And Bill Wilichka's just given me the cut-eye, like, what are you doing? No eBay talk? What's Jay Michaels talking about? Oh, well, maybe, okay, fine. Another story about

Noel Gallagher, 102.1 The Edge, when it was on Yonge Street. Yeah, they were at the, like, an in-center there, yeah. Yeah, Yonge and Shoot like an in center there. Yeah, Noel's there. Yeah, young and shooter. And I have a Union Jack guitar from the Champagne Supernova video that Noel Gallagher plays. They only made a few of them in the world. And a friend who worked at a guitar shop in Streetsville got it for me.

I paid full price, but I got that autograph by Noel Gallagher. And he took his sweet time to sign it. And he said, I'm glad you have all night. This is good. Keep going. He signs it and he took his sweet time to sign it. I'm glad you have all night. This is good. Keep going. He signs it and he says, now don't sell it until I'm dead. And so I still have it.

So that might be the eBay. Don't sell the guitar on eBay until he's dead. Okay, so shout out to Streetsville. Okay. And Billy Talent. Yeah. And also the guy from Billy Talent worked at The Edge. Just to tie it all together.

Yes. I know. That's my job. Why don't guy from Billy Talent worked at The Edge. Just to tie it all together. Yes! I know, that's my job. Why don't I know him? We should be friends. Ben, and then a Polish last name. I can't even, I think I have trouble with Nair. Imagine my trouble with Kowal Zawidz.

I can't say it. They used to play the Masonic Lodge in Streetsville. So are you from Streetsville? You seem passionate about Streetsville. Are you a Mississauga girl? And then I go, ugh. No, I grew up in Rexdale.

I love Rexdale. Home of Strombo. Proud to say then I go, ugh. No, I grew up in Rexdale. I love Rexdale. Home of Strombo. Proud to say that I grew up there. Yeah, he went to Humber. I moved from Rexdale in the middle of high school. So I spent the last four years in Streetsville. And so Streetsville is the place where I spent the least amount of time, but it was quite remarkable.

Well, why does Streetsville get, like why does that neighborhood get sort of pushed like it's a city? Like, you know what I mean? Like, that's Mississauga, but we talk about Streetsville like it's somehow it's unto its own self, like it's a standalone geographical region. We don't do that with other Mississauga neighborhoods, really. We don't really talk about Port Credit.

We talk about, I mean, maybe Port Credit's the closest example to what I'm talking about, but what is it about Streetsville that makes it so special so along the credit there is a house in streetsville that timothy street lived in and there was a man named timothy street who founded streetsville and that house is still there and so there is a queen street in streetsville in the town of timothy street and it has a really cute storefront strip where some of the oldest buildings can be found. I hope it still stays there. I hope it stays there.

Yeah. And the small businesses there are incredible. I still go to Streetsville to Savannah Salon to get my hair done. I've been going there since I was 15. And I know at least I want to shout out an FOTM. Okay. Dale Cadeau. Dale Cadeau, I believe from Streetsville now lives in BC, but I wanted to shout him out.

Hey, did I mention BC? Okay, because I got another note from somebody who was here recently. His name is Mike Hannafin. Oh, Hanny. Love that guy. Hannafin, living the life I want to live where he's always like hiking or biking or something. I'm like, why does Mike get to do that? And I want to do that. Okay, maybe one day, but okay. Heard you mention Reshmi Nair is booked for July. I worked with Reshmi at News 1130 in Vancouver when I moved there. She was early in her career and we became great friends.

First time working with her, we went downtown at 4 a.m. to report on a stabbing or shooting or something outside a nightclub. In interviewing an elderly lady standing in front of her house, the only person who knew what happened, Reshmi and I also collaborated on a story, ripped

oil line in Aftermath that won a journalism award. Yeah, Edward R. Murrow award. Yeah, we won the best spot news coverage for a Burnabyaby a ruptured pipeline in burnaby yeah it was wild uh i've learned so much from mike hannifin and it's people like mike hannifin that has made the next generation of broadcasters i owe a lot to that man he is patient and funny and wicked smart and knows everything about every phase of this industry and is willing to help and

encourage and you don't run into many of those either i love this list i know it's like you didn't know you were coming here to hear about people's uh thinking you're actually fantastic and these great humans you wouldn't know it from the tweets but we'll get to that later okay but mike hannah finn's first i think it's fine we'll get to that later we'll we'll cover it oh man i get attacked on twitter all the time i can only imagine what happens to you okay mike hannifin uh i think his first job in like media was he was hired by fred patterson to help with sports on cfny so i'm just tying all these, you know, bows together here. Fun fact, I actually now, right now,

I produce the Humble and Fred podcast. So look at how everything will connect during our conversation today. That's amazing. And I grew up with Humble and Fred on the edge. Yeah, because they were there till 01, 2001. And by the way, I did miss, it doesn't matter, but I had you pegged as younger than you are

based on the fact you seem to know the 90s alt rock that I'm talking about. And I did, I have you, it doesn't matter how old you are. Okay, so I had you a little younger than that. How old are you, Mike? 40, what am I? 48 as of last week, so 48. I can't ride my bike to the Bluffs.

But you could if you trained a little. No, I'm no Mike Hannafin. Yeah, Hannafin could do it. That's for you. Scott Turner could do it. Shout out to Scott Turner who worked at the Edge as well. Okay, lots of ground to cover.

Right now, can we crack open a Great Lakes beer? Yeah, let's do it. But you got to do it on the mic. So, okay, I know you probably don't drink on the air at 1010, but... I'm usually cracking open a Coke Zero if you ever hear the can. Okay.

Well, you should do beer. So, yeah, don't wreck those nails. You want me to help you? No, I got it. Oh, okay. You want it on the mic. Yeah, even though you're blowing it, but try anyway.

Go ahead, on the mic. I'm blowing it already? You blew it because I heard it. Yeah, it's okay. You're drinking a lager from Great Lakes beer. I'm drinking a Sunnyside IPA. Hold on.

That's how you do it, Reshmi. Oh, that's professional. I have lots of practice yeah cheers okay rashmi nair this is gonna be a good time delicious thank you great lakes for sending over the beer you're gonna take some home with you rashmi and uh i already thanked palma pasta but really quickly i'm there's a toque there you don't need it right now but hold on to it because it will get cold again and that's courtesy of of Canna Cabana. Do you smoke weed, Reshmi Nair? Unbeatable. I do enjoy CBD. I have endometriosis, which is an uncomfortable condition for anyone with a uterus. And I found that CBD is the only thing that helps. So shout out to Canna Cabana. There's over 100 locations

across the country. Won't be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories. You've got a toque from Canna Cabana. Thank you. HeyRefs88 wants to know, how was the trip to PEI? I did not go. I did not go. Can you give me a little, like, forgive me. You were supposed to go to Prince Edward Island.

On the 30th. Yeah. So planned this Canada Day long weekend. I have a six-year-old son who's named Lachlan, which means from the land of lakes. Hello, Great Lakes Brewery. Wow, okay. Shout out Great Lakes. And I was supposed to take him to Terminal 1 at Pearson Thursday, 9 p.m., which is already

a late flight for a six-year-old, but I wanted to make the most of the long weekend. Get to the island, have all day Friday, Saturday, and then fly back Sunday morning. Well, the 9 p.m. flight gets and delayed or canceled delayed okay because i have a story when you're done your story i have a story yeah and then it's delayed by another hour and and and my fear was that if it goes past midnight it's going to be canceled because there are um there are limitations right there are curfews actually for gates and flights and runways okay so it did take off at 11 p.m but i was on my way to my trailer near wasaga beach with my six-year-old instead

of getting on that plane because there was no way i i was live on air from two to six on that thursday but i woke up that morning and my former colleague gian gian lee from cb24 was live at terminal one pearson first thing in the morning, I wake up, turn the TV on and she's saying, it's a mess. Why would I do this? And then I spent the entire day saying, why would I do this? Essentially what it boiled down to, Mike, is as a journalist, I would be standing at Terminal 1, putting a mic in any parent's face with a child who has stood in the same place for hours and said, why do you need to be here? I have a great story for you related to what you just described there.

Okay, so I actually have a six-year-old as well. So we have something in common. You have four kids? Four kids, yes. Is six the youngest? Yes, six is the final because I no longer can make babies because I had a vasectomy.

So it's all over now. Congratulations. That's the real kind of birth control we should be talking about. That's the real talk, yeah. Well, that's right's right uh that's exactly you know time to be the responsible one here let me get this done okay so we once kicked out the vasectomy jams on an episode of pandemic friday people can dig that it was quite something okay where am i going with this oh yeah so two of my children i have four but two of my children have a Lolo and a Lola in Edmonton, Alberta.

You with me here? Okay. So now that school's out, my wife and these two little ones had a flight from Pearson to Edmonton on Saturday morning. Okay. So I wake up. I'm going to drive them to YYZ. An email arrives and my wife gets an email. This is like about an hour before we're leaving to go to the airport

so they can go to see Lolo and Lola in Edmonton. Flight's canceled. Like the flight was just canceled. And then they said, oh, but we can put you on our next flight Thursday. Okay, so this is all, this is a two-week adventure that's all been planned. Anyway, the flight was canceled and we weren't shocked because we see the news and we see what's going on at Pearson. And they're canceling lots of flights.

Anyway, what we ended up doing is the next morning, they flew out of, where did they fly? The Waterloo Airport. So Waterloo Regional Airport has flights going to Edmonton. And so they did get to Edmonton. They're there right now. But they got there the next morning. Very early flight,

but fine. We worked it out. So the six year old and eight year old are there, but yeah, Pearson's a clusterfuck right now. Like I'm glad I'm not going anywhere right now. This is why I bike everywhere. It sounds like it'd be horrible to have to travel right now.

There was a dog left in a crate for more than 20 hours. Right. Because the woman who landed had two dogs and she only got one. And she landed shortly after midnight. And she's walking around there until 3 a.m. looking for someone to help her find her dog. And the staff at the airport said, go home. Call your airline.

