This is The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B on Canada Talks, Sirius XM 167

Hello and welcome to The Feed with Amber Mac

and Michael B for everything new, now, and next

we have to cover for what's happening in the world of tech.

And what's trending online.

On the show, we speak with one of the experts who signed a letter

to Spotify about the Joe Rogan.

Plus Debbie Travis joins us to chat about how to find a

little extra joy in our lives.

Also on the show, we talked to one company, making a

state planning, easier online.

And we tell you which giant retailer is taking a jump into the metaverse.

That's all coming up right here on The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B.

This episode of The Feed is brought to you by Norton.

One of the leading consumer cybersecurity brands.

Trending Up

Amber Mac I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I love snow.

I can't believe I said this.

I've never said this.

I think for the entire time we've ever known each other, I've always

complained and been a little baby when it comes to cold weather and the snow.

Yeah.

I know that you are out in a Veil right now, and you are enjoying

some ski time here in Toronto, where I am and where Aron is.

The snow has led to a lot of disruptions over the past few days.

Many people unable to get to work.

Kids out of school for the first two days of this past week.

So it really depends where you are.

So I think you are in the perfect place for a lot of snow.

Sometimes

I'm in the mountain.

No, one's around and it's quiet and, and I'm with nature.

And I haven't done that for quite some time.

It's beautiful.

And it's yeah, it's it's you walk everywhere.

You have to wear a gazillion layers cause it's minus 15 or 20 on a good day Celsius.

But it's great.

So you're right.

I think it, it depends where you are, but it is a snow can be beautiful.

It's not great when you're in a commute.

I know that I don't like it when it's in the city.

Absolutely.

And I agree that it can be beautiful as well.

And I know many kids enjoyed it earlier this week, then

when they can go out and sled,

Luge.

They could go sledding.

So fun.

Does Connor go sledding?

Yes, he does.

Most Canadian kids have had some sort of sledding experience.

So yeah, he's definitely been enjoying it.

And you know, he was okay with a day off school.

I think two days he was kind of ready to go back.

But nonetheless we've had some wild weather in all parts of North America

over the past couple of weeks.

So It's certainly been interesting.

And Michael continue to have fun.

We do have some news to get to though, because first up

we need to talk about Meta.

Formerly Facebook according to BBC, they are facing a billion

pound class action case.

So that's a lot of money, Michael.

It certainly is.

And I just wonder again, and we talk about this all the time when Metta

or previously named Facebook is in the headlines and is being sued.

Will it make a difference?

Will it set a precedent?

Will it change things?

And I don't know, again, a lot of the headlines that you read, they think

maybe this one is going to do it.

But we'll have to see, you know I don't believe it's the first time and it's,

and it won't be the last time that we've seen large tech companies like this.

You know, be you know, have you know problems in the marketplace

and be accused of doing things they shouldn't when it comes to competition.

So I just don't know.

But this one is, is quite a large one.

It's a 2.3 billion pounds.

So 3.1 billion dollars.

I think it is about roughly the equivalent.

So it's, it's a good chunk of change.

Yeah, absolutely.

And just, if you're not familiar with the case essentially what's going

on according to the BBC is that they are saying that Facebook harvest data

from people in the UK between 2015 and 2019 and essentially they made

excessive profits off of that data.

So that is what they're talking about in terms of how Facebook has

been over the years, leveraging individual people's data to be able

to maximize their advertising profits.

And, and at no point of course, does the individual who's sharing their personal

information, ever get any piece of that.

So we will keep an eye on that.

Certainly not the last lawsuit, but we do want to get to the next story.

This is an interesting one.

I just watched this on the news this week, Michael, about a US

Airlines and the prevalence of 5G.

Yeah, this is crazy.

So there's a whole bunch of US Airline chiefs that have gotten together and

warned that the actual introduction of a new 5G service could cause

US commerce to grind to a halt.

Now, that sounds like an extreme statement, but it's because of

safety concerns, they believe that surrounds the rollout of 5G

technology that could interfere with critical airplane instruments.

So we're talking about the areas all around major airports,

and it's really interesting.

So the US airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Which obviously everyone knows as the FAA have warned that the frequencies and

transmissions strength being deployed in the United States could interfere with

the precise height readings needed for bad weather landings on some jetliners.

Now, of course, those kinds of statements do raise alarm bells with passengers

and so obviously then it could prevent people from flying, but also th

this warning came a little too late.

I think.

So some flights have already been canceled.

Some airlines have already started to make changes.

But in fairness, some of the carriers have delayed their

rollout in those regions as well.

When it comes to this 5G technology.

Yeah.

I mean, this is going to be a, a monster to figure out how to navigate

no pun intended this situation,

I shouldn't laugh at that, but that was funny.

Sorry.

Yeah.

I mean, it it's, it's, it's something that I don't think a lot of people in

the public have generally thought about.

But clearly the airline industry has been struggling in terms of how, how to

deal with this as well as the 5G industry and in terms of their cellular towers.

