Lobster—one time once considered a poor man's food—now fuels a multi-billion-dollar machine. But investigative journalist Greg Mercer's book, The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink, tells a different story—one unfolding both above and below the ocean’s surface.

In Ep. 15 of berrygrounds, Seasplainer authors Jenn Thornhill Verma and Leila Beaudoin interview Mercer, a reporter with the Globe & Mail, about the time he spent with fishermen in Atlantic Canada and what he learned about lobster in the process of writing his book.   

A very special thanks to Kelly Russell and Pigeon Inlet Productions for sharing with us Lem Snow's recording of The Great Lobster Boil.

If you like berrygrounds and would like to support the show, please consider becoming a monthly donor to The Independent. 

berrygrounds is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network. 

“The pitcher plant is unique, creative and resilient. It is beautiful and tenacious, tough and adaptable. It has thrived throughout all regions of our province for centuries, just as our people have done," Premier Danny Williams said in 2006 at a launch for the province's new "brand" signature. “It is an important part of our history and a true symbol of who we are and what we’re made of. It is the symbol by which the world will know us.”

Sarracenia purpurea "really is resilient and creative," Sara Swain writes in her new essay for The Independent, Lessons from the Pitcher Plant. "But the source of its celebrated qualities is not its carnivory; it is its mutual hospitality, collaboration, and cooperation. This living reality makes it an auspicious symbol for Newfoundland and Labrador after all, just not for the reasons we’ve come to expect."

In Ep. 14, Swain reads her full essay for our listeners. And she tells host Justin Brake about how reflections on her own identity as a Newfoundlander, and a chance encounter with a pitcher plant near her favourite St. John's swimming hole, led her to writing the essay.

Lessons from the Pitcher Plant was originally published Jan. 24, 2024 at TheIndependent.ca. Click here to read the full essay.

Very special thanks to All The Wiles (Katie Baggs, Jared Klok, Ben Rigby, Billy Nicol and Jake Nicol) for their song "Handful of Sand".

If you like berrygrounds and would like to support the show, please consider becoming a monthly donor to The Independent. 

berrygrounds is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network and Unrigged.ca. 

That's exactly what residents of the West Coast say is happening with World Energy GH2's Project Nujio'qonik, a proposed wind-to-hydrogen megaproject that would see hundreds of windmills scattered across the Port au Port Peninsula and the Codroy Valley.

Residents are watching in horror as the company and the province appear to be rushing the project through the approvals process in order to be first to market.

In this episode, we speak with Port au Port resident Duran Felix, a retired analyst who spent his career reviewing documents for Canada's military and has reviewed World Energy GH2's 4,000-plus page environmental impact statement. We also speak with Camille Ouellette-Dallaire, an assistant professor of environmental science at Memorial University's Grenfell campus in Corner Brook who once worked for the federal government reviewing environmental impact statements.

For some backstory, listen to berrygrounds Episode 2: Port au Port and the Wind Industry Acid Test.

If you like our show and would like to support berrygrounds' coverage of the province's emerging wind-to-hydrogen industry, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. 

The songs "Depth of Focus" and "Fearful New World" are courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios. 

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we speak with Simeon Tshakapesh and Anastasia Qupee, two of the Innu leaders who fought for the inquiry.

For more information on the inquiry, visit www.inniuna.ca.

If you like our show and would like to support berrygrounds' coverage of the climate crisis and other important stories, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. 

The songs "Snowdrops" and "Spark of Inspiration" are courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios. "Oh Canada" was performed by Jully Black at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game. 

In the second half, host Justin Brake speaks with Canadian Hurricane Centre Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Bob Robichaud, who explains what storm surge is and tells berrygrounds that the federal government is developing a new program to better predict the impacts of extreme weather events.

If you like our show and would like to support berrygrounds' coverage of the climate crisis and other important stories, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. 

Music from "Swept by the Sea" is from the Creative Commons: Residuum by Silver Maple, Who’s there by Peter Sandberg, Twire by Christophe Gorman, and Sentient by Gavin Luke. And for berrygrounds, The Wonders of Science is courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

If you like our show and would like to support us, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. 

Songs Corrupted, One With Everything, and Against Time courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

But how much do we really know about them? In an era of offshore oil, mega hydro dams, and now an impending wind energy industry — have we become indifferent to the fisheries? 

What we do hear about them seems so unrelatable: quotas and metric tons, prices per pound, licensing regulations. 

How did something so important to our economy, and our identity, become so hard to understand?

