Nothing stays the same, and our podcast is no exception

Every day, our Closer Look podcast chases the same mission: to learn something new.

Whether we're dissecting a pressing issue, or speaking to a prominent guest, we try to leave the conversation knowing a bit more than before.

We hope you've learned some things, too.

Starting next week, we're shaking it up a bit. Closer Look is moving from a nightly podcast to a weekly show, with new episodes dropping every Sunday morning across the Village Media network.

Shifting to a weekly show gives us more room to focus on the stories that really matter. You can expect more context, more perspective, and more thoughtful conversations with our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Stay tuned!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The old saying all good things must come to an end certainly seems apropos for this evening's show. Across the Village Media Network and wherever you get your favorite podcast on this 10th day of April, it's a Friday. That's a good thing. The weekend is here. I'm Scott Sexmith with Michael Friscolandy, Zach Tronzo, executive producer of the program in the room as well. The old saying, all good things must come to an end, certainly seems apropos for this evening's show, does it not?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

That is a saying, yeah. I think it's a good thing. I don't know if other people think it's a good thing, but I think it is. I think our show has been a lot of fun. Uh we've talked about it a couple times over the last week about how we're transitioning the format of the show. Uh we were given the mission last summer, I think it was. Yeah. Last summer to turn our weekly podcast into a daily podcast. We rebranded it, we brought some new focus to it, uh, brainstormed a bunch of ideas on how to make it better, and we kind of tested it out in the summertime a couple weeks at a time, doing a daily podcast, which is, I know it seems like it's super easy. And and in some days it is very easy. Yes. And some days it's very challenging because you're A, trying to tackle important issues that people are talking about and book important guests that people want to hear from. And to do that on a daily basis takes a lot of planning. It's a grind. It's a grind, a lot of things going on, and then you want to sound somewhat intelligent, which we do about half the time. So we want we want to make sure that that happens. Um and so we launched it officially in the f in September. September the 8th. There you go. I'm glad you remember. Yeah. And it's been going steady every weekday since then. I think we took a break over Christmas. And uh, you know, I I I've I've had a blast doing it. I I've I feel like it's, you know, I'm the editor-in-chief here at Village, so we have 27 local news sites around the province, and we have the Trillium of Queen's Park, Parliament Today, at Parliament Hill. And I don't have my fingers knee deep in all that stuff. I'm I help and I have some thoughts on things, but the great journalists at those sites run the show. And uh this was kind of that one thing a day where I was completely my fingers that I had on the pulse of what was going on and and uh sort of was able to produce it the way we felt we wanted to do things. And I feel like we brought a lot of issues to the forefront that that our local sites wouldn't necessarily cover because it wasn't necessarily a local issue, but we talked about things that had national significance and provincial significance. And I just think back to those early days, like, you know, you know, a sit-down with the commissioner of the OPP talking about, you know, major fentanyl bus, like record setting buses. Yeah, I think about meeting Daryl Fox, Terry Fox's brother in the early days, just talking because he had just finished a cross-country bike ride and then came on to talk about that, but also just about his memories of his brother. And it was just a very powerful conversation. Uh, you know, we've had a couple Stanley Cup champs on the show. Um, and then, you know, you managed to land Pete Hoakstrap, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, and that was a great get. You worked that for a long time trying to land him. We had him on, it was a very frank, open discussion, got a little contentious at moments, which was a great uh great chat. Uh Prime Minister Carney was on the show. Uh who else, my friend? There's been so many.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Prime Minister Trudeau.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah, that was right before that we went daily. He came on, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

