Long-form and short-form original audiodrama.

The Art of Boot and Shoemaking
I was emptying my paper scraps into the big Ivory Tower recycling bin when I saw this sheaf of blue lined paper, scrawled handwriting covering page after page. A diary. This man’s diary, right there, waiting to be picked up. So of course I did.

Frozen: Based on a True Story
On Saturday I went to see the new movie Frozen. Here is the plot of Frozen: three spoiled rich American kids go skiing and get stranded on a chairlift fifty feet in the air. Everyone else goes home. The ski lodge is closed for the next seven days. Aaaand: go. What most people don’t know is that Frozen is based on a true story. I mean, they made a bunch of changes to the original. English grown-ups on a ski vacation in Switzerland isn’t going to bring in the young, hip demographic. But I imagine the original went something like… this.

Burst of Joy
I was doing some research into the year 1973 when I came across a photograph I’d never seen before…

Bench Man
This man sits on the same bench every day, at the same time. And he waits a moment, and then he begins to talk. No – not just talk. He begins to have a coherent, everyday conversation, complete with hand gestures and eye contact and those sorts of small silences that feel so comforting when you’re with someone you love. And if you look hard enough you can almost see the shape of his imaginary friend in the empty air on the other side of the bench.

Russell’s Teapot
When I found Chaz Braman’s irreverent comic Russell’s Teapot I sat down and read every single strip. And then I had to go lie down for awhile because I’d exhausted myself laughing. Chaz gave me permission to introduce all of you to Russell. And, you know. Jesus.

Mrs. Stroller-Yoga
There’s a neighbourhood in Toronto that’s filled with tiny yapping dogs, and SUV-sized strollers for fertility treatment twins, and health food stores. And Mrs. Stroller-Yoga. Scowling and be-sunglassed, talking into her cellphone. On her way, of course, to yoga class. Kymm Zuckert of The Mighty Kymm wrote and performed Mrs. Stroller-Yoga.