Find your dog. So she left without one of her two dogs. Only to find out later that it's been in a crate this whole time. Covered in its own urine. Yeah, I can imagine. That's also how I, I also think that the people stuck on the tarmac at Pearson Terminal 1 feel like that dog because you can get on the plane, but it doesn't mean the plane's going to move.

You could be stuck on the tarmac for hours. A friend of mine was trying to travel with her kid today to get to Vancouver Island. A couple I know over the weekend went to Brooklyn for a wedding, both flights canceled in the same scenario as your wife and your kids. Canceled. That's all you get. Okay, well, we got to rebook you. And the convenience of this, the customer service experience is gone. On Thursday, June 30th, I called Air Canada after six o'clock to say, let me just get on the line and cancel this flight. It's going to be easier. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm hearing. We played the voicemail on the show today on the rush on Newstalk 1010 Toronto, because when you call Air Canada, there's a recording in English and French saying, sorry, there's no one here to help you. Please use our self-service tools online. Pretty much just saying you are S-O-L.

You're fucked. And we are not available to hear how effed you are. Like, we're just not available. We're not available. It's a mess. I don't blame anybody and I blame everybody. But someone has to be accountable. Like, is this just the fact that everything had to shut down for a pandemic

and then all these bodies haven't, they haven't replaced the bodies? Like, and then now they're back at full schedule without the resources to make it happen? Like, is this simply... Well, there's no authority that says hey let's start slow nobody wanted to wear that hey guys let's start slow if you have a car that's been sitting in your garage for two years and you start it do you blast it to 120 and just let it rip you should start slow right and i don't think anyone on any level of government or any kind of authority was going to say that to an airline that was trying to book as many seats as they could. Wow. Okay.

So it's funny. You were going to PEI. That's where you were going straight like to Charlottetown or something. You were flying to Charlottetown. Is that the plan? Okay. And it didn't happen, obviously, because I did get a tweet. I said you were coming up on Monday and somebody said, I hope she's back from Nova Scotia by then.

And I actually didn't reply. I didn't know what we were talking about. Like, well, she booked this for 7 p.m. I'm hoping she's back or whatever. But I guess that was just lost in translation. Yeah, no, I knew that we had this booked for Monday. There was no way I was going to be stranded in Atlantic Canada, Mike. Okay, well, I'm glad you're here and I'm sorry you didn't get the PI, but it sounds like you have a trailer in Wasaga Beach, which why are you going to PI anyways? You got a trailer in Wasaga Beach. I bought into it with a friend of mine in 2020. Okay. She said, you want to buy a trailer? And I take my son camping every year, but during the pandemic, camping was Balsam Lake. Okay. It's a great place for kids. Super shallow for miles and miles and

miles. See, that's why we go to the Pinery. Oh yeah, I've heard the Pinery. Because the same reason you said is the kids like it because it's like Wasego without the crowds. You can just go forever in these beautiful sandy beaches. Yeah, Wasego Beach, I mean, I wouldn't really go in the water with Lachlan that much, but Balsam

Lake, it's just, you know, it's ankle deep for us for forever. So you could be on the beach and the kids in the water and you're not too worried. And this is your only child, this Lachlan. Yeah, he is my only child. And so camping was something that we always did. But camping during the pandemic turned out to be a bit of a challenge. I mean, sometimes bathrooms may not be open.

And so, hey, going in on a trailer with my best friend was a great idea because it was somewhere we can go, have a fire, be outdoors. No, I'm jealous, to be quite honest with you. I think it was a great idea because it was somewhere we can go, have a fire, be outdoors. No, I'm jealous, to be quite honest with you. I think it's a great idea. I mean, although I did camp during the pandemic, but they had weird rules. I get to be masked up and only two people in the bathroom at a time

and all this stuff. But once you were camping, I think we all decided to just ignore the rules anyways. But I'm sorry. Yeah, did I say that out loud? Okay. So tell me uh it sounds like you were already a journalist as a teenager because you're cracking the case with Oasis

and that's pretty cool but when did you say oh I'm gonna do this for real oh great question I I was born this way I was just born this way like Lady Gaga but I uh moved to Vancouver when I was 22. And I was a career barista at that point. I was just working in coffee shops for the majority of my life at that point. And I was quite happy doing that might have opened a coffee shop myself at some point, but had regular customers at a coffee shop saying, Hey, you got a great voice for radio. And I was like, I really do want to do radio. And it's just always who you know. So I was also part-timing at the only swish la in Vancouver on Broadway and there's only one yeah I don't even know if that one's there anymore I didn't know that but I was training a young guy on packaging delivery and he turned out to be the son of Kerry Marshall who is no longer

with us Kerry Marshall did the news on Jack FM in Vancouver. And he was great. So this guy said, Hey, you got to meet my uncle. If you want to do radio, he's Kerry Marshall, Kerry Marshall, Kerry Marshall, let me shadow him. I sat in in a Jack FM studio in Vancouver, also on Broadway Avenue, and just fell in love with it. Just sat there saying, Yeah, of course, this is what I want to do. I've always listened to the radio. I was a big fan of the edge when I was a kid and never really thought that I could be a DJ. I mean, I wanted to interview rock stars all the time, but you know, those breaks in between songs. You wanted Strombo's job is what you wanted. No, I cannot be Strombo. I'm a huge fan of Radio Strombo. Radio Strombo, we grew up on. He's a genius. I loved his breaks in between songs. So which Strombo don't you like?

Because there's a few different Strombos, but you like the radio strombo. And I mean, he was on the edge for many years. I guess I say radio strombo because I don't mean much music strombo. You don't care for much music strombo. Still loved and supported much music strombo because I was a radio strombo fan. So I was all gung ho for him to succeed in anything and everything that he's ever done. Hockey Night in Canada, also, I think he would put a question mark there. But I love George Strombolos. Wasn't a good fit for him, Hockey Night in Canada, Strombolos. Yeah, I mean, I think they should have found the fit for him.

I think he is a fit in his own right. And so find the right fit, make the right fit for him, for sure. You know, Strombolos' start in radio is at the Fan 590 because he was BFFs with Bob McElwitz Jr., still is, McEl and FOTM, by the way. And McEl's dad was the program director on 590 and they got a night show called The Game. I'm going to call it The Game.

And Jeff Merrick's in on that too. Yeah. Oh, also a great guy. Yeah, they were like the three of them working on the game like overnights, call it the game. And Jeff Merrick's in on that too. Yeah. Oh, also a great guy. Yeah. They were like the three of them working on the game, like overnights, figuring it all out. And then eventually Strombo, I think it was Stu Myers brought him over to, uh, to the edge and the rest is history. Yeah. I remember one break, he talked about how you get your song on the radio and I just

sat there listening to it. It's like, this is the greatest advice ever. Here's how you get your song on the radio. Uh, but yeah, you learn so much from him him but i couldn't do those breaks in between songs hey here's something funny and odd and weird and now here's the next song uh but when i got into broadcasting it was more um news-based i was just well as we learned from mike hannifin you were at news 11 30 yeah great station Would have stayed there forever, but the maximum pay was $40,000. And that did not cover my rent in Vancouver. So I left to roll the teleprompter at CTVBC for $65,000 a year.

Can you imagine that? You're, we are award winning radio reporters making 40 grand. I'm totally fascinated by salaries of seemingly like famous Canadian media personalities. And so you're telling me, I'm trying to think of the equivalent here would be 680. Is this like a 680 in Vancouver? Yeah, 680.

It's the sister station, News 1130. News 1130, okay, okay. Yeah, and so we win the Edward R. R. R. Was paying $40,000. Yeah, and my boss was amazing. Jackie Donaldson is a huge giant in radio broadcasting. I owe her everything. But she said to me, congratulations, you won an Edward Murrow award. Don't ask me for any more money. And so it was a struggle, but she totally understood when I

moved over to TV. But I was a writer and a teleprompter ruler and I was making more money doing that. And I gave up reporting for a heartbeat there in order to just pay my rent in Vancouver. And that's just what the industry is like. Yeah. And again, this is a few years ago or whatever. I mean, we're going back, I don't know, 15 years or something. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, OK. But not that you have to tell me an exact number, but a reporter today, similar type of compare, right? I mean, obviously, it's an important job and we need great reporters, but it doesn't sound like companies are willing to compensate great reporters. I really hope that we create more full-time jobs in this industry. What I've seen in the wave behind me is freelancing everywhere and it doesn't help

anything. It doesn't help. It's a survival technique. I see the need for it and the necessity of it, but it doesn't work for anyone. The newsrooms suffer and the journalists suffer. And that's the benefit to a big corporation with a freelance. Is it just simply that you're not like on the payroll and you don't have to be given like health insurance and dental and all that kind of stuff? Well, it goes to exactly as you go. Yeah, it goes exactly to what you're saying, right? Like you would hope that we pay reporters enough money to do their job. And with that comes some certainty that you are doing this job Monday to Friday for at least a certain period of time, because then you can think ahead and you

can plan and you can search for stories and you can build relationships. Freelancers, and I know these really incredible journalists who do all of that work without getting paid, and then they pitch the story. and you pitch the story per word or whatever it is, and you get paid a few hundred dollars. But the legwork that goes into all of that research isn't covered with an hourly rate. That's unfortunate. That's unfortunate because these companies that own these stations, again, I'm not from your industries, but I can, I feel I can take it. But these are, they make a lot of money, these cable companies that own these stations. Like there's no shortage of revenue at the end of the fiscal year.

I think every employer makes a lot of money, right? That's how they can employ people. Wow. Okay. That's why we got to start a cable company, Rashmi. That's what we got to do. Okay. Well, we don't want to get you in trouble right off the bat here.

