Progessive political podcasts with pitchforks, torches and pancakes

Friday 4 June 2010

We've been working on the (BC) railroad


7 comments:

  1. Hey rev.!

    Most fun I've had in the audiopixel world so far.

    Thanks!

    The following are links to a bunch of the folks in the LeftCoastLotuslandian Bloggodome that write a lot about local issues that I mentioned (left out the Beaver and it's outer environs on purpose because we both know all those folks do great stuff already).
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    First, the amateurs which, as we discussed, I have great affinity for....

    BC Mary's Place for all things RailGate (including reports from the people's courtroom reporter, Robin Mathews)

    Yuile, who does crackerjack original reporting, both on RailGate and many other matters of political import in Lotusland.

    Great Aunty Bertha, who has slowed down at her own place recently, but who contributes tremendously to any number of comment threads, mine included.

    kootkoot, who really, really takes the provincial government to task for attempting to privatize everything. More than anyone else 'round here he reminds me of many of the folks who got extremely frustrated with the mainstream/corpMedia down south in 2003/4 and thus decided to start their own blogs to make their voices heard.

    GrantG, who emerged from the Tyee comment threads to go berserk when he set up his own shop (mostly in a very good way indeed) at his own place....kinda a junior rural Driftglass in training....He's got some fine, on-the-ground-reports of his involvement in the tax revolt effort (anti-HST) that we discussed.

    GaryE-- I think I forgot to mention Gary on the pod which is a real shame (many apologies Gary). He brings a northern British Columbia perspective to the discussion, which is important because that is where the privatization of BC Rail has had the greatest impact on the ground.

    Mr. Beer N Hockey--Assiduously avoids any and all things political, but he's a kinghell wordsmith who loves roller derby, his partner, and his dog (perhaps even in that order?)....Also has a real great POV on the way the world really works, both locally and beyond.
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    Pros to follow....

    .

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  2. Now the pros and/or semipros that cross over and do good work in the Lotuslandian Bloggodome as well....

    Bill Tieleman....He's an old provincial Dipper Pol who has done some really, reallly solid RailGate reporting, especially in the early days (ie. the first five years - ha!)....Did such a good job that even the ol' Mulroneyite himself, Norman Spector, took a run at him...Most recently has done some, in my opinion, less 'objective' work whipping up the tax trevolt/Anti-HST initiative with a former right-sided premier named Bill Vanderzalm (politics bedfellows...very, very strange indeed).

    Ian Reid, another old left-sided Pol, both provincially and in the City of Vancouver, who has now gone full-time amateur...has a lot of stuff stored up in his head that he is willing to share, some of which has really helped steer me in the right direction especially on something I have come to call the Casino Industrial Complex that will be built next to Vancouver's former Marshmallow (BC Place Stadium) that is about to receive a new $500 million plus retractable roof.

    Sean Holman--This guy really is a pro who breaks original/new stories of his own pretty much every single week of the year. He even won a Jack Webster Award for his work on the mess that the current provincial government made when they tried to centralize/privatize child protection services. His archives are a goldmine for anybod that wants to know anything about anybody in this province. The most amazing thing about Mr. Holman is that he does it ALL on his own. He's like the Izzy Stone of British Columbia (but he is much less political)...He now has a YouTube site where you can find gems like this....

    Paul Willcocks-- Works for the crumbling/crumbled (notso)Magnificent AsperSon empire for real (ie. the Victoria Times-Colonist)....Posts up his proMedia stuff on his blog, but he also throws in off-the-cuff zingers from time-to-time....Most impressively he gives bloggers their due when it is deserved...Also chimes in with info-laden comments at my place....Most importantly, he's really into busking AND The Mountain Goats....(his partner Jody Paterson, a former fulltime proJourno herself, also has a fine blog and plays the accordion!)

    Frances Bula--Really focuses on the Vancouver scene, she's a former longtime Vancouver Sun staffer who now does freelance stuff for the Globe (whose Westcoast bureau HAS made a difference here)....She still does original digging/reporting, but I really, really enjoy her as a true five-tooled blogger - I especially like the way she will wade into the comment threads and even pluck stuff from them and then write a follow-up post, or posts, about them.

    Harvey Oberfeld--The only 'lectronic proMedia veteran of the bunch....He's retired now and, when not travelling, has decided to blog just for the heck of it....At his best when he decries the decline in television news reporting b/w the meteoric rise in infotainment...

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  3. Ross K, thanks so much for the plug here. I probably wouldn't have noticed the slip as this is the first I've heard of rev.paperboys blogs. But now that I have I will certainly add him/them to my list. Very interesting stuff here.

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  4. Hey, Rev., I couldn't get this episode to download/play on my Mac.

    Wonder 'wass up with that?

    My Man RossK was gonna be a favourite, I'm sure . . . .

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  5. hmmmmm, I'm as puzzled as you are Bob, but I'll send you the itunes podcast file by email.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Thanks, Rev, got it and it was great!

    Keep up the good work . . . .

    ('Cast plays on the website now for me, BTW. Don't know what that was about. Maybe a momentary Firefox glitch or something.)

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