GUELPH POLITICAST #377 - The Many Faces of Mike

You may know Mike Ashkewe. You might have read his insightful columns at the Guelph Mercury Tribune, or you might have heard him on the radio talking about video games and pop culture, or you might have seen him serve as vice-chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee, or you may have run into him when he was volunteering at Chalmers downtown. But do you really know Mike Ashkewe?

As you may have already guessed, Mike Ashkewe is the guest of this week's podcast. He's perhaps a kindred spirit between how many pies he has fingers and the way he manages a a love of politics with an obsession with popular culture. He approaches his activism with an optimistic spirit that always looks on the bright side, like his recent column “Exploring Guelph's accessible parks, trails, splash pads and more”, which celebrates Guelph for its level of accessibility.

Of course, Ashkewe's had a lot to overcome. Like a lot of survivors of the generational trauma resulting from our treatment of Canada’s First Naitons, Ashkewe came late to his Indigenous heritage. He lost his leg a few years ago, which made him aware of the barriers to people with disabilities on a first hand basis. Ever adaptable though, he’s used his experience to advocate for both these communities, while sometimes breaking for a video game or doing a podcast!

That brings us to this week's show, where Ashkewe will tell us about how he manages that busy work schedule, how he started getting political, and the personal value of not being known for that one thing. He will also talk about the personal impact of his activism, how it feels to be recognized on the street, and how he maintains optimism while making sure that he doesn't burn himself out. Also, we may need to talk to Ashkewe about his obsession with buying toy cars that turn into toy robots.

So let's talk about politics, activism, and Transformers on this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can read Mike Ashkewe's columns at the Guelph Mercury Tribune, you can find his nerdy content at This Week in Geek, and you can follow him on social media at BirdmanDodd on Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Also, Guelph will mark the National Celebration of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples on Wednesday June 21 at 5:30 pm at the bandshell in Riverside Park.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Stitcher, Google, TuneIn and Spotify .

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.