Okay. So what brings you back here? Now I know, I guess, so you're in vancouver what like 04 to 08 is that when you're in vancouver i was in vancouver 2002 to 09 yeah i moved back because my dad asked me to okay and we already learned off the top from your ink that your dad's no longer with us. Yeah. Yeah. I moved back April 2009 and he died suddenly July 2010. So I had one year, I had one year with him. We had a Christmas, we had birthdays. Thanks. It was tough, but follow your instincts. I would highly encourage parents to tell their children what they want and need. And I would highly encourage children to follow through in what their parents

want and need. It's a two wayway street, but I'm grateful for that time when he said, it would be great if you lived closer. And I took it as a, I love you, and you should live here. And that was Streetsville? Yeah, he was in Streetsville. Came home for a visit, and I was lucky enough to be a reporter at CTVBC, so I emailed the team here at 401 and McCowan, CTV headquarters,

and they were great. They gave me a tour, we talked about opportunities, and I was able to move back in a few months. So CTV has been really great to me, my career, my family. But you didn't stick around too long that time because you went to CBC pretty shortly thereafter, right? Within that year. Yeah. April 09, I moved back and CTV Toronto is still the number one newscast, the most watched local newscast in the country. And they deserve that. They're an amazing team there still. Some of the people who I worked with back then in 09 have moved up the ladder and they're doing great work there now. But yeah, I was able to cover the strike of 09.

That's when garbage bags were piling up everywhere. I was at Christie Pits where the hockey rink was being filled with garbage bags. My memory of that is ATN Brulee Park. Do you know this on the Humber River here in the West End? But I remember in the, yeah, piled up in the parking lot was basically just garbage. Yeah. Yeah. And so I was covering Christy Pitts and I got an email from a CBC producer. They said, hey, we're putting together a new show. We like your attitude. Do you want to, do you want to look into this further?

You had, did they go, well, you have spunk, kid. I had some attitude. I was like, well, I mean, that should have been the first sign to run. But I told my dad, which was another mistake, because then immigrant, hockey night in Canada, the national, all the things of the public broadcaster came to the top of my dad's head. And I said to him that, you know, CTV has been great for me and they've been offering me all of these great opportunities. And he just cut me off and said, I don't know what you're talking about with contracts and compensation and all this. I just know that I immigrated to this country and I want my daughter on the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation. So I took the job. He says, that's where Beachcombers aired. That's where you belong, right? Relic and the gang. Okay. So I took the job and then he dropped dead from a heart attack. And then there I was at CBC.

I'm just resisting the urge to give a shout out to Ridley Funeral Home because it seems inappropriate when you're sharing. Well, I noticed that when you were going through your sponsors. I was like, when's Ridley going to get a shout out here? Okay, let me say it this way then. Brad Jones, who's the funeral director at Ridley Funeral Home, they're really good people. They really are pillars of this community since

1921, but he's got a pod... Yeah, 1921. Yes, that's right. 1921, not 2021 because that's right. 1921. But he's got a pod 1920 yeah 1921 yes that's right 1921 not 2021 because that's right 1921 but he's got a podcast called life's undertaking which i proudly produce but it's really strong like brad's he's got a great podcast kind of about life and death and uh it's really thoughtful and i urge people to check it out i think you you'll dig it. It's called Life's Undertaking with Brad Jones at Ridley Funeral Home. Okay, so you take the job at CBC because a new Canadian like your father

sees CBC, the national broadcaster, as the pinnacle. But I can see that. I would think that might be. I mean, am I wrong? I was born here. I was born in Parkdale, by the way. But isn't CBC, isn't that the pinnacle? I mean, I wrong I was born here I was born in Parkdale by the way but isn't CBC that

sort isn't that the pinnacle I mean I'm not no disrespect to CTV but I would think that would be a good place to hang your hat for a good long time am I crazy it was for a show called connect with Mark Kelly that was canceled after two and a half years so it was risky going into it that I was going to be leaving a company that's been really great to me. And I was getting incredible opportunities to then join a public broadcaster where I didn't know what the show was or what it was going to become or how long it would survive. And it was short lived my time at CTV Toronto. And I would have appreciated that to have been extended, but that's why I'm back with Bell Media,

because for 10 years at CBC, it was an incredible time. It was an incredible time, Mike. Yes, to your point. It is a privilege to work for CBC, and that is what I said to everyone on my way out. It is a privilege, and everyone who works there should keep that in mind every single day because I did and I know other people who work there who felt like outsiders did that too they walked in

you walk in and it's an incredible feeling because of all of the things I said hockey night in Canada and the national and all the rest of it but also you feel the potential of the future and it's amazing I don't regret a single day that I spent there, but I did spend every single day there thinking what my career at CTV could have been like had I stayed. So after 10 years of getting everything that I could out of CBC and the incredible experiences and the incredible people there too, who taught me things that I wouldn't have learned on my own. I said after 10 years that I would like to go back to the company that my heart has been with from this whole time. Okay, so let me understand. So you're at the public broadcaster, as you call it, for 10

years. And you made a phone call, like you basically went talk to somebody at CTV and just asked if there was any opportunities there. I've suggested this to other CBCers. If you stick your head out, if you just stick your head out the window, and I think some people don't realize that in the industry. If you just stick your head out the window, it's surprising the attention you'll get coming back. But you're speaking as Reshmi Nair.

I happen to think, and again, people might think I say this to every guest, and it's not true. Go listen to every episode. I might think I say this to every guest and it's not true. Go listen to every episode. I actually don't say this to every guest. But I think you're very strong. You're excellent. We'll get to this later when we get you to 1010.

But not everybody's going to have the experience you have. You're a desired asset. I said asset, not ass. I appreciate that characterization. It's overwhelming and hard to believe, but maybe it's because I spent 10 years in a work environment where it's hard to believe. It's a really great place.

And I think with every employment, and we're seeing that as the generations continue, that you don't stay with a company for a lifetime because eventually you just don't feel appreciated by that same company. And I think people should move from different newsrooms, at least to strengthen your own journalism. You should not work in the same newsroom

for your entire life. I have shared this with many people in the industry because you put on as many hats as you put on, you find those different versions of you as well. Interesting. I just had, I think two weeks ago, Wendy Mesley made her Toronto Mike debut. I listened to that. And she was 41 years. I think I got the right number, but that's your lifetime. Like she was there for 41 years. And now now and now she's podcasting with uh maureen holloway but there's somebody who got comfy and uh stuck around so i mean the end was not very comfortable

for her no no the end was not comfortable at all it sounded it sounded terrible but uh so you can sit and wait for an end right or you can find your new beginnings is this like batman where's they said either you die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain oh right that's the wendy mesley story right i think i think that might just be the public broadcaster story and i say public broadcaster because i don't want to just keep saying cbc it could be bb. It could be other crown corporations in other parts of the world. I think public broadcasters have their certain way. I hope it ends well.

Here's what I wish because I think he's very good as well. I hope it ends well for Ian Hanomansing because I think he's excellent as well. I always saw him as the heir apparent to Peter Mansbridge there on the National. So what do you think happened there? Well, they did the four-headed monster. I shouldn't call it that. So post-Peter Mansbridge, and Peter's also an FOTM,

and swears to me he left of his own accord. So I believe him. He says, no, he wanted to, I guess, get out by the time he was 60 or whatever the age was. I can't remember what the age was anymore. It wasn't 60. 70? Was it 70? I don't know.

I think he was counting elections. I think he was counting elections. I think I heard him saying, this is my last election. I'm BFFs of his wife, okay? As close as you are to your BFFs, you know, with Amber Payne, I'm BFFs of Cynthia Dale who we've become very tight here. I feel like I can say these things about Peter now. But okay, so whatever year that was, by his 70th, I guess it was by his 70th birthday, he wanted to be out. And I think he left when he was 69.

Maybe that's the right number. But bottom, where am I going with this? Oh yeah, Ian Hanamansi. So they brought in the, I didn't think, I should point out, I'm a CBC guy. Like that's typically what I watch. So I follow this stuff pretty closely. Whereas somebody will say, oh, there's a person at CTV, cbc guy like that's typically what i watch so i follow this stuff pretty closely whereas somebody

will say oh there's a person at ctv like an anchor reporter you should have on and i'm always at the google them like who are we talking about because i never see it no disrespect to the wonderful people data levinson's a good example uh data left after 19 years and i sent her a note or something because somebody said you should have data levinson on she She was there 19 years. So I Google her. I never saw her on TV in my life. Now she's, I see her a lot now. Dana CTV. Yeah. What did I say?

Yeah, I'm at CTV. So CTV is the one I'm unfamiliar with. Like CBC I know. Okay, so the CBC, I'll get back to CBC. I'll get back on track here. It's a Monday night. I'm having a good beer here. Dana Levinson also a great human. And i produce her podcast on the dl and she's become a dear friend and her husband and i share a birthday oh my gosh that is our connection there shout out to dana levinson shout out to dana so cbc replaces peter mansbridge with the four people

i never i felt it never worked i don't know where they all are now. I think we're down to Adrienne Arsenault. She's now the only host of the National, right? Which is what they probably should have done right away if they weren't going to hand it off to Ian Hanomansing, who I thought would have been great, by the way. But the whole four-host thing, I don't think it works. I don't know what your thoughts are on that. But it didn't seem to work for me.

And then obviously they agreed at some point because they dismantled it. So now we're down to one. So I don't know. Ian still has, you know, he does that cross Canada checkup. Cross country checkup. Yeah. That is the best show. That is the, and I'm so happy that he is at the helm of cross country checkup. I've been lucky enough to fill in on that show. It was one of the best days I've had at cbc because you're connecting with canadians across the country sure uh the topics are fascinating you hear great stories and you feel as canadian as possible and ian hannah manson is an incredible human do you in my opinion is he's underutilized at the public broadcaster i feel he's underutilized but you might be as well we'll get to that in a

minute you're not at the public broadcaster but okay so so why did you you just felt like you should be in another newsroom you should change things up you wanted to go back to city sorry ctv like what is the uh is that the spark that says i'm going to leave cbc now after 10 years i stuck my head out the window uh i had my son by something like it could be a bird or something i had my son. But you could get hit by something. Like it could be a bird or something. I had my son in 2016. Like Fabio, you remember that? And he was on a roller coaster. Fabio was hit by a bird? Yeah.

