Rod Black: The Voice, the Book, the Lost Keys

The Record Nobody Expected a 69-Year-Old to Break

Cycling around the world qualifies for a Guinness World Record, and until recently the oldest person to hold it was 56. Mark Herbst looked at that number at age 69, decided it was beatable, and spent the next chapter of his life proving it across 35,000 kilometers and 25 countries, raising funds for Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in memory of his wife Jackie. Mark walks through what a legitimate circumnavigation requires, the route planning around antipodal points, and how four completed Race Across America campaigns shaped what he believed he could endure. He also talks honestly about the days he didn't want to get out of bed, why he needed the ride to be about more than himself, and what Jackie would have said if he'd asked her permission. What he found in northern New Mexico, riding alone at 7,000 feet, is the part of this story that stays with you. Topics: oldest cyclist around the world, Guinness World Record cycling, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Race Across America, endurance and grief GUEST: Mark Herbst | @‌marksepicride

Rod Black: The Voice, the Book, the Lost Keys

Rod Black has been the voice in the room for Canadian sports fans for decades. Cut to Black is the book that explains how he got there, and it turns out it's not really about him. Rod is a TSN broadcaster and the author of Cut to Black: A Legendary Life in Sports, and this conversation covers the career behind the voice, from late-night sportscasts in Winnipeg with baseball cleats still on to the front row seat at some of the biggest moments in Canadian sport. He makes the case that great storytelling isn't about talent, it's about living the story, collecting it, and knowing when to get to the point. He also explains why sports is basically one giant campfire, why everyone becomes a soccer expert every four years, and what happened when a fan asked for a selfie and called him Ron McLean. The stories get better as they get older. Rod Black has been letting his age well for a long time. Topics: Rod Black, Cut to Black book, sports broadcasting Canada, TSN, storytelling career GUEST: Rod Black | @rodblacktv

The Case for Small Wins on Canada Day Eve

The show lands on Canada Day Eve with good news from three cities and a question worth sitting with: what if the most useful thing you can share today is something small? A first Colombian recipe attempt that smelled great. A bathroom renovation closing in on the finish line. A two-day work week that nobody asked for but everyone quietly needed. Then the cats versus dogs debate gets a full airing, with social media numbers, Google search results, Nyan Cat, and a three-legged orange cat named Spec who apparently acted like a dog. Listeners who are having a hard time finding their own good news today get a reminder that sometimes it helps to borrow someone else's for a few minutes. Topics: Good News Tuesday, cats versus dogs, Canada Day, home renovation, Colombian cooking Originally aired on 2026-06-30

NEW - Good News, a Loyal Dog, and a Cat With No Comment

The good news tonight comes in three flavors. A Phoenix school resource officer who rented a movie theater for kids who'd never been, then turned to the adults in the room and asked why they weren't doing the same. A dog named Daisy who walked out of a crash in BC's Okanagan, spent three days alone in the woods, and went back to the wreck to wait. And Larry the cat, who has outlasted another British prime minister and kept his job without being asked. The cats versus dogs loyalty debate runs underneath all of it, with texts coming in, Ryan O'Donnell promising to find a cat that waited for its owner, and nobody quite willing to call it. Listeners get three genuine good news stories and one argument that was never going to end cleanly. Topics: Good News Tuesday, dog loyalty, Larry the cat, school resource officer, Okanagan crash Originally aired on 2026-06-30

SHIFTHEADS: Why Cats Got a Bad Reputation (And Kept It)

Thirty percent of people don't like cats. Only five percent feel that way about dogs. Rod Phillips has spent years figuring out why, and the answer goes back further than most people expect. Phillips, a historian at Carleton University and author of Cats: A History, makes the case that cats haven't changed in thousands of years. What changed is what people decided they meant. The Middle Ages turned them into devil's accomplices. Walt Disney named his most famous cat Lucifer and went on record saying he didn't like cats because you can't tell them what to do. The bias didn't start there, but it stuck there. The conversation comes down to one distinction that reframes everything: dogs attach to people, cats attach to place. Once that lands, the grouchiness, the ignoring you, the walking away mid-eye-contact, all of it starts to make a different kind of sense. Topics: history of cats and humans, cat behaviour explained, cats versus dogs, medieval cats witchcraft, Rod Phillips Cats a History GUEST: Rod Phillips Originally aired on 2026-06-30