Forty episodes to enjoy!

Something Different This Way Comes

Looking forward with hope, rooted in and rooting for Thunder Bay

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Conversations and information to inspire (and original songs they inspired).

As featured on CILU Radio in Thunder Bay, Mondays from 6-7 pm

See each week's blog for articles referenced therein.

This podcast document the growth of my understanding what we need to do in Thunder Bay in order to solve our climate crisis. 

I began by assuming it boiled down to leadership and technology with a touch of public education. Serve up these three  ingredients right and our path to destruction would be solved - much like the acid rain crisis, or water pollution was quickly and substantively addressed.

I've come to understand that this crisis is too deeply rooted to solve quickly. It requires a substantive shift towards inclusivity of all the systems of life of which we are a part - a heart-shift, as Gavin Shields puts it. A shift that will not happen without significant effort. And yet it is so do-able, and each step in that direction will be healing. 

Listen from first to last to trace my journey of deepening hope for this place now called Northwestern Ontario, beloved home of the Anishnawbe and Cree since time began, signatories of the Robinson Superior treaty of 1850. Or leap-frog straight to the episode that calls you.

Thank you for listening. I am honoured.

This is a wholly independent podcast. Contributions through GoFundMe are very welcome.

May 20, 2025

Sparking Community Gardens with Scott Pound

The John St. Extension Community Park and Gardens started guerrilla twenty years ago, one of the successful neighbourhood initiatives that informed Thunder Bay getting pro-active in supporting community gardening. This Spring...

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May 19, 2025

Victoria Day 2025 Rooting for Post-Colonial Changes

This was pre-recorded to be broadcast on CILU Radio Victoria Day, Monday May 19 at 6 pm here in Thunder Bay. But I messed up, didn't get the tape in on time to be cued, and they replayed last week episode instead. I hate for ...

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Recent Blog Posts

June 1, 2025

June 2 5, 6, 17: Push Back - and Bike!

June 2, 2025 email: SomethingDifferentThisWayComes@proton.me Drawdown Project: Featured Podcasts: -Erin Beagle - Tips for Change Makers -Mike Schriener - Greening Provincial Policy -Ken Shields - Biking Viking Travels Green Music: Bicycle S…

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May 25, 2025

May 26 2025 CILU news referenced

CILU Radio 102.7 show references linked Monday May 26, 2025 Heather McLeod SomethingDifferentThisWayComes@proton.me www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca ----------------------------------------- Drawdown Project: Drawdown carbon = restore natu…

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May 19, 2025

Victoria Day May 19 2025 CILU Radio 102.7 FM Thunder Bay

Something Different This way Comes is broadcast in and from the traditional home of the Anishnaagbeg of Animikii - waajiw, signatories to the Robinson Superior treaty of 1850, gathering place of plenty for many peoples, on the shores of Gichi Gami p…

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About the Hosts

Heather McLeod Profile Photo

Heather McLeod

Host & Producer

Former CBC journalist and host, recording artist and songwriter, published author and CFP (certified financial planner). I live on the edge of Thunder Bay on the homestead that my husband grew up on. We keep honey bees, laying hens, a market garden and (soon) goats. I moved here from Montreal in 2002 and never plan on leaving. I am tenth generation settler heritage.

Leea McKay Profile Photo

Leea McKay

Graphic Designer & Publicist

Graphic designer & Illustrator based in Thunder Bay/GTA. Primarily focusing on logos, branding, and web design while also doing marketing. Design work is my passion and I aim to make the world prettier and more sustainable.

Reviews

It takes great courage to find and speak of optimism - over and over and over.

"Immensely encouraging. Giver of hope. Heather helps me to face my fear and encourages me to act. Her message is simple, built on a base of love and a very sophisticated integration of history.. …"

Bill Martin | Oct. 8, 2022

If a system do not deliver what we want, change the system.

"Sam’s reaction to the callous unfairness of our way of doing things is right on. We are stuck on doing everything we can to make the economy great. The economy is only a means to an end. If it does…"

Bill Martin | Oct. 18, 2022

July 6 episode. Achievable

"Encouraging Maybe we can do this too."

Bill Martin | Aug. 3, 2023

Library of Hope

Books:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Drawdown edited by Paul Hawken
Value(s) by Mark Carney
Humankind by Rutger Bregman
Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
The Secret Wisdom of Nature by Peter Wohlleben
Animal, Mineral, Miracle & Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver
A Good War by Seth Klein
Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe
21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Hope Matters by Elin Kelsey
Eat Like A Fish by Bren Smith
The Singing Revolution by Priit Verilind
The 100 Mile Diet by Alisa Smith & J. B. MacKinnon
The Omnivore's Dilemma & In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Peach Fuzz & Onion Skins by Bonnie Sitter & ShirleyAn English
The Carbon Almanac Foreword by Seth Godin
Italians of Fort William's East End by Roy Piovesana

Podcasts:
The Carbon Almanac
Outrage & Optimism 
Bioneers: revolution from the heart of nature
What on Earth (CBC)
Race Against Climate Change (Canada's National Observer)
Smart Prosperity (University of Ottawa affiliated NGO)
TED climate (US)
Quirks & Quarks (CBC)
The Hidden Brain 
The Blindboy Podcast (Ireland)

Video:
Michele Solomon: treaty history of Fort William First Nation land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH4og2C7PyQ
Kurzgesagt -in a Nutshell: Good News! We WILL Fix Climate Change!
L'Homme Qui Plantait des Arbres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HtY6yEr5E4

Documentaries:
A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
Abstract Human: The World Within
My Octopus Teacher
This Changes Everything 
Picture a Scientist