He was on a roller coaster and a bird smacked him right in the nose and broke his nose. Yeah. I'm not making that up. Go ahead. It was so surprised by the stunning handsomeness of Fabio. Uh, that would have been me if I saw Liam Gallagher, just for the record. I, yeah, I had my son. I came back from maternity leave and I'm going to be totally honest. I returned and they had offered, a new manager had offered me a job in radio. And so nine years of my contract being renewed at the same amount, all of a sudden, after three months of doing radio,

I get pulled into the office of this new manager and he says, so we have to renegotiate your contract because you're in radio, not TV. And they wanted to cut my salary by a significant chunk of money. Well, fuck that. I would leave on principle. I would go live under a bridge before I signed for, uh,

with that. That's unfair. It was. Now I'm, now I'm glad you left. Well, it was unfair. You have my full support. I don't know where he is now, but I went above him

because for three meetings, I tried to explain to him the optics of cutting the salary of a full-time staffer who just returned from maternity leave. And only after three months of doing this radio gig told that I was not allowed to receive the same pay that I was getting as a TV person. It's a bombshell because I'm still processing it. That's so fucked up. Like you go off for your parental leave because, you know, we don't call maternity leave anymore.

I don't know if you know that, but you go off to do that. There you go. Yeah. And then you come back. Yeah. And they're like, we're going to move you to radio. Oh, and by the way, your salary. No, we're going to move you to radio. Oh, and by the way, your salary is... No, we're going to move you to radio.

And then after three months of doing radio and getting... How many paychecks did I get? Six paychecks of the same salary that I had before I went on parental leave. Your TV salary. Yeah. And then only after...

That's a bait and switch. That's a black and white bait and switch. That's amateur hour. We expect better from the public broadcaster. Well, the manager above him had no idea. And the person who handles the contracts had no idea. And my contract was renewed just as it should have been without him even realizing. And I honestly just stopped going to his meetings.

And he didn't come to my desk to say, hey, let's talk about this. Because that's how it works there. You lost respect for him. I just didn't see the conversation going any further. And the last time I had a conversation with him, I said, I hope you understand that I'm going to have to elevate this discussion because I'm not getting through to you. So I will be speaking to your supervisors about this.

And I just walked out of the office. Sorry, you had to go through that. That sucks. Okay, remind me what you were doing on the radio i should know this but tell me oh no no so when i came back from mat leave i was doing these uh 90 second newscasts on morning radio it was uh a new uh it was a new newscast i'm sure it's still going on the fm dial so you would have been listening to cbc music uh the morning show not a morning show,

just CBC music. And then I would come in with the news inserts and write the news, read the news. But Hey, I just said, you being underutilized it. Yeah. But when it was like,

well, we, we can't pay you what we paid you to be on CBC news network. I said, okay, well then just put me back on CBC news network. Like I'm here for the job. I am here to get paid.

I'm not here to lose money after having a baby. So how do I keep making the same money? Give me that job. It shouldn't have been that difficult. So you stuck your head out the window and no one can blame you for doing that. When you stuck it, no bird hit you because instead you found out

there was an opportunity outside the CBC. I really encourage everyone in the industry. And I think that managers should be more aware of that too, that people should keep talking, making those network connections and seeing what opportunities are out there. Absolutely. Yeah, so I reached out to Bell Media to see if there was anything out there. And this is January 2020.

So a few months before the world would come to a standstill. None of us knew that, but I, yeah, I resigned a week before March 10th, before the pandemic hit. Oh my God. It was declared. Your timing's impeccable. Okay.

So what were you, and I kind of know, cause I have a piece of audio. I'll, if you're okay, I'll play a bit of it, but what were you hired to do at CTV? Oh, hit the audio, hit the audio. So it's a bit, okay. I'll see how bit of it. But what were you hired to do at CTV? Oh, hit the audio. Hit the audio. So it's a bit, okay, I'll see how much to play of it here. But here, and it's because it's in a CTV player, which I don't, anyways, let me see if this plays.

We're with me here, Rashmi. You should watch CTV News. I appreciate that you go to the public broadcast. Welcome, Randy. Great to see you. Ben, how are you, sir? I am good. Okay, so tell me. It's Ben Mulroney, everybody. Tell to see you. Ben, how are you, sir? I am good. Okay, so tell me.

It's Ben Mulroney, everybody. Tell me about Quibi. So Quibi stands for Quick Bytes, which is essentially short-form content exclusively for mobile phones. Not for your TV screen, not for your computer screen, for mobile phones. Okay, so Bell CEO Mirko Bibic and Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, which is a huge name. They sat down with BNN Bloomberg's Amanda Lang to talk about this partnership between Bell Media and Quibi.

Why don't we take a listen? Sure. I mean, they have made incredible stories, beautiful things that have been produced for this. And I think people are going to be wowed by it. It's mobile. It's convenient. It's on the go. It's mobile, it's convenient, it's on the go. And so you have the best content and you deliver it the way consumers want to consume the content.

And that's the match. So you've got the platform and you've got Bell. How are we working together? So Jeffrey came up a year ago and showed us this incredible content, Ben. And we said, look, we have to be your partner in Canada. So Bell Mobility, Bell Media, you know, Merco, as you just saw, has really said to the company, let's embrace this because it's a marriage of tech and content. I got to ask, though, I mean, people are consuming so much content on their phones already, on their mobile devices already. How is this going to be different?

Well, how it's different is that Jeffrey Katzenberg is a genius. And he has gone to every Hollywood studio band and said to the Hollywood studios, they're all owners of this. And also he's gone to every producer and every director and every actor and said, by the way, you can own your own content on Quibi. And I'm looking at some of the names. We've got names like Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Liam Hemsworth. This is at launch.

I'll bring her down now. Quibi. I almost forgot about Quibi. Quickbytes. You were tasked to be a Quibi host. Tell me how you were

involved with Quibi. It was very exciting. And again, this is before a global pandemic was declared. But yeah, it was Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is DreamWorks, a very big name. And that big name, I think, created a lot of confidence in the longevity of this project. And CTV got the contract with Katzenberg and Quibi,

as did BBC in the UK. So CTV in Canada, BBC in the UK, and NBC in the US would be the three news outlets providing content. So every movie or TV show is edited in five minute increments. So you just watch them in little quick bites. We would have newscasts where you would just get a five minute newscast and it would bring you up to speed.

There was one in the morning and one in the evening. And you're the face of this. Yeah. And Heather Butts, who's still with CTV. We love Heather Butts. She came from the East Coast. She's here at CTV at 401 in McCowan, Channel 9 Court. She was the host of CTV News on Quibi in the daytime and I was on in the night. So what the fuck happened

with Quibi? Like, is it all the fault of the pandemic? What exactly happened? I feel as a guy who just observed this and once a month, Mark Weisblatt comes over and we dive deep into everything that happens. So we cover this pretty intensely. But I feel like marketing classes are going to use Quibi as some kind of case study because it didn't last very long. There was a lot of money poured into it. No fault of your own, but this thing was over shortly after it began. Yeah. And they would say that it's a symptom of the pandemic. Jeffrey Katzenberg, to answer your question as to what happened to Quibi, the genius Jeffrey Katzenberg pulled out. He pulled his investment out sooner rather than later, if only to keep his investors happy and to pull the plug on the

productions that were underway. It was difficult for us. I am still really good friends with our Quibi team, CTV News, Quibi team. We endured and survived and created incredible content. And I'm proud of the work that we did. If I can brag, one of our editors from Quibi is now at CP24 and he builds incredible stories on Instagram and YouTube that you can watch on your handheld phone. So the

skills, tools, and ideas that came out of our CTV Quibi team still exists and survives and is showcased on different platforms still. So Quibi, yes, it didn't last long. I am absolutely proud to be part of it. I said to my peers in the industry that I have no regrets because, like I said, stick your head out the window, believe in yourself, and take on as many projects as you can. Try on different hats. We still do need some sort of a news source on your phone. We get the notifications. We get the buzzes. We get the articles.

But a handheld newscast is something that I do think we're lacking. And Katzenberg and Quibi were ahead on that front, but their platform was also more for TV and movies. So what we did as CTV was great. And I still think that we're going to be able to find ways to make what we thought about, imagined, and almost created a reality. I heard in that clip with Ben Mulroney and Randy Lennox there, this marriage of content and technology is what they talked about, you know. And I feel like you're right, the content, fine. I feel the problem was the technology. Like people didn't want a standalone separate app for this. Like people are already, you know, YouTube's a juggernaut, as you know.

And then you mentioned Instagram and there's so many places people are already going. So focus on the content and then put it where people already live. Well, Quibi would have been competing with Netflix, right? So if you're in the grocery store lineup or if you're waiting for your dentist or your doctor, which none of this was happening in March 2020 when we launched, but the assumption was you would be and you can watch something in a few minutes

without missing the moment. Quick bites. Yeah, I mean, there was a Steven Spielberg film on there and you could watch it or you could just watch it in its entirety and it doesn't feel like you're watching five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. You could watch the whole thing or you could stop it and you could just watch it in its entirety and it doesn't feel like you're watching five minutes five minutes five minutes you could watch the whole thing or you could stop it and be able to consume it in ways that worked in your in your life that's tv and

film the news part i thought was quite successful i think it's i still think it's a great idea if you are waiting in line anywhere waiting for a streetcar, pull up your phone, get a full newscast from someone who you trust, from a team that's working hard. And the thing that I want to point out with our Quibi newscast, especially that we're starting to see on social media, is we were putting graphics on the screen. That is new. Being able to

read words on a screen with clips moving, hear the sound, you could watch it with audio or without, and you wouldn't miss a thing. But why not just take that content and deliver it via YouTube, for example? That is a great question. That's above my pay grade. I think newsrooms are trying to figure out how to stream and still make money. And as a journalist at CBC, at the age that I'm at oh yeah in my 30s i was like why isn't this on youtube why isn't this on and the response that i would get is we don't make money off of that and we have to explain to our tv advertisers right why we're streaming online yeah because

bell media sells ads that roll through the ctv player yeah you need you need to be in the ctv i'm just that clip i just played for example you know that's in the ctv player. Yeah. You need to be in the CTV. I'm just, that clip I just played, for example, you know, that's in the CTV player. Once you move it to YouTube, you can't dynamically insert ad rolls.

No. And then if you, I mean, you know how YouTube works better than I do, but I'm sure if you get a certain amount of hits, then maybe you start collecting revenue. it's a lot. Yeah. And so can newsrooms do that?

