On Monday, Dec. 9 at the cozy Fourth Stage of Canada’s National Arts Centre, I kicked off the second annual instalment of The Paul Wells Holiday Show. It was twice as big as the first edition. It will take two episodes of this podcast to bring you all of it. Here’s the first instalment.
I love making these shows as much as anything I have ever done, and I am so proud to bring them to you.
The title of this week’s instalment is drawn from my opening monologue. In the grand tradition of Christmas tales, it exaggerates for effect. It’s not that I hate Christmas so much as that, as a young reporter, I could usually find something I wanted to do more than egg nog and mistletoe. This is a tale that takes some telling, so this year I did something I haven’t yet often done on my own podcast: I told a tale.
My first interview of the night was with Catharine Vandelinde, executive director of Options Housing. They help end homelessness the old-fashioned way: they find people homes. We talk about housing a lot these days on Parliament Hill, but these questions are real and pressing to lots of Canadians. That’s why I invited Catharine to come talk about Options Housing.
Some of Options Housing’s clients live in the 400-odd apartments owned and operated by the organization itself. Others get placed in market housing around Ottawa, supported by wraparound guidance and social services to help them settle in and stay stable. Every client pays for part of their housing costs with part of any income — which means that their income can rise if they get a job, without risking their home. I am unabashedly a fan of Catharine and her work, and I encourage anyone who’s interested to learn more and to consider joining me in supporting what they do.
Next was my chance to welcome a musical guest I’ve been thinking about for almost 40 years.
In 1986 I was 20 and freshly elected as entertainment editor at the University of Western Ontario Gazette. The album I couldn’t get enough of that summer was Gravity is Mutual, by a Guelph, ON singer-songwriter named Scott Merritt. (You can still find it on streaming services.) Thanks to this year’s Gazette editor-in-chief, Adshayah Sathiaseelan, for digging up my interview with Merritt from The Gazette’s archives:
My colleague Michael Barclay sometimes writes about Merritt’s work, so I knew he’s still making music — these days, more as a producer and engineer than as a performer. I wrote to Merritt out of the blue, and having him perform at our show with bassist Jeff Bird was a thrill. I’ve been hearing those lonely guitar chords at the top of “Moving Day” for most of my life, and now here he was.
From there, it was a great pleasure to catch up with two guests who didn’t need much introduction, Jason Kenney and Kathleen Wynne:
(That’s also Wynne’s voice introducing the show at the top of the episode.) I’ve admired both for as long as I’ve known them, a sentiment that goes in and out of style, but there it is. Of course they both had a lot to say about the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election and the likely Canadian federal election in 2025.
The evening’s secret weapon, to an extent that surprised even me, was a young jazz guitarist and singer from Winnipeg named Jocelyn Gould. Her reputation as a fresh voice on an instrument that’s at the centre of the (North) American myth has been growing by leaps and bounds. We’d never met or corresponded before this autumn, but she became the evening’s music director, and the audience loved her.
I can sometimes be Grinchy. But when I plan and host these shows my small heart grows three sizes. On Tuesday of this week my subscriber list passed 30,000 names, counting free and paid subscribers together; many of you hurried to get tickets for the live show at the NAC, adding to your generous support. I do not ever take your interest and engagement lightly. I’m starting to love coming up with surprises for these events. Demand for tickets far outstripped supply. We are working on solutions to get more of you into future events, not necessarily all in Ottawa.
I can be ambitious in direct relation to the help I get. This work is greatly helped by donors and sponsors. For the NAC show, I was in the unfamiliar but welcome situation of having sponsors to thank. WestJet generously offered transportation for our guests. Meta provided generous support and brought AI glasses for members of the audience to check out. My heartfelt thanks to them both. There’s no way I could have found these sponsors on my own. Fortunately Regan Watts volunteered to find them. His connections and his genuine support for this project have been tremendous. And thanks, once again, to my friends at Canada’s National Arts Centre, who are unfailingly generous in helping me tell stories and build community.
This last photo is by me, not by the wonderful Ottawa arts photographer Curtis Perry. It shows the NAC’s extraordinary Executive Director of Strategy and Communications, Annabelle Cloutier, with the producer who was central to the success of these holiday shows, Jess Milton.
Jess produced the legendary Vinyl Café live events, radio shows and podcasts with the show’s host, the late Stuart McLean. Our mutual friend John Delacourt introduced us during the summer. Even though Jess is plenty busy these days with her own podcast, Backstage at the Vinyl Café, and a large number of other projects, she put her unmatched skill and experience to work producing my holiday show. I feel fortunate indeed for her counsel.
A second episode from the Paul Wells Holiday Show at the NAC will drop just after the New Year. In between, on Christmas Day, I’ll send you some bonus podcast content. I also want to thank the people who help me bring you this podcast year-round.
You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and a bunch of other platforms via the “Listen On” button that you can see at the top of this post when you view it on your desktop browser. If you listen on a podcast platform, hit “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons, and leave a good review, to help spread the word.
You can read a (machine-generated) transcript of this week’s episode via the "Transcript” button at the top of this page when you view it on your desktop browser.
I am grateful to be the Max Bell Foundation Senior Fellow at McGill University, the principal patron of this podcast. Antica Productions, most often in the person of this podcast’s stalwart producer Kevin Sexton, turns these interviews into a podcast every week. Kevin Breit wrote and performed the theme music, which was news to Jocelyn Gould and which she was delighted to hear, because every good guitarist knows Kevin Breit. Andy Milne plays it on piano at the end of most episodes. Thanks to all of them and to you. Please tell your friends to subscribe to The Paul Wells Show on their favourite podcast app, or here on the newsletter.
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