So another story that we'll keep a watch on we just, have about been a minute

left, so we do want to mention that.

And this is from CNBC.

We've talked a little bit about the Metaverse on this

show over the past few months.

And according to CNBC, Walmart is quietly preparing to enter the metaverse.

It's not so quiet if it's on the let's, let's move on from that point.

Honestly, like it's crazy.

They're looking to eventually maybe sell virtual goods, including electronics,

home decorations, toys, sporting goods, and personal care products.

So it will be very interesting to see if consumers actually have an

appetite for buying virtual goods.

But we'll of course stay on top of the Metaverse.

As we've said on this show, it's going to be very interesting it's early

days, and we just don't know where it's going to go, but stay with us when

we return, why one professor signed a letter to warn Spotify about Joe

Rogan and the impact of misinformation,

The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B for everything new, now, and next

on Canada Talks, Sirius XM 167.

In the spotlight.

You're listening to The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B, hundreds of science.

doctors, nurses and other public health professionals have urged Spotify to

crack down on misinformation about COVID-19 on its streaming platform.

They've singled out Joe Rogan's popular podcast.

The Joe Rogan Experience due to a recent guest that shared numerous baseless

and dangerous claims with regards to COVID-19 joining us now to talk more

about this is Timothy Caulfield, who is a professor of health, law and science

policy at the University of Alberta.

Hi, there.

Hey guys, thanks for having me on.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

And I think it's best to really start at the beginning in terms

of how this letter came to be.

I know you were one of the people who did sign it and let's talk a little

bit about the reason behind it.

This started because of all of the misinformation that Joe Rogan has been

pushing on his show and he's notorious for pushing this information, using

this style of just asking questions.

So he'll put on someone who is pushing this information and claim

that is just asking questions.

That's all he's doing, but we know that using that strategy can unfortunately

spread a lot of dangerousness, not just about, not just about

COVID, but a whole host of things.

And I think Amber, it's really important to be clear.

The stuff that these guests have, have talked about and Malone is

the one that you referenced there, Robert Malone, but there's also Peter

Macola, who's on a few weeks before.

It's just demonstrably wrong here.

There's no wiggle room, right.

You know, they're wrong about ivermectin they're wrong about

hydroxychloroquine, they're wrong about how they portray the risks associated

with vaccines on and on and on.

And there's a lot of lies embedded in there too.

So this isn't sort of you know, we need to have an in-depth scientific

discussion about complex stuff.

This is stuff that is is wrong.

And so we felt that a, a response was needed.

And look, we are not calling for censorship.

This is not about silencing.

This is about asking for sensible, programming decisions, right.

You know, programmers of radio shows and podcasts of, of you know, editors

of newspapers to make sensible decisions so we don't promote false balance.

It's so interesting, the response is just asking questions almost to

say, I don't have any responsibility whatsoever or accountability.

It's really whatever the guests say.

You know, that's the way it is make up your own mind.

I just don't understand.

And I was having this conversation with someone the other day.

Why, why would this be a good idea?

Why would somebody do this?

If you know it's wrong, it just doesn't make sense.

Especially when you have a following, especially when you rely on people

to respect you in a certain field.

It just doesn't make sense, because as you said, it's not like we

are you know, debating whether it's true or not COVID is COVID.

We know that there are vaccines.

There are things that we can do to prevent it from spreading.

I just doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense to me either.

And, and again, let's emphasize that, you know, we're not talking

about, you know, when should we get the booster and how much immunity do

you get from Omicron versus Delta?

You know, these are, you know, complex scientific questions

where the data is still emerging.

We're talking about flat earth kind of statements here made by these individuals.

So one can only guess that Joe Rogan and his team thinks that this, this

is going to increase his audience.

And unfortunately it probably, it probably has right, you know,

creates, it, creates this buzz.

You know, we're talking about it now.

And it, it also, I think positions him as this individual, this

maverick, and I think he, he likes it.

I can't read his mind, but I think he likes that role.

And so as I said, you know, we're trying to just say, you know,

look, I, the censorship thing is, is really interesting, and this is

the pushback that I have gotten.

I got, you know, six emails this morning saying I want to censor people.

I don't, I don't.

This is about making programming decisions.

Is Tucker Carlson censoring me because I haven't been on

the show as he silencing me.

Is he all about "Cancel Culture".

Cause he hasn't had Tim Caulfield on his show yet.

So this is about programming decisions, about the decisions that

people make to put who, you know, who they put on their show, who they

put in their, in their publications.

So interesting.

And I should say that you and I are a part of a national initiative called Science

Up First that to fight misinformation.

And so I am included on a lot of these conversations on social media,

in terms of the rebuttal from some people who are defending Joe Rogan.

And I find it really fascinating that they aren't defending the science.

They can only jump, as you said to that conversation about censorship and, and

I'm just curious how you think we win this conversation or is it just a constant

period where we have to completely defend the science and what it says, and this

is just the way it's going to be forever.

