The Season Finale features development lawyer Richard Wong with his thoughts after talking about engaging successfully with Corporations, and financing the big changes you want to see - at the Northwest Climate Gathering in Thunder Bay last month. The new song that conversation inspired is called: It’s Time To Dance. Lyrics and more at www.Somethin…

Ken is the worker bee behind Just Bike TBay, the Memorial Link and Thunder Bay’s E.V. shows. And he was right at the heart of the Northwest Climate Gathering. We talk about the power of positivity and persistence, we celebrate being nerds and building community with fellow kind and courageous nerds. Ken explains why his volunteering and problem-sol…

A season wrap before the season’s done - and a teaser for the episodes to come. With many songs, and an insider’s tour of the Northwest Climate Gathering 2023: Hope & Action. Good company as COP28 unfolds. Referencing: https://www.katharinehayhoe.com/ www.NWClimateGathering.ca Lyrics & more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca…

A rebroadcast of an episode first shared May 17, 2022. What it would take to achieve food security in Thunder Bay, and what blows Brendan’s mind in every teaspoon of soil. Brendan Grant is leading discussion of this topic at https://www.nwclimategathering.ca/ November 25 & 26 2024. Referencing http://www.sleepygfarm.ca/…

Talking gardening, city wilderness, the satisfaction of a well-stocked garage & peace with Lucie Lavoie. Lucie is a founding member of both Superior Seed Producers and EcoSuperior, where she was a program coordinator for over twenty years. She and her partner Ken Deacon have been trying to minimize their impact on the planet for decades, including …

Keira Essex is is an environmental studies student at Lakehead University, an activist, and a novice photographer of mixed settler-Anishinaabe heritage. She is one of the people pulling together the Northwest Climate Gathering this month. Original music by Heather McLeod. Lyrics and more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca…

Kevin Brooks teaches and researches Social Justice as a Program Advisor at Lakehead University. He is one of the people shaping and leading the Northwest Climate Gathering November 25 & 26. Our conversation circled back to housing more than once, but what stuck with me most was his soliloquy on composting as a metaphor for life. Lyrics & more at ww…

A visit and new song with award-winning singer-songwriter and humanitarian Shy-Anne Hovorka, from her home near Nipigon. A fitting kick-off to season four. Lyrics, links and more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.caBy Heather McLeod

Dave Spies is the Thunder Bay Chapter Lead of Protect Our Winters Canada and a third year law student at Lakehead University’s Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. His research focus is on the intersection of environmental law, Indigenous rights, public lands defense and international law. He will be coming to the Northwest Climate Gathering 2023: Hope & Ac…

From gathering a harvest, to gathering momentum and attention. Considering how fear hunts us, and hope needs to be reached for. Proposing the power of community. Hoping for utopia and savouring joy. Lyrics & more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca Referencing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_for_Realists https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/y…

Just the songs composed and recorded for seasons two and three. No words, no theme, just the songs. Raw, unpolished and recorded the day they were composed. All but one by Heather McLeod - that one co-composed and co-performed with Shy-Anne Hovorka for a yet-to-be published episode. Find Lyrics, chords and context at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayCo…

Two dozen gather to toast the podcast so far and seed the coming seasons envisioning what change they most want to see happen. With a detour to explore humbleness and hard conversations, cows as a cure, smoke as a trigger, and the power of frames. By Heather McLeod Transcript, full list of references & more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca …

Summarizing Season three's seven episodes imagining the Kindness Economy with the songs each episode inspired, and a bit about how the rant or conversation fed the composition. By Heather McLeod in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Season Four planned for October & November 2023 with one or two specials to watch for in the meantime.…

City as home, where you can breath, slow down, connect, relax. The importance of difficult conversations. Many hands make for light work. Budget to support your priorities. Choices must be made. Set boundaries, speak up. Lyrics and more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca By Heather McLeod Referencing: https://icleicanada.org/#:~:text=Canadian…

