Conversations That Matter Stuart McNish, Veteran Canadian Newsman

Ep 464 - Addressing Renewable Energy’s Weak Link
Guest: Matt Harper
By Stuart McNish
 
Will vanadium redox flow batteries address an issue that has been the Achilles’ heel of renewable energy production – how to store the power generated by wind and solar power generation? The sector has challenges, such as the inability of renewable energy sources to produce consistent on-demand power needed to supply an ever-fluctuating need. 
 
Matt Harper of Vancouver-based Invinity Energy Systems, a leader in battery storage systems says, “Yes. And in doing so, we will be filling a significant need in jurisdictions where there is a huge increase in the amount of renewable power being generated – power that needs a home until it is required for use: places like California, Australia and Alberta.”
 
We invited Matt Harper to join us for a Conversation That Matters about harnessing, storing, discharging and recharging renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of the future.
 
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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Ep 463 - Working Towards Ending Genocide
Guest: Dr James Smith
By Stuart McNish

“More than 60% of the population of Rwanda was born after the genocide in 1994. They feel its effects, but have little knowledge of what caused it to happen,” says Dr. James Smith of Aegis Trust.  The ravages of genocide tear familes, communities and societies apart. Smith adds, “It takes decades of reconciliation, peace-building and support to repair the damage done, and constant vigilance to ensure it does not happen again.”
Central to ensuring it doesn’t happen again is the need to help people who have no concept of peace or how to plan to start to envision a future. Dr. Smith says, “The victims of genocide spent years focused on the minutes ahead of them, relying on their wits to stay alive. Tomorrow, next week, next month never existed, so there was no need to plan or work toward a better future.”
Since 2008, Aegis’ peace-building education program has reached  thousands of young Rwandans – a “Peace Education” program that is changing attitudes and behaviour among students and their communities.
We invited Dr James Smith from Aegis Trust to join us from Kigali,  Rwanda for a Conversation That Matters about working toward the prediction, prevention and ultimate elimination of genocide.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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Ep 461 - Life in Canada after fleeing Syria
Guest: Nour Suliman
By Stuart McNish
 
It’s been eight years since 25,000 Syrian refugees were resettled in Canada. Our country, in keeping with our commitment to the United Nations Commission for Refugees, is “obliged to protect refugees and treat them according to international standards.” Nour Suliman and her family fled to Canada after dodging bullets, landmines and barrel bombs in Syria. 
 
Nour and her family were some of the 13 million Syrians forced from their homes. Some moved within their country; others fled fearing for their lives. In an earlier Conversations That Matter interview, Nour said, “17 of us would pack into my father’s car at a moment's notice. My grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle and my cousins all squeezed into the car to escape numerous deadly threats.”
 
It has now been  7 years since Nour and her family arrived in Canada. We invited Nour Suliman to join us for a Conversation That Matters to share how life in her new home is unfolding.
 
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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Ep 462 - How to reduce adverse drug reactions
Guest: Amani Saini
By Stuart McNish

According to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, “there are more than 2.2 million serious adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients, causing over 106,000 deaths annually.” The British Pharmacological Society in a “Fatal Adverse Drug Reaction” global study says, “Adverse drug reactions are the most common cause of hospital admission and one of the top seven causes of death.”
 
In Canada, Amani Saini’s sister had a critical adverse drug reaction to an over-the-counter medicine. Her sister’s near-deadly ordeal led Amani to investigate the causes and rate of hospitalization and death in Canada. The numbers were disturbing. Amani says, “There are an estimated 200,000 adverse drug reactions in Canada. More than 10,000 people a year are dying and the cost to the healthcare system exceeds more than $13 billion.”
 
We invited Amani Saini to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the work and mission of Adverse Drug Reaction Canada and its mission to reduce ADRs.
 
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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Ep 466 - Ozempic and Weight Loss
Guest: Dr Devyn Parsons
By Stuart McNish
 
It has been called a wonder drug for its unintended benefits to anyone wrestling with obesity. Ozempic does for obese people what their bodies can no longer do – shedding weight. Dr. Devyn Parsons, an obesity specialist, says, “Your body locks onto what it believes is your ideal weight – that, being the highest weight of your life. And it doesn’t want to let go.”
 
According to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health, “the odds of returning to normal weight for a man with obesity is one in 210 and, for women, one in 124. The odds worsen as weight increases.” Dr Parsons adds, “For those who do lose weight, keeping it off is an even more difficult battle. That’s because your body reprograms itself to believe that your highest weight will ward off starvation.”
 
We invited obesity specialist Dr. Devyn Parsons to join us for a Conversation That Matters about obesity and Ozempic.
 
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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Ep 465 - Seeing Street Kids’ Potential
Guest: Krista Thompson
By Stuart McNish
 
“The reasons why children end up on the streets are complex. Often, their arrival represents an active decision on their part in response to serious rights violations at home,” says Moses Ogutu in “Under The Bridge: The Invisible Lives of Street Children.” Ogutu was a child of the street for five years. Today, he is an international business and trade lecturer at the African Leadership University and a 2017 Mandela Rhodes Scholar.
 
Ogutu’s life journey is proof that children who end up on the streets can and do rise above the challenges they face. Ogutu points out that homelessness among youth is a global problem and in each jurisdiction, the reason a child arrives on the street is individual and globally similar.
 
Krista Thompson, the past CEO of Vancouver’s Covenant House, agrees. “There are many successful intervention strategies that work to help young people who clearly have smarts and grit and problem-solving abilities to move forward toward a more positive future.” One such strategy is “Relentless Support,” a program that Covenant House offers.
 
We invited Krista Thompson to join us for a Conversation That Matters about ensuring that young people are not forgotten, are visible, and supported to grow, develop, and realize their potential.
 
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
 
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