Yeah, well, you're you're right, Amber, and, and unfortunately that, you know,

putting the intuitively appealing rights argument first, we also know

there's evidence to back this up.

That that is an effective way to push misinformation because

it does exactly what you said.

It allows you to sidestep the science and it kind of gives a veil

of legitimacy to your scientific argument, even if it's totally bunk,

because it becomes part of this more noble fight for freedom of expression.

Even though the fight against the freedom of expression is,

is misconstrued construing that, and the science is wrong also.

So the wrong on both fronts, one of the things I think we need to do is.

Get more clarity on what the rights really are.

You know, you don't have a constitutional right to be on Joe Rogan.

You know, that's not what freedom of expression is about.

Right.

And also these are private entities, right?

They're not governed by the charter or the constitution in the United States in

the same way, as as many people are, are conceiving it, or are there many way that

these individuals are arguing about it?

I think getting more clarity on, on the rights side of the equation

is also would also be valuable.

And look, this is the fighting misinformation.

This is a battle that's going to go on.

I think for generations, unfortunately, and, and the good news Amber is

that we're, I think we're getting more evidence about how to do it.

There's more interest in fighting misinformation.

And I think more people like you, like you are getting involved in the fight.

Is that the first best step with regards to private entities, is it about private

entities making clear, strong policies and making themselves and anybody

that works with them accountable?

You know, so these platforms and businesses that these personalities

work with, you know, should they be putting in strict policies, taking a

stance, making everybody accountable?

You know, because.

It seems that it really does come down to allowing personalities,

to push misinformation and disinformation for their own gains.

So are you an organization or a platform that is for that or against,

or am I just being too simple?

Well, I think that's one of the tools that needs to be deployed there.

There's no doubt that the spread of misinformation, a very complex

phenomenon, we have to use every tool at our disposal, but, but that's

absolutely one of them I think.

And that's what we're calling for in our letter.

Right.

That, that just to have those sort of sensible policies and the,

and the other thing, Michael, you don't even have to go that far.

Part of it is also how this is framed.

On these shows, if Joe Rogan frame, this has had look, you

know this is a fringe idea.

The body of evidence says, says that you're wrong.

You know, really constantly emphasizing what the weight of evidence says.

That's a different kind of show than just enabling the spread of misinformation.

And if I don't know if you've watched it, unfortunately I've watched both

shows and he just acts like he's amazed.

And boy are these ever good points and how come more people don't know about it?

It's not just asking questions.

It's sort of a forum for the spread of misinformation and a forum to

legitimize that misinformation and that, that needs to stop.

Well, listen, we want to thank you so much for all the work

that you're doing in this space.

We also want to remind people that we are not just talking about a battle of words.

People are getting hurt and potentially losing their lives because of COVID

misinformation and disinformation.

And that is a real fact.

And it's a problem that continues to grow.

Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for being part of this conversation and we'd love to

have you back on inthe future.

Anytime guys really enjoyed it.

Up next we introduce you to a new social network called Vegan Nation.

The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B for everything new, now, and

next on Canada Talks Sirius XM 167.

Apptastic.

Welcome back to The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B.

It's time now to take a look at some new and trending apps.

First up, we're going to talk about Vegan Nation and which is the global

ecosystem that empowers communities and businesses who believe in a more

sustainable way of living, where you can essentially find individuals who

are conscious about what they eat and who are living the vegan lifestyle.

Michael, I think we're going to hear more and more about communities

like this springing up online.

We know many people are choosing to go vegetarian or

vegan, have plant-based diets.

And the final thing I'll say on this is we also know there are more people who are

living in a category called flexitarians.

I don't know if you've heard that before, but it's basically saying that, hey, I'm

going to mostly eat vegetarian or vegan, but I would, may have a steak once a week.

And for many people that's a lifestyle that is a bit easier to maintain.

So find this pretty fascinating that we're seeing these global

communities pop up online.

And I imagine they're just going to grow in popularity.

Yeah, and I think it is more about just becoming more responsible and more aware

of what we're purchasing, what we're eating you know, who we are purchasing

from and looking at that entire supply chain, I think a lot more people really do

care about where their dollars are going.

And then obviously they very much care about their health.

And so they're making sure that they have the tools to be not only

educated, but making wise decisions.

So I think that this one, a Vegan Nation is an excellent

one for that entire ecosystem.

Well, you know, you get to discover you know, different eateries that

you might not necessarily have found just by wandering the streets

yourself in a wherever you might be.

And there's also a rewards program that's built in there.

So it's, you know, it's got the full experience that you would expect

from an online community like this.

Absolutely.

And it expands even beyond food.

So they talk a little bit about how to buy vegan friendly products like sneakers,

for example, and the list really goes on.

So like Michael said, they bring together an enormous amount of resources

where you can find out the best places to go to support your lifestyle.

And I think this is a move in the right direction and I love that

it's giving people the, that option.

