The Big Story's First Year

Explicit content warning

06/25/19 • 25 min

It sounds easy. Produce a compelling 15 to 20 minute piece of audio every day about a Canadian news story. And then you find out it isn't easy. For the last year, Jordan Heath-Rawlings has been doing just that with Frequency Network's flagship podcast, The Big Story. Mildly modelled after the NY Times' podcast, The Daily, the Big Story has shone the spotlight on Canadian stories ranging from the rat and transit problems in Toronto, to Canada's legalization of pot, and the inane plebiscite on keeping Winnipeg's Portage and Main. (Full Disclosure - I was the guest on that episode which you can listen to here)

In this episode, you'll find out how the show came together, what decisions get made, and the forward planning that goes into each episode.

Special thanks to Claire Brassard at the Frequency Network for providing audio for this episode.

There's more about this episode on our show page!

Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:

Promosuite

Matt Fogarty Voiceovers

Justin Dove at Core Image Studios

Megatrax

NLogic

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, you'll find out how the show came together, what decisions get made, and the forward planning that goes into each episode.

Special thanks to Claire Brassard at the Frequency Network for providing audio for this episode.

There's more about this episode on our show page!

Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:

Promosuite

Matt Fogarty Voiceovers

Justin Dove at Core Image Studios

Megatrax

NLogic

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

Bob Harris: Some Serious Fun

Bob Harris has had an incredible radio journey that has spanned Peterborough, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Hamilton. Along the way it has been about the people. He'll be the first to admit that he made mistakes along the way and learned on the job through the mentorship of General managers like Rob Braide, the late Gary Russell, Tom Peacock and Pat Holiday. Bob also worked with Canada's two biggest morning shows in Gerry Forbes in Calgary, and Terry Dimonte & Ted Bird in Montreal.

Full disclosure, I applied for a job with Bob in Calgary in 1993 but didn't get the job. It all worked out as I got hired in Edmonton a year later at the same company and we worked reasonably closely on a number of rock related promotions. In 2004 we eventually got to work together at CHOM in Montreal which Bob will be the first to admit was a whole new way of programming radio.

Finally, I asked bob about his battle with cancer and the amazing help he received along the way. Do not miss the last third of this episode.

To reach out to Bob for new opportunities or to connect - e-mail him at [email protected]

There's more about this episode on our show page!

Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:

Promosuite

Matt Fogarty Voiceovers

Justin Dove at Core Image Studios

Megatrax

NLogic

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Next Episode

Terry O'Reilly: Under The Influence

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Terry O'Reilly is a radio guy. He will tell you on the show that he is an ad guy - and that might be partially true. However, it is apparent that when you listen to his take on the world of media, advertising, marketing and radio, that he is grounded in radio. His show, Under the Influence, which grew from its previous incarnation of The Age of Persuasion (2006-2011) and O'Reilly on Advertising (2005). The show is now in its eighth season on CBC Radio and has expanded further into the podcast world.

Terry and his wife Debbie, along with daughters Callie, Shea and Sidney work on the program year round to create some of the most amazing audio about marketing. The show has developed a loyal following from countless Canadians and listeners around the world. Here are some things in the show we learned:

The show's idea came about over beers one day which involved Larry McInnis who was the creative director at CHUM in Toronto. As a complete aside, Larry is a graduate of Acadia University which is where I went to school. :)
There is a Beatles reference in every show. That information lives on the Wikipedia page but Terry confirmed that he is a big fan and in his most recent episode spoke about how John Lennon was the best marketer amongst the Beatles.
Terry is starting a company for podcasters... details will be announced soon but we were stoked that he announced that on our podcast.
As we mentioned at the outset, Terry is a radio guy. When I asked him to come on the podcast he was aware of the show and had taken in a few episodes. High praise!
Podcast aficionados will love hearing how Terry has embraced podcasting.

The entire back catalogue of Under The Influence is now available in Podcast form. Connect to it here.

Terry has three books and is working on a 4th this summer. Connect to all things Terry here.

There's more about this episode on our show page!

Thanks also to the people who make this show possible every week including:

Promosuite

Matt Fogarty Voiceovers

Justin Dove at Core Image Studios

Megatrax

NLogic

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.