Midweek
Wednesday March 4th, 2026 with Kaitlin Gruehl and Leia Fourney
Winter 2026 - Episode #5

This week’s broadcast featured stories about the experiences of women and gender-non-conforming people to celebrate International Women’s Day, focusing on Ottawa women’s initiatives, concerns about women’s healthcare, female athleticism, and much more! Our broadcast opened up with two insightful interviews focusing on the Iran War, featuring adjunct professor Hossein Raeesi and Mehdi Fallahi, host of CKCU’s Persian radio program, Namaashoum. Both interviews looked into how the ongoing conflict is affecting Ottawa’s Iranian community and on a global scale. Next, Alea St.Jacques interviewed Kelly Lauzon, an educator in law at Carleton University, about how she is planning to teach students about advocating for the wrongfully convicted. With the Winter Olympics still on people’s minds, some of our reporters took the opportunity to carry on the momentum. Kaitlin Gruehl spoke with curling players to explore about what the sport means to women and the push for gender equality within the sport, while Alexa MacKie introduced us to Collinda Joseph, a local athlete competing at this year’s Paralympics for Canada’s wheelchair curling team. In 2024, women made up less than one quarter of the people employed in STEM careers across Canada. Marley Bradfield spoke with Winnie Ye, the global chair for women in engineering at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, to talk about the need for greater diversity in the workforce. A new book by Carleton University researchers focusing on women’s lived experiences with menopause is set to release in May. Sophie Blake gave us the scoop behind the book’s research and significance. We also had time for one tape talk this week featuring Blake, who spoke about this year’s KINDNESS International Women’s Day Power Luncheon, hosted by She Shops Local, which celebrates and connects Canadian businesswomen. The show also featured some thoughtful interviews related to sexual violence advocacy. First, Jadie Leung interviewed Erin Galt, an artist researcher at the University of Ottawa, about the portrayal of sexual violence in contemporary arts and Galt’s upcoming discussion at Ottawa’s Femme Fest. And, to close off the show, Leia Fourney spoke with Michelle Chubb, a well-known Indigenous TikTok creator and advocate from Winnipeg, about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Peoples.