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Beyond the Headlines, an in-depth, one on one conversation on the issues shaping our future.
Episodes
Sunday Dec 03, 2017
Sunday Dec 03, 2017
Alleyway Revitalization
Re-Imagine Alleys in a major city for just a minute.
Can you do it?
They’re generally grungy, dark, dank places that you never want to enter let alone think about.
Well, think again, Ackery’s Alley and Alley Oop are two back lanes that have been transformed from forgotten spaces where - during the day -the trash gets picked up and deliveries are made - and - at night are the stomping grounds of dumpster divers, drug users and sex trade workers.
In downtown Vancouver there approximately 240 alleys - that’s about 180-thousand square meters of publically owned land. Reclaiming those public spaces in an ever-expanding city is a needed improvement.
Yes, you heard that right - public space. And I know you’re asking for whom?
Well you and me and Korean pop-stars.
You may have seen the YouTube sensation where the K-Pop group ‘Twice’ used the refurbished Alley Oop as one of it’s Vancouver backdrops. When I wrote this intro there were just shy of 76 million views.
Density is forcing us to find space, but more importantly, it’s forcing us to be innovators in the creation of liveable space.
We sat down with Charles Gauthier of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association to ask him what was the motivation for this project, why it’s important and what the value is to all of us who call the city home - not just the businesses he represents.
We also talk to Alexandra Kenyon of the design firm HCMA, why did they leap at the opportunity to donate their services to this project? What does it say about the way we’re reshaping downtown.
And we also sat down with Alex Beim, the artist who sees revitalized alleys as a way to get people to actually interact and talk to one another for a Conversation That Matters about alleyways as public spaces.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Wednesday Nov 22, 2017
Wednesday Nov 22, 2017
Ep 166
Dr. Ken Rockwood
Geriatric Assessment and Frailty Index
By 2030 one in four of us will be over 65.
Today about 16% of Canadians are over 65. Currently seniors use about half of the health care budget.
Looking to the future those numbers are not sustainable.
We know the main reason for the disproportionate use of the health care system by seniors is because of frailty. Can anything be done to change the impact frailty has on the health care system?
First of all it is important to state - frailty is not a natural consequence of aging. Frailty is the intersection of age related decline with chronic diseases and conditions. Most importantly it is associated with many poor outcomes like falls, cognitive impairment, hospitalization, admission to long term care and death. Sounds complicated and it is but what is encouraging is that we are learning more about how and when it happens and how to prevent it.
Researchers in Canada are considered world leaders in frailty and none is better known that Dr. Kenneth Rockwood from Dalhousie University. He is the inventor of multiple health care tools to diagnose frailty which are used around the world. He is considered the leader on frailty and frailty prevention we asked Dr. Rockwood to join us for a Conversation That Matters about changing what we know about frailty and how we treat it.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Thursday Nov 16, 2017
Thursday Nov 16, 2017
Many people still believe frailty is associated with aging. We use to think it was an inevitable part of growing old. However, that is not true - Frailty is not a natural part of aging. There is more and more research that demonstrates we can avoid frailty.
As you age, you can make a choice to avoid frailty and keep yourself functioning independently longer by getting informed and participating in your health. Basically you have two choices, you can work to ensure your body functions optimally, or you can sit back and allow mother time to slowly chip away at your body and your mind.
The challenge, of course, is that sitting back is the antithesis of aging well. Even if you have chronic health conditions it is possible to exercise, eat well and get involved. In fact it is the best way to prevent frailty. When you stop moving, stop exercising your body and your brain, stop socializing, ..well, the consequences not only shorten your life they increase suffering.
There is a tsunami of boomers headed north of 70. I’m one of them. We’re in the pre-frailty stage of our lives.
The good news is we are learning a lot through research on how to identify frailty early and intervene sooner. Some of the leading research on frailty is done here in Canada and what we are learning is changing how doctors practice and what seniors can do to stay well. In order to age well you need to learn how to void frailty.
