Hidden Gems Toronto
Welcome to the Hidden Gems Toronto podcast. After retiring from a career in Communications, Tom and Sharon Scanlan wanted to give back to the city they love. Now in its third season, they continue their quest to shine a light on fascinating people and places that fly under the radar but are a vital part of our city's fabric.
Episodes
29 episodes
EXPLORING TORONTO'S HISTORY WITH ADAM BUNCH: Where Truth is Stranger than Fiction
Adam Bunch is an award-winning historian with an insatiable interest and curiosity about our city's past. He has a knack for bringing history to life by including unusual and often bizarre characters and events in all his wri...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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37:05
A MOVER AND SHAKER IN SCARBOROUGH: Krissan Veerasingam is changing the face of his neighbourhood
You need a good pair of running shoes to keep up with Krissan Veerasingam. He helped launch the Scarborough Repair Café where residents can bring a multitude of household items for repair, free of charge. He is also an advocate for...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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30:29
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY...for Toronto's esteemed Photo Laureate, Nadya Kwandibens
Nadya brings an indigenous perspective to her award-winning photography. In this podcast you will learn that it isn't just her technical ability with the camera that makes her work so special, it's her gentle nature and empath...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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35:11
"YOU DO WHAT FOR A LIVING?": The "Clock Guy" who keeps Toronto ticking!
In this second episode of our series called "You do what for a living?" we introduce you to John Scott, affectionately known as the Clock Guy in Toronto. John is responsible for keeping many of our city's tower clocks running smoothly an...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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27:32
"YOU DO WHAT FOR A LIVING?": Tales from inside a Mascot!
In this podcast we launch the first episode of our occasional series about people who have interesting, if somewhat unusual occupations. And Austin Emery certainly fits the bill. Over his lifetime, Austin has attended more than 500 event...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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32:14
OPERATION UKRAINE: Treating Victims of War
In this podcast, we interview Julia Malaniy and Marg Gadke, who are part of a remarkable group of highly skilled medical professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to treat severely injured military and civilian casualti...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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31:34
JACQUIE'S THREE R'S: Reuse, Refill, Repeat
Jacquie Rushlow is on a mission! She is determined to rid the world of single-use plastic, one community at a time. She gave up a very successful TV production career to work full-time on accomplishing this goal. In a few short years, sh...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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35:32
"I HAVE A POLICY FOR THAT!"
For his entire career Peter Clutterbuck has been involved in creating and implementing social policies that have greatly impacted the quality of life in Toronto. Whether it’s poverty, mental health or marginalized communities, his finger...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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36:07
PAINTING THE TOWN RED (And Green, and Blue and Purple....)
StreetARToronto has turned our urban neighbourhoods into an outdoor art gallery. Initiated 10 yours ago as a plan to reduce graffiti vandalism, the program has engaged artists to change thousands of drab buildings, underpasse...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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33:34
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE COUNTRY! The story behind the creation of Little Canada
While growing up in Europe, Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer had a real passion for miniature trains. Later on in life, he developed a similar love for the country where work brought him for a two year stint. That country was Canada. He then ha...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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28:57
THE ROAD LESS TAKEN...Turning Travel into impact
Tourism is an $8 trillion global industry yet very little of that money makes its way into the hands of local businesses and communities. Fortunately, there is an organization called Planeterra that is trying to change all that. They have helpe...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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33:31
IT'S DAVID VS. GOLIATH FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE IN TORONTO
Zach Grant is the Community Director at the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Toronto. The church is a mere 21 steps from the Eaton Centre, the epicentre of retail consumerism in Canada. The contrast could not be more stark. Zach works wit...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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34:15
IT'S TOO LATE FOR PESSIMISM...In the fight against climate change!
The indefatigable Sarah Lazarovic has been a journalist, editorial cartoonist and author. Her book, A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy, is a lively tale of her fight against overconsumption, including going one whole year without ...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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35:02
UNDER THE (NEW) NEON PALMS
In this podcast we chat with the Executive and Creative Director of El Mocambo, the effervescent, Mike Chalut. Mike talks about how the El Mocambo was completely renovated into a state of the art facility, while at the same time, paying h...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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28:22
SKELETONS OUT OF THE CLOSET
In this month’s podcast we chat with Ben Lovatt, owner of the Skull Store and Prehistoria Museum. He proudly calls his museum the worlds weirdest recycling centre and Canada’s biggest oddity shop. When you see what Ben has on displa...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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31:10
PARTNERS IN CRIME
For the past decade, Sgt. Derrick Gaudet has always referred to his police dog in the K9 unit as his partner. And why wouldn’t he? His four-legged companion, Major, has played a vital role in solving numerous complex crimes in Canada. It...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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40:30
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
In this podcast we tackle the issue of food waste and food production from two unique perspectives. Julia Girmenia works for a charity known as Not Far From The Tree. This creative organization has figured a way to not only s...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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38:34
FLYING ABOVE THE RADAR
During a stressful time in her life, Julia Zarankin went searching for a new hobby and decided to give Birding a shot. This grew into a real passion that led to her writing a fascinating book about her experience. There are more than 350 bird s...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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30:14
BLAZING NEW TRAILS
For more than 35 years the charitable organization called Trailblazers has been providing people with visual impairments an opportunity to ride around the city and points beyond on a tandem bike. We interview John Tam who is s...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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27:28
WE'RE STILL STANDING
The challenges facing an independent bookstore in Toronto are daunting. If book store owner Ben McNally made a list of the pros and cons of staying in business, the cons would win hands down. But fortunately for Toronto, Ben doesn't make lists;...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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37:30
A GUIDING LIGHT
For the past 15 years, nurse practitioner Bertha Hughes has worked in the Cardiovascular and Vascular Surgery Unit at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto. She has been a beacon of knowledge, compassion and hope for patients and their fam...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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29:05
FINDING MAGIC IN MAGICAL LANDS
Gordon Precious is many things: a charming raconteur, an intrepid word traveller, an accomplished magician and a talented athlete, whose love of heli-skiing garnered him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. And did we mention he is 97 ...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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31:15
NEW CIRCLES, NEW DIRECTIONS
For the past 15 years, New Circles has played a major role in helping new immigrants and people living in poverty in Toronto. Located on an unassuming industrial street in Scarborough, this organization started out providing gently used c...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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31:46
THE SANTA CLAUS PARADE: IT TAKES A LICKING AND KEEPS ON TICKING
There may not be a more iconic event that occurs annually in Toronto than the Santa Claus Parade. For more than 115 years, Jolly old St. Nick and his cohorts have marched through the streets of Toronto bringing joy to more than 500,000 onlooker...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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28:01
THE CHILDREN'S BOOK BANK: The Bank With No Fees
Mary Ladky is the executive director of the Children's Book Bank. Strategically located between Cabbagetown and Regent Park, the book store is set up in a converted Victorian style home. It is beautifully laid out and is very child friendly. Af...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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31:13