Midtown Conversations

In this episode, we bring you a live panel discussion on the role of local media as social infrastructure — exploring how journalism connects communities, builds trust, and supports civic life in an era of fragmentation and digital overload.Hosted by Shannon Knelsen, the conversation features community advocate Melissa Bowman, publisher Stewart Grant, and former Regional Chair Ken Seiling. Together, they discuss the future of local journalism, the challenges of trust and sustainability, and why community storytelling still matters.This discussion was recorded live at Princess Cinemas in Waterloo, as part of the Ink-stained Wretches' annual Journalism Film Festival, presented with support from Waterloo Region Community Foundation. 

Guests Carol Coletta, Shirley Madill, and Eric Avner discuss the importance of social infrastructure and how we can make our communities more joyful. Carol Coletta will be speaking at The Walper Hotel on Nov. 6th as part of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery's Culture Talks series. Tickets can be purchased from KWAG.ca About our guests :Carol Coletta is a Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, and former President & CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership. Shirley Madill is the Executive Director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, a cultural leader who’s been instrumental in shaping the region’s artistic landscape.Eric Avner is the President & CEO of the Waterloo Region Community Foundation, where he’s guiding strategic investments to build a more equitable, connected, and sustainable community.Thank you to our podcast sponsors Grand Valley Construction Association and Waterloo Region Community Foundation. 

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Conversation with performers in the Treading Theatre Festival, to be held at Schneider Haus May 28-June 1, 2025.

Host Danielle Deveau chats with Cosmic Fishing Theatre founder Viktorija Kovac about the need for more theatre for young people in the Waterloo Region. 

Panelists:Mitchell Cohen, President & CEO at Daniels Corporation; Author of Rhythms of Change: Reflections on the Regent Park Revitalization; astrong advocate for the roles that creativity and connectivity can play in building healthy and vital communities.Shirley Madill, Executive Director at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery; a respected leader in the local and national arts scene, and beyond.Eric Avner, President & CEO at the Waterloo Region Community Foundation; a strong advocate for the value of social infrastructure in our communities.

Guest host @allisondyjach chats with Kitchener punk-rockers @redoutput about releasing their first new single in 2 years, "Rafters," and they look back at the incredible 2023 the band had. We also sit down with Owen Tester, lead guitarist from @livingroomforsmall_ to discuss the local pop-punk band's new EP release "WHEREVER U GO" and play a special KW lightning round...does Owen prefer the farm animals in Waterloo Park, or the swans in Victoria Park?! Tune in to find out!The show also features new music releases from local musicians including singer-songwriter @amandabraammusic 's newest single "Pink Paper Hearts" and Alyssa DVM's "Let Me Hate You"

Join host Danielle Deveau, live from the SDG Idea Factory in Kitchener, for this music cities talk featuring Shain Shapiro (author of This Must be the Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better). With guests Betty Anne Keller (Rock This Town); Paul Kalbfleisch (The JOY Experiments: Starting a New Conversation on City Building); and Amit Mehta (Good Company Productions).

Host Danielle Deveau chats with playwrights Maria Colonescu, Steven Elliott Jackson, and Ciaran Myers about:-how they found careers in theatre-what it’s like working in this region-the challenges of finding space, funding, and audiences-how a regional arts council could help make our local creative economy betterAll the writers have work in the upcoming season of Midtown Radio Dramas.Big thanks to our Midtown Conversations sponsor Grand Valley Construction Association.

This week on Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau visits KWAG for a tour of the new exhibition SOS: A Story of Survival, Part II - The Body.Curator Darryn Doull walks us through the works, which collectively consider the impacts of climate change, war and conflict, and food and housing insecurity on our living bodies. Viewers are asked to consider: How will we survive as our shared environment collapses around us?We also chat with Amy Smoke, whose work with Land Back Camp (alongside Bangishimo and Erik O'Neill) is featured in the show. 

