We kick off the 2025 season of the Everyday Forum Podcast with a lively chat with cultural commentator Stephen Marche. He talks with the Festival's Artistic Director, Antoni Cimolino, and André Sills, actor and assistant director of Macbeth, about reimagining Shakespeare’s plays for the stage.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

The Body Politic was Canada's primary queer periodical from 1971 to 1987. It amplified the lives of queer people and helped galvanize the gay and lesbian liberation movement. Join Raegan Swanson, Executive Director of The ArQuives, Nicholas Hrynyk of Thompson Rivers University and Tim McCaskell, writer, activist and collective member of The Body Politic as they delve into the history of queer news in Canada.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this conversation moderated by actor Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah with Assistant Professor of University of Toronto and Director of the Southeast Asian Seminar Series at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Elizabeth Wijaya, Co-Executive Director of Artistic Freedom Initiative, Ashley Tucker, and playwright Achiro Olwoch, the history and modern-day realities of censorship are examined, along with the reasons art is censored and the ways artists resist being silenced.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

Co-authors Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) and Andrew Stobo Sniderman discuss their acclaimed book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation. In this conversation moderated by Dr. Lee Myers, the authors dive deeper into how two communities became separate and unequal—and what it means for the rest of us.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

The "Golden Age" of children's literature (roughly 1850s-1910s) marked a period of innovation and creativity in children's books, giving rise to many enduring classics that continue to captivate and inspire generations of readers. In this conversation moderated by director, teacher, and actor Allen MacInnis, acclaimed children's author Kenneth Oppel (Silverwing) and expert in young people 's texts and cultures, Professor Mavis Reimer from the University of Winnipeg will discuss the pivotal role writers like J.M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan) and his counterparts played in shaping the way we think about and create literature for young readers.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

Ecodrama is a new approach to telling stories about the climate crisis through live performance. It invites theatre companies to choose sustainable and decarbonizing pathways of production and provides a public forum for thinking about how to live through calamities with collective resilience and hope. Learn more about ecodrama with Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy, Shakespeare professor Randall Martin and Elizabeth Freestone from the University of Birmingham.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

The work of Shakespeare is known across the globe, exploring universal experiences, lending itself to culturally specific adaptations, and being used as an instrument of imperialism. Join Rodrigo Beilfuss, Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruins, and PJ Prudat, Co-Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruff, with moderator Jessica B. Hill as they discuss the meaning of Shakespeare worldwide.

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Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

What are theatres doing to welcome audiences (and artists) who have barriers to participating in performance arts? Join Stratford Festival’s former Accessibility Coordinator Kayla Besse, Disability Dramaturgy scholar Dr. Jessica Watkin and Theatre Passe Muraille Artistic Director Marjorie Chan in a panel discussion moderated by Maev Beaty, discussing how theatres have been making their work and their spaces more accessible, and the goals they continue to work towards in service of greater inclusion.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.