Co-creator, producer, and head writer of the new CTV series Robson Arms, Susin Nielsen talked with Joseph Planta, about the locally set and shot series with a remarkable cast of Canadian talent, including such stars as John Cassini, William B. Davis, Shirley Douglas, Alisen Down, Fred Ewanuick, Perry Finnbogason, Megan Follows, Colin Foo, Margot Kidder, Mark McKinney, Kevin McNulty, Jane McGregor, Tobias Mehler, Gabrielle Miller, David Richmond-Peck, Zak Santiago, and more.

Steven Wong was a gangster who walked the streets of Vancouver’s Chinatown with impunity, and throughout Asia even after he supposedly died in 1992. Bestselling author Terry Gould tells Joseph Planta the fascinating story of how he befriended Wong, and how for the past decade or so he’s tried to find Wong in a hunt that’s stretched from Canada to Macau, to Cambodia, to The Philippines, where Wong staged his death. Gould’s remarkable book is Paper Fan: The Hunt for Triad Gangster Steven Wong (Vintage, 2005).

Author Hugo Bonjean talked with Joseph Planta about his book, In the Eyes of Anahita (Eagle Vision, 2004), a thought-provoking book looking at the condition of the developing world in South America, and how North Americans and others are part of the problems there. The book is fictionalised novel, but it’s a very thoughtful book about the condition of the world today.

Theatre in the Raw’s Artistic Director Jay Hamburger talks to Joseph Planta about their latest production, The Inspector General. Listen to Jay talk about the show, which opens June 15th to the 18th, and the 22nd to the 26th at the Ukrainian Hall, as well as his thoughts on the local theatre scene. (For more information call: 604.708.5448.)

Christopher Gaze, the Artistic Director of Bard on the Beach, talked with Joseph Planta about William Shakespeare, and the forthcoming 16th season which bows under the tents at Vanier Park in Vancouver, June 2nd to September 25th, 2005.

The comedian Dustin Diamond talked with Joseph Planta about being a stand up comedian, what to expect when he’s in town this weekend, and of course, his decade-long run as Screech Powers on the television series, Saved By the Bell. As well, he says whether he’s ever been to the Neverland Ranch.

Bestselling author and television personality Steve Paikin has written a new book, Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts (Viking, 2005), a fascinating look at the life and times of the former Ontario premier. He joined Joseph Planta to talk about Robarts’s successful career, as well as his tragic private life.

Does Canada nurture and export terrorism around the world? Stewart Bell, Chief Reporter for the National Post and the author of Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World (Wiley, 2005) talked with Joseph Planta about Canadian terrorism past and present. His is often a shocking, but recommended and prescient book.

Vancouver comedian and performer Tom Chin talked with Joseph Planta about the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s 3rd Annual Asian Sketch Comedy Competition, Sketchoff!#$!!, which is on at the Roundhouse this Friday and Saturday night. The performers include three of North America’s finest ‘hyphenated-Asian’ comedy teams: LA OPM, The Kupps, and Assaulted Fish. Call 604.713.1800 for more information; or check out http://www.vact.ca.

The independent filmmaker Ali Kazimi talked with Joseph Planta about his new film, Continuous Journey, a documentary about the Komagata Maru incident in Vancouver’s harbour in 1914. It debuts the DOXA Documentary Film and Video Festival in Vancouver on Tuesday, 24 May 2005. It’s a fascinating moment in Canadian history, and a fascinating conversation that’s split into two segments.