Conversation with Judi Vinni of https://willowspringscreativecentre.ca/ Care of our Elders; mixed ages & hands-on learning; therapeutic gardening; needs-inclusive employment; trust and relationships; Lappe Nordic Ski Centre collaborating with social & community circles; embracing immigration; community gardens & multicultural feasting. By Heather M…

Considering the psychology of change - honour vs. dignity cultures, the kindness paradox; how to unlock capital, human and $: universal basic income, justice systems, no skin in the game loans & truly supporting micro-businesses, multigenerational planned densification, raising corporate expectations; Ireland’s Citizen’s Assemblies; Youth Climate A…

Stewarding the land, honouring our ecosystems: imagine, intercept, invest, integrate, innovate, infrastructure. Conversation with city planner Thora Cartlidge. Revitalize the East End - the opportunity and economy of investing in historic neighbourhoods; Sustainable development necessities in Parkdale, abutting the William Bog; local urban food - t…

Cindy Crowe of Blue Sky Community Healing Centre & Cindy Crowe Consulting with a conversation for those who feel overwhelmed and just want something do-able; protecting and witnessing the wild; the healing power of kindness, of circles, and of focusing on the gifts we bring one another; people and the planet need respect, love and time. Call out th…

Imagining the three courses serving plenty of food in the kindness economy: grown, kept and shared. Inspired by The Parachute Club’s Rise Up! Feeding and healing ourselves and our home; many hands make light work; and good work in good company is good. Investing in the essentials, harvesting joy and security. By Heather McLeod in Thunder Bay, Ontar…

Imagining story-telling industries, mechanics and touch stones in the Kindness Economy. With a scientifically-sound genesis story to start, some classic Joni Mitchell, a reboot of marketing, journalism, academia and accountability, plus a new-born tune. By Heather McLeod. Script, score and more at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca Referencing: …

Reaching for what Good Looks Like; the four keys to happiness; envisioning fossil-fuel freedom & local autonomy; System Justification Instincts & how to manage them; towards cosier, homier neighbourhoods; restoring our relationships to the wild; Costa Rica’s enduring systemic overhaul valuing education, nature and equality; Margaret Mead Citizen gr…

Learning from the pros: installing solar power and a heat pump in our home; guests Kevin Bowes of PowerTec Solar, Richard Lazlo of CutYourHomeCarbon.Com & my son Ben. Weighing pragmatic worries with energizing vision. A how-to for home & business owners, with a what-more-to-do for us all. And a bit of the tell-it-like-it-is blues. By Heather McLeod…

Teacher Mother Lake Superior; restoring through community engagement and hands-on work; water clean-up successes since the 1980s; twenty Coastal sites in the City of Thunder Bay ready to restore; the shift from top-down to community-prompted financing of restoration projects; learning from the wild feeds more than words can say. By Heather McLeod i…

Loving community revolutions, one bite at a time; the Saul Alinksy vs. Paulo Friere recap; perfect is not on the picklist; Wendy Smith’s paradoxical problem solving; Margaret Mead’s how to change the world; Henk Ovink’s rebuilding by design in Rotterdam & New York; John Warner’s Beyond Benign & Green Chemistry; peer education in Thunder Bay is gett…

The only way to get out of the mess we’re in: Take Back The Community; paxis and the Paulo Freire two-step of action & reflection; Saul Alinsky’s cut the issue then set specific, immediate & realizable actions; turn the Eeyores and Naysayers “on” buttons on; organizing can be for good or for evil; aiming for the four keys to happiness: connection, …

The dark side of Scarborough Fair; tightropes, paradox Venn diagrams & the power of non-binary thinking; how deep runs our bias & how best to undo it; persistence pays; Sleeping Giant and how raptors soar Details (including lyrics & chords to All Bring Our All) at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca by Heather McLeod Referencing: https://www.pict…

Thunder Bay hybrid then electric car owner experience; personal carbon budgeting - get to net zero on your own terms; the sad tale of the Memorial Bike Lane proposal; the 4 scientifically proven keys to happiness; getting to our cleaner, kinder, safer future faster; the pleasures of leading by example References, lyrics and more at www.SomethingDif…