What else did we do with the uh you think of the topics, you know, uh healthcare, education, the economy. Like we have run the gamut of of important topics that are important to everyday Ontarians. Yes, exactly. And I think that's why this show has worked. Yeah. Uh, because it's relatable and and people understand and it impacts them. Uh, and and if we can provide, you know, some answers and some guidance along the way, that's bonus. Uh, and you and I have always said that, you know, the goal is to walk out of this studio is smarter than when we walked in. And I think, you know, 99 times out of a hundred, that has been the case.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, that's been for certainly the hope where you have a conversation where you learn something, and then hopefully the listeners learn something. And I think that our mission was always like if I'm a person living in Ontario, do I care about what we're going to talk about today? That's kind of been the mission. Whether I live in Sudbury or Aurelia or Guelph, whatever community I'm in, is this relevant? And sometimes that would be a great local story that's just such a wonderful story that we want to tell it or an interesting story. Like I think of Jessica Owen from Collingwood today, who came on to talk about that family from the United States desperately looking for a sweater that was last seen at a thrift shop in Meaford, Ontario, and their quest to find this sweater that belonged to their dad. Now, that does that matter necessarily to everyone in Ontario? No, but it's a great story that people in Ontario can get behind and who knows, maybe they would have known where that sweater is. And we haven't found it last time I checked. We have not found it, no. So that kind of story. But then also just hearing from maybe one of our reporters at the Trillium about some important bill that's being passed or some debate that's happening around a certain policy at Queen's Park that will have impact people all over Ontario. So and then sometimes it's just about having a fun guest like Joe Bowen, who's retiring next week, is the voice of the Maple Leafs. Yeah. Yeah. Uh you got him too, and that was a great conversation. That was one of my favorite conversations. He was hilarious. Yes, he was. And then, you know, speaking sticking with sports, Dan Schulman was on a couple weeks ago. He's the voice of the Blue Jays, um, talking about uh the magical season they had last year and what people are thinking about. Well, and remember Jamie coming on during the World Series. During the during the World Series run. I think of Jim Gallant, the Canada Post labor union guy. Good guy, Jim. Yeah. He was he was great. Very frank discussions about uh what was going on at Canada Post. Um, you know, and just some of the great experts, like you know, university professors that took time to talk about the research they're doing or to to weigh in on something important that's happening. Um, we had Bonnie Crombie on right before the liberal convention. Yeah, and she was adamant she wasn't going anywhere, she was sticking around, and then she didn't get the support she was hoping she got, and she resigned. Yep. So we're trying to have we really tried to have those conversations, and I think I even think, you know, uh Nicole Moran, that little girl who vanished in uh 40 years ago, 1985, she vanished in in uh West End Toronto uh from the building she lived in. No sign of her at all. No, no physical evidence. She vanished. And on the 40th anniversary, the Toronto police uh, of course, put it back in the news as they've done many, many times over the last few decades, trying to trigger people's memories. And we spoke to her old friend from when they were kids who went on to become a police officer herself. Yes. And she was very emotional talking about this her little her friend as when she was eight years old vanished and it was never seen again. And to be able to have a conversation like that was powerful. Uh and just sticking with the the the police as well, when the Toronto police solved uh they unearthed the serial killer they didn't even know existed. Uh Kenneth Smith, remember? Yes, yes, yes. They used uh um a new um genetic DNA test, uh the the the the different uh um technique that they're investigative genetic genealogy, I think it's called, that they're able to use to un to f figure out the fact that all these three crimes that were years apart were all connected to the same person, then they actually figure out who that person was. So A, they didn't know that this guy even existed, then they realized there's a serial killer, then they actually found him and identified him, right? Which is which was unbelievable. And then to have the detective sergeant who oversees that unit come on and talk about how a case like that comes together with years and years of painstaking research and also the fact that this technology is out there. Just to me, that's exactly what we tried to do every day was that would be in the headlines. Every major media organization was at that press conference, was talking about that, and then we were able to sit down with them and really walk through it in a calm way and sort of hear how that all came together.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

And that same detective sergeant uh who was involved in solving that case was involved with solving the Christine Jessup case.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yes, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