I kind of laughed a little bit.

I went to the FAQ's and one of the question is, is this an actual nation.

And I thought that was kinda funny.

So they just do describe it as a community of people who basically

have similar interests and this is why they call it Vegan Nation.

So I could see this again becoming one of those apps it's available on

iOS and Android devices that people really start to have on their phones.

And I think people are making more conscious decisions in

all parts of their lives.

They certainly, I will sticking with the online community, we're looking at

creative community in this next app.

And of course we talk a lot about creators and content creators on the show.

This next app is called the Roll app, and now it aims to create an easy way

for creators to make an extra buck while portraying a potentially more authentic

version of themselves to their fans.

So of course we do know that it is tough for content creators to earn money in

regards to all of their content that they push out, which we all enjoy.

So this, this app is actually helping them do that.

And it's very interesting too, because they're giving you this app

is giving you a different way to view and connect with the creator.

So it's actually giving you access to their camera roll.

So you kind of get an insight is look into everything that they are doing.

Yeah.

And before people yell at us on social media, do you want to say,

and they make it clear in this Tech Crunch article that even though it's

called Roll, it isn't about giving people access to your camera roll.

That is not the point that as they say in the article would

be a disaster waiting to happen.

That is just the name that they use for the app.

So the idea is you get exclusive content from a creator who you really

want to follow, and you're part of this community that is able to pay

as Michael said for that access.

I think we are going to see tighter communities like this, because

let's be honest, you know, the, the nature of public and broad social

media has kind of erupted over the years and not everybody wants that.

They maybe want these more intimate groups and these more intimate experiences.

And it really is a, again, this trend that we're seeing in terms of the kind

of segmentation of content, right.

You know, nobody has the same newsletters or publications anymore that they follow.

Everybody has very unique places where they're consuming content.

So it makes hard, it hard to really market to a mass audience anymore.

It certainly does.

And you're absolutely right.

So I'm glad you made that distinction.

They're not giving you a literal access, but it there, their tagline

is giving them access to it.

As in, as you said, exclusive videos and exclusive photos and content.

So I think this one's a really good one.

And also on that flip side that they're able to make some

money on their content as well.

Yes, absolutely.

And we know for content creators, that is always a challenge because

not all the platforms make it easy for them to do just that.

So it's another way that they are able to have an offering.

Now the last one we're going to talk about is called Locket Widget.

I believe this is available for IO users only.

And it allows you to see live pics from your friends.

So basically it's kind of like a portal to be able to see a glimpse of what your

friends are looking at on a regular basis.

So when a friend sends you a picture, as it describes in the apple

store, it instantly appears in your locket widget on your home screen.

So you have those special photos available.

Anytime you want them in this little locket, which of course is a boring,

the name from the physical locket that many people probably still

wear, but a lot more people probably used to wear around their neck.

I think I like this.

I'm just because obviously if it's a friend that you're using this with

it, clearly it's a close friend or choose wisely who you allow to send you

photos that kind of goes over that lock screen because obviously we have a lock

screen for a reason, and we don't want to see all these notifications or get

bombarded with people contacting us.

So I would only, I would recommend only doing it with a couple of people that

you're, you're a familiar and friendly with, because of that, you could be

in a meeting and they send you an inappropriate photo will make you laugh or

something, if you look down at your phone.

Just out of curiosity, is that how it works?

Because my understanding was it just showed up on your home screen.

So I'm at, I'm not an iOS user so I'm not too familiar with this.

So not necessarily on your lock screen, but instead on your home screen.

So you had easy access to it.

Is that how you're understanding of Michael?

Yeah.

Sorry.

I think you're right.

I think you're right.

It's on the home screen, not the lock screen because I would freak

out if it was the lock screen and cause I have that there for a reason.

Yeah, I was just thinking about you.

And I was thinking that would be a terrible app for you.

That would be a disaster I'm already all over the place and get sidetracked easily.

It just it's, it's just not good, but are three great apps.

I really like the, the, the Vegan Nation that we mentioned.

We've got the Roll up that's for creators and, and following

your, your favorite creators.

And then of course, that lock string sorry, the Locket that

helps you send photos and connect with people via their home screen.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So it's called Locket Widget.

That's the last one for iOS devices and a, again, just a cool way to be

able to see those live photos from up to five of your closest friends.

So you have easier access to them.

So a lot of great picks there in terms of our apps of the week and Michael,

if people want to send us some apps, they have an easy way to do just that.

Absolutely.

All they have to do is tweet us @ ambermac and @MBancroft80

and use the hashtag thefeed.

Coming up TV superstar, Debbie Travis joins us to talk about joy.

The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B for everything new, now, and

next on Canada Talks Sirius XM 167.

Powerfriend.

You're listening to The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B.

It's exceptionally timely.

I think to have international television personality, design

guru, and bestselling author.

Debbie Travis, joining us now.

I think we all could use a little more joy in our lives and in her latest book,

life lessons from a Tuscan Villa.

