YXE Underground

Eric Anderson

1 Creator

An original podcast featuring interviews with people who are doing amazing things in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but are flying under the radar. Former CBC journalist is Eric Anderson is the creator, host and producer of the podcast.

#25 in the Top 100 Indie arts Weekly chart

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5 Listeners

1 Comment

What is YXE Underground about?

YXE Underground features people in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada who are doing amazing things in their community but are flying under the radar.

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Top 10 YXE Underground Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best YXE Underground episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to YXE Underground for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite YXE Underground episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Season Four - Episode Ten - Science Trek Program

YXE Underground

06/09/22 • 60 min

It's easy to spot a Science Trek student in Saskatoon. Just look for their bright yellow backpack cover!

To be a member of the Science Trek means you are a part of a family. This is one of the many things I learned about the program after spending a beautiful June day with the class as it prepared for an upcoming canoe trip. It makes a lot of sense.

Students apply to be a part of this unique Saskatoon Public Schools program from across the city and then are chosen from a lottery. Most of the students didn't know each-other on their first day of school, but through a variety of experiences (both inside the classroom and out in the community) they come together to form a family. And this family loves science!
Science Trek teaches students to view the world around them through the lens of science. It is taught by two amazing teachers: Brian Gurney and Ashley Son. Together, they empower their students to discover how science impacts our community in places the northeast swale and the South Saskatchewan River. How they go about doing this is fascinating and I think you'll really admire their approach to teaching.

I had so much fun with the Science Trek class and I think it's a fantastic way to wrap up Season Four of the podcast.
A big thank you to Rob Rongve and his team at Rongve Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities in North Battleford for supporting this episode.
And a big thank you to all you listeners for supporting local, independent podcast this season! I truly do appreciate it.
I hope you have a great summer and I can't wait for Season Five to launch on September 8th!
Talk to you soon, Saskatoon...

Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

3 Listeners

1 Comment

Season Seven - Episode Three - Kristen Thoms and Julia McCormick

YXE Underground

11/14/24 • 40 min

There is an organization in Saskatoon that works to strengthen the economic and social conditions of our city’s core neighbourhoods. It’s called Quint Development Corporation and it’s an organization full of amazing leaders like Kristen Thoms and Julia McCormick.

Kristen is Quint’s Executive Director and has been with the organization for 18 years. Julia is the Director of Operations with Quint and has called it home for 11 years. Together, they oversee a team that is helping people in the core neighbourhoods find meaningful employment, move into safe and affordable housing, and spark a sense of pride in their neighbourhoods.

How are they doing this you ask?

I found out when Kristen and Julia took for me a walk through neighbourhoods like Riversdale and Pleasant Hill where they showed me the different ways Quint is helping people. We ended our walk in Optimist Park where you will hear the pride Kristen and Julia have in their work and why it means so much to them.

They are both kind and warm people who love helping others and are truly invested in helping people who call the core neighbourhoods home improve their lives in meaningful ways.

I learned so much in this conversation and I know you will too.

You can listen to YXE Underground wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Goodpods or on the website: yxeunderground.com

Please feel free to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

You can follow YXE Underground on social media. Simply search YXE Underground on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also now find YXE Underground on YouTube, which is very exciting and long overdue. Right now, there’s just one thing on the YXE Underground YouTube channel and that’s a video Molly Schikosky and I created with the help of many YXE Underground guests that celebrates six seasons of the podcast and this wonderful city we call home. I am so proud of how it turned out. A huge thanks to Molly for her work in creating it and to all of the guests who took time to help us out.

Thank you for continuing to support a local, independent podcast here in Saskatoon! I truly appreciate it.

Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

2 Listeners

1 Comment

Season Six - Episode Three - Kim Fisher

YXE Underground

11/09/23 • 34 min

For more than 20 years, Kim Fisher has worked at the Saskatoon YWCA helping women and their families receive the supports they need and doing it with kindness and compassion.

The YWCA is many things to many people in our community. There is an employment and learning centre that helps people learn the skills to reach their employment goals. The childhood development centre provides daycare to kids from across Saskatoon. And of course there is the gym that many years ago I frequented when I was a university student living a block away from YWCA.

For this episode, we focus on the YWCA’s Emergency Crisis Shelter, the long term residents and the programming it provides to women and their families in need of help.

