Episode 3.1 – Turtle Island, Interrupted (Redux): Director Champlain’s Cut
🔥 The Dawn of Modern Canada

Before there was Canada, there was Turtle Island — a name, a memory, a map of stories passed from one generation to the next. But what happens when those stories are interrupted?

In this cinematic redux of Episode 3.1, host Jamie Jackson pulls back the curtain on the director’s cut of Canada’s founding — with no colonial filter. From the origin stories of Sky Woman and the Haudenosaunee to Samuel de Champlain’s dream of something more than empire, we voyage deep into the human spirit behind our nation’s founding myths.

This isn’t just history. It’s a confrontation. A reckoning.

A remix.

From Adam Shoalts’ wild solitude—including passages from his brand new book, Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 Kilometre Journey from my Doorstep to the Arctic, to daredevils launching off Niagara Falls — this episode explores what drives explorers, rebels, and revolutionaries to risk everything for something unseen. Featuring reflections on Thomas King’s The Back of the Turtle, the erasure of Indigenous languages, and the tension between old world ambition and new world connection, this is an episode that doesn’t just teach — it challenges.

If Episode 1 was the spark, and Episode 2 was the tinder, this is the moment the fire catches. Grab a log, and have a seat.

You'll be happy you did.

🚨 Listener Prompt:
When was the last time you believed in something so much… you were willing to leap into the unknown?

Keywords: Indigenous Ways of Knowing; Colonialism; Immersive; History; Continuity and Change; Challenge; Popular History; Culture; Community; Leadership; Martin Luther King Jr.; Reality TV; Hybrid Reality Theory (Jackson, 2025).

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I am so incredibly grateful that you stopped by. Thanks for listening to the show.

I hope you loved it. If you're interested, check me out on socials

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Remember, my friends: We're in this thing together. It means more than you know. We're just getting started!

If you know of anyone-- or if YOU have an amazing story of grit, or even something to share with the world, why not reach out and let me know?

I'd love to give voice to your stories.

All the very best.

Your good pal,

-Jamie

What if history wasn’t just a series of dates, but a map of the human soul?

In this epic, cinematic journey through time and space, we trace the arc of exploration, ambition, and identity—spanning from Leif Erikson and the Vikings to JFK, the Space Race, the Avro Arrow, and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. We hop from Étienne Brûlé to the Cold War to today, and all the way back to the traces and roots of our modern and ongoing reckoning with Canada’s evolving story.

We are living at an unbelievable point in human history. This “bridge” episode connects past and present through the powerful currents of continuity and change, progress and peril.

As we sail the whitecaps of time toward the life of Samuel de Champlain in the next episode, we confront the earliest (known) colonial encounters, the scars and sparks of contact, and evolving forces within Dr. Marshal McLuhan's 'global village'.

These historical and human forces directly shape us and our communities.

Important figures like Dr. Gabor Maté are also examined to better understand implications of our modern obsession with perfection and (un)originality, and how the anxieties of Western culture have disconnected us from a deeper, more rooted way of being. We explore how reunification of the bodymind through wonder, story, and personal connection can offer us a path forward.

Whether through Adam Shoalts-inspired wilderness trails, or Soviet rocket launches, this episode asks: What does it mean to belong to a land, a legacy, and a people still in formation?

This discussion is north of ordinary.

🧭 Topics Covered

Canadian History, early European exploration, Adam Shoalts, colonial contact with indigenous peoples, Chief Donnacona, indigenous ways of seeing and knowing, mapping and cartography, humanity, the human spirit, technology through time, critical perspectives, Cartier, Cabot, Brûlé, Champlain, JFK, Reagan, Iron Curtain, Berlin Wall, Cold War, Canada, USSR, Russia, United States, politics, Indigenous stories, ways of knowing, space race, Gabor Maté, mental health, resilience, perfectionism, colonial contact

Support the show

I am so incredibly grateful that you stopped by. Thanks for listening to the show.

I hope you loved it. If you're interested, check me out on socials

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/canadiangritmedia/
OR: @canadiangritmedia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573998726741

Facebook Discussion and Community Page:
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Remember, my friends: We're in this thing together. It means more than you know. We're just getting started!

If you know of anyone-- or if YOU have an amazing story of grit, or even something to share with the world, why not reach out and let me know?

I'd love to give voice to your stories.

All the very best.

Your good pal,

-Jamie

Canadian Grit: North of Ordinary

Before Canada had a name, there was only wilderness—vast, unknown, and full of risk. In this powerful two-part episode, host Jamie Jackson takes us on a sweeping journey through time and psyche: from uncharted oceans to the inner maps we carry as human beings navigating uncertainty.

Part history, part myth, part reflection—this episode explores the raw courage it takes to sail into the unknown, whether in the 10th century or today’s hybrid digital world. We reflect on early explorers, the Halifax Explosion, and the enduring legacy of Canadian author Hugh MacLennan, whose words inspired Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip's iconic song Courage.

We unpack identity, regret, resilience, and the universal need to belong—drawing parallels between the age of discovery and our own 21st-century crisis of disconnection. With ambient soundscapes, poetic narration, and real talk about demoralization, burnout, mental health, and the cost of not acting with courage, this episode calls on all of us to remember: we are not machines. We are human. We are Canadians. Together.

And our story isn’t finished.

It's just getting started!

Support the show

I am so incredibly grateful that you stopped by. Thanks for listening to the show.

I hope you loved it. If you're interested, check me out on socials

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/canadiangritmedia/
OR: @canadiangritmedia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573998726741

Facebook Discussion and Community Page:
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Remember, my friends: We're in this thing together. It means more than you know. We're just getting started!

If you know of anyone-- or if YOU have an amazing story of grit, or even something to share with the world, why not reach out and let me know?

I'd love to give voice to your stories.

All the very best.

Your good pal,

-Jamie

Canadian Grit: North of Ordinary. Episode 1: The Rope, the Pine, and the Torch

Before there was Canada, there was wilderness—untamed, unknown, and unforgettable. In this premiere episode, host Jamie Jackson, PhD (ABD), weaves history, reflection, poetry, and personal truth into a deeply human journey. From childhood wallpaper dreams to the burnout halls of Ontario public schools, this is a story about grit, memory, and why holding the torch of humanity matters.

You'll hear about early explorers like Champlain, the music and literature that shaped a generation, and the invisible systems we’re all swimming in. More than a podcast about Canadian history—it’s a reflection on identity, resilience, educator well-being, and what it means to care in a world that often forgets to.

Featuring voices from Rush, Springsteen, The Tragically Hip, and Colonel John McCrae, this episode is for educators, misfits, seekers, and humans alike.

Support the show

I am so incredibly grateful that you stopped by. Thanks for listening to the show.

I hope you loved it. If you're interested, check me out on socials

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/canadiangritmedia/
OR: @canadiangritmedia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573998726741

Facebook Discussion and Community Page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573998726741

Remember, my friends: We're in this thing together. It means more than you know. We're just getting started!

If you know of anyone-- or if YOU have an amazing story of grit, or even something to share with the world, why not reach out and let me know?

I'd love to give voice to your stories.

All the very best.

Your good pal,

-Jamie