Spark
GenreTalk show
Running time54 minutes
Country of originCanada
Language(s)English
Home stationCBC Radio One
Hosted byNora Young
Created byNora Young
Produced byMichelle Parise, Adam Killick, Kent Hoffman and Nora Young[1]
Original releaseSeptember 5, 2007 (2007-09-05) –
present
No. of episodes501 (as of
February 26, 2021)[2]
Websitecbc.ca/spark
Podcastcbc.ca/podcasting

Spark is a Canadian radio talk show about "technology and culture."[1] Hosted by Nora Young, the program made its CBC Radio One début on September 5, 2007.[3] The show is also broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio 159 and, since January 9, 2010, on Vermont Public Radio's network of stations in the United States.[4] It is also broadcast in Australia on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National network.[5] Spark is produced in Toronto by Young and a team that currently consists of Michelle Parise, Adam Killick, and Kent Hoffman.[1]

The program is made collaboratively with its audience. Nora Young often encourages listeners to become "Spark Contributors" by participating in the active conversations on the Spark Blog, notifying the Spark Team of interesting ideas to investigate, or even recording interviews and letting Spark use them on the show.[6] The show often plays phone messages left by Spark listeners and features comments left on the Spark Blog. Its episodes made use of Creative Commons music until October 2010, when CBC management realized that Spark was available on some platforms considered to be commercial, violating use restrictions of most of the music available under the Creative Commons licenses. This prompted Spark to limit its use to the APM Music library.[7]

Spark sometimes comments on proposed legislation that affects widely used technology. An example was the Copyright Modernization Act and the bills leading up to it.[8]

Producers

In addition to Nora Young, current producers include Michelle Parise, Adam Killick, and Kent Hoffman.[1] Past producers include Dan Misener, Elizabeth Bowie[9] and Carma Jolly.[7][10]

Multiple podcasts

The on-air version is available as a weekly podcast, augmented with two additional audio feeds: Spark Plus (which features "bonus audio" such as full interviews), and "Bandwidth with Anshuman Iddamsetty", a weekly technology column by one of Spark's producers.[11]

Spark Lite, a low-bandwidth podcast of the on-air version powered by blip.tv, was available from November 2008 to October 2011; it ended due to changes in blip.tv policy.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "About Spark". CBC Radio One. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  2. ^ "325: Connected bikes, playground design and more". Spark. CBC. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  3. ^ "Yippee Kye Ay!". Spark blog. CBC Radio One. August 22, 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  4. ^ "VPR Adds Spark and To The Best Of Our Knowledge to Saturday Afternoons". Press release. Vermont Public Radio. January 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  5. ^ "Spark - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  6. ^ Burke, Jasmyn Lighting a Spark Ryerson Review of Journalism. March 17, 2008.
  7. ^ a b Masnick, Mike (October 8, 2010). "CBC Stops Using Creative Commons Music Over Concerns About Commercial vs. Non-Commercial Use". Techdirt. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  8. ^ Willis, Jesse (2010-06-08). "CBC Spark: Bill C-32, Canada's awful new copyright legislation". SFF Audio. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  9. ^ Burke, Jasmyn (March 17, 2008). "Lighting a Spark". Ryerson Review of Journalism. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  10. ^ "Carma Jolly: Radio Producer". The [Un]Observed. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  11. ^ a b "Podcasts". CBC Radio One. Retrieved 2012-05-09. We introduced Spark Lite three years ago, in November 2008, as a low-bandwidth version of our weekly episodes. When we launched Spark Lite, we called it an "experiment" and made sure to point out that it might not last forever. It didn't. Here's why: for the past three years, Spark Lite has been powered by blip.tv, not on the CBC's servers. Like I said, it was an experiment. In October 2011, blip.tv announced the shuttering of mp3 uploads to their service. With that, the Spark Lite experiment ended and its feed was redirected to the regular podcast feed.

External links

CBC Radio programs
Categories