So it was just it was fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Yeah, it's just fascinating. It really was. And then, like, you know, just to think like you mentioned healthcare, like the different pressures on the healthcare system, and we've had so many experts in different areas of that come on and talk, uh has been has been uh for to me a a really excellent way to learn about what's all the different things happening and why it's such a struggle. Uh I think about the school trustee issue that's uh that's hovering over us all right now. Um, we're still waiting from the Ford government to see if they're gonna get rid of school trustees altogether. Yes, we are. We've done multiple episodes on that, talking about various different people, both our education reporter at the Trillium, but also the former chair of the North Bay School Board who was taken over by the Ford government, him voicing his Jay Aspen. Also a former conservative MP also, right? Yeah. Talking about why this was such a big concern. So to me, I you know, my the hope was that we brought something different to the table every day that maybe was something people were re reading about in the headlines and were able to go a little bit deeper. Maybe it was something that that that we didn't. My favorite episode is still Tudor Gadgia, the lawyer, who came on to talk about why you can't throw candy at Christmas parades anymore. So this is the I I was trained in my mind by some the best journalists in the country I worked with over the years, and my editors were always thinking so far outside the box, and they're there they had a way of finding story ideas way on the outskirts, like something that no one else would connect the dots. They'd realize that's actually a good story. To me, I kept seeing all these like these random things about a city announcing, oh, just a reminder, you can't throw candy anymore. Or and then the city of North Bay was one that put out a reminder. And I just thought it's obviously liability issues. And I and then you realize there was a kid who was killed in Alberta generally, and then there was 10 years ago, some guy got his eye knocked out by a chocolate bar that was thrown in Toronto. And uh, so I thought, just this is a really super interesting conversation.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

And sure enough, uh, we reached out to Tudor's law firm and he jumped on the show and he was amazing at explaining about why this is such an issue. And it was just to me, it's like and it was funny to watch the reaction people had to that. It was like how that's so stupid, but at the same time, there are serious liability issues, and it's your city that's gonna be on the hook for those that liability if that happens, right? Um, I think even about the issue of uh of cloned meat and whether that we should sell cloned meat, which was a phenomenal topic and conversation. Uh and I did also forget that we actually had um former premier Dalton McGuinty come to the office. He was in town, he was in Sault Ste. Marie and came in and chatted with us. And I really, really enjoyed that conversation too, because he's put out a new book about being a leader, and he's really and he sent it to one. He'd be a good and he sent it to every provincial, every politician in the country, provincial, um federal, and municipal, I think. Maybe to every mayor, I think he sent it to. And of course, in that interview, I had to ask him about the gas plants, because that's the one thing that lingers over him. And we asked him a few questions about it, and he was very honest with his answers. And and I thought they were, you know, he didn't shy away from answering those questions. So it's those kind of conversations that I think uh have been great uh on the show. Uh I definitely want to give a huge shout out to our friends who made it possible. Derek Turner was our longtime producer, absolutely fantastic human being, and was uh just instrumental in making the show hum every day. Uh Drew Armstrong also helped us out a lot when he was uh had to go behind the controls. Zach Trunzo, who's here today, has also done a lot of work on the show. And then all the team in the background, uh, from designers, designers to the advertising team to who am I forgetting? There's other folks. You that's the thing. When you start rhyming up people, you invariably you always forget. Yeah, so there's so many people that that have a sort of a stay. And then, you know, the various people at the company that have their opinions on how it should be and how it should go. Uh so there was a lot that went into kind of putting all this together every day. And uh, like I said, it's been a it's been a blast. But I think the reality is there's a lot of I think you said it yesterday, village is always that's the one constant here. We're always changing, we're always we're always evolving and getting better, I think. And there's just a lot on our plates, and it's not about, oh, I don't have too much to do, so I can't do this, but there's some other things we have to focus on. Both of us have different things we have to focus on for the next little while. Yeah. But we don't want the podcast to end. No. So the goal, the thought is why don't we go back to the weekly show where we I'm probably gonna run it on Sunday mornings, we're gonna figure all that out next week. But to still have the great guests we have on, still tackle the big topics, and maybe even tackle them better than sometimes we do when we have to get a show together in a couple hours. Because that's the other thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:28

