Episodios

  • This Young Guide Is Making Northern Ontario an Adventure Destination

    This Young Guide Is Making Northern Ontario an Adventure Destination
    Aug 13 2025
    At just 22 years old, Mylène started Follow Her North, a guiding company that’s turning Northern Ontario into a place where people come for adventure and stay for connection. She leads everything from snowshoe hikes to getting you the right supplies for your adventure, helping people slow down and reconnect with the land.

    In this episode, she shares how she turned her love for the outdoors into a business, what it's like being a young woman in the guiding world, and why she believes nature is the best place to reset.


    05:20 - Guiding as a calling and career
    12:10 - The power of unplugging and getting outside
    18:45 - Campfires, food, and creating simple moments
    26:00 - Starting a business rooted in nature
    33:30 - Looking ahead at what's next
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    50 m
  • A Love Not Forgotten: The Story of the Canadian Ecology Center

    A Love Not Forgotten: The Story of the Canadian Ecology Center
    Aug 6 2025
    100 episodes of the Backroads Bill Podcast has seen Bill and Ben talk to a number of high profile and educated guests focused on the outdoors, nature and Northern Ontario.

    For episode 100 Bill talks about the Canadian Ecology Center. How it started and how it turned into the hub for education and outdoor events that it is today.

    Bill also looks to the future following the devastating downburst earlier this summer and how the Canadian Ecology Center will come back stronger than ever!
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    47 m
  • Think Like a Bear: Expert Tips to Stay Safe in the Wild

    Think Like a Bear: Expert Tips to Stay Safe in the Wild
    Jul 30 2025
    In this episode of the Backroads Bill Podcast, bear and cougar specialist Rich Beausoleil from BearWise.org joins to talk about how to stay safe, smart, and respectful in bear country.

    From backcountry safety to urban attractants, Rich breaks down what really brings bears too close to people — and what works best to keep them away.

    00:00 - Intro: What Is BearWise?
    06:15 - Why Bears Show Up Where You Live
    13:40 - Bear Spray vs. Guns: What Actually Works
    19:55 - Bird Feeders, Garbage & Campfire Mistakes
    26:30 - What to Do When You See a Bear
    34:00 - The Future of Bear-Human Coexistence
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    48 m
  • Memoir, Mystery, and Mortality: Claire Cameron’s Wildest Story Yet

    Memoir, Mystery, and Mortality: Claire Cameron’s Wildest Story Yet
    Jul 23 2025
    Author Claire Cameron has written about bear attacks, wilderness trauma, and the raw edges of motherhood — but in her latest work, the story turned inward.

    After receiving a cancer diagnosis, Claire began writing not just about danger out there, but the uncertainty inside her own body.

    In this episode of the Backroads Bill Podcast, Claire reflects on grief, nature, storytelling, and resilience — and how Algonquin Park, literary fiction, and a real-life bear attack all shaped her view of mortality and meaning.

    00:00 - Intro: From Novels to Nature
    06:15 - The Real Bear Attack Behind “The Bear”
    12:30 - Facing Cancer and Writing Through It
    20:10 - Grief, Parenthood & the Wild Unknown
    27:45 - Why We Keep Going Back to Algonquin Park
    35:00 - What Survival Really Teaches Us
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    40 m
  • This Biologist Helped Build Science North and Left a Legacy of Curiosity

    This Biologist Helped Build Science North and Left a Legacy of Curiosity
    Jul 16 2025
    What does it take to inspire a generation? In this episode of the Backroads Bill Podcast, we sit down with legendary science communicator Franco Mariotti, one of the original minds behind Science North.


    Franco shares how his passion for biology and the natural world helped shape the early days of the centre. From bringing in live beavers and flying squirrels, to building exhibits that changed how kids (and adults) understand science.

    He shares personal stories of working with Jane Goodall, the evolution of IMAX, the rebirth of Sudbury’s landscape, and what it means to truly connect people with nature.

