In this animal-focused episode, Rick's two guests are Jonathan Balcombe and Jo-Anne McArthur. Jonathan is a world-renowned biologist, ethologist, and author of popular science books on the inner lives of animals, including Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, and What a Fish Knows - a New York Times best-seller. Jo-Anne is an award-winning photojournalist, speaker, and founder of WeAnimalsMedia. She’s visited over sixty countries to document our complex relationship with animals.
As a pack, they talk about
Ethology
Animal photojournalism
“Try and try again”
How you protect what you love
Animal sentience
Animal playfulness
Things getting better AND worse
Cultural influence on meat-eating
The effects of vegetarianism
Leading by example
The ick-factor of lab-grown meat
Factory farms as conflict zones
Ad-gag laws
And trivia for plant-eaters
... You do make friends with salad.
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BoomTheShow.com
RickMiller.ca
ig: @xingthegap
fb: @xingthegap
ig: @rickmilleractor
tw/x: @rickmilleractor
jonathanbalcombe.com
fb: JonathanBalcombeAuthor
tw/x: @jonathanpb1959
weanimalsmedia.org
Youtube: weanimalsmedia
fb: WeAnimals
ig: @WeAnimals
tw/x: @WeAnimals

It’s back-to-school time, as Rick's two guests are Linda Schuyler and Sara Waisglass. Linda is a Canadian television producer best known for co-creating the award-winning Degrassi franchise, which spans five series over 4 decades. She’s a member of the order of Canada and Order of Ontario, and has recently written a memoir entitled The Mother of All Degrassi. Sara is a Canadian actress who co-starred as Frankie Hollingsworth in Degrassi: The Next Generation, as Robyn in the film Mary Goes Round, and most recently as Maxine in the Netflix drama Ginny & Georgia.
In our study group, they cover:
The multi-generational impact of Degrassi
Age-appropriate casting
The space between the sensational and the trivial
Learning from mistakes and failure
Fearing the future
Living in the present
Acceptance and tolerance in young people today
Teachers that change your life
Latch-key kids
Helicopter parents
Voicing both sides of the story
And a quiz … show!
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RickMiller.ca
ig: @xingthegap
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tw, ig: @rickmilleractor
ig: @sarawais, @motherofallDegrassi
tw: @swaisglass, @mother_degrassi
fb: @MotherDegrassi
TikTok: @sara.wais, @motherofalldegrassi
Sara on imdb
Linda on imdb
Linda's book at:
ecwpress
amazon
Degrassi:
ig: @degrassinextgeneration
ig: @degrassi_junior_high

Rick shares the mic with two of Canada’s most accomplished writer/performers, Sugith Varughese and Anusree Roy. Sugith, born in India and raised in Canada, is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and actor, who was one of the original writers of the classic Muppet TV Show Fraggle Rock. More recently, he's played recurring characters in Kim's Convenience on CBC, and Transplant on CTV and NBC. Anusree is a renowned Indo-Canadian actor and writer of plays, television, film and opera, who has worked on major TV shows on CTV/NBC/CBC/Global TV/Netflix/and Paramount+.  She also teaches Playwriting at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.
As a trio, they discuss:
Auditioning for your own movie
DEIB: Diversity, Equity Inclusion, & Belonging
Progress or Performance?
Breaking in as a brown person
Inclusion in Theatre and Television
Artificial vs Earned sensibility
Elevating minority communities
High stakes failure
Autonomy and Authorship
Fraggle Rock as an Allegory for how to live together
Species Inter-dependency
The future of theatre
And an improvised story
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RickMiller.ca
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tw: @SugithVarughese
ig: @SugithVarughese
Threads: @SugithVarughese
BlueSky: @sugithvarughese.bsky.social
fb: @SugithVarughese
tw: @i_write_allday
ig: @writeranusreeroy
www.anusreeroy.com
www.kaliroyinc.com