She discusses increasing the levels of joy in our daily lives, through

a healthy mind and body inspired by the ancient Tuscan lifestyle.

It's really a pleasure to have you, Debbie, I guess the best place to start

with is how did you find your joy?

Because obviously everybody out there listening kind of wants to find it.

I know.

And when I started this book, it was like before, before COVID and then, then I was

like finishing it off during, and I was like, maybe I'll just call it miserable.

You know, what a horrible world we were in, you know?

And then I realized that, you know, everything that I was writing

about is what we were craving.

And I think the last two years has kind of drummed that home.

But I think my joy really it's come out of simplicity because, you

know, jumping from a very heavy.

Television career with all the, you know, everything that's thrown at you in that

world to something where, you know, the, the, the, the day-to-day panic is if

the wild boar have eaten my tulips, you know, so, you know, and then you, and

you kind of look at the simple things.

And when you realize because I think the difference between joy and happiness

is happiness is like a long-term thing.

We're all looking back in us.

How do we bring more happiness?

You know, how do we have a happy life?

Joy is a kind of immediate thing.

So you bump into a friend or somebody just smiles for no reason at you walking

down the street and you smile back, you know, it's that immediate feeling.

And then it's the science behind that because I joined up with somebody,

a great, great friend of mine.

Who's a nutritional therapist and everything I was talking

about has a reason and a purpose scientifically for our health.

You know, the hormones that things create, you know, the endorphins, the

cortisol, you know, all this stuff we keep hearing about now, there's

actually a science behind a smile.

There's a science behind a good night's sleep.

And you know, it all resonates in building that those levels of joy each day.

So a little bit, just a simple thing, go and talk to a tree in the park.

Sounds mad, but actually it really does have a purpose.

The things I wanted to ask you about as I'm looking through the book there

are so many practical tips and right now I'm looking at the joy ladder and

I think this is a, a really interesting way to look at joy through colors.

Exactly.

And, you know, I'm kind of known for color.

You know, I was trying to think, how do I explain this?

Because a lot of, a lot of kind of health books and mindfulness books are quite

complicated and, you know, I just want to make things simple and easy for people.

And so what I would do is I'd say to Jackie, who's the nutritional therapist.

I said, you know, explain it to me.

And if I can understand those big words, Then we're in.

So I thought, well, how do I explain where we are now?

So before you even start, it's like, what is my feeling today,

tomorrow, longterm over the week.

And, and I was thinking, how do I do I draw a picture?

And I was actually sitting, looking at an olive grove on our land, in, in Tuscany.

And there was an old ladder.

An old picking ladder, wood ladder.

So I got a load of napkins and I started on the bottom wrung in black,

and then it goes to dark blue and then to pale blue and then green.

And it's the kind of the rainbow all the way up to red.

And then you think, well, where am I?

And if you say so, there's people can say, well, you know, I was in the black

yesterday for a little bit, but you know, then I went up a little bit and down, but

if you say, oh, I was in the black for the last month and things aren't getting

any better, then that's really where.

That's a dark place where maybe you need to get some professional help, but

then you find, you know, we all go into the blue zones up and down all day.

You know, somebody is rude to us and we like feel angry or, you know, and then

nobody's in the red swaying at the top of the ladder every day, you know, red

is like, You know, you'd be a beaming cheshire cat, you'd be ridiculous.

And nobody can, nobody can kind of balance that long at the ladder,

which we want to have as, as much as we possibly can in those, you know,

kind of yellow and orange zones.

And what you can do is just get some children's crayons

and mark on the calendar.

And then look back over the week and think, you know what?

I'm spending too much time in those darker zones.

I need to start implementing some things or trying to kind of say to yourself,

why am I not feeling or what time of day?

And actually a woman we spoke to said, you know, she did this test.

And she said, I always had these dark colors on, Wednesday evening.

And then she said, I really looked what was happening every Wednesday.

She used to talk to her mother on the phone.

So it was like, you know, her mum was complaining about this and that,

and she wasn't happy, you know, she was, you know, stuck inside.

So, you know, how can you change that?

How can you say, okay, mom, we're going to speak Saturday morning, and

only about good stuff this week, you know, so you can see what triggers.

So it's trying to find your own triggers about increasing that

happiness level as much as you can.

And when you increase your habits, you increase your vitality.

And when you increase your vitality, you increase your longevity.

Well, it is interesting.

It does sound very much that you need to pay attention and to be very

mindful of what you do and how and why.

I mean, I, I, I hear exactly what you're saying.

I usually wear, you know, black, gray, and blue.

My sister I'm with at the moment.

And she made me buy you know, a green color and a yellow color.

It was very odd for me, but I am happier.

And it, I know that sounds ridiculous, but I, I understand what you're

saying when it comes to, to colors.

What I found interesting in this book and that resonated with me, especially,

you know, given COVID in the separation of the last two years of a lot of

people this feeling wanted and valued.

