22 min

A look inside Ottawa's extremely strange book festival The Big Story

    • Daily News

On the surface, it was just another writer's festival, with perhaps some local food vendors. But as soon as the Ottawa International Food and Book Expo got underway, it became clear something about this one was a little bit ... off.

First, a local group warned of far-right speakers on the panels. Then the MCs pulled out. The food vendors weren't quite sure what was going on. Some sponsors either removed themselves or claimed they'd never been associated with the festival in the first place ... and, well, there was more. So what exactly happened in the nation's capital on the last weekend of April?

GUEST: Luke LeBrun, editor of Press Progress

On the surface, it was just another writer's festival, with perhaps some local food vendors. But as soon as the Ottawa International Food and Book Expo got underway, it became clear something about this one was a little bit ... off.

First, a local group warned of far-right speakers on the panels. Then the MCs pulled out. The food vendors weren't quite sure what was going on. Some sponsors either removed themselves or claimed they'd never been associated with the festival in the first place ... and, well, there was more. So what exactly happened in the nation's capital on the last weekend of April?

GUEST: Luke LeBrun, editor of Press Progress

22 min

More by Frequency Podcast Network

Island Crime
Laura Palmer / Frequency Podcast Network
Heaven Bent
Tara Jean Stevens
Parkdale Haunt
Emily Kellogg & Alex Nursall / Frequency Podcast Network
Teach Me How To Adult
Gillian Berner
The Big Story
Frequency Podcast Network
The Gravy Train
Frequency Podcast Network