Kim Fisher is the Director of Residential Programs at the YWCA and is a very busy person. She oversees several different support programs, which she talks about in our conversation, and has been helping with the organization’s efforts to expand their capacity through their Hope Lives Here campaign.

The need for safe housing is high in Saskatoon.

In 2022, the YWCA Crisis Shelter and Residence turned away more than 4000 women, youth and children looking for a safe place to stay in our community.

Kim shares the wonderful news of the campaign’s success and the expansion happening right now at the YWCA in our conversation. She also explains why it takes so much courage for women to seek out the help and services offered at the YWCA and why this work means so much to her.

Thank you so much for listening and supporting a local, independent podcast. Please leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear and feel free to tell a friend about YXE Underground!
Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

2 Listeners

1 Comment

Season Four - Episode Eight - The Friendship Inn

YXE Underground

04/14/22 • 41 min

Knowing where your next hot meal is coming from is a luxury most of us take for granted, but there are people in our community from all backgrounds who struggle to find their next breakfast or lunch. The Friendship Inn has spent the past 50 years helping vulnerable people in our community struggling with food security get the supports they need.

Every morning and lunch, 365 days a year, the Friendship Inn serves a free breakfast and lunch to people who need it. What's really amazing to me is that the organization never missed a meal in the pandemic.

I was able to spend a morning at the Friendship Inn on a sunny Thursday in late March. I feel very lucky to have met a wonderful group of people who care for our community's most vulnerable with compassion and empathy. In this episode you'll meet Sandra Kary (Executive Director), Laura Herman (Development and Engagement Manager), Jenna Gull (Chef) and Tracy Block (Staff Member) and they do a fantastic job of sharing how the Friendship Inn is able to support so many people.

Food security is an ongoing challenge in Saskatoon and there are many organizations who are working hard to meet this challenge. The Friendship Inn is certainly playing a vital role and I think that point will become clear to you after listening to this episode.
Don't forget to leave a 5-star review of the podcast if you like what you hear and you can see some great photos from this episode simply by checking out YXE Underground on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
A big thank you to Rob Rongve and his team at Rongve Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities in North Battleford for supporting this episode.
Thank you again to the Friendship Inn for welcoming me with open arms!
Thanks for supporting a local, independent podcast! It really does mean a lot.

Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

2 Listeners

1 Comment

Season Five - Episode Three - Alejandro Romero

YXE Underground

11/10/22 • 64 min

Take a walk through downtown Saskatoon, River Landing, Riversdale or the University of Saskatchewan campus and you will see public works of art. These pieces reflect our community’s history, they tell important stories and some even become landmarks. Alejandro Romero is passionate about the many positive impacts public art brings to Saskatoon and he shares his convictions in this episode of YXE Underground.

This past summer, my wife and I spent a few weeks in Tennessee visiting places like Nashville, Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains. Everywhere we went, we saw really stunning displays of public art. Whether it was a statue or a vibrant mural, there were pieces of art that told stories of their communities and certainly made for an interesting photograph.

These pieces also made me think of Alejandro Romero. I first met Alejandro in February of 2020, just before the pandemic arrived in Saskatoon, at a podcasting workshop for newcomers. He was one of the organizers and we instantly hit it off because Alejandro is just such a warm and inviting person.

Alejandro has called Saskatoon home for the past 20 years. He was born in Puerto Rico and became a professionally trained artist. Since 2012, Alejandro has been the public art consultant with the City of Saskatoon and works closely with artists, businesses, community leaders and city officials to help create and install public pieces of art in Saskatoon. Overall, Saskatoon has 80 pieces of public art.

When I reached out to Alejandro to see if he would be on the podcast, I asked if we could do the interview at one of his favourite pieces of public art in the city. He expanded on that idea and chose four pieces that hold a special place in his heart.

Alejandro takes you on a public art tour in this episode and I know you’re going to love it.

I want to say a special thank you to Saskatoon photographer Ali Mehdi for his amazing photographs and for being such a wonderful collaborator. Please follow Ali on Instagram because the man can really do some incredible work behind the lens.

Don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

I also want to let you know that new YXE Underground shirts have arrived and they are selling quickly! They sell for 30 dollars and all of the money goes to the Saskatoon Friendship Inn which is doing important work helping our city’s most vulnerable when it comes to food security. Please reach out to me on social media or my email [email protected] you would like a shirt.

Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

1 Listener

1 Comment

Bonus Episode - Frances Sreedhar and Walking

YXE Underground

03/28/22 • 22 min

"Everybody in the pandemic has seems more friendly and more open. I've seen so many more people during the pandemic actually engaging in eye-contact and actually stopping and saying hello."

I love this statement from Frances Sreedhar! If anyone knows how people are acting on the Meewasin trails, it's Frances.

Frances has walked more than one million steps on the Meewasin Valley trails since the pandemic started back in March of 2020 here in Saskatoon. She started walking for many different reason, which she explains eloquently in this bonus episode of the podcast, and realized that she had the opportunity to help two organizations close to her heart through her daily walks on the trails.

In 2021, Frances raised thousands of dollars for the Meewasin Valley Authority and the Canadian Mental Health Association and is at it again in 2022. She has done a marvellous job of sharing her story with the local media (CTV Saskatoon, CBC Saskatchewan, Global Saskatoon) and I feel very lucky that she is appearing on the podcast to talk about the joys of walking and why fundraising for these two organizations is so important to her.
If you would like to help Frances reach her 2022 fundraising goal, please check out her Facebook Page.

Thank you for supporting a local, independent podcast and hope to see you on the MVA trails this spring!
Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

1 Listener

Season Five - Episode One - Phillip Harder

YXE Underground

09/15/22 • 41 min

Every superhero has an origin story. For hydrologist Phillip Harder, who I consider a water superhero, his origin story traces back to when he first saw a culvert sticking straight up in the air near his farm at the age of seven.

Phillip wanted to know why there was fresh water at the bottom of that odd-looking culvert when there was an alkali body of water nearby. To a seven year-old kid growing up on a farm southeast of Saskatoon, this question needed an answer.

The answer to this question, and the great story that surrounds it, is in this episode of YXE Underground.

Season 5 of YXE Underground begins with Phillip Harder. He is a hydrologist and a Research Associate for the Centre for Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan. He is also a member of a national team called the Global Water Futures research project.

Phillip is helping communities on the prairies, and especially farmers, learn to best use their fresh water resources. He’s doing this through careful research, flying expensive drones and engaging with people on social media.

I really admire the work Phillip is doing for our communities. I think the issue of fresh water will become more prominent in the years to come here in Saskatoon as we continue to see the impact of climate change and how it impacts the South Saskatchewan River. We rely so much on the South Saskatchewan River here in Saskatoon, but as Phillip points out in the podcast, so do many people in Saskatchewan and Alberta. We are going to need to share this valuable resource and Phillip’s research will help guide us in how best to do so.

You will also hear from Jay Famiglietti in this episode. Jay is the Executive Director for the Global Institute of Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan and hosts a wonderful podcast called What About Water which is produced here in Saskatoon. Jay does an excellent job of putting Phillip’s work into a larger context and discusses the challenges of sharing research with people who are set in their ways when it comes to using water.

This was such a fun episode to produce! I spent a very hot August afternoon with Phillip on his family’s land just south of Clavet, Saskatchewan, which is about 15 minutes southeast of Saskatoon. He not only took me to the infamous vertical culvert but also to a research site where some of his work is taking place. Phillip is passionate about educating people on issues surrounding fresh water and is gifted at explaining things in clear and understandable ways.
I hope you enjoy the Season 5 debut of YXE Underground and I want to thank you for supporting a local, independent podcast! When I started this podcast in September of 2018, I had no idea it would find such a caring and engaged audience, and I sure didn’t think I would make it to a fifth season! Thank you so much for your continued support as I really love sharing the stories of people who are making a difference in Saskatoon but are flying under the radar.

Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

1 Listener

1 Comment

Season Four - Episode Nine - Charles and Megen Olfert

YXE Underground

05/12/22 • 45 min

Megen Olfert smiles thinking about the backyard treehouse her father designed for her when she was a kid.

It was wide enough for a motorised wheelchair to manoeuvre inside, and a cement path wound its way through the backyard up to the treehouse instead of stairs or a ladder.

“I felt like I was on equal ground as a kid,” said Megen, “because sometimes when you’re disabled it means you have to do things differently even though you can do the same thing. It made me feel included.”

