The Unknown Studio

When TED came to Edmonton back in March, it was a very exclusive event. Because of the rules of TED, TEDx Edmonton could only have a maximum of about 100 people in attendance… Scott and I spoke with Ken Bautista in a previous episode of the Unknown Studio, and Ken told us he reason for the cap was because TED basically wanted the concept to be proven in Edmonton before the opened the flood gates.

Unfortunately, the attendance cap prevented a whole pile of people from going to check out the talks (which were phenomenal, by the way. Read my very brief comments about it here). As a result, local political blogger Dave Cournoyer created a Facebook event which he called ALEx, invite people to come out and drink in lieu of attending the exclusive (and admittedly costly) TEDx event.

Turns out the demand for an ALEx was pretty overwhelming. That’s why we’re doing another one tomorrow evening at Original Joe’s Varsity Row. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18% [?]

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the province of Alberta, you’ll know that there have been some interesting recent developments in our political landscape. I’m not going to go over a history of those developments, but you’d do best to read Dave Cournoyer’s coverage of the movement, such as it is.

From my perspective, it started with the Reboot Albert discussion, manned by progressive conservatives like Ken Chapman and Chris LaBossiere. Variously disenfranchised with Alberta’s current political mix — particularly in light of Bill 44 — these guys formed part of the movement towards a post-partisan dialogue, founded on the agreement that the party system is far more than simply imperfect: it’s broken, and doesn’t engage citizens anymore. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 26% [?]

Ah, the Leaky Deathship – or as it is more commonly referred to, The Gateway.

Both Adam and I are former contributors to the University of Alberta’s very own student newspaper; I was an avid contributor and delivered papers around campus for a year, Adam had the slightly less respected position of Editor-in-Chief. Now, many of you are probably aware of our past with this institution, but you may not be aware that many of our guests are also former Gatewayers. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 54% [?]

An event of political significance is taking place this weekend, about half-way in between Alberta’s two largest urban centres — and I’m not talking about Blackfalds. This Friday will mark the first ever “Reboot Alberta” meeting in Red Deer. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 34% [?]

In this week’s episode, Scott and I sat down with Dave Cournoyer and Duncan Wojtaszek to discuss “the deal” with Canadian politics. What is it that keeps voters away from the polls? Why is there such a disconnect between voters and politicians?

Is there any hope for the electoral and governance systems in Alberta and Canada?

In short: yes.

I think we may have even gotten a few words in there about Star Trek, as part of my nefarious plot: to make this podcast about Star Trek at all costs.

Send us your comments, questions and show suggestions. And enjoy the episode!

Popularity: 14% [?]