Podcasts

Canada Day with real Canadians Mary Martin and Marcus Springer

The first week of July marks the celebration of two major holidays in North America. Do you know what they are? The one all us Americans know of course is the Fourth of July. But can you guess the other one? I’ll give you a hint. It’s also a birthday and it’s celebrated by over thirty-five million people. Need another hint? There are parades and fireworks and concerts. Still stuck? How about this: It’s in a place where every child is forced to play hockey; its freezing cold eleven months of the year, and everyone is always polite. Got it now? That’s right, it’s Canada Day…a holiday familiar to many Americans because its appeared on their calendars all their lives but, like Evacuation Day and Arbor Day, we know absolutely nothing about.

Therefore, in the interests of educating our listeners, improving international relations, and celebrating Canada’s birthday, we’ve devoted today’s show to a better understanding of our neighbors to the north.

Joining me in the studio are two good-humored and ever so polite Canadians who have agreed to endure a hockey-rink’s worth of American stereotypes of Canadians and conversely provide an arsenal’s worth of Canadians’ views of us. They are award-winning architect Marcus Springer, who grew up in British Columbia, and virtuoso musician Mary Martin Schaeffer, originally from Nova Scotia.

The Lowdown with Ira Wood, Tuesdays at 12:30 PM and Saturdays at 5:30 AM on WOMR-FM, a Pacifica Radio affiliate station. Streaming and podcasts on WOMR.ORG.