As a loyal CBC listener, online follower and a nightly viewer of their news program, The National, this past summer was particularly horrifying for me. For one reason or another (the union?) much of the staff of our public broadcaster seem to take extended holidays during the summer months leaving massive holes in programming and "best of" versions of shows that otherwise present insights on current events during the school year. I don't know if I simply became more aware of it this year or if there was an actual shift to running even more repeat programming than usual but it put a sort of fear in me as I tuned out like a zombie, repeating the motion of changing the dial and the channel over and over again.
Thankfully this feeling of dread was subdued yesterday afternoon as I was pleasantly surprised to hear a brand new feature documentary called The Politics of Fear, produced and hosted by Vancouver's own Matthew Lazin-Ryder, on Radio One. Described as "the collision of politics and horror movies", it brings World War Z and Donald Trump together to explain why we love the monsters we imagine versus the monsters that are real. It's a great start to a new school year, and hopefully a sign that more refreshing programming is on the way. Have a listen to the full thing.
