Muddy York: A Toronto History Podcast

Florence Linehart is one of Toronto’s greatest unsung visionaries. And yet … outside of a very specific group of academics, subway historians, and people who take brunch way too seriously, her name has been completely forgotten. She shaped the Toronto subway system and she fought the souls minions of orthodoxy at City Hall. On this episode of Muddy York, she joins us to discuss her overlooked contributions to this city.

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The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres were built to host vaudeville as the Canadian flagship of the Loew's theatre chain. The building would become one of top cinemas in Toronto before being converted back into a theatre to host the Canadian premiere of Cats during the 1980s. Learn about the last stacked theatres in the world on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

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In 1886, employees of the Toronto Railway Company went on strike. They weren't fighting for a pay raise or shorter hours; this strike was over their right to even join a labour union. Greg Koabel from The Nations of Canada podcast joins us to talk about this important event in labour history on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

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Next week's provincial election inspired this episode which is about an election campaign that was fought in the riding of St. Andrew all the way back in 1955. This race was significant because the local Tory candidate wanted to defeat the last communist MPP at Queen’s Park. This campaign was about what it meant to be a communist elected official and it reflected a ferocious debate that was taking place within the Toronto Jewis...

Set in the school hallways of Toronto, Degrassi is less about teenagers attending school and more about the architecture of growing up. Join us to learn more about one of the most successful media franchises in Canadian history on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

As a bonus, Sarah Fisher, who played Becky Baker on Degrassi: TNG, joins us for an interview at the end of the episode.

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Welcome to the second episode on the history of hockey in Toronto. When the last episode ended, Toronto’s first professional hockey team had just disbanded. If Toronto was going to win its first Stanley Cup, it would need a new team of pros. Or two teams of pros as things turned out. In this episode, learn how how Toronto won its first Stanley Cup, how the players from this Cup-winning team got moved to Seattle and how the NHL was ...

If you’re going to do a podcast about Toronto, it’s only a matter of time until hockey comes up. However, we’re going to do something a little bit different. The next two episodes of Muddy York will be about the history of hockey in Toronto before the Leafs arrived on the scene.

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Welcome to a special holiday episode of Muddy York, the podcast where we dig into Toronto’s hidden stories and, let’s be honest, let ourselves get swept up in a little nostalgia. Today, we’re peeling back the frosty layers of one of Toronto’s most magical holiday traditions: the department store Christmas window displays.

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Arlene Chan joins us to talk about the history of Toronto's Chinatown. The Chinese presence in Toronto goes back to at least 1878. However, the first Chinatown would become a victim of urban redevelopment during the 1960s. Learn more about the people who built this community and the fight to preserve it on Muddy York, Toronto's #1 history podcast.

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On this episode of Muddy York, we’re plunging deep into Toronto’s underground story—the tale of our city’s sewers. It’s a story that’s all about overcoming the gritty, grimy obstacles of urban growth. It's also an opportunity for us to make loads of puns. So join us to learn more about the Toronto Sewer System. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

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By 1917, tens of thousands of Torontonians had joined the Canadian forces fighting in Europe and thousands had died. Women were entering the workforce to replace men who had joined the army and the cost of living kept rising as the war consumed ever more resources. This episode will focus on Toronto’s experience during the last two years of the war, as people began demanding conscription to compel so-called shirkers to join the arm...

World War I was a cataclysm that fundamentally changed western civilization. Toronto was just a small piece of this massive event, but four years of war would transform the city in ways both big and small. In commemoration of Remembrance Day, our next two episodes will tell the story of Toronto during the First World War – how the city supported the war effort, how Torontonians volunteered to fight and sometimes die overseas, and h...

If you listen to this podcast, then you probably live near Toronto. That usually means that you're from southern Ontario, but you could live in PEI. You could be from Indiana, Illinois or Iowa. You could live in Australia or England. You could even be from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Yes, there a host of different places called Toronto and we’re going to talking about them on this special bonus episode of Muddy York...

Today is the 70th Anniversary of Hurricane Hazel striking Toronto, one of the worst disasters in the city's history. 81 people died and more than 4,000 were left homeless. To commemorate this anniversary, Muddy York is reposting our episode about Hurricane Hazel.

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Music:

The Westerlies - The D...

For most of the 20th century, Eaton’s was the most famous store in Canada. At its height, 7% of all retail shopping in Canada was done there. Today, all that remains is the name of the Eaton Centre. This week on Muddy York, we will be talking about Timothy Eaton, the man who turned a small store on Yonge Street into the most important retail business in Canadian history.

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The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a world-famous cultural event that has launched some of the biggest films in cinema history. But it had humble origins as three film producers fought to overcome local skepticism, Hollywood indifference and a censorious province. So, grab your popcorn and settle in as we explore the fascinating history of TIFF.

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Next Monday, September 9th, will be the 70th anniversary of a major athletic and cultural event in the history of Toronto. On that date in 1954, a sixteen-year-old girl touched the breakwater near Sunnyside Beach making her the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. She became a media sensation and Canada’s sweetheart, but two years later, she hung up her swimsuit and retired to live an ordinary life. This week on Muddy York, we...

During the 60s, Yorkville was arguably the most important cultural location in Canada, launching the careers of people that have made such enormous contributions that we can hardly remember what Canadian music was like before they arrived. In our last episode, we didn’t have enough time to give this topic the attention it deserves, so this week will be dedicated to the rise and fall of the Yorkville music scene.

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