Can they start taking money from YouTube? No, you're right. You're right. So this becomes one of those great boardroom discussions, which is what is more important, the eyeballs or, you know, the value per eyeball, if you will. Although most people have two. I have to do the math on that. But OK.

We're still behind. Newsrooms need to figure out how to get online. And we're behind on that. So what does Bell Media do with the great Reshmi Nair when Quibi dies that premature death? I was lucky enough to be embraced by CP24. So I moved over to CP24 in November, November 2021. And we launched a show called CP24 Tonight, which is still in its existence in some

form or another. So you see, you see, Mike, there was Connect with Mark Kelly, Quibi, CP24 Tonight. And we're not done yet because, you know, although I did, I will just say, I saw on your LinkedIn page, you were an internal CTV News ombuds person. And I just want to ask you what the hell that means. Yeah, this is a really important position that I think. So Wendy Freeman, the former president of CTV News, created the position, if only to have that conduit for discussions that staffers have, and that includes freelancers, that may not need an HR investigation or a supervisor or a manager to look into. Maybe you feel like an issue came up in an editorial meeting and you want to talk about it, but if you flag it to your boss, you're not going to be called back for another shift.

Those kinds of scenarios make people feel uncomfortable in flagging any concerns. So just as internal ombudsperson, they can come to me and say, hey, I got this issue about this, that, or whatever. And then I would take it up to any higher-ups if it was an issue that needed to be dealt with. Okay. Because one thing we, well, people should know this anyways, but we've definitely learned is that HR, for example, works for the company. Like this is to, you know, to mitigate risk for the company. Like HR doesn't work for the person who's right so so are you suggesting that like the ombuds person i've often heard about the cbc ombuds person and stuff but i never really

thought too long what the hell they were doing but you're somebody that if someone's got an issue in the workplace they can talk to you instead of hr and then that is different than going to the place that represents ownership okay i mean and then i'm asking this in sort of in the uh like just following this john derringer situation and everything that's come out of that and we're hearing from people like jennifer valentine and maureen holloway maureen holloway was on that show wendy mesley telling me about the files that chorus has about her complaints about John Derringer. These files sit there. And, you know, and Jen Valentine talked about, you know, this went up to the CEO and they said, oh, is he still doing that? And then,

of course, nothing happened. But please tell me about you. Absolutely. So in that scenario, you would have a group of employees, likely female, uncomfortable with their work environment, and then at some point feeling like flagging it led to nowhere, right? So then what do you do? So if there was an internal ombudsperson in that environment, and if it was me, then I would sit with anyone who had issues and it would be informal and it would be off the record. And we would all have a discussion, decide how do we flag this, what are the issues, who do we go to? And there's strength in numbers, right? So I think in that scenario, it might've been that each individual had a case. Also, and I don't know their scenario

at all, but I do know in other environments, if you do show up together, a united front can appear as aggressive. And so then managers might try to reprimand you all for coming in together or disperse you and say, your issue is separate from your issue and your issue is separate from your issue. Well, the internal ombudsperson was created in 2020 when we had this reckoning of anti-black racism. There was also bodies of children

found on residential schools. And so there were concerns among black employees, indigenous employees, and just allies asking what is going on with mainstream media and how we cover stories. So can we cover them with balance, with sensitivities? Can we cover them with people who have a lived experience as opposed to a spokesperson? And so when people have those questions, then I can bring those to editorial discussions and then we can make it work out without having an Indigenous freelancer being the token spokesperson for all Indigenous people fighting management and trying to get their point across. It sounds like Coris could have used an ombudsperson. And I'm thinking of Supriya

Dvetti, who I, thank you, Steve Paikin for informing me me you don't say the w in DeVette uh I was saying Duavette and you don't say the w in Duavette it's DeVette but uh it's you know she it sounds like they really could have benefited from an ombudsperson at chorus I think most people who have lived experiences that don't match their in work environment and in this industry especially don't match the stories that we cover uh we just get used to not bringing that part of our life to work. And in the last five, six, seven years, we've been encouraged to do that. So there's a bit of a clash in that we have Palestinians in this country asking us about our coverage of Palestinian issues. And why can't we say Palestine in our graphics on the screen, right?

And that is a legitimate discussion that we should keep having. And that's only happening in 2022 because we have Palestinian Canadians who are bringing that lived experience to the conversation. It has clout and it carries weight. And I think those kinds of discussions will turn the dial in the right direction for society. I have a question here from Andrew Ward, who's a listener of the program, always submits good questions. He wants to know what was the transition like between working in public versus private broadcasting? So because you go, you had 10 years, even though you were at CTV before that,

but you had 10 years at CBC, and now you're at, with Bell Media. What was the transition like between those two environments? It's different. It's different in many ways. I would say the public broadcaster is slower at things. And that's not a slight, but they are methodical in their coverage

to the point where sometimes you're banging your head on the wall because you know the story's up and left and it's been 24 hours and we're only getting to it now. And that pace is something that's hard for people like me named rashmi right uh and and i would say though that also to be able to have the years that i had under my belt um and and

also the incredible experiences for my colleagues there it helped me um just smooth back in with CTV. I mean, everybody's been really great and it's not different, but it is. I know that's a terrible answer. It's like, you know, you always go to the one grocery store, like maybe you always go to Loblaws and then one day you go to Sobeys.

Right. Everything looks the same and it feels the same, but you know you're in a different place. Right. No, yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Now suddenly you can't find any President's Choice products. What are you going to do? I know that

feeling well, I couldn't have had a coffee at a news conference working at CBC. And that is me being extremely stubborn because I'm sure other people have. But when you work for the public broadcaster, you are not I shouldn't I would not have had this can of beer in my hand. I would have not accepted the toque that you oh yes this is like from the amanda lang whose name we heard earlier in this episode by the way i heard her talking on that clip about quibi but yes you're right uh yeah i know i can tell you this because i've had several cbc people on the program from like tom harrington to diana swain to jill deacon to dwight drummond to Matt Galloway and they

all got to clear it like there's a whole clearance process or whatever they all get approved because why wouldn't you approve a visit to Toronto Mike but they do have to go through this process and it seems like that got ramped up in the aftermath of the Amanda Lang

did they take your beer and lasagna yeah yeah gasp okay well i'm totally comfortable in saying i say that i don't think they did i don't want to get anyone in trouble i don't think i would have been management's listening if management's i don't think i would have been approved i don't think i would have been approved so you know they would have allowed you to come on but then you would have politely declined the beer and the lasagna is what you would have done, right? Yeah, sure. So now I actually legit don't want to get anyone in trouble.

And it's maybe Tom Harrington did decline. I don't want to get anyone in trouble. I feel bad for these good FOTMs who just come in for the real talk. But they were all great guests. And when the CBC people come on, I have a 1976, vintage 1976 CBC shirt. It's highly flammable, but it was worn during the Olympics in Montreal. And I

don that whenever a CBC person comes on. So you don't get that because you're at CTV. Oh, by the way, this shirt from Dewar, D-U-E-R, Comfortable AF, and I just want to urge FOTMs that to save 15% at Dewar, which has the world's most comfortable pants and shorts.

And I'm going to throw shirts in there because I love their shirts. So damn comfortable. You can go to Dewar.ca, D-U-E-R.ca, or you can go to their retail store on Queen Street. Just use the promo code Toronto Mike. That's Street. Just use the promo code Toronto Mike. That's an order. Use the promo code Toronto Mike.

Let them know you heard about them on Toronto Mike and you save 15% when you do that. So it's a good deal for everybody. Thank you, doer. And quickly, just so I don't forget, and I didn't, when I talked about Ridley Funeral Home, I didn't tell you, Rashmi, you're getting a measuring tape. You never know when you have to measure something.

What, am I going to measure myself for a coffin? You never know. They're giving out measuring tapes from a funeral home? Ridley! You never know, right? You never know when you have to measure something, right? I'm just going to measure myself shrinking. Insert joke here.

No, this is great. Measuring tapes are very important. You never know. There's so many jokes, I'm overwhelmed. But okay. Are they in Etobicoke? They're here. No, this is great. Measuring tapes are very important. You never know. There's so many jokes. I'm overwhelmed, but okay. Are they in Etobicoke? They're here. Yeah.

In New Toronto. They're at Lakeshore and 14th. So you can drop by and say hi to the good people at Ridley Funeral Home. There's a sticker from stickeru.com. So that, I can't wait to find out where that ends up. And by the way, I would be honored if you were to bring that to your local tattoo parlor and say, I'd like a Toronto Mike tattoo. So just throwing it out there.

You're going to have to drop dead. That's usually what happens. My tattoos are for people who have died. Well, whatever it takes. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I'll do what it takes here. Thank you. Thank you.

No, I'm happy to. Now, I got to get you to 1010 here because otherwise you really will be spending the night. Where do these stickers usually end up though? It depends. I will tell you some people stick it you know, the best place is the bumper of the car that you drive but you know, if you're, I don't know, I'm thinking

Alan Cross because you talked about the edge. He's got a garbage can in his office and I'm on the side of his garbage can in his office and I'm just honored to be anywhere to be honest. So just let me know where it ends up. Like tweet at me or whatever. Oh to be honest so just let me know where it ends up like tweet at me or whatever oh that is here let me know where it ends up oh and find out scotty mack find out where he put his trotter mike sticker because he's been here and he got a sticker so find out where the heck that is hiding okay speaking of scotty mack

how did this come to be like i need to know you're at cp24 and i'm this is again i gotta be careful because everybody jumps and everything but you look like you should be on tv to me like you're a tv star oh no i'm wrong i appreciate you thinking that i should be on tv i don't know what that means mike is that i don't know what it means why did the cbc pay more for the tv people than the radio people tell me that i tell me that couldn't tell you. It doesn't make any sense. Because there's a communication part. There's a visual part. You know, anyway, the more I talk about it, the more I'll get in trouble.

