On this episode of Tiny Conversations theatre performer Michelle Polak discusses creating connection and hope with her latest peace “Leaving Still”.

Michelle is a multiple award winning interdisciplinary actor, creator, teacher and mother. She has performed nationally and internationally, and is also the first woman in Canada to receive the Patrick Crean Award.

Michelle is using her art to create positive change, inspire others and create hope in the world. Host Brian Cauley invited Michelle to be on this show after seeing a performance of “Leaving Still” at Nuit Blanche. The play starts with Michelle offering to make someone a sandwich. It ends up with people squished inside a freight elevator that is intentionally reminiscent of the trains that took Jewish people to Auschwitz. On the walls were pieces of brown kraft paper with words written on them. Things like: “from nothing to something” “addiction” “home” and more.

Listen to the episode as host Brian Cauley asks Michelle about:

• How she created this piece.
• How she is moving past her demons and to a place of “survivor”
• The emotional toll it took to perform this piece and create the hope she describes.

If you’re in New Brunswick you can see Michelle perform as The Snow Queen in “The Snow Queen” at Theatre New Brunswick.

What is the most moving piece of theatre you’ve seen? Did it change your life? Comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Below you can listen to the full conversation between Brian and Michelle, where they parenthood, what Michelle’s dad thought about a first reading of the play (he tore it down) and her thoughts on Donald Trump and how the US Election is similar to 1940s Germany and the Holocaust.

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Episode_33-FULL_INTERVIEW-Michelle-Polak-Creating-Hope.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

The post 33. Creating Hope with Michelle Polak appeared first on Tiny Conversations.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch discusses the treatment of women in Professional Baseball journalism.

Shaun recently wrote an article entitled “Women and Baseball: It’s (Past) Time for MLB Coverage to Embrace Women…” – where he discusses both the lack of gender diversity in baseball and the mistreatment of women in the profession.

In this episode, host Brian Cauley discusses with Shaun why he wrote this article, some of the things he’s seen as a baseball journalist, and the personal struggle he faced while writing on this topic. Shaun discusses the inequalities he observes and how he feels when women are judged differently than him. Shaun also discusses the difference between speaking for someone else and speaking-up with someone. In this episode Shaun gets personal and examines how he felt as a man writing about women in baseball and why he couldn’t ignore the dissatisfaction inside him.

What do you think about the current state of women in baseball? What about in other professional sports? You can reach Shaun on Twitter at @JaysFromCouch, comment below, send Brian an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Below you can listen to our full conversation, where Shaun delves deeper into many of the topics discussed in this episode:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Episode_31-FULL_INTERVIEW-Women_in_Baseball_Shaun_Doyle.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Watch the #MoreThanMean video featuring sports reporters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro.

The post 31. Shaun Doyle on The Treatment of Women in Baseball Journalism appeared first on Tiny Conversations.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Ainsley Monro about doing purposeful work and some of the barriers to that work.

Since she was four-years-old Ainsley has been trying to lead grassroots movements to affect change. Starting with a kindergarten trash pick-up Ainsley has moved on to work with organizations like Katimavik and The Otesha Project. Now Ainsley dreams of building community spaces and hosting YouTube channels that get young Canadians involved in politics.

In this episode Ainsley and I discuss why this kind of work is so important to her and what barriers she is facing. We explore topics like brainstorming, idea sharing, and creating online identities.

What kind of work are you trying to do, and what barriers are you facing? Comment below, send me an email, or tweet @briancauley.

Ainsley currently works for the David Suzuki Foundation in Toronto. She tweets @SpeakingSpark and posts videos on YouTube under the same name. You can listen to our full conversation here:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Episode_29-FULL_INTERVIEW-Doing_Purposeful_Work_with_Ainsley_Monro.mp3

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

The post 29. Doing Purposeful Work with Ainsley Monro appeared first on Tiny Conversations.

On this episode of Tiny Conversations I talk to Zahra Ebrahim about the importance of sharing ideas – from why she believes in sharing an idea right from its inception, to why people are afraid to share and what can go wrong…and right…when we decide to share.

Zahra is a change driven, rule-bending creative. I first heard Zahra speak at a community event awhile back and was so impressed with both her passion and her generosity in cultivating ideas, community, and opportunities to involve people in change. From the moment Zahra and I sat down at a local cafe, she openly shared her ideas.

At the time of recording Zahra was Principal and Founder of archiTEXT. Since then she’s moved on to work as Co-CEO of the Canadian offices at Doblin, a global innovation firm.

Do you have a great story for this podcast? Send me an email or tweet @briancauley.

Our theme music is provided by Broke for Free.

Listen to the full, unedited conversation below:

http://briancauley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Episode-26-Tiny-Conversations-Zahra-Ibrahim-Full.mp3

The post 26. Zahra Ebrahim on Sharing Ideas Freely appeared first on Tiny Conversations.