How do you go about.

You know, feeling wanted and valued at the same time as feeling joy.

Cause I know that there are three very different things and not always aligned.

Yeah, well, that's really this, this connection, these life

lessons from a Tuscan village is not meaning, you know, everybody

has to go to Tuscany to find this.

Tuscany is an area that is in a bit of a time warp, you know, people, you know,

they lived way into their hundreds.

They, you know, they have the same food all the time.

They have the same friends.

They, you know, they have community, they have purpose, but it's very

much how our grandparents lived.

So it's, it's looking at those elements that come out of this

traditional lifestyle and then saying, well, where have we lost them?

So the most important, one of all is community and, you

know, having a crowd around us.

So we, we had that at school.

We have that at university.

We have that at work.

And then as you get older, You know, it gets harder.

You no longer meeting your kids outside the school gate and

chatting to other people and having the opportunity to meet people.

You go to the gym and you go in and you go out, you know, so it's so

it, and, and of course this has been exaggerated now with lockdown where,

we really know we, we must reach out.

So I think the first thing to say to people is have courage

and you just, it's so rare.

If you knock on somebody's door, a neighbor or somebody you might've

met through somebody else and say, Hey, you want to come around and

roll some pasta Sunday afternoon.

I can pretty much guarantee the people who would maybe throw a

bowl of boiling water at you.

Get off my doorstep.

Well I would roll pasta now so can I go to that person's door.

Well exactly.

But it's actually, once you do it once or twice and anybody

like me, who's an ex-pat.

Who's moved to different countries.

You have to make the effort, you know, you really have to try and reach out.

And once you do it, it gets easier and easier.

So that's why there's recipes in the book.

These are kind of very traditional recipes in the area.

Very simple, very inexpensive, but it's about like jam.

If somebody said to me five years ago, when my life was really

glamorous or you you're making jam, I'd be like me making jam,jelly?

Are you kidding?

But it's not about the jam.

It's about saying to three friends.

Okay.

Everybody bring a friend.

Everybody brings threejars.

Come around to my place, you know, Sunday evening, and we're going

to make jump together and we're going to open some bottles of wine.

You're going to laugh at.

It's so it's not the jam.

It's the reason for doing it.

It's giving people a reason to call somebody same as like rolling pasta out.

You can get just as good a pasta in the shop, but making your own pasta.

If you, if you go to Tuscany, you'll see every Sunday afternoon

they bring their tables outside.

They literally lift that kitchen table put it in the street and you'll see

three nonahs, three grannies rolling that pasta chatting about the kids.

They're lazy husbands, this, listen, there's talking to people in the streets.

They can buy just as good a pasta down the road, but it's the community.

It's bringing it together.

So it's a way of finding ways of making friends really.

And that's where you get your value.

That's where you get your, your being wanted because the minute you're not

needed, you know, You know, if nobody needs you, you know, that's what they say.

If nobody needs you, what's left, you know, and what I did in the book, I

interviewed a load of locals, you know, and they're little stories, they're

simple stories, but there's one local.

Who's actually on my street in London.

It's just a typical Backstreet London street, you know, and she's 98.

I saw her this morning and she's making she's baking.

She lives alone.

I'm like, who are you baking for?

She said, well, those people at number 32, you know, and those

people, that's what keeps you alive.

It's not the cookie, it's not the baking.

It's the actual, you know, knocking on somebody's door saying I've made you a

box of shortbread biscuits or something.

And and it's, it's that wonder of them.

You know, reciprocates and oh, come and have a cup of tea.

And, and this is what our grandparents used to do.

And we think we're too, we think we're too busy for that.

And that's what we have to shake.

You know, we've seen what it's like not to be as busy now,

you know, and be stuck inside.

And it's a matter of really just rethinking how we used to do

it and bringing that back in.

And those levels of joy will go up.

Absolutely.

And, and I just want to remind people before we let you go,

that your book is available.

Life Lessons from a Tuscan Villa.

It's a joy to read.

It's a beautiful book, it's so aesthetically pleasing,

which is not surprising.

And Debbie, we wanted to thank you so much for joining us today on The Feed.

I miss seeing you backstage on Marilyn.

I get to see you soon.

Thanks for being on the show.

Hopefully soon, bye guys.

Have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Up next, the CEO of Willful joins us to talk about estate planning made easy.

The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B for everything new, now, and

next on Canada Talks Sirius XM 167.

Tech star.

This is The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B.

It's not something we often prioritize, but it is very important when it

comes to planning for the future.

Once loved ones have passed on the process of planning for the end of life is

becoming more digitized and increasingly more accessible one company that is

making estate planning affordable, easy and convenient is Willful, and we've

got the CEO and co-founder of Willful joining us now, Aaron, it is a pleasure

to have you on you're a good friend of, of Amber and, and we've known each other

for, for some years and in different capacities, but now you are the CEO

and co-founder of your own company.

Willful, let's start at the beginning.