But I think if you're a TV star, you're on CP24. I saw you on CP24. Doing a great job. Did you want to go into radio or did they tap you on the shoulder and say, hey, we have an opportunity. We want to talk to you about how did this come to be that you ended up at 10 10 i have been lucky enough uh to be a fill-in host there um so in january 2020 when i stuck my head out the window it was many platforms of bell media and i was trying to pitch different things and 10 10 was definitely

on my radar i was having coffee with the program director at the time, as many times as I could, just to get in there. So yeah, no, I wanted to return to radio because I had a really great time filling in on CBC radio for a few years there. And I wanted to keep that momentum going. I'd started in radio when I was in my 20s. Your heart's in radio, it sounds like. You want to be on radio, like Dr. Johnny Fever. 100%. Margot Harper, shout out to her. She was great. She was the news director of CTVBC who just threw me on camera. I did not go to school for TV journalism, so I didn't know what I was doing. Okay, so I'm wrong here. I thought maybe, I guess I'm used to people wanting to be on TV, maybe because the salaries are higher.

I legit am a brown girl who wants to be on the radio, Mike. And in 2022, I finally got the job. No, really. Radio managers saw no worth in having diverse people on the radio for a good chunk of time there. And I didn't understand. And I hear what you're saying. But if you really listen to what we're saying, we're saying racialized women should be on camera. we're saying we're saying racialized women should be on camera what does that mean oh you would be a waste on the radio what does that mean well i didn't quite say it that way but i hear what you're saying you're saying that we can you can see diversity you can't hear it but you can tune in tune into the rush two to six monday to Friday. You will hear diversity because it's our lived experience. And that's one part that I feel really great about at this stage

because the Supriyas of the world have made it easier. The Ian Hannah Mansings, who are hosting Cross Country Checkup now, are making it easier. And people like me who are younger, who are seeing these people on radio, can now see that maybe I can be on the radio as well. Radio was very white for a very long time. Super white, especially in this market. Yeah. And when you ask why, nobody can explain it. But then when you look at TV, and it's so diverse, you have to ask why. Why did we put more effort into balancing out a fair representation of this city on camera, but not

in audio. And I think that we're trying to catch up to that now. I probably could have stayed in Vancouver radio. There are racialized people on radio out west, but I came home and I was grateful for all of the opportunities on camera. But being live on air on camera is very different than being live on air on the radio. And I was born to be on the radio. See, this is why I'm so glad you're here. Like to hear you. I can hear by the way you're talking that your passion is in radio. You wanted to be in radio.

It sounds like you. I know that Ben Dixon's long gone, but it sounds like you let the powers that be know that you're keen for an opportunity in radio yeah he was great to me he was great good to hear good to hear and uh i guess it sounds and again i know you can't speak to any of this because you weren't involved none of your business etc i saw the tweet earlier today where somebody was gonna asking you all these personnel questions that, not personal questions, but personnel questions that you simply had nothing to do with. But I mentioned off the top that when The Rush was launched on 1010 CFRB,

we now call it News Talk 1010. Toronto. Toronto, right. When it was launched that Ryan Doyle and Jay Michaels came here and they sat there and we talked about this new show called The Rush. So Ryan Doyle left the show. I think Jim Richards was filling in. And then Jay Michaels, it sounds like he got an offer he couldn't refuse to do morning radio in Montreal at Shom.

I hope I said that right. I've been practicing. Can you imagine him saying it? Shom. He would love it. He would love saying that every day. That's where it comes from. Okay, so he got the offer. He couldn't refuse to go to Montreal.

One of the questions that I know the Gordster had all these questions. He wanted to know where's Ryan Doyle? What happened to Jim Richards? I will say of all his questions, I actually know the answer to all of them, but the one I actually don't know the answer to, the one that seems like a mystery to me as a guy who just observes what's going on in Toronto and Canadian media is, I

actually am clueless as to what what's going on with Jim Richards. So I have no idea. I actually don't know if Jim Richards works there anymore. I have no idea. If you don't know, that if Jim Richards works there anymore. I have no idea. And if you don't know, that's your answer. You don't know.

But I'm going to ask you, do you know what's going on with Jim Richards? My answer is go straight to the source, as a journalist would advise. Go straight to the source. Anyone who's tweeting that question, send Jim a question. Send Ryan a question. They are accessible human beings. If they want to address your question, they will. And if they want to put out a statement or have some sort of an answer, they will. And from my gauge, they haven't. So that's as far as I go.

Ryan's made comments, but Jay has been radio silent on this issue. So, not Jay, Jim. Sorry, 20 Js. I have two boys. They both have J names and I mixed them up. What are their names? The oldest is James. James is 20. And the youngest is Jarvis. Oh, Jarvis. Two J's. Six years old.

And the other two kids' names? They're two J's and then my daughters are M's. So I don't know if I was just like... What are their names? Okay, the oldest is Michelle who took me to a Blue Jay game on Sunday for my birthday. Happy belated. So that's where I'm at. you have the six year old okay one day that six-year-old is gonna take you to a jay's game or something and you're gonna be like oh like that's amazing like this person bought me tickets and is taking me to a

game like it's like wow because you know i have a six-year-old too so i can tell you morgan okay that's the other so michelle is the almost 18 year old who's going to McGill next year. She's moving to Montreal in August. That's it. She's just, she should listen to show. She'll be listening to the mad dog on. Shout out to mad dog.

I don't think he goes by mad dog on show. I'm bringing back mad dog. Jay, come on. And you know, Jay Michaels is a fake name. So he put a fake name on a fake name. That's double layer fake.

Your name is the only thing fake about it. Your name's real. It's the only thing fake about him. Your name's real. It's the only thing. My name is real. My name is real. Just checking. Just checking. They haven't asked you to change it to Rush Me.

No, no one said, hey, what about Rush Me? You know what's funny is when I started in radio, one of my broadcasting teachers said, you're going to have to take your nose ring out. And I said, what am I going to have to take my nose ring out? And he goes, well, if you want to be a journalist, you're not going to be able to broadcast with a nose ring. And I was in radio school. So I was

like, this doesn't, this is nothing relevant. So you've had that nose ring since you were very young. I've worn this nose ring on TV, doing the news and any other Brown person has said, how do you get away with it? Yeah, sure. Except I think the hiring teams assume it's religious and not cultural. So they just let it slide. But could a white girl with a nose ring read the news on CBC? No, but I don't know if they could, but they could have a winning streak on Jeopardy. Matea Roach, I met her. Did you?

Because I tried to get her on Toronto Mic, and I didn't get any reply. I loved her run. I loved her run. Yeah, you should reach out to her uh she's connected with the walrus i met her at the walrus gala okay cool she's a contributor for the walls i think she wrote for them before no i mean i i'm a big uh big big fan of matea roach for sure okay so your nose ring no one no one is because they think it's religious and i okay a lot of ignorance here is there a religious thing of nose rings i don't I don't know these things.

No, no, no. It's just fashion. It's just fashion. But I didn't say anything. Okay. And now that I'm just thinking of news readers and news presenters in this country, there's no other nose rings out there? Yeah, there you go.

Okay. So I wouldn't show my tattoos, but I wouldn't take my nose ring out either. But. Well, you can't cover that. What we were talking about. Oh, yeah. So I wouldn't show my tattoos, but I wouldn't take my nose ring out either. But you can't cover that. What we were talking about. Oh yeah, just to wrap up the daughter thing. Morgan is the youngest. So I can,

my youngest, I can't imagine her like becoming this adult who's going to like buy tickets and take you somewhere or whatever. But then it happens. Like this is how it works. And it's like, oh,

that just happened. I had the best time on Sundays. I just want to say, I love you, Michelle. You're the best. Okay. So where was I going with all of this?

Should I just bring you back to 1010? Because I have more questions here. Go for it. So one question is, you were teamed. Right. So Jay went out to Montreal. And now there's an opening for a new rush. They need a new rush.

Did you do a chemistry test with Scott MacArthur? Like, was there anything where it says, you guys go for lunch rush. Did you do a chemistry test with Scott MacArthur? Like, was there anything where it says, you guys go for lunch and see if you have good chemistry before we team you up on the radio? Yeah, we went for walks. He also lives in the East End. And so we connected and we went for walks. And I think a few minutes into hearing his booming voice and the Scott MacArthur, you know, on air is the scott mccarthur off air that that is scott mccarthur all the time he's intense i had a very pleasant experience of scott and even post he he recorded something for episode 1000 like he i i dig this guy yeah yeah he's intense

he's direct uh he's an incredible storyteller and he's booming he just booms that's what like my friends were like what's your co-host like i was like he's a boomer he just booms oh you mean he's old no he's worth the same age he's a gen x boomer he just he like he just booms when he walks into the room he's booming i'm sorry scott i didn't realize that was the word i was going to use for you but yeah we went for some really great walks around the beach and was that to see whether you'd be a good team like is that was that before you accepted the gig or whatever like i'm just trying to visualize like oh i accepted the gig 100 immediately so did you come first and then they needed a co-host for you and then they were thinking of scott and then you needed so jeff mcdonald is the is the brains

behind this and he's incredible. And he offered me a job, and he offered Scott a job. I don't know the timeline of when those jobs were offered, but I 100% quickly said, yes, please, I would love this show. It's a dream job. Jeff McDonald said, think about it, Rashmi. And I said, no, I don't need to.

So that's my side of the story. Because you wanted to be on the air at 1010, and this is an afternoon drive show, and you weren't going to get So that's my side of the story. Because you wanted to be on the air at 1010. And this is an afternoon drive show. And you weren't going to get John Moore's job. So this was the next best spot. And I want John Moore to have his job. I have a six-year-old son. I need to get him to school.

Morning radio is the top of the mountain. And then afternoon drive is number two. Am I right? I'm good with number two forever and ever. Amen. Because you don't have to wake up at 3.30 in the morning. Yeah, no, I got a son. I got to take him to school.

Yeah, that's right. Amen. Because you don't have to wake up at 3.30 in the morning. Yeah, no. I got a son. I got to take him to school. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So, you know, it's a great question because I know I was 100% on board. Like to the point where Jeff was saying, Rashmi, think about it. And I said, I don't have to think about it. So I did accept the job immediately in my head when Scott and I went for a walk. I'm pretty sure the paperwork probably didn't go through until after a few of our walks.

