Stand Up Speak Up

True Crime
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True Crime
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Tune in for the Stand Up Speak Up Podcast, with more than fifty inspiring stories from people who have beaten the odds and persevered through trauma and discrimination. Why listen? Because in listening to others’ stories of healing, we are reminded of the potential we all have to find the light, even in the darkest of moments. No matter what we are up against, we are all survivors worthy of finding healing and happiness.

Human Trafficking: A Victim's Story

Human trafficking is a hard conversation to have, but it needs to be spoken about. This episode is part of our human trafficking series, a series designed to spread awareness about the prevalence of modern-day slavery.

We look at human trafficking from a victim's point of view. Learn who can be a victim of sex trafficking and how it happens.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Cesar Del Castillo

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Pimp's Story

Part of our human trafficking series, this episode delves into the mind of a pimp. How does he think? How does he control the victims of sex trafficking? Listen for some answers. Understanding modern-day slavery is the first step towards ending it.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Cesar Del Castillo

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A John's Story

Who pays for sex? Why do they pay for sex? Often, without even knowing it, Johns are supporting sex trafficking operations. In this human trafficking awareness series, we examine prostitution from John's point of view.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Cesar Del Castillo

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Foster Care Survivor

Jenny Maher has been through a lot. Growing up with a mentally ill mother, she was in and out of the foster system. Jenny experienced some bad things in her childhood, but she managed to overcome them.

Today, she is an inspiration to anyone facing challenges in life. She's the author of Never Give Up, a book that goes into even more of the obstacles she's faced in life. In this episode, we talk about the issues in the foster care system and take a look at some of the mental effects it can have on a person.

Listen to Jenny's story and learn more about what happens to children in the system.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Joel North at East Coast Radio Creative

Guests: Jenny Maher and David Pumo

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Burst the Bubble: Serial Killer Poetry

We talk a lot about mental health and fighting your inner demons. But what happens when those demons take over? It's a sad conversation, but one that we need to have. That's why this episode takes a look at serial killers. But there's a twist. Instead of looking at their actions, we look at their poetry.

We delve into their minds and try to understand more about what made them that way. And we try to understand if there's anything we can do to prevent more murders from happening.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Cesar Del Castillo

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The House of Mayhem Story

There is a disproportionate number of homeless LGBTQ teens on the street, but most people don't talk about it.

House of Mayhem is talking about it. House of Mayhem is a new tv series about LGBTQ youth in the foster system. It gives today's teens hope that they will find acceptance and love.

We speak with creator/writer David Pumo about the plight of LGBTQ youth.

We also speak with actress Quei Tann, former America's Next Top Model contestant and one of the stars of House of Mayhem. The once homeless youth shares her story and inspires others to overcome it.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Co-Producer: Danielle Gallagher

Editor: Joel North at East Coast Radio Creative

Guests: David Pumo and Quei Tann

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Disappearance of Delaine Copenace: Part 1

This is the first episode in a series about missing and murdered native women in Canada. We head to Kenora, Ontario to tell the story of Delaine Copenace, a 16-year-old aboriginal girl who went missing in 2016 and was found in Lake of the Woods a month later. We speak with her mother Anita Ross, who is still trying to make sense of her daughter’s death.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Researcher, Interviewer, Editor, and Co-producer: Drew Penner

Production: Thanks to the Vancouver Public Library Inspiration Lab and the Wachiay Aboriginal Multi Media (WAMM) studio

Music:

Quinton Larry Roy Cameron “Kenora Ontario,” “Pound Cake”

www.soundcloud.com/quinton-larry-roy-cameron

Frequency Horizon “Delaine’s Theme,” “Hiking Cross-Island in 3 Hours,” “Telling the Story”

Lullatone “Tiny Glaciers”

Michael Taylor “West Georgia Opus 1”

Yuminale (Deane Holmes) “The Lacquered Bird”

psypad “You (Intro)”

Rumourtone

Running In Slow Motion “Falling”

Still Breathing Fire “She Rewards From Where She Stands”

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Disappearance of Delaine Copenace: Part 2

Reporter Drew Penner travels with Anita, the mother of a 16-year-old native girl named Delaine who went missing in 2016. We retrace her last known steps, in an effort to get a better understanding of the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Researcher, Interviewer, Editor, and Co-producer: Drew Penner

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Foster Kid to Happy Husband

While researching for our episodes on the foster care system, we came across Scott Inman and felt he deserved an episode all to himself.

Scott's story begins like so many others forced into the foster system - his father passed away when Scott was only 10, leaving him and two sisters with a mother who suffered from mental illness and could not properly care for them. Where Scott's story turns to remarkable is in how he was able to rise above the seemingly endless obstacles that faced him.

This episode investigates how Scott overcame the odds to become the happily married and successful man he is today.

Host and Producer: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy

Editor and Co-Producer: Joel at East Coast Radio Creative

This show contains some music used under a Creative Commons License. Broke For Free - Something Elated Paper Navy - Swan Song

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Burst the Bubble: Harm Reduction

Reporter Drew Penner tracks down four very different but important perspectives on the evolving harm reduction movement. This episode will take you from the east coast of the United States to London, Ontario, to Vancouver's downtown eastside. And we'll even wade into the thorny topic of an illegal, but promising therapy. Harm reduction isn't for the faint of heart, but the stories we bring you today are empowering tales.

Producer and Host: Karla Stephens Tolstoy

Co-producer, researcher, lead journalist, original sound design: Drew Penner

Music: www.soundcloud.com/frequencyhorizon (iTunes: www.podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frequency-horizon/id1127552995)

Song of the week: Jon Clever (aka Be Clever Beats) - Harm Reduction

Cover image: Collage by Drew Penner of imagery from Kenneth Anderson, iamwilli.am, end_thewod, ann harkness (via Flickr).

In this episode you will hear from:

Dr. Arnold Washton, a substance abuse consultant to professional sports teams, foreign governments, the American Food and Drug Administration, and even the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, discusses his “drink smartly” program for problem drinkers. www.recoveryoptions.us
Randy Richmond, a London Free Press reporter covering that city’s efforts to bring forward a variety of harm-reduction measures to help sex workers, alcoholics and drug addicts. www.lfpress.com/author/randy-richmond
A woman working on the front lines of the opioid crisis in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.
Tim, an ex-con and former substance abuser who has been taking plant-based hallucinogen ayahuasca as a way to improve his life.

Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca

Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.