Podcast

Season 2, Episode 1 – Oscar Wilde

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Hey, team. In the words of Alyssa Edwards, I’m backbackbackbackback again and Season Two of Church & Carlton is finally happening.

We’re kicking things off with a little known facet of Oscar Wilde’s famous visit to Toronto in the spring of 1882. Wilde was quite taken with the city, but his favourite part of the visit might surprise you.

He also developed a bit of a crush on this guy, who all of my research suggests was tragically heterosexual:

100% Victorian Beefcake

Ross McKenzie as he looked in 1894, 12 years after he set hearts aflutter with his heroics on the lacrosse field.

Special thanks to The ArQuives on Isabella Street for letting me poke around in their Oscar Wilde collection.

If you’d like to donate to Church & Carlton, you can become a Patreon subscriber or make a one-time donation here.

Church & Carlton – S1, E14 – Evgenia Medvedeva: Girl Wonder

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If anyone in figure skating can be called a genius, it’s Evgenia Medvedeva. But “genius” is a loaded word, and the way we apply it says a lot about whose art we value.

It’s our season finale next week, believe it or not. If you enjoyed this season, please consider donating to my Patreon – a few bucks an episode goes a long way towards making Church & Carlton possible.

This episode was inspired by Emily Atkin’s excellent article “The Sexism of Genius” in The New Republic. 

Full transcript under the cut.

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Church & Carlton – S1, E13 – Pyramid Power

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The great Red Kelly: cat lover, hockey superstar…new-age spiritualist? Well, not quite. As with everything here at Church & Carlton, the truth is stranger than fiction.

My Patreon is here if you want to throw a couple of bucks my way. Today’s episode references a previous episode on Ned Hanlan – I think they make nice companion pieces to one another.

Full transcript under the cut. See you in two weeks!

E.C.

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Church & Carlton – S1, E12 – Whither Taro Tsujimoto?

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Punch Imlach didn’t typically use his trolling powers for good, but when he did, it was a thing of beauty,

If you like what you heard, my Patreon is here. Perks included high quality downloads of Josh Labelle’s soundtrack and your very own Fighting Baseball name.

A full, plaint text transcript of today’s episode can be found under the cut. As always, you can reach with me with any concerns about accessibility at ecmarconTO@gmail.com

E.C.

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Church & Carlton – S1, E9 – A Brief History of Toronto’s Failed Olympic Bids

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Toronto has bid on the Olympics five times, and each time, it blew up in our faces in the most Toronto way possible.

Tune in next Friday for another Olympic-themed episode, this one on the low-key sexual revolution of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. (Just trust me on this.) In the meantime, visit my Patreon and be sure to keep checking back here for my first attempts at vlogging. If nothing else, you can marvel at my total lack of makeup skills

Best,

E.C. Marcon

Church & Carlton – S1, E7 – Honky The Christmas Goose

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A dramatic reading of last year’s Christmas post, “Honky The Christmas Goose” tells the story of my favourite piece of Leafs esoterica. You can hear the original song here.

My Patreon has already helped me to buy a nice pair of snow boots (Thanks!), so from here on out, it will mostly be funding my research trips to the Toronto Archives and the Toronto Reference Library (subway fare, printing costs, caffeine, etc…). If you’d like to donate, you can do so here.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

-E.C.