    05:04 - How Science North Started — and Why It Was So Different
    11:15 - Ralph the Porcupine and a Life-Changing Moment
    15:05 - Jane Goodall Walks In Unexpectedly
    22:00 - The Beavers, the Boardwalk, and Connecting to Nature
    26:00 - Re-Greening Sudbury: A Global Success Story
    32:00 - Wolf Lake and the Fight to Protect It
    36:00 - The Role of Beavers in Ecosystems
    42:00 - Franco’s Love for the Arctic and Polar Expeditions
    50:00 - The Magic Tunnel: Why Science North Still Matters Today
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    54 m
  • From Fighter Jet to Final Tribute: A Cold War Story Comes Full Circle

    From Fighter Jet to Final Tribute: A Cold War Story Comes Full Circle
    Jul 9 2025
    This week's episode revisits a previous podcast where Bill and Ben talked with Denny Treu who's father Gaylord crashed his fighter jet during a training exercise in Northern Ontario during the Cold War.

    Bill and friend of the show Brian Emblin where planning to take a Denny and his family up to the crash site so they could honour his father's memory with a plaque.

    Unfortunately Denny unexpectedly passed away days before the trip. Bill and Brian talk about the trip up with a new plaque to honour both Denny and his father and to place it at the site of the crash.

    Watch the first podcast episode here: https://www.northbayecho.ca/the-ghost-of-a-cold-war-crash-led-bill-to-an-unlikely-friend/

    00:00 - A Somber Return to the Crash Site
    06:00 - The Day the Jet Went Down
    12:30 - Finding the Pilot’s Son After 65 Years
    19:20 - Hiking Back In: The Plaque, the Weather & the Promise
    25:00 - A Prayer in the Forest & a Final Tribute
    32:00 - Legacy, Meaning & What Comes Next
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    46 m
  • 1,000 Miles. 10 Days. No Help: Inside the World’s Toughest Canoe Race

    1,000 Miles. 10 Days. No Help: Inside the World’s Toughest Canoe Race
    Jul 2 2025
    In this week's episode of the Backroads Bill Podcast, endurance paddlers Sean Lougheed and Lauren Anderson take us deep inside the preperation for the upcoming Yukon 1000, the longest canoe race on Earth — from Whitehorse to the Arctic Circle.

    For roughly 10 days, they will paddle 18 hours a day, braving storms, sleep deprivation, and total isolation with only a GPS and each other to rely on.

    The toughest part? Getting accepted into the race in the first place.

    Follow their journey starting July 10th here: https://www.yukon1000.org/


    02:15 - Meet Sean & Lauren
    06:30 - What Is the Yukon 1000? Rules, Risk & Insanity
    11:50 - Training for the Pain Cave: How They Prepped
    17:25 - The Emotional Highs (and Hallucinations) of Day 4
    22:10 - Mosquitoes, Muscle Fatigue & 4 Hours of Sleep a Night
    27:45 - Navigating the Braided River Without Getting Lost
    32:20 - Food Strategy: 7,000 Calories a Day
    36:05 - No Phones, No People: What Silence Teaches You
    40:40 - Crossing the Arctic Circle: The Final Push
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    44 m
  • The Next Great Resource War May Not be Over Oil — But Over Water

    The Next Great Resource War May Not be Over Oil — But Over Water
    Jun 25 2025
    This week journalist and author Peter Annin joins Bill and Ben to explore the geopolitics, climate threats, and cross-border tensions surrounding the Great Lakes Water Basin.

    From the shocking history of water diversions to modern battles over access, privatization, and climate migration, this episode reveals why the next great resource war may not be over oil — but over water.

    Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, explains why this region could become a global flashpoint — and what’s being done to protect it.

    00:00 - Intro
    02:10 - Meet Peter Annin: Author, Journalist, Water Advocate
    06:40 - What Makes the Great Lakes So Unique (and So Vulnerable)
    10:55 - The Great Lakes Compact: A Deal That Changed Everything
    15:30 - Climate Change, Drought & U.S. Cities Looking North
    19:45 - The Chicago Diversion: Legal or Loophole?
    24:20 - Can the Great Lakes Be Bought, Sold, or Traded?
    28:50 - Why Canada Needs to Watch These Borderline Water Politics
    33:15 - The Role of Indigenous Communities in Water Protection
    36:40 - A Future of Climate Migration: Will People Come for the Lakes?
    40:55 - Final Thoughts
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    49 m