Doctor John Muscedere of the Canadian Frailty Network is committed to fighting frailty. He joins us this week for a Conversation That Matters on why frailty is the fight of our lives and what we and everyone involved in health care can and need to do about it.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Wednesday Nov 08, 2017
Wednesday Nov 08, 2017
Okay, stretch and hold and hold and hold.
What happens when you stretch, what exactly are you stretching? Is it your muscle or is it your connective tissue?
Connective tissue or fascia - as it is also known as - is what holds us together, it is a net that suspends your organs – a high-tech adhesive that holds your cells in place while relaying messages between them.
The network is so extensive and ubiquitous that if you were to lose every organ, muscle, bone, nerve and blood vessel - your body would still retain its shape.
So what happens when you don’t stretch and when you do stretch how long should it?
These questions lead to a decade’s long research project into acupuncture and stretch.
It started when our guest Dr. Helene Langevin of the Harvard Medical School, Brigham Women’s Hospital questioned why acupuncture needles grab, what are they grasping and how long should the treatment last?
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Friday Nov 03, 2017
Friday Nov 03, 2017
For more than a decade Interesting Vancouver has been addressing issues that challenge us, make us unique, make us uncomfortable and make us talk to one another.
Interesting Vancouver is about dialogue, it’s about rolling your sleeves up and digging into conversations with other people who invite you into a world that is new to you, people who introduce you to a Vancouver you didn't know existed.
It’s about admitting you don’t have the answers but you’re willing to muddle your way through a messy process. A process that breaks down barriers and invites participants to set aside our minor differences and embrace our common humanity.
Neat little solutions to complex problems do not exist and you won’t find them at Interesting Vancouver, what you will find are others, who like you are looking for a level of discourse that is respectful, reflective and adaptable.
To learn more about interesting Vancouver we invited Jocelyn MacDougall and Mark Busse, two exceptionally interesting people who embrace dialogue to join us for a Conversation That Matters.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Friday Nov 03, 2017
Friday Nov 03, 2017
Shipping on our Coastal Waters
Every year the Western Canada’s gateway generates over 21 billion dollars in economic activity.
Each year thousands of ships transit BC’s Coastal waterways bringing cargo in and taking it out. The new Oceans Protection Plan lays out a number of issues the Federal Government is requiring the shipping industry to meet.
Tougher regulations that require working with First Nations and Indigenous Communities to identify environmentally sensitive areas of cultural, social and economic importance. Stronger polluter pay principles, identification of safe refuge sites, 24 - 7 emergency response and the continued modernization of the ship pilot regime.
And then there is the impact of shipping on the Southern Resident Whale Population. Does the underwater noise generated by ships play a large role in preventing Orcas from identifying the location of the Chinook Salmon that is the staple of their diet?
The BC Chamber of Shipping and it’s members participated in the Port Metro ECHO program where ships reduced speed to 11 knots in Haro Strait in an effort to reduce ambient noise and better understand the relationship between speed, noise and the effects on killer whales.
Looming in the background is an increase in oil and LNG tanker traffic.
To discuss what the shipping industry is doing to meet these concerns, issues, and regulations we invited the President of the Chamber of Shipping, Robert Lewis-Manning to join us for a Conversation That Matters about protecting our coastal waters.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Wednesday Oct 18, 2017
Wednesday Oct 18, 2017
Is the health and well-being of Howe Sound our canary in the coal mine?
For more than 30 years Vancouver Aquarium and other groups have been conducting research on the fjord that extends from West Vancouver to Squamish. It has housed pulp mills, a copper mine, been the gathering site for log booms and the output of sawmills.
Then in 1956 BC Rail completed its line to Squamish making it more accessible to industry and the people who lived and worked for the major employers that were extracting the resources from the land that borders the Sound.
By 1959 the Sea to Sky Highway had been completed and with it commerce grew, residential housing expanded and Whistler boomed. Each new development put pressure on the ecosystems that feed into Howe Sound.
Salmon, the Southern Resident Killer Whale population and the myriad organisms that make up the food chain all came under pressure.
With the closing of the Woodfibre Pulp Mill and Britannia Mine the impact from heavy industry was eased while at the same time urban expansion presents new challenges and new toxins entering Howe Sound.