Host Danielle Deveau interviews STEPHEN PREECE, President of the Grand River Jazz Society and founder of The Jazz Room in Waterloo, Ontario.We talk about: -how The Jazz Room found a home -the importance of live music and supporting artists in our communities -the challenges that local cultural organizations continue to faceWe also dig into the archives for an interview with MARY-CATHERINE PAZZANO that Allison Dyjach captured for @onthescenekw last year.They talk: -the road to becoming a working musician -favourite local venues @thejazzroom and @registrytheatreThis season our theme music is "Locanita" from @juneytyetkiner.Great big special thanks to the Grand Valley Construction Association for their sponsorship of this community program!#midtownconversations #kwmusic #kwjazz #grandriverjazzsociety #livemusickw #midtownkw #kwawesome #communityradio #commercialfreeradio#grandvalleyconstructionassociation

Host Danielle Deveau chats with Danny Michel about his new album: Ghost Town.Interview discusses:the process of writing and recording this album (spoiler: it was really hard)what inspired himhow many times does every song need to be fully recorded and mixed...really....what it's like being a solo artist in Canadahow long has he actually been collaborating with Rob Carliand what does he REALLY think about all those carnival rides featured in his video for "The Point of No Return"

In this clip from Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau sits down with KW city builders Melissa Bowman and Sarah Marsh to discuss some of the most contentious issues facing our cities and how we can solve them. 

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, host Danielle Deveau is joined by local author, music historian, and CKWR radio host Coral Andrews for a feature conversation.

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, host Matt Rappolt sits down with community activist Kamil Ahmed, one of the organizers Community Fridge KW. Kamil talks about the genesis and growth of the project, how it subverts the power dynamics of the traditional "charity" model, and why mutual aid projects are so important for tackling inequality in our communities.

Host Danielle Deveau discusses "Neighbourhood Character" with our Cities Panel. What is it? It is a reasonable concept for planning conversations? With guests Melissa Bowman (Citified Substack); Sam Nabi (TriCities Hip Hop & Full Circle Foods); and Sam Glass (Arts Build Ontario).

Danielle Deveau interviews Mike Morrice (MP Kitchener-Centre) about what he has seen and heard in his community this summer, and what he hopes to achieve when he returns to Parliament this Fall.

Melissa Bowman of the "Citified" local politics blog catches up with activist and municipal council candidate Brooklin Wallis. Wallis is running to represent ward 10 in this year's municipal election and is also breaking ground as one of the first trans persons to seek the position. Brooklin talks about why she's running and about why the challenges trans people can face in running for municipal office.

In this episode of Midtown Conversations, producer Danielle Deveau chats with our cities panel about the changes that we have seen over the past decade living and working in DTK. Featuring Melissa Bowman (Citified Substack); Sam Nabi (Tri-Cities Hip Hop; Full Circle Foods); and Alex Glass (Arts Build Ontario).

In 2019, Sean Geobey interviewed Emily about cycling in Midtown KW. Last week, Danielle Deveau caught up with Emily again to find out what has changed in regional cycling infrastructure and awareness.

This Saturday on Midtown Conversations, we dig into the archives for this 2019 interview with Mike Morrice (MP, Kitchener-Centre). Mike was one of the very first guests we ever had on Midtown Conversations. In this interview, he talks about his time as a student at WLU, how he decided to found a company dedicated to sustainability, and what he hoped to achieve as a Green Party Candidate for Kitchener-Centre.

Danielle Deveau interviews playwright Catherine Frid, musician Mary Abdel-Malek Neil, and performer Carolyn Brochu. Their play Living Below the Line (Watercourse Theatre) was co-created by local community members and explores the challenges of living below the poverty line in the Waterloo Region.

In this episode of Midtown Conversations Danielle Deveau chats with local community artists Mary Abdel-Malek Neil from KW Junk Music about her newest recording project and what it means to write an album about the local community. Mary released her first album, "I'm Who I Am," this past month made up of songs and collaborations from the local community. Mary was the 2019 City of Kitchener Artist-in-Residence, she is a Community Musician and Founder of KW Junk Music.