Megen was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months old. It became clear to her parents, Charles and Leila Olfert, that their daughter would need a wheelchair and their house would not meet Megen’s needs. So, Charles began designing a new home for the family.

This is an excerpt from a story I wrote for the CBC Saskatchewan website based on this episode. I love the story of Megan's treehouse!

Charles and Leila have been living in this fully accessible home for the past 36 years. Charles is an architect with AODBT architecture and interior design and is passionate about accessibility. He shares that passion in this episode and I am grateful to him for it.

I am also grateful to have met Megen at her condominium at Cheshire Homes of Saskatoon, along with her service dog, Que. He makes a few appearances in this episode.

What you are going to hear is the story of a young woman who was not going to let her disabilities prevent her from living a full and abundant life and the father who used his architectural and design knowledge to ensure she had access to everything she needed.
Charles was kind enough to give me a tour of his house before introducing me to Megen at her condo. In between the tour and meeting Megen, I sat down with Charles to learn more about his passion for accessibility, how he is working with local businesses and organizations to make accessibility a priority, and his belief in the Rick Hansen Foundation's certification course.

I had so much fun spending time with Charles and Megen and I hope you enjoy listening to their story.
Thank you so much for continuing to support a local, independent podcast and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. Oh, and there are some wonderful photos of Charles and Megen taken by Saskatoon photographer Rona Andreas on the website and social media sites.
Thanks again for listening!

Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

1 Listener

Bonus Episode -Saskatoon Fringe Festival Preview

YXE Underground

07/25/22 • 20 min

Anita Smith is one of my favourite people and it was wonderful to have her back on the podcast for this special summer bonus episode.

Anita is the Artistic and Executive Director of Saskatoon's 25th Street Theatre and a fierce advocate for the arts in our community. When she's not directing and acting in plays, Anita empowers local artists from all backgrounds to tell their stories on local stages. That's one of the many reasons why she is so excited for the Saskatoon Fringe Festival.

25th Street Theatre puts on the Fringe Festival which means Anita and her team are busy all year preparing for the 10 day festival in Saskatoon's Broadway District. This year's festival features the return of international theatre companies to Saskatoon as well as some fantastic local and national companies.
Anita was kind enough to swing by my house on a Sunday morning to offer a preview of this year's Fringe Festival for the podcast. We also discuss the importance of getting kids interested in the arts at a young age and why she feels so strongly about our community supporting local artists.

You can learn more about this year's Fringe Festival and purchase tickets to any of the festival performances by visiting the 25th Street Theatre website.
I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer and don't forget that Season 5 of YXE Underground drops on September 8th! I have started gathering interviews for the new season and can't wait to share them with you!!
Thank you, as always, for supporting a local, independent podcast. I really do appreciate it. Have a great rest of your summer and maybe see you at the Fringe!
Cheers...Eric

Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

1 Listener

1 Comment

Season Five - Episode Two - Charmaine Panko

YXE Underground

10/13/22 • 34 min

Spend some time with Charmaine Panko and you will quickly realize how important meaningful and empathetic discussion is to her.

Charmaine is a Saskatoon lawyer who takes a lot of pride in helping couples and families who are going through the divorce process. She worked in a corporate law firm for 10 years after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan's law program but was always intrigued by family law.

She started a niche practice in our community focusing on conflict resolution and uses collaborative law and mediation when working in family law.

Charmaine explains how collaborative law and mediation can help couples going through a divorce make sure their priorities are in the right place while being kind and respectful to one-another in this episode. She also shares her motivation for helping others and why getting people in a room to talk through their concerns is often the best way to reach a solution.

You will also hear from Colleen Mpofu-McBride in this episode. Colleen is a clinical social worker and works in private practice as a therapist with women, couples and families. She knows Charmaine well and has taken her mediation training. Colleen offers her unique insights into the advantages mediation and collaborative law offers couples going through a difficult time.

I really learned a lot from Charmaine in our conversation. She is a warm and generous person who really wants to help people in our community. I really admire that.

I hope you enjoy this episode and please feel free to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear! Don't forget to follow YXE Underground on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and listen wherever you find your podcasts including the YXE Underground website.

Thank you for continuing to support a local, independent podcast. I truly appreciate it.

Cheers...Eric