Andrew Day the past Executive Director of the Coastal Ocean Research Institute which released its’ report card on Howe Sound joins us this week on Conversations That Matter to share what we know, where are the gaps in our understanding and what the well-being of the Sound means to the south coast and the Salish Sea.
Monday Oct 09, 2017
Monday Oct 09, 2017
Can you change the world through entrepreneurialism?
In other words, can business be an instrument of social change?
In his book ‘How to Change the World, David Bornstein profiles social entrepreneurs.
Men and women who are innovative, successful, grass-roots individuals who created businesses that address a wide range of social and economic problems.
As he puts it, “social entrepreneurs are creative, driven, and adventurous. The embrace change, exploit new opportunities, and think big.”
Social entrepreneurs can and do change their societies - AND the world - AND in doing so demonstrate that one person can make a difference.
Madeleine Shaw is one such person - she was concerned about the impact feminine hygiene products had on women and the environment and not to be overlooked, the cost.
Shaw and her business partner Suzanne Siemens created Lunapads, a company that provides better health products for people and the planet.
Lunapads are sold worldwide, as a result more than two million disposable pads and tampons are being diverted from landfills every month.
To talk about social entrepreneurialism, Lunapads and her latest social venture - Nestworks, we sat down with Madeleine Shaw for a Conversation That Matters.
Wednesday Oct 04, 2017
Wednesday Oct 04, 2017
Ep 159 - Dr. Evan Wood
It’s time for an entirely different approach to the drug crisis
The Opioid - Fentanyl crisis that is sweeping through Vancouver, the province and beyond is growing unabated. This week Conversations That Matter features Dr. Evan Wood of the BC Centre on Substance Use, says it’s time to completely re-examine our drug policies and our drug laws.
Simply put, he says prohibition hasn’t worked. He points to Opium as an example. It was the drug that ignited a trade war between Great Britain and China. Since then the transportation of the drug became restricted.
The production of heroin was the result because it was far easier to conceal, transport and avoid detection if the alkaloid morphine was extracted from the dried poppy and packaged in smaller bundles.
Fentanyl is one-thousand times more potent than morphine is the latest iteration in the make it small, more potent and harder to detect reaction to prohibition. Buried below the surface of detection these synthetic opioid analgesics enter the marketplace devoid of consumer protection.
And drug users with no intention of consuming fentanyl are at risk. The drugs are packaged in less than ideal locations, like a kitchen table. Once finished with fentanyl, the table may get a quick brush over which frequently leaves traces of the killer drug behind.
Then when the cocaine, the dealer is cutting gets dropped on the same table, grains of the deadly fentanyl can and often do get mixed in. The unsuspecting cocaine user snorts the white powder and the result can be and frequently is - deadly.
Wood suggests the establishment of labs available to pushers and users to determine the purity and potency of the drug will go a long way to reducing the fatal side effect.
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv
Thursday Sep 28, 2017
Thursday Sep 28, 2017
Ep 158 - Dr. Allen Eaves
At the Epicentre of Biotech
This week Conversations That Matter features the remarkable Dr. Allen Eaves, the founder, CEO and President of STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s most successful biotech company. A firm that is playing a pivotal role in fostering a community of biotech startups. Eaves says, “we're very keen to support an ecosystem of biotechnology here and be closely related with the universities, especially UBC and SFU, and you know, this is my passion.”
STEMCELL Technologies has experienced year over year growth of 20% over the past quarter-century, Eaves predicts that will continue, “over the next 15 years we're going to be hiring 5,000 more people and our sales will be well over one billion dollars, and we'll be even more of a global company. At only 3% of our sales, the Canadian market is small.”
Not only is STEMCELL Technologies fostering growth and employing scientists, it is also playing a significant role in generating export sales, which Eaves points out “are worth two to three times the value of dollars generated within an economy. And so we're gonna continue to do this, and of course, I would like to see this evolve into supporting all the things we do in healthcare.”
Where does he go from here? For Eaves there are no limits, not only does he plan to work for the rest of his life, he plans to do so with gusto, “We are going for world domination and it's all working out nicely.”
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.
Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv