Edmonton calls itself a winter city, which partly means we’ve got a lot of wintery festivals. This episode, our producer Trevor Chow-Fraser asks: what does that mean for our parks? How are they changing to live up to the winter city ideal?

Trevor started out by taking his daughter Eliot to Victoria Park to take advantage of its free snowshoeing and fort building. He spoke to activity leader Ryanne Osguthorpe. Victoria Park is one of a few parks in Edmonton that now feature geodesic dome warming huts in the winter.

That got us curious about warming huts in parks, so we met up with Danielle Soneff — an industrial and social designer in Edmonton who created warming huts for a pilot project to bring them into city parks. She’s now an MA student at the University of Alberta, studying winter city design and governance.

We talked about why she feels that pilot project failed, and what good winter design principles could be brought to the new Warehouse Park (final name TBD) downtown.

Finally, we spoke with Isla Tanaka, a winter city planner for the City of Edmonton. We asked her how its winter city strategy has evolved over the years, and how it might change now after the first decade of implementation.

Full show notes

Soni Dasmohapatra asks: Who is Sohan Singh Bullar? Why is there a park named after them?

Mathew Thomson asks: what’s the process for naming a park in Edmonton? We investigate: who has authority, how much do names mean, and what happens when someone goes rogue on Google Maps?

Shelley Jodoin-Chouinard asks what Edmonton’s smallest park is.

Kay Rollans asks who hung two effigies from the 142nd Street Bridge amid 1965 protests against a freeway slated to be built through MacKinnon Ravine. This episode is part of our season exploring the history of parks and natural areas in Edmonton.

Edmontonians take a lot of pride in our parks and natural areas. But how did they come to be the way they are, and how well do they make space for humans and other species? On September 29, Let’s Find Out hosted a live podcast recording at the Aviary, with short talks and activities about parks. At the end, listeners had a chance to submit a question for our upcoming season about parks and natural areas in and around our city.

Guest speakers on the episode include Marilyn Dumont, Tara Russell, and Sarah De Lano.

Edmontonians take a lot of pride in our parks and natural areas. But how did they come to be the way they are, and how well do they make space for humans and other species? Join Let’s Find Out host Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and producer Trevor Chow-Fraser for a live podcast recording at the Aviary, with short talks and activities about parks and a chance to meet fellow listeners.

At the end, you’ll get a chance to submit a question for our upcoming season about parks and natural areas in and around our city.

September 29, 2022 Doors at 6:30 PM Event at 7:00 PM aviary.net/">The Aviary – 9314 111 Avenue NW, Edmonton AB

Special guest speakers:

• Sarah Delano
• Marilyn Dumont
• Tara Russell

Buy tickets online in advance: $17 At the door: $20

This venue has a step-free entrance at the back and step-free bathrooms inside. This event is all ages, and drinks will be available at the bar.

Let’s Find Out is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network.

Great news! Our first Let’s Find Out live show in a while is coming up this weekend. We’re as surprised as you are. Thanks to the great folks at the Alberta Podcast Network, we’ll be at Calgary Expo this weekend.

Have you ever taken a picture of all the pretty bubbles under the ice at Lake Abraham in the Rockies? Come to Calgary Expo on April 24, and you can join in a live hands-on workshop exploring three ways history can help us think about one of those photographs. We’ll be recording it for the podcast, of course.

– 4 PM Sunday April 24 – Quarterhorse Room, BMO Centre, Stampede Park

Find the full schedule here. You can buy tickets here. Our fellow Alberta Podcast Network shows Repodcasting and Makeshift Stories will also be doing panels this week.

This minisode also includes a tiny extra. A little while ago, Trevor and I sat down to talk about the whole Spotify misinformation, Joe Rogan thing, and whether or not to keep Let’s Find Out on Spotify.

Big props to Science Vs for keeping the drum beat going on this. Listen to their episode fact-checking Joe Rogan’s episode with Robert Malone.