October 20: A Day of Podcasting Excellence

Every day, I look at who guested on Toronto Mike'd on that date in previous years. I just did this for October 20, and was amazed at the extraordinary calibre of episodes over the past 12 years.

Here's a little rundown as to what happened on Toronto Mike'd on October 20.

2016: Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler

We being our journey eight years ago, the first October 20th recording in Toronto Mike'd history. My guests were Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler, who had just started a new show entitled "What She Said". Not only did this episode include Kate's chilling story of being attacked and stabbed in a public mall, but this is the episode that introduced the term "tapped on the shoulder" into the FOTM lexicon when Christine used it to describe the moment she was told "time's up" and asked if she wanted to walk out with a box or spin it on CTV News as a retirement. She chose the latter, as pride cometh before the fall, but in no way did she want to retire.

I learned so much about the media business from this episode.

2017: Kayla Grey

At this time, I was struck by the lack of diverstiy in Canadian sports media, and was even hosting panel discussions on the topic with decision makers at Sportsnet. Kayla Grey was a black woman working to secure airtime on TSN Radio, and I wanted to learn more.

Keep in mind, this is early in Kayla Grey's career, before she became the on-screen presence we know today, so it's a fascinating glimpse into the mindset of a determined young talent striving for bigger roles and more responsibility.

2021: Anne Mroczkowski

In Anne Mroczkowski's Toronto Mike'd debut, she personified #realtalk. She pulled back the curtains and let us know what really went down on CityTV's Citypulse news. The episode became legendary in the TMU.

Anne's return did not disappoint. I'm not sure there's a better one-two punch in the entire Toronto Mike'd podcast archive. Anne is such a breath of fresh air.

2023: Sam Roberts

Sam Roberts is a bonafide rock star in this country, and he rarely does interviews. He tells me the only time he does press is when he's releasing a new album.

As luck would have it, on this day a year ago he was in Toronto promoting a new album. Sam lives in Montreal, and I had leanred from Hayden during a High Park soccer match that Amy Millan from Stars was in town to perform at his Dream Serenade concert at Massey Hall. That prompted me to reach out to Amy to see if she would visit during her visit to Toronto. In that conversation, I mentioined that Sam Roberts was visiting me during his visit.

Well.. even though Amy lives in Montreal, the same city Sam resides in, Amy wanted to visit me while Sam was over to reconnect with him. So I left the door ajar during my chat with Sam, and Amy surprised him live on the mic. What a moment with two Canadian rock stars in my basement!

2023: Amy Millan

When I wrapped with Sam, took our photo by The Toronto Tree, and said goodbye, Amy and I went back to the TMS studio to record her episode. We talked about her years with Stars and Broken Social Scene, her solo work, and how tough it is out there for a rock star in Canada.