Why is this so important and why do people not necessarily prioritize their estate.

Well first, thanks so much for having me, Michael and Amber, so excited to be here.

And yeah, I mean, it's not fun to think about Michael.

I think that's probably the main reason when you get up in the morning, you

probably do pretty much anything to avoid thinking about your own mortality.

And we are a New Year's resolution season, so it might be more top of mind than

usual, but you know, it can be complex.

People don't know.

Start with estate planning.

It can seem overwhelming, you know, do I have to go to a lawyer?

What kind of paperwork do I need together to get together?

And it can often paralyze people with important decisions who should take

care of my children if I were to pass away, who should I leave things too?

So all of that combined with death, being a pretty uncomfortable

topic, leads to a lot of lack of action by Canadians and Americans.

I think you're exactly right.

And we should say, just so you know, in the context of this show today that we

just had Debbie Travis on talking about joy, she was talking about making jam,

you know, dropping off pasta at neighbors.

So it's a hard turn to start to talk about death tech, which is it's

commonly referred to, but like you said, it's so critically important.

And one of the things I've loved about watching your journey with this company

is how you have been able to grow this business and also bring along different

regions so that we can, as individuals do more in the digital space instead

of relying on a paper first experience, can you talk a little bit about that?

For sure.

And you know, it's nice to know that I'm a buzzkill pun intended after

Debbie teaching, how to make jam.

Yeah.

Everyone's turning off their show right now.

But yeah, I mean, you know, it's, it's typically a pretty

paper based experience with the traditional will making experiences.

You know, you go to a lawyer.

You draft up this physical paper will, you gather your witnesses in person?

And when COVID hit, it just became very untenable to do that because

no one was going to in-person appointments and you weren't allowed

to see anybody to be your witnesses.

So we really pushed the government in Ontario and other provinces

to make it more digital.

I mean, we do pretty much everything online as you

always talk about on this show.

And yet we're still signing a will, like it's the 1910s.

So we actually have seen some progress in British Columbia.

They just passed a law allowing for completely digital wills

and in the US there are several states that that do allow digital

signatures like Nevada and Florida.

So it's a small percentage of regions, but we're hoping that other places catch up

and that soon you'll be able to execute a will completely online, anywhere.

Am I right in saying there's this statistic.

And I can't remember where I read it Uh, Uh, more than 50%

of Canadians are without a will.

That's a staggering amount.

I guess my question is, you know, who should get a will

and, and when is the right time?

Because I imagine lots of listeners would think they don't need a will or

they're not old enough to have a will.

Absolutely.

One of the biggest myths that I hear is that you have to be

old or rich to have a will.

And it's simply not true.

If you have a spouse, children, pets, anyone that relies on you or assets of

any size, whether they're millions of dollars or whether it's just $5,000 in a

savings account, you really should have a will because if you pass away without one,

there's a government formula that dictates who gets your assets and who takes care

of, children or, you know, you have to go through the courts to see who might take

care of your pets or become your executor.

So it really just puts you in the driver's seat.

And so, you know, if you have any of those life moments, you've gotten

married, you maybe gotten divorced, you've had children, you've gotten a pet.

Those are really the inflection points to think about it.

And as someone who just had my first baby, a 10 week old, we're

actually updating our will.

So that's another key reminder to.

Once you create a will, it's not a set it and forget it thing it

should change as your life does.

So it's always up to date.

So one of the questions I wanted to ask you, because we often ask this to

entrepreneurs who join us is how has the pandemic changed your business?

We actually saw our busiest period ever in the early six

to eight weeks of the pandemic.

And let's be honest that's because everyone was pretty darn scared of death.

No one really knew what the pandemic was.

And so we did see a lot of people rushing to get these things in order.

And that's partly because people put it off.

It's always on the to-do list, but it always seems to slip down the to-do list.

And so I think what COVID did is it really reminded people, the unexpected

can happen any time and I should get these important things that aren't

super fun, but are really important.

Checked off my list, whether it's creating a will starting an emergency

fund, getting life insurance.

So we've actually seen that it's really helped us to highlight the

importance of estate planning.

And and so, and it's also accelerated the pace of digital change.

So we have seen a lot of those digital will laws become accelerated

because of COVID and the lack of ability to meet in person.

And Erin last question for you as an entrepreneur leading this company,

what was the most interesting thing that you've learned about yourself and

doing this, and then launching this.

Yeah.

I mean, my husband actually had the idea for Willful after one of

his family members passed away.

And when he told me about it, I literally said, could you

pick a less sexy topic, please?

I mean, wills, this is what we're going to commit our lives to.

But then when I started digging and saw how few people have them and

how important it is and how there really weren't very many good online

options, I became very passionate.

So I think what surprised me is that I'm now an estate planning expert in

someone who devotes my life to this topic.

But I think it's really important and and hopefully we can influence every Canadian

and American listening to to get a will.

Absolutely.

But we want to thank you again for joining us.