Midtown Radio producer Chey Bholla sits down with KW songwriter Jack Cooper to talk about his new songwriting series "Sounds Good to Me" and the local music scene in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Ashwyn Singh moved from India to Waterloo to attend U of W and now he's making big moves to break into the world of stand up comedy. He's been travelling across Canada and even North America to build his reputation in this notoriously demanding career. With his goal of performing 100 shows already surpassed, Ashwyn reflects on his experiences as a young comedian of colour and talks about his desire to build the comedy scene in KW.

To celebrate World Radio Day 2022, host David Harmes chats with BBC broadcast journalist David Bailey about radio memories, community radio production, and the future of the medium.

Join host Maya Kanana as she talks with Sobhi Kiblawi, a proud new Canadian who immigrated to Canada in 2015, finally became a Canadian citizen in December 2020, and had his first experience voting this past year. He discusses the emotions that came with gaining his citizenship and the right to vote.

Join host Matt Rappolt as he talks with "A Better Tent City" co-founder Jeff Wilmer about the creation of Waterloo Region's first tiny home supportive community. Jeff shares about the vision and genesis of the project, the various moves and challenges during the community first few years, as well as the future of the community post-pandemic.   

When Matthew Fries was young he wanted to grow up to play Major League Baseball in the summer and publish fiction during the winters. Now, with the release of his debut novel "The Sick Box", the Midtown KW resident has made half of that dream a reality. Matthew Fries joins Midtown Conversations host Matt Rappolt to discuss his attraction to writing horror-comedy, what it means to consider oneself a writer, and why he owes (at least some of) his success to the great James Patterson.

Mira Henderson is the owner and head baker of the uber-popular Ghost Light Café in Midtown, KW, which specializes in fresh baked croissants. She is also completing her undergraduate degree in the University of Waterloo's theatre studies program, started baking less than two years ago ...and did I mention that she's only 23 years old? Today on Midtown Radio Mira joins host Matthew Rappolt to talk about her whirlwind of a pandemic and how she went from the centre stage to bakery success.

Tune in to hear Allison Dyjach's conversation with KW watercolour artist Candice Leyland. Candice discuss her "en plein air" style of painting, how her art classes have grown and developed during the pandemic, and what led her to paint the iconic "Aporia" in Downtown Kitchener!

Mary founded KW JUNK MUSIC in 2017 as a fun, music-driven activity to promote community and sustainability. The programme takes recycled materials and fashions them into musical instruments, on which participants compose and perform original songs. Learn more at: maryneil.ca

Is there a place for a dedicated science centre in Waterloo region? Toby Day Hamilton joins host Matthew Rappolt to discuss how Launch Waterloo is hoping to bring that vision to reality.

Can little free libraries help combat racism? Join Matthew Rappolt as he chats with Dinah Murdoch, founder of the KW Little Free Diverse Libraries, about how those little book boxes on people's driveways are having a big impact in diversifying local literature.

Can little free libraries help combat racism? Join Matthew Rappolt as he chats with Dinah Murdoch, founder of the KW Little Free Diverse Libraries, about how those little book boxes on people's driveways can have a big impact in diversifying local literature.

KW Little Theatre has survived for more than 50 years in Waterloo, but can it survive a time of global pandemic? Matt Rappolt is joined by KWLT president Matt Walsh for a chat about the future of the theatre company during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Can libraries survive during a time of local lockdown? Matthew Rappolt interviews librarian Natalie Gibbons of KPL to find out how our local libraries are coping with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Can you still eat meat free during a global pandemic? Justine Sparling of the Plantiful KW instagram joins Matt Rappolt on Mayday 2020 to discuss how the pandemic is impacting vegetarian and vegan food options in Waterloo region. 

Aired as part of Mayday 2020, Allison Dyjach sits down with Shirley Gosselin, president of Cherry Park Neighbourhood Association and local gardening extraordinaire, to find how to grow both your plants and your love for gardening.

Aired as part of Mayday 2020, Allison Dyjach sits down with Shirley Gosselin, president of Cherry Park Neighbourhood Association and local gardening extraordinaire, to find how to grow both your plants and your love for gardening.