A weekly radio program about people, the society in which we live, and issues related to health and wellness. Broadcast live on Thursdays at noon, and rebroadcast Mondays at noon, on CHLY 101.7 FM. Also streaming online at chly.ca.
Listen to a promo clip.
People First Radio is an initiative of Columbian Centre Society in partnership with Radio Malaspina Society. The opinions expressed on-air are not necessarily those of these organizations. The contents of website links provided below are for information only and should not be considered as recommendations or endorsements.
LISTEN AGAIN
If you'd like to listen to one of our segments, click on 'LISTEN'. If you'd like to download and save a copy of one of our segments, right-click on 'LISTEN' and select "save target as" or "save file as".
Are we doing enough?: Tragedy, inquest put spotlight on response to domestic violence in B.C.
February 4, 2010
The British Columbia government announced on January 18th that it was taking immediate action to protect victims of domestic violence and ensure offender accountability. The new plans came following an inquest into the murder-suicide deaths of a Vancouver Island family. But critics of the government's plan say that not enough resources are available to implement changes. We spoke with Leonard Krog, New Democratic Party MLA for the Nanaimo constituency, Anne Spilker, executive director at Haven Society, Lesley Clarke, executive director at Nanaimo Women's Resources Society, and Jennifer Bricker, an immigrant settlement worker at Nanaimo's Immigrant Welcome Centre. The B.C. Ministry of Public Safety was unable to participate.
LISTEN (13:03) Leonard Krog, Anne Spilker
LISTEN (14:31) Lesley Clarke, Jennifer Bricker
Runners Keep It Riel: Metis Nation's Olympic Focus unfolds during the "Year of the Metis"
February 4, 2010
Metis Nation British Columbia's 2010 Olympic torch relay team, "Keeping It Riel", recently ran with the Olympic torch. The team's slogan, a tribute to Louis Riel, was selected during a meeting last summer with Metis youth. Organizer Marcel Chalmers told the Vancouver Sun that he would be filled with pride, particularly after the Saskatchewan government declared 2010 as the Year of Metis. "It is going to be an incredible year for all Metis," he said. We speak with Bruce Dumont, president of Metis Nation British Columbia and with James Froh, an assistant deputy minister with Saskatchewan's ministry for First Nations and Metis relations.
LISTEN (13:50)
On quality of life: Turning to the experts who live successfully with bipolar disorder
January 28, 2010
Very little is known about how people successfully self-manage their bipolar disorder (BD). Information about people living successfully with BD isn't nearly as easy to find, for example, as information about disability or dysfunction. Now, a team of researchers is looking at self-management techniques provided by the experts themselves--people with BD who are living well. The hope is to turn their strategies into a kind of how-to guide that others can use to improve their lives. We spoke with Erin Michalak, an assistant professor in psychiatry with the University of British Columbia's faculty of medicine.
LISTEN (13:07)
View a PDF copy of the research article here.
Housing campaigns: Red tents and hunger strike call for national strategy
January 28, 2010
Vancouver-based Pivot Legal Society, the Citywide Housing Coalition, and other partners announced the launch of an Olympic red tent campaign on Monday January 25th, calling on the federal government to fund a national housing strategy to end homelessness. The partners call for government to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for all persons living in Canada. We spoke with John Richardson, executive director of Pivot Legal Society, and with Am Johal, a housing activist and organizer of a year-long hunger strike drawing attention to Canada's lack of a national housing strategy.
LISTEN (13:32)
Red Zone poet: Kim Goldberg's latest book raises awareness
January 28, 2010
Nanaimo poet Kim Goldberg and her book "Red Zone" have been appearing in a variety of settings recently. The book is a collection of poems, images, and artist projects, and was inspired by Goldberg's experiences living within Nanaimo's "red zone." The red zone is an area designated as no-go for certain individuals, particularly some whose alcohol, drugs, or disturbances convictions are perceived to contribute to general problems in the downtown area. Kim Goldberg spoke with us just ahead of a dance adaptation of her work at Nanaimo Centre Stage.
LISTEN (4:48)
October 1, 2009: Kim Goldberg visited us during Random Acts of Poetry week to read from "Red Zone" and talk about her book. LISTEN (12:16)
July 16, 2009: We spoke with Kim Goldberg about the return of her writer's voice--in poetry--and the development of "Red Zone." LISTEN (14:22)
True nature of addiction: It's a chronic, treatable disease, but stigma remains
January 28, 2010
During the spring of 2009 the British Columbia Medical Association released a policy paper calling for a full continuum of care for addictions in the province. The paper also recommended that addiction be officially recognized by the provincial government as a chronic and treatable disease. We spoke with Dr. Shao-Hua Lu, the paper's lead author and chair of BCMA's Council on Health Promotion, in an interview first broadcast on April 2, 2009 and rebroadcast on January 28, 2010.