I mean, you you mentioned a daily grind. There were days that we would walk in here and then all of a sudden you get a guest cancel at 10 o'clock that was scheduled. Now I know we're on the air at seven uh at night, but you know, peek behind the curtain, we usually tape anywhere between 11:30 and two that day, just to give the team time to, you know, post-production and all that stuff. But there were countless times that a guest would, you know, have to pull the pin and we're like, okay, we're on the air in six hours. What are we doing? Yeah, exactly. And and we would somehow get it figured out, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Make it work. Absolutely. And I think make it work enough that that uh I mean we saw we don't do it all for numbers, but we could see that people were engaging with the show. People, people, people watched it, people read the articles that attached to it. They went back and read the articles that were that were triggered, that triggered the the idea for the podcast. So it was nice to see uh to see that level of engagement. I did also enjoy seeing it just on all our sites in the evening because it was a great addition to to to our sites just to have that uh that different look. Um so I will miss that for sure. But I do think this this new format gives us an opportunity to do things even a little bit better. Uh so I'm I'm hopeful. We have a couple really uh exciting guests lined up. We're not gonna spoil it. No spoilers. There's some exciting guests lined up for the next few weeks that we're uh we're gonna uh hopefully uh that I know we'll enjoy having on, and I think the people will enjoy listening to them. Absolutely, yeah. Um so yeah, so just thanks to everybody for listening and watching, I think is my message.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Yeah, and it's and it's not the end, so let's be clear about that. Uh so what we're going to do is we're gonna take uh next week off and we're gonna debut that Sunday. So a week from this Sunday, yes. Uh a week from Master Sunday, we will debut and and and I think we've landed on the 8 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

I think yeah, it'll be an 8 a.m. Yeah morning podcast.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

So set your alarms, get up. There's no more sleeping in. Come on, kids, quick, gather out. They're back. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah, no more sleeping in. But you will certainly still see a presence from us uh online through the week, uh, through our social channels. Uh so we will be there uh just not as frequently uh in person.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Yeah, and stake this, you know, keep following the social channels, YouTube especially. There's lots of new stuff that goes up there every day. Um yeah, and I'm you know, again, I just appreciate everybody who had words for us, whether they were criticisms or congratulations. I'd appreciate it all uh getting the feedback. But there are some people who absolutely thought that sometimes our guests were way off base and sometimes they thought they were wonderful, which is great. You want to have that uh that differing opinions on the big issues that are impacting us. Uh I uh I think it's good times ahead. And and who knows? I mean, you never know. Uh in six months, it may be that things change again. It's like we're gonna do this four times a day. Who knows? Six months, you could have two new people sitting here. That's right. Anything's possible. Could be two robots. Yeah. I mean, that would probably wouldn't need any production staff. It would just don't even get me started.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

It's so fitting that you would get an AI shot in before we uh shutter down something. Could you imagine?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

An AI would have already produced a week's worth of podcasts in the time we just rambled on about uh about all this. But but you know, I'm sorry to cut you. But I would like to hear if if you have any thoughts on on how the show uh what you thought of the show, what you think we should be doing looking forward to the weekly episodes. Is there a guest that you'd like to see? A guest you'd like to see, feedback on what you'd like to see more of, see less of? Give them the email. Yeah, I'd have no idea what the email is. I don't know. Every time you say the email, I'm thinking of something else.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

I know. Closerlook at villagemedia.ca.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Is it closer? I thought it was closerlook podcast at villagedia.com.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

No, no, closerlookpodcast.ca is where you can find all of our episodes. All right. Good stuff. Deep grief, man. You gotta pay attention. Uh okay. Uh that is it uh for us. Uh for Zach Trenzo, executive producer of Closer Look, Michael Friscolani, our editor-in-chief. I'm Scott Stucksmith. We will see you on Sunday, April 19th, right here on Closer Look.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Briscoe and Scott's wardrobe, provided in part by Morris Clothing for Men.