Was it Really Murder?  Big crime comes to a town too small to merit even that title in Murder Rides a Gale Force Wind. Beloved West Coast author and artist Yvonne Maximchuck is best known for her slices of BC marine life written with friend Billy Proctor, but has turned her hand to writing a murder mystery!  Yvonne reads from the book to whet your appetite and then chats with Darby. Check out more about her writing and art, including purchasing her books at her website: https://www.yvonnemaximchuk.com/ You can borrow some of her books from the library here.

Have you always wondered what SOGI stands for but didn't want to ask the angry people with the signs by the side of the road?  Nathan thinks maybe you have.  He conducts an investigation with the help of Scout from SOGI 1, 2, 3. Find some SOGI-inclusive books for children and teens here.

Join us in our first sponsored episode! Buster and Barnfather's Children's Cigarettes are the perfect pairing for this educational look at Vancouver Island University's Canadian Letters & Images Project with Dr. Stephen Davies.  See the project here at https://www.canadianletters.ca including some famous Canadian guest readers! You can help the project financially by donating through the VIU Foundation, which is a tax-deductible donation.  If you have wartime letters, postcards, etc. you can lend them to the project as per the directions here.

Nathan gets a bit down/realistic about climate change with some special guests.  First he talks to Teegan Walshe from Fridays for the Future in Qualicum, which is an ongoing school strike for climate justice.  (Back in Nathan and Darby's day, people skipped school to smoke pot or buy candy.) Second, he talks with Lucy Grainger of FireSmart BC.  You can learn more, including the free fire assessment mentioned, at FireSmartBC.ca.   Books on the topic of Climate Optimism selected by our Librarians can be found here. Books mentioned by Teegan: The New Climate War by Michael E. Mann The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe

Ex-high school investigative journal turned Library Manager Stephanie interviews Library Manager Monica about Freedom to Read Week, which we observe from Feb. 18-24 this year.  Tune in for this interesting library values conversation on this still very relevant topic. Further reading: Check out the Library's curated lists of Freedom to Read items.  Or some resources on the FreedomtoRead.ca site here. SOGI =Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.  See the BC government site about SOGI here.  Books with these topics have been challenged many times recently in affiliation with a group called Action for Canada. The Canadian Federation of Library Association have a Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries that Monica talks about. 

Nathan tests his Manager Stephanie's trivia prowess in today's episode.  Can you beat Stephanie at trivia?  Peter Parker Gretzky thinks you can in one section for sure.  Winners will of course receive FREE BOOKS FOR LIFE!  If you did not win, you will also receive free books for life, but only real Alex Cross titles.  Redeemable at your local library branch. 

We are feeling very educational today.  So today is the day you learn a new acronym! LAC stands for Library and Archives Canada and we are really nerding out with Julie Anne Richardson from LAC.  Ever wondered what the Library and Archives of Canada does?  Or how Canada preserves its written and recorded culture?  Or what animal noises Nathan's former bandmates can make?  Listen to find out the answers to these questions and more... Check out Library and Archives Canada, where to do your Legal Deposit form if you made something they want to collect, and you can listen to Jordan Venn's Phosphorescence song on Bandcamp.

How do YOU feel about honking like a goose for people?  If you're very comfortable, perhaps you are our next guest!  Meet Naomi Steinberg, storyteller and author.  There are no spoilers, just enjoy the voyage...  *HONK!*

Enjoy your literary adult storytime with these Sea & Cedar magazine readings!  Works included: Storyteller Spirits & Tuesday's Tide by Heather Hendry Hedgerow & Moss by Allie Picketts Flame Girl by Jann Everard Snake Spur Road by Karl Sturmanis Planting Onions by Zoe Dickinson Pop-Up Grebe by Christine Lowther Spell for Skookumchuck Narrows by Anne Hopkinson You can READ this issue of Sea & Cedar online or in print.  You can also SUBMIT your own work here.  A limited number of PRINT copies are also available for purchase! Email [email protected] to place an order (for pick up only at any VIRL branch).  Cost is $15 + GST per copy.

Do paper (or "pbooks", if you will) have a place in this world anymore?  Will reading an ebook lead to buying unneeded items on the internet and generally ruin your health? Nathan and Darby duke it out.  Can they come together on the topic, or will the excitement of the debate rhetoric prove to be too much?  Find out on this impassioned episode.