Wendy Mesley: Freedom 65 – Sound Off Podcast

If you’re a Canadian audience member who’s tuned in to a CBC News broadcast anytime in the last 20 or so years, this week’s guest should look very familiar. We’re joined by Wendy Mesley, the longtime Sunday host of CBC’s The National, among several other shows in CBC’s repertoire.

In this episode, you will hear about Wendy’s early years as a reporter at CFCF in Montreal, her time in radio in Toronto, and her years at the CBC. Wendy officially retired from the CBC in July 2021, but she hasn’t been sitting idly by since then. She’s currently hosting a wildly successful podcast, Women of Ill Repute, with her good friend and fellow CBC alum Maureen Holloway. In its first week, the show hit #1 on Apple Podcasts in Canada- and it just so happens to be produced by our network. If you haven’t yet, you can give it a listen here.

Of course, Wendy shares lots of details about the podcast and how it’s come together over the past few months, but we also talk about her time in radio and TV news- specifically the way the landscape of journalism has changed in the 40 years she’s been doing it. And for those of you familiar with Wendy, yes, we do touch on a certain controversy you might have heard about when she left the CBC.

For more of Wendy, check out Women Of Ill Repute on the Soundoff Podcast Network, give her a follow on Twitter, or check out her weekly newsletter on Substack.

A thanks to the people who support the show each week and allow it arrive on your phones for free.

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Click here for a transcript of this episode