Tai Asks Why
I first met Tai Poole when he was a guest on another show I produced called Sleepover, with Sook-Yin Lee for CBC Podcasts. Sleepover was a sort of social experiment where we brought three very different guests together for 24 hours to see if they could help each other. Tai was only 9 years old at the time but the insight he was able to offer the other guests was astounding. He really blew us all away with his sensitivity but also his deep love of math. After his appearance we kept thinking about him so invited him in for a meeting to see if he would want a show of his own. Turns out he did!
I worked together with Tai and his family to come up with a show that they would want to listen to. I am the show’s creator and for Seasons 1,2 and three I have worked on it as lead producer, editor and sound designer. We hope it connects with kids ranging from age 9-13 but we like to think that the whole family would be interested to hear what Tai is uncovering. Listeners can expect each episode to start with a simple question that maybe they themselves have wondered about “What is deja vu?” and then end up learning all kinds of interesting information they didn’t even know they needed to know, like how the microbiome is like a second brain in your gut or the different ways the universe might end. Also for every episode, Tai co-writes and produces an original song with artist Johnny Spence. My fave by far is the gutbrain song!
It’s been such a rare and incredible experience to watch Tai grow up in this role, when we started working together he was 9 and now he’s about to be 14! Tai Asks Why is still in production with CBC Podcasts and the TRAX network of PRX.
My favourite episodes: