After 27 episodes, this is the official finale of UBC Insiders On Air. Thank you to everyone who listened, everyone we interviewed, everyone we talked news with, and everyone who talked to us at whatever event we were covering. It has been an extremely rewarding labour of love for both of us to make the show each week and meet people from all over the university that we never would have otherwise.
This episode is my version of a parting love letter to UBC, as I leave to start a new life and career in Victoria. Yes, I have been a frequent and vocal critic of the university, but only because I care deeply about this place and want it to be the best it can be. What makes the university great are its people. In my mind there’s no show that better portrays humanity than As It Happens, the venerable CBC radio show now in its 48th year. (For those unfamiliar with the show, it is a current affairs show in which most of the interviews are conducted via phone or Skype, allowing the host to talk to people all around the world and get stories from a local angle, often speaking to the person directly at the centre of a story. The stories can range from very serious to very silly, but are always engaging.)
I’ve wanted to make an episode of As It Happens all about UBC for quite a while now. So I did.
You’ll hear from people with all sorts of connections to the university: the episode includes a prospective student, undergrad students, a grad student, a postdoc, a faculty member, a staff member, and alumni. The university’s reach also stretches well beyond Vancouver, with interview locations including Agassiz, Kelowna, Montreal, Seattle, and Costa Rica. You’ll hear stories that are serious (UBC’s deficient sexual assault response; the faculty’s no confidence vote in the Board of Governors), studious (curing Beriberi, a condition affecting infants in Cambodia; teaching cows to pee in the right place), and a bit silly (becoming an inventor because your parents turn off the wifi each night; putting a box office on the back of a big tricycle). Enjoy.
Insiders Out.
That was lovely.