On the first episode of Stay Reading, we were joined by Artistic Producer, Artistic Director and Curator Umbereen Inayet (@umbereene) and Colour Analyst, Host and Producer Akil Augustine (@akilaugustine). Our conversation covered the meaning we can draw in our lives from superheroes (Watchmen), finding disruption through public art (Cultured Magazine), a tangent into the theme of death (The Untethered Soul) and an unexpected poetry reading.

On our second episode of Stay Reading, we had Marketing and Branding Strategist Mark Nabeta (@marknabeta) and the VP of Six Shooter Records Allison Outhit (@sixshooterrecords). We started out talking about the pleasure of taking time out to read the newspaper, then discussed the role of literature in decolonization and had a conversation on sports that stretched from the cost young people are paying in their pursuit of professional sports to a recollection of the unforgettable Raptors championship parade.

On episode three of Stay Reading, we had Actor, Model and Podcaster Kiran Rai (@kay__ray) and Photographer Neil Watson (@saviourofprint) in conversation. We opened with a window into how literature can open your eyes to the experience of identities outside of your own, touched on the aspiration and enjoyment offered by travel guides, discussed modern voices that are revitalizing poetry and geeked out on the texture and pleasure of print.

On episode four of Stay Reading, we were joined by runner and podcaster Kate Van Buskirk (@k8vbeast) and photographic artist Adeyemi Adegbesan (@yung.yemi). Our conversation opened with a quote from Dionne Brand about the way the writing of Toni Morrison transformed the English language, we dove into a discussion about vulnerability sparked by Brené Brown and Jenn Nkiru, and we spoke about the elements of Octavia Butler’s late 90’s science fiction writing that we find ourselves living in the times we are in.

On episode five of Stay Reading, we were joined by artist, curator and creative director Ashley McKenzie-Barnes (@ashleymckenziebarnes) and writer Shawn Micallef (@shawnmicallef) for a conversation that was centred on how the written word is connected to physical places. We spoke about Olivia Laing and swimming in New York City, Dionne Brand and sunsets on Dupont, touched places almost no one will ever experience through the Pocket Atlas of Remote Places and a hair-rising life and death ride of a big wave surfer. We also got into how the views of Geoff Colvin and Malcolm Gladwell on talent connect to Alain de Botton’s ideas on love.

On episode six of Stay Reading, we were joined by Dr. Dori Tunstall (@deandori_ocadu) and host and producer Nana aba Duncan (@nanaabaduncan) for a conversation about the ability (or inability?) to love, being a parent and the impression our parents leave on us and the wonders of octopus. We spoke about bell hooks' reflections on the impact of patriarchy on men from The Willingness to Change, Heidi Cho’s writing on healing, and Common sharing the impact his career had on his daughter and the past to reconciliation from his book Let Love Have the Last Word. 

On episode seven of Stay Reading, we were joined by Shad (@shadkmusic) and Nicole Chin (@nicoletchin) for a conversation about war, science and empathy. We dove into Carlo Rovelli’s 7 Brief Lessons on Physics and Neil Turok’s The Universe Within to explore how physics helps us to understand ourselves, Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the relationship of the ocean to our ancestry and shared thoughts on what war shows us about humanity from Abu Bakr’ Al-Rabeeah Homes and the writing of Tim O’Brien.

On episode eight of Stay Reading, we were joined by writer, producer and yoga/meditation teacher Bianca Venerayan (@biancavenerayan) and the Editor in Chief at Exclaim! James Keast (@yesjameskeast) for a conversation about uncertainty of memory and the certainty of our mortality. This episode was anchored in music through the writing of Micael Barclary and Jordan Ferguson reflecting on the legacies of Gord Downey and J Dilla, we heard the story of a father giving the planet Venus to his daughter for Christmas from The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and touched on the art of communicating physics to people that aren’t physicists arising out of Carlo Rovelli’s Reality Is Not What It Seems.