Sam is left speechless; Wealthy yet insecure; compounding punishing insufficiencies; today’s transformations - chosen or imposed; parables of plenty vs. poverty; the real tragedy of the commons; divest from fear - invest in faith By Heather McLeod in Thunder Bay, Ontario References detailed at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca You can count on …

Featuring Phil McGuire. Mothers are the key to our prosperity; thanks for a warm introduction; less publicity and more listening; dam removal’s winning arguments & growing popularity; gravity batteries; counterspinning natural gas a.k.a methane; new song: Save the Mothers by Heather McLeod References detailed, script & lyrics at www.SomethingDiffer…

Less Mowing, More Growing. Sami says: don’t think you are smarter than mother nature. Colonial trade, Colonial work, Colonial ruins and my family’s history settling the prairies. An inspiring tale of a Calgary home going all-solar. What Good Looks Like, at the ground level. Sources referenced detailed at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca…

It’s really about people and the planet; Why go forth with pride, compassion and joy; How to help intergenerational, interdisciplinary, inclusive communities thrive; Celebrating the Thunder Bay trifecta; Slowing down & building our shared legacy; The normalization of land and water destruction is not okay Details and transcripts at www.SomethingDif…

Why imagine the change you want to see; How to build on the three pillars of sustainability: reciprocity, interconnection and gratitude; what goes deeper than emissions reduction; why everybody has to get involved; how this is not really a science problem; having children as an act of resistance; being in the hope camp; learning from the year of cl…

Perspectives on how times change; what beauty makes; why reassure people; harking back to a pre-disposable economy; how to get the creative juices flowing; how to become an expert without training; the more you learn, the more you love to learn; what’s worse than fearing strangers; what science conquered. Transcripts, references and more at www.Som…

Summer Stevenson Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Thunder Bay How the city works determines how we work in it; a million ton goal and 36 month count-down; engineering for unpredictable extremes; being Brene Brown about it; turtles live on this planet too; Thunder Bay can be a leader - we underestimate our power; the catch 22 of adaptation…

Featuring Charla Robinson, Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce (plus Ben & Sam) How local business is the life blood of a community & has a money-back guarantee; The failed experiment fix that will transform Thunder Bay; Why cooperate with your competitors; How the entrepreneurial spirit builds resilience, security, agency and better neighbourhoods; Th…

Featuring Judith Monteith-Farrell; Tracey MacKinnon & Rob Barrett. Referencing Bren Smith & William McDonough Being the squeak; gather expertise and lift muzzles; there is a deficit of autonomy in our economy; draw down carbon by lifting up people; making our values the fulcrum; the change we want; three questions answered. References detailed and …

Why food is the most important thing; What it takes to achieve food security in Thunder Bay; Why Thunder Bay is a misnomer; why stop complaining and make it happen ourselves; What blows Brendan’s mind in every teaspoon of living soil; How Thunder Bay farmers are adapting to the Climate Emergency; How cows can be heroes. References detailed & transc…

Featuring Erin Beagle of Roots to Harvest Let’s get to ‘yes’; changing our understanding of success; why driving a bus is better than going it alone; how climate change in Thunder Bay is like the trash compactor in Star Wars; giving people a place they can claim ownership within is powerful healing. But most of all: what would the Elders’ table say…

The movie that made Ben cry and sparked Heather's Climate Anxiety insomnia, then led to this podcast. The books that Heather thinks about most often. Ben & Sam's expectations for Thunder Bay. Find references, details and subscribe to the newsletter at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.caBy Heather McLeod

Something Different This Way Comes, launches Tuesday May 3 with new episodes weekly through June including conversations with Brendan Grant of Sleepy G Farm; Summer Stevenson, Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Thunder Bay, and Erin Beagle of Roots to Harvest. Heather McLeod in Thunder Bay building her reference library of hope.…