So did we walk before we decided? I mean, I guess like if the walks went terribly wrong, one of us would have gone back and reported back to management. Do you know how many times I've had someone on the show who was teamed with somebody that there was no such chemistry test at all. They're saying, you now have this as your co-host. And they were simply a mismatch or oil and water

or didn't work well. And this show was a disaster. And I always, that's why I asked the question because I, who have never worked in radio, don't understand why would you put two people on a show together without having, like the walks is a great idea, without having some opportunity to see

whether can you stand each other? Do you have good chemistry? Will this work? Like, I can't imagine teaming people up who have never, you know, spoken to each other like that before. Like, it just doesn't make sense to me. It's part of the job. You and I have never spoken before.

How are we doing? Yeah, but we can fail. It's part of the job. We can fail. Well, yeah, sure. But if you fail, then you're not good at your job rashmi or scott like if rashmi and scott didn't get along on air i i don't want to be that person who says this is oil and water and now you have to find me i'm oil so find me more oil okay or i'm water but you want

to be you also want to be happy at your job right i'm just saying i'm saying it turns out you your definition of happy is interesting well even if you know if we were adversarial and you know what if we hated each other you wouldn't want to do this five days a week you want to do this what is it two to six what time are you yeah monday to friday two to six like would you want to talk to me from two to six monday to friday if we just we just hated each other i think it would make for great radio mike i think it would make for great radio i am so i'll take scott's job so grateful Scott is co-hosting the rush. I'm so grateful. We don't agree on some things. And I do want us to continue to disagree on issues. We come

at things from different perspectives. We agree on things, I think, because we are of similar age and we have a better understanding of the world than some people who have other opinions on things, I think, because we are of similar age and we have a better understanding of the world than some people who have other opinions on things. But the commonality can be boring. So I have worked with people I don't like. I have been on air co-hosting with people I don't like. And if you couldn't tell, then that's a reflection of me doing a good job. No, I know. I can contradict myself. You're right. I guess I'm looking for, you know, you to enjoy your four hours

on the air at 1010 every day and if you hated the person you were talking to, yes. Are you going back to Q107? I feel like this is a story that I'm not a part of but I feel you on that.

If there are issues at the end of the day that aren't dealt with then it's a problem. And again, this is all moot because Scott's a sweetheart and you guys get And again, this is all moot because Scott's a sweetheart and you guys get along great.

So this is all moot. He thinks I'm crazy. I'm the one who gets mad. I lose it sometimes. Mark Wiseblood, who will be here Thursday, tells me that Scott MacArthur says, rush me once every 30 seconds.

Are you at all aware of this? And is this intentional? That I do, once every 30 seconds, are you at all aware of this? And is this intentional? That I do what? Every 30 seconds? That Scott MacArthur will say your name every 30 seconds. The name Reshmi. You know what? I'm probably scrolling on my phone or looking at the 10 screens or my mic is not on and he's probably getting my attention because he's a great co-host that way he's a wingman he's like and and this and this and this rush me and then i hear my name and go oh yeah what what are we talking about here uh i don't know why he says my name i think to include me he's very inclusive okay and maybe and i but i don't say scott's name some friends have

pointed this out so give me your advice here mike Mike. If Scott says my name every 30 seconds, should I reciprocate? Should I say Scott's name? Yeah, maybe if you reciprocated, he'd realize he's too frequent with the Reshmi shoutouts and then maybe it would be, you know, I think at the beginning of a new show, you need to, it's like a soap opera like they say the names a lot

so you know the characters or whatever. But at this point, how long have you guys had the rush now? Oh yeah, since April april right so we're talking in july here people know now it's scott mcarthur and reshmi now i'm doing this in the three month window of probationary period is that what it is when does your probation end i don't know i don't want to know uh i is jeff mcdonald happy with the performance i hope so i hope so here let me let me put him in he's in the zoom room yeah i'd like that's a new thing i like to like to surprise people of someone in the zoom room i just did this to stew stone i had cynthia dale in the zoom room

because cynthia dale played stew stone's mom in a movie called heavenly bodies from the mid 80s okay so stew stone was the kid like six years old or something. And then the mom, and then I reunited them. Like I surprised Stu with this. I'm like, we have a mist anyways. I don't have Jeff in the Zoom room.

So don't worry. You can stop sweating over there, but okay. Zoom room. Zoom room. Did, when I saw the promotional photos for the new team at the, the Rush,

Monday to Friday, 2 to 6 PM, I couldn't help but notice that FOTM Scott MacArthur had beautiful, lush, long hair. The flow. Does he still have that flow? Yes. Yes.

And I am all for it. As you can see, I am also of the frizzy-haired people. So I encourage Scott to keep that hair going. He's shown me photos of him with shorter hair, equally handsome. I mean, the guy can pull off any look, but yeah,

the flow is great. It's great. And the, another note from Andrew Ward real quick. What's the working culture and shift like in radio versus TV? So what is the big difference to you when you move to radio from television? We can talk about it. We can talk about it.

It was frustrating to be on CB24 if only because we're so limited in timing. And that is a difference between TV and radio is that in TV, you want to have the entire topic summarized in what, a minute? And so when- Can you just read a script, right? Well, yeah, but you can work around it. Whatever shows up

in the prompter. I mean, your mouth doesn't have to say the words. You can only stray so far from the spirit of what's on that teleprompter. I mean, try to encapsulate what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine in one minute, right?

It's so hard. And then you assume that people might've been following along, but you don't know. So you got to reference and offer context and context is key. So the evening program that still exists on CP 24, CP 24 tonight, uh, we had segments with panels where they were seven to 10 minutes long, but still in TV time, seven to 10 minutes of a TV discussion is not getting into the weeds and the context like we can in our seven to eight minute segments on Newstalk 1010 Toronto. You're just able to, and I'm sure you've noticed this too with the podcast, is you're able to disarm people. Oh my God, yes. That's my secret. Don't tell

anyone. But when you bring people on camera, they're just sitting there blinking like a deer in headlights saying, I'm on camera right now. Oh no, sometimes people are like, oh, that was 90 minutes. And I'm like, you know what? It takes half an hour

to get their trust and rapport and the guard to come down. And then all the good stuff comes after that half hour of, you know. Halfway through this Great Lakes brewery. Because the real talk hasn't even started here. Okay, no, yeah, don't worry.

I won't keep you several hours. This isn't the, I just dropped this episode 1071, which is a retrospective on the 45 years of Q107. Okay, so it sounds like you were an edge listener. So you probably didn't listen to Q107. No, I still love Q107. And I know you have Jeff Woods coming up. Ah, Friday.

Yeah, that's right. And so do you know Jeff Woods? He's been over a few times. Yeah, he's a regular. So when I was a barista in Vancouver, he worked in the Black Tower on Georgia Street in Vancouver. Right. And I was this stupid little girl who was in radio broadcasting school. And Jeff Woods made time for me. He made time for me. I have all the time in the world for that human being. He's an incredible guy. He's an incredible guy. And he's, uh, he's just, he's amazing. I love you so much, Jeff Woods. He encouraged me and, um, was really great in,

in making me feel like I could do something in this industry. I just wish I could do Jeff's voice. I can't do it. I can't even fake it, but he's got, I think for my money. I just wish I could do Jeff's voice. I can't do it. I can't even fake it. Oh no, you can't even. He's got, I think for my money, and again, I've had a thousand people on these microphones, but the Jeff Woods voice might be my favorite of all the guests who've been on my mic.

No disrespect to the current guest I have right now, but there's only one Jeff Woods. It's unbelievable. I hate my voice. I love Jeff Woods voice. So why do you hate my voice. I love Jeff Woods' voice. So why do you hate your voice? It sounds good in my headphones. What do you hate about it?

I think everybody hates their own voice at some point. Except Jeff Woods. You just hear yourself back. He listens to himself just on a continuous loop. He's a perfectionist though. And he has perfected it. Way to go, perfect Jeff Woods. And he lives up near Thornbury now.

Yeah. Not too far from your trailer, if I think of my Ontario map as I visualize it. Yeah, I might invite myself over to Jeff Woods. Okay, so 1010. Here's where I want to go next. Okay. And this is with the utmost respect,

but I'm wondering how you deal with, what would I call them? Like some of the, some of the 10, 10 loyalists who feel their station, which was the, the dashboard pounding right wing station that they loved, you know, fuck Trudeau and all that.

How would you get blowback from those people, which the Gordster who wrote us on Twitter earlier would be one of these types of people, who feels now that 1010 has moved either closer to the center, maybe in their minds, it's suddenly become like for lefties or something. What say you, Rashmi Nair?

Oh, I find it fascinating. There's this one guy, Rick, who's called in a few times and he gets all Elmer Fudd with his mouth and he gets so upset that he starts eating his own words and he's still spitting at me and the last time he called I just why are you screaming at me man why are you screaming at me and he said I'm getting all worked up I said yeah you're working yourself up if you can't call in and have a calm discussion then maybe you should just calm yourself before

you even start the discussion with yourself. It's interesting. It's fascinating. I think it's, I think anytime you call someone a name, it's just a reflection of whatever you're going through in your day. It doesn't impact me. And I haven't received the kind of harassment on Twitter that I think other people have. I don't pay attention to, you know, like if anyone wants to call me anything liberal,

it always makes me laugh. And I wish my dad was still alive. I don't even know your political slant. And you're not going to. That's the joke, right? Like this one guy called in, he's like, you sound like you vote green or NDP. And there was just this pause. And I like well we'll keep guessing dude like i'm not even going to ask people no i think people call me this party if i had to guess but i don't know i don't have a

political position because at the end of the day i'm a journalist and i grew up being cynical and skeptical of anything and everything well here's here's where i think it comes from here's where i think it comes from okay so again you are now the co-host of The Rush with Scott MacArthur. And the original co-host of The Rush, we'll put Jay aside. He was a co-host from the start. But Ryan Doyle was sort of a proud,

card-carrying member of the Conservative Party like this. So I think that's where it comes from, that this show was like was by like like there was he was not hiding this fact i he i had him in the basement and it was not he was not hiding the fact that he was like i think literally i believe a member of the party so not with the of the in a provincially we'll say the progressive conservative party and now uh they feel like we don't know what you are but they knew what ryan was they knew ryan was a guy who was going to vote for uh doug ford's party but you're uh unknown so then

i think they decide they think that maybe this is a part of this woke movement where uh stations like 640 and 1010 are moving from the right, moving to the center or left. Yeah, I mean, I would argue that the stations focus on the news. And I would hope that the listeners tune in for the news. And I appreciate and respect that any host would build an audience that follows because they know that what they're getting is from that host who they've been familiar with. So that's great. Right. None of that is me.