LISTEN (15:39)
BCMA Facebook page: Is addiction a disease or a human failure?
End of EIBI program: How are affected families coping?
January 21, 2010
When the B.C. government announced changes to the way it funds autism support in the province, mothers of children with autism became activists...challenging the decision with protests and online campaigns. The early intensive behavioural intervention program (EIBI) ends January 31st. We spoke with Cher Sherwood and Samantha Warden, who are mothers of children with autism and organizers of protests against the government's decision, about the experiences of affected families.
LISTEN (18:59)
Parents push back: Do autism cuts make any sense? Interview with Cher Sherwood and Samantha Warden from October 8, 2009 LISTEN (13:29)
Interview with Maurine Karagianis from October 8, 2009 LISTEN (12:39)
Image: Families gather in Langley to protest autism cuts. Source: Moms on the Move.
A cappuccino home: Simple design, low price just might be the key
January 21, 2010
The Twelve Cubed Homes website says "welcome to the future" and "we do small in a big way" on its opening page. Ten cubed (ten cubic feet) and twelve cubed (twelve cubic feet) homes--at around $85 per square foot--just might be the answer to providing affordable housing. We spoke with company founder James Stuart about cube homes, their potential, and his inspiration for designing them. We also share a brief audio tour through one of the micro-homes...the "cappuccino" model.
LISTEN (18:59)
Shame on the smoker: Using stigma as a public health tool
January 14, 2010
A recent research article authored by the University of British Columbia's Kirsten Bell (and others) argues that smokers have been stigmatized by current tobacco policies, with a number of potentially negative impacts. We spoke with Kirsten Bell about the article and her research.
LISTEN (19:33)
Elder rights and care: Dealing with family and individual challenges
January 14, 2010
The author of a newly-revised "Nursing Homes and Assisted Living" guide aims to help people choose appropriate care and learn how to advocate for their loved ones in complex care environments. We spoke with Peter Silin, consultant and geriatric care manager, about the guide book and his work.
LISTEN (18:03)
Ongoing challenges: How men's centres are, or aren't, weathering the times
January 7, 2010
The Nanaimo Men's Centre has experienced a series of funding crises over the years--the most recent occurring at the end of 2009. Organizers of men's centres continue to agree, however, on the importance of offering men's counselling and support services from men's organizations. What do men's centres do? Why are they important? What are some of the issues facing men these days? We were joined in the studio by Theo Boere, executive director of Nanaimo Men's Resource Centre.
LISTEN (16:34)
Please note that Listen Again files are updated each week and generally offer opportunities to access live interviews from the previous several months.
If you'd like to keep a file for your own use, please download it.
WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER
Each week (usually on Wednesday morning) we send out an email newsletter with news and information for our listeners and other interested individuals and organizations. The e-newlsetter includes a rich blend of information and news links to stories related to mental health, addiction, and homelessness issues. It also describes what we’re planning for each week’s live broadcast.
If you enjoy using the web for information and would like to receive our weekly People First e-newsletter, contact us at
LIVE BROADCAST
People First Radio is a weekly live radio program broadcast on FM radio in
Listen Thursday at noon (Pacific Time) for our live one hour program focusing on people, the society in which we live, and issues related to health and wellness, including mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. The program is rebroadcast on Mondays at noon. It will be podcast soon.
ABOUT
In November of 2007 Columbian Centre Society of Nanaimo, B.C. launched a new public education initiative designed to educate the public and raise awareness of the issues associated with mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. People First Radio went on the air November 22nd with its first weekly broadcast on
The program has since provided weekly one-hour live broadcasts including in-studio and telephone guests and re-broadcasts of interviews and news clips from nonprofit, community, and public broadcasting around the world. Over time, a weekly email enewsletter has been included, announcing the Thursday live broadcast content and also providing an extensive list of newspaper and online news headline hyperlinks and local event information. The People First Radio broadcast, in a general sense, can be described as "a program about people, the society in which we live, and issues related to health and wellness."
“We wanted to offer public education in a unique way to the community...and radio has provided a doorway for us into both broadcast and webcast worlds,” said Tom Grauman, Columbian Centre executive director. Jan Coleman, a former CCS staff member and board member, co-hosts the program and promotes it by word of mouth in the community. “I have been approached again and again by individuals in the community who have heard the program and have not only praise for what is being accomplished in the broadcast, but also feedback for what is most interesting, most appreciated, and most striking.”
In November 2009, after two years of continuous weekly broadcasts, People First Radio was given an award for "Innovative Community Capacity Building" by the British Columbia Healthy Living Alliance. People First Radio was one of twelve non-profit projects across Vancouver Island that were selected based on their ability to inspire communities to take action to identify and meet their own unique needs.
People First Radio was inspired by a handful of similar community radio initiatives around the world, including Radio La Colifata (“Crazy Radio” in
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