In Episode 9 of berrygrounds we speak with award-winning journalists Jenn Thornhill Verma and Leila Beaudoin, who have teamed up with The Independent to create something that we didn't have in Newfoundland and Labrador: an explainer series about the fisheries and the sea.

You can find the Seasplainer series on The Independent's website.

Click here to support The Independent with a monthly donation.

The song "Sunsetter" courtesy of Shane Ivers at Silverman Sound Studios.

In Episode 8 of berrygrounds, we speak with Rollmann about what changes are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador's labour movement. Rollmann, who also has a background in labour organizing and queer and trans activism, also shares some insight into her forthcoming book, "A Queer History of Newfoundland".

Read Rhea Rollmann's full article, "May Day Rally Shows New Face of Today’s Labour Movement".

The song Eyesplit is courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

In this episode, we speak with Telegram reporter Juanita Mercer, whose work around pay equity in Newfoundland and Labrador has landed her on the shortlists of two prestigious national journalism awards. We also hear from Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour President Jessica McCormick, who tells us exactly what's missing from the legislation and why government needs to scrap it altogether and start over.

If you dig our show, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. You can do that by clicking the 'Support Us' button at TheIndependent.ca.

Songs Womp and Save Us Now courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

In the first half of Episode 6, a conversation with Métis lawyer Jean Teillet, who wrote a report last year for the University of Saskatchewan on race-shifting and Indigenous identity fraud in Canadian universities. 

In the second half, we speak with two faculty leaders from MUNL, Robin Whitaker and Ash Hossain, about the years-long push for a more open and transparent hiring process for senior administrators. 

Then we go back to 2019 and uncover an alarming fact about how Vianne Timmons was hired.

Read Teillet's full report, "Indigenous Identity Fraud".

Listen to Episode 5 of berrygrounds: "Vianne Timmons and the Race-Shifting Conundrum".

Songs Xenon Sentry, Pop Rocks, and Reach the Top courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

In a new article for The Walrus, Cyca argues that for settlers Indigenous ancestry is "an accessory" that "offers people like Timmons an advantage over both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people: the insinuation of having overcome an obstacle that was never in their way. The cumulative effect is an impression of Indigeneity as a marketable asset, divorced from its historical, political, and cultural significance. The essential power structure of whiteness remains intact, and the sprinkle of artificially flavoured Indigeneity covers up the bad taste of settler guilt."

In Episode 5, we speak with Cyca about the Vianne Timmons scandal, and about race-shifting more broadly.

Whose responsibility is it to keep race-shifters in check? And how should people respond when they are questioned about their identity?

That and more in "Vianne Timmons and the Race-Shifting Conundrum".

Read Michelle Cyca's full article "Why Are More People Claiming Indigenous Ancestry?" in The Walrus.

Listen to Episode 4 of berrygrounds: "Ktaqmkuk — a personal story of Mi’kmaw ancestry, identity & belonging"

Read Justin Brake's 2021 essay "KTAQMKUK" in Maisonneuve magazine.

Songs Synapse, Liturgy of the Street, and Diaphanous courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

But theirs may not be the only costly battle in the province's wind rush. World Energy GH2 now has to try to mitigate the negative publicity associated with criminalizing Indigenous people. And the rest of the emerging industry is watching closely, says our guest, Alex Bill, editor with allNewfoundlandLabrador.com.

We're also joined by University of PEI energy justice researcher Nick Mercer, who says that for the things John Risley's company has done right, it is repeating mistakes of the past and risks losing public support for the wind industry as a whole.

A special thanks to Tara Manuel for sharing excerpts of her "Heart to Heart with Little Premier" performance, available on the artist's YouTube channel. And also to Kelly Russell for sharing music from Émile Benoit's 1979 album "Émile's Dream". You can stream or purchase the album from Pigeon Inlet Productions' bandcamp page. Music "Sports FM" is courtesy Shane Ivers.

Are you listening on Apple, Spotify or Amazon? If so, please give us a five-star review to help us reach more people.

And if you want to keep berrygrounds going, please click the "Support Us" button at TheIndependent.ca and donate directly to our show.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, four cabinet ministers have been tasked with reviewing policies to address institutional and systemic racism in the province.

But almost two years later, has anything actually changed?

Something Martin Luther King Jr. wrote 60 years ago in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” offers us critical insight into today’s anti-racism efforts.

On berrygrounds this week, Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei tells us why politicians—and all of us—should heed King’s caution about "moderate" white allyship in the fight to end racism.