And you're not going to get that from me. There is no political slant because I can't put my faith in any politician or political party. That is my honest truth. Right. And we should be, you know. And I'm with you, but go on. We should be able to criticize even if it is your party and so with politics uh it's it's mind-numbing if you're gonna be if you're gonna be the equivalent of a leafs fan in the political

world there's no discussing there's no discussion to right because that's your team and your team in that you want you root against the other team. Like, I would say, like the Liberal Party is like the Montreal Canadiens and it's like, it doesn't matter about platform or who the human beings are, but that's the enemy. My team is the Leafs

and that would be, for example, maybe the Conservative Party of Canada. Yeah. Yes, yes, right. So how do you have a conversation if it's polarized like that? Well, and if you, you know, if you think you know what you're going to hear, that might be something that you're used to and it's muscle memory.

So you tune in to hear the familiarity. I think it's also equally entertaining to not know what you're about to hear next and build some faith and trust that you are going to hear the truth. That's what we're offering. Scott MacArthur and I will tell you the truth. We will ask questions and we will try to find the truth. But I'm not going to push any agenda. And I don't think Scott has an agenda either. But maybe what's shocking is that our lived experiences do not reflect whoever is upset when they're tuning in. It just might be that the name Reshmi sounds woke. And I don't know what this woke business is,

but if it means that you're waking up from a slumber and you're getting smarter, I'm all for it. Just educate yourself. Oh, I'm with you. I'm with you 100%. But historically, you know, 1010 was the home of straight white men,

straight white men, right? And now the station is not, it's, oh, I'm moving your camera there, Rashmi.

The camera loves you. I just moved it. But, you know, it doesn't matter. But okay. But now, now, suddenly,

I'd say most hosts on 1010 are not straight white guys. These are all perspectives and observations that can be discussed among people who are interested in having the discussion. Barb DiGiulio was a host on The Evenings. She's not a straight white man. No, she's not.

Yeah, so the takeaway that people have, I respect, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the truth. It always has a bit of a skew to it, right? So whatever your impression is, it could be different. People assume conservative minded discussions are white based. And I am here to say that they're not. Many immigrants who come to this country have conservative-minded policies and objectives. The conservative mind doesn't have to be reserved for, you know, that old stock Canadian, if you want to use that term. But I'm also not here to defend conservatism because there isn't a single party here that deserves to be defended. But I don't subscribe to, I mean, I listened to 1010 when I worked at CBC. And maybe it's because I'm a journalist that I like to consume news in many different ways.

Read the Toronto Sun, read the Toronto Star, read the Globe and Mail. It's the same for radio for me as well so I I wouldn't I wouldn't assume that anything is changing the names the voices and the news are changing anything else that's open for criticism is just a personal perspective and sometimes an attack and I'm not here for either of those to be honest no and again all that is just noise that would be just you're essentially there to do your very best show of Scott MacArthur like all this stuff that surrounds it and the dashboard dumping you know people the people who want their conservative talk radio shtick and they don't want it to change that's really not your concern because you're just out there doing your very best with

your co-host. Well yeah but you put Jay to the side for this discussion you know why because i think it was ryan i don't even but jay contributed to that same show yes yeah of course maybe i shouldn't have stuck him all the way to the side you're right but i always think of ryan doyle driving the conservative nature of the rush he as an individual, was performing the job that he was performing, and somehow it was successful enough. That's what every individual person does in any job. So you can't assume. I mean, man, even when you go to a drive-thru and you order food in a drive-thru, you're going to get a different experience depending on who's in the window. You're still going to the same takeout stop. You're still going to the same takeout

stop. You're still going to the same drive-thru. So I don't understand why people connect the people on air with the company or the station or this underlying message. News Talk 1010 is a great source for information and for news discussions. And I know that even though different hosts are going to take different positions, you are going to get callers who bring in other perspectives. It's always been a great place for news discussions. That's not going to change. And if Reshmi and Scott scare you, I hope you pick up the phone and join the discussion. Don't be scared. Don't be scared of Reshmi and Scott, everybody. You've got three months under your belt now, and here's hoping for a long run.

I'm wrong about one thing, which is I thought until we had this conversation that you belonged on TV and that this was just something you were going to do until they found that television spot for you. That's what I thought. I'm being straight with you. Quibi didn't work out. Not your you. Quibi didn't work out.

Not your fault. Quibi did not work out. Now, you know, they need a home for you because they believe in you because you're very talented. Again, my thought says that you're very talented. Now, so the radio thing, I just didn't think radio was where you wanted to be.

I mean, now I've changed my mind listening to you talk to me about your passion for radio and that you wanted to be. I mean, now I've changed my mind listening to you talk to me about your passion for radio and that you wanted to be in radio. But I just kind of assumed you'd end up on TV as soon as, you know, at some point you'd end up as some big time anchor at CTV somewhere. Why? I just think you're a TV star.

Why? Why? What is that? I know you see you want to racialize it, but I don't. No, no, it's not even racialized. It's just that people think, people think that journalists on TV want to be TV stars. And maybe there's a certain percentage, but it's not the majority. It's not, when you look at the majority of TV journalists, they're good on camera, but

they're not trying to be celebrities or stars in their own, in their own right. They are doing their job. And I, and I, I guess, and I'm not trying to make it rationalized, Mike, but it is,

it has been a frustration of mine in this industry in that people look at me and they assume that I want to have makeup on smiling in front of a camera. No, I want to talk about the news. I'll be very honest with you. And if it is, if, if like,

I found it interesting when you mentioned the racialization of that because I'd never considered, like I wasn't thinking, oh, I was just thinking that you look good on TV and I know TV pays better than radio typically, not always, but typically. And I just assumed that because you were good at it

and you looked good in the media medium that that's where you would want to be this was my assumptions I bring these assumptions to these conversations sometimes and then we talk for 90 minutes and then I at the end of it I think I was damn right about her or sometimes I come out of it and I think I was completely wrong about her like that's why we don't do five to seven minutes here because who the hell I need to do like a 90 minutes hear you out

feel this out and yeah it's been 90 minutes but it seems to me like you want to be in radio and this is a big fucking station you're on and if you're looking to talk and not introduce the latest Beyonce song, you are at the Primo property owned by Bell Media where you're employed.

Like this is the top of the mountain for, you know, talk radio owned by Bell Media. You're there now. It is. It is. I know. And I'm a brown woman on the afternoon drive. It's huge like look we started this and i appreciate the last 90 minutes because it's making me realize my own life here yeah we started this

talking about how i won an edward r edward r murrow award at 40 grand at news 11 30 right and now i've been able to elevate and come full circle and make you know tv money but in radio so this is uh my dream job i'm not going anywhere uh it's it's my dream job and i'm gonna do everything that i can to hold on to it because i love it and i love engaging with the listeners even the ones who don't like even the gourdster yeah even the ones who aren't sure if they like me or not listen they'll like me by the end of the discussion well people don't like change some people some people don't like change right like some people just don't like change and they have to adapt to a whole new human being and maybe if they feel like they aren't as passionately uh hate uh hating of uh justin trudeau for example that maybe she's just some some lefty who biked to a two 99, but you didn't,

you don't bike to work. Do you? I'll walk to work. Scott walks more than I do. I'll walk to work. Rush me. You've got to come back at some point because, uh,

I never, I never, maybe I'll ask you real quick here. Uh, what kind of music do you listen to when you're on your own time and you want to hear a good jam? Oh man. Okay.

Recently Bon Jovi. Really? I hate Bon Jovi. Yeah, but you do, but then you don't, right time and you want to hear a good jam. Oh, man. Okay, recently Bon Jovi. Really? I hate Bon Jovi. Yeah, but you do, but then you don't, right? Have you seen them live? No. Okay, yeah, that's the thing.

Once you go to a JBJ show, you will listen to Bon Jovi. But I own Slippery When Wet on cassette in 87. I owned it. Yeah. And I liked it in 87. Yeah. And I did like it

because you had the big jams on that album. But I grew to despise the band i gotta say maybe you and i need to go to a john bon jovi concert at some point you can turn me around dan megan as well i'm into dan megan i'm into canadiana for sure would you kick out the jams with me at some point i would love to i would love to this was awesome i thoroughly enjoyed this oh thank you me and i'll let scott know i'm taking his place on the rush it's gonna it's gonna be you and I, okay? Just when we need to butt heads. I can grow my hair.

My hair grows. Will you be adversarial though? Fucking right I'll be adversarial. How many times will you say my name? Every 30 seconds just like Scott. Make sure people know this is Reshmi Nair. Thanks so much. I'm just making sure I gave you all your gifts. Yeah, don't leave without

the lasagna though because it's in my freezer. But this was amazing. Thank you. And long may you run on the mighty News Talk 1010. That's my wish for you. Cheers. And that, that brings us to the end of our 1076th show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Reshmi is at Reshmi Nair. Nair is N-A-I-R. I think it's two syllables, but it might be one depending on how much Great Lakes I've drank. Speaking of Great Lakes,

they're at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Dewar are at Dewar Performance. D-U-E-R that promo code is Toronto Mike you save 15% Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley F-H and Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore

See you all trying to figure out my next guest Richard Traponsky is on Wednesday that's Ellen Roseman's son by the way who wrote for now for many years and we'll find out what happened at now see you all then born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who

Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes, I do I know it's true Yeah, I know it's true How about you? They're picking up trash and they're putting down roads

They're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am. But who gives a damn? Because everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green

Well I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold

But the smell of snow Warms us today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosie now Everything is Rosie

Yeah, everything is Rosie and Gray Yeah Yeah, everything is rosy and gray.