And just in case you miss the top of the show, that was Erin Bury, who's

the CEO and co-founder of Willful.

We encourage everybody to go right now to Willful, see what

it's all about and trust me.

A good experience and a good team behind this company.

Erin, thank you so much for being on the show.

Congrats again on your newborn and hi to everybody in the family.

Thanks Amber and Michael, appreciate it.

Up next, what in the world?,

The Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B for everything new, now, and

next on Canada Talks Sirius XM 167

Socially Speaking.

All right.

So we're going to dive into Wordle in just a second, but

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Okay.

So this week we are going to talk about Wordle.

And one of the reasons we're going to talk about this is that.

It really is probably one of the biggest kind of pop culture games that

we've seen over the past few months.

And it's exploding and people are sharing how they're doing after they play Wordle.

Aron, I may go to you first because I know Wordle is new to Michael Aron.

Despite the fact that I love word games and I play Words With Friends every day.

And I have a think 10 to 15 year streak with certain people going back

and forth and Words With Friends.

I do not play Wordle.

Also cause I'm a bit of a curmudgeon and I feel like it got it overwhelmed.

My Twitter feed so quickly that I muted the words and muted the Wordles.

But also because it's a, it's a digital version of an old existing

game, the game Mastermind.

And in these days of, of COVID and lockdowns, I'm trying to.

I play tabletop games, board games, classic games when I can.

And so if there's a digital version of the game where you play against the app

or against the computer, I'd rather to play the tangible version of the game

against actual people in my household.

So I understand the appeal, but I am not on board.

Because as some people tell me, I hate everything.

Wow.

That's a wow.

So Amber is a kind of like Wheel of Fortune.

You know, like where they have a word or a letter or two, and you

have to guess what the word is.

Is that not what this is?

But just like, oh, we're on like an app.

Well, and that's, you could say it's probably like Scrabble and

like many other games, but yeah, no,

But in fairness, Wheel of Fortune, their word is already there.

They've picked it for you.

You have no idea.

And then you like letter w and then like, you have to say it, but in

this instance, you're saying that it's always a five letter word.

And you only have have six guesses.

What happens if you don't get it does like the screen blow up.

No, the screen does not blow up and I should say you're exactly right.

So if I go to the Wordle game today, like you said it has to be

a, it's always a five-letter word.

And after each guest, the color of the tiles will change to show how

close your guess was to the word.

So that's an important thing to think about as well.

So for example, if the word is a weary, which is the example that they use

today, then the w would show up greens.

It's in the correct spot.

So that if it's yellow in this case, in terms of another word guess that would

mean that the letter, I, if it's in yellow is in the word, which in this case would

be pills, but it's in the wrong spot.

And then if you guess the letter U and it's gray, then that

letter is not in the word at all.

So basically it's a word guessing game.

And pretty straightforward.

And like you said, people are all, like Aron mentioned, people are sharing

their experiences on social media.

And that's why you're starting to see Wordle more and more all over the place

I get.

It's a game it's pretty straightforward.

I don't see the big deal of how it's anything different to what's out there.

What I do like about this is I could see how useful this is for people

who need brain training apps and especially elder people or people

that have cognitive problems.

And so I, I can see the value in that and in staying active.

I like that idea of.

It's it's set it's template.

And then it's challenging.

And then, and I like the fact that it engages a community if you want to,

or you can play in isolation as well.

So I like those components and I can see the value there in

connecting end or training.

Yeah.

And we should say that there's only one puzzle day.

So everybody's playing the same puzzle.

I know people get really frustrated if someone shares the answer online

because they've kind of ruined it kind of a spoiler for everybody else,

teach them not to go online.

This is brilliant.

I love, I love this game already.

We could help save the planet and stop people from spending

too much time on social media because they don't want the answer.

I love it.

And also should say that according to CNET about 300,000 people are

playing a daily you know, it's a free game, so it's, it's just fun, right?

There's no, there's nothing beyond that.

It's just a fun.

And you know, you're just, it's just a guessing game, right.

So, yeah.

I don't know, Aron, do you think this is one of those things, you

know, in terms of kind of rad or fad, is this like a big rad or fad?

That's going to a dip in the next few weeks?

Yeah, definitely.

I, I appreciate the fact that everyone in the world is playing the same

game at the same time with the same word, but, you know, look among

us as huge and that dipped also.

So this is gonna, you know, be big for a while, then it'll be gone.

Wordle will move on like a turtle.

I'm totally not playing right now, by the way, guys.

Like, that's not why I'm distracted at all.

All could see how this could make people angry because they only have one

a day and it teaches them moderation.

I don't think this, this is going, this is a very interesting.

Test for people and their patience.

It's extraordinary.

I still want to play, but great.

Yeah.

And you know what, let us know what you think.

You can find us easily online.

We do need to wrap the show.

You can tweet at us @ambermac and @MBancroft80.

And of course use the hashtag thefeed.

This is the Feed with Amber Mac and Michael B on Sirius