Smells Like Yukon.
Granted, it’s an absurd name for a radio segment. Or a website. Or, really, any kind of media feature that isn’t delivered in a state-of-the-art scratch ‘n sniff format.
And yet, somehow, the words perfectly captures the irreverent tone and (dis)respect for conventional, middle-of-the-road journalistic approaches to examining what it’s like to live, work and play in the Yukon.
Featured regularly on the CBC Yukon morning show, A New Day, the Smells Like Yukon radio segments are on a mission to explore “important” (smell irony) Yukon issues that few people have the inclination to think about.
Why do this?
Because there are so many unsung nuggets of Yukon life that slip under the normal reporter’s radar of relevance. Nuggets so unsung, in fact, that only freelance correspondents with excessive curiosity and spare time could so thoroughly investigate them for the enlightenment of the local masses and the Outside world.
Each six-minute-ish segment of Smells Like Yukon relies on Jesse Devost’s narrative voice to weave together a variety of field interviews, sound effects and cool music to tell an irrelevant but compelling story about some aspect of Yukon life. Jesse’s co-conspirator in the field is Yukon writer Mark Koepke and, together, they are the “main characters” whose offbeat point of view drives each segment—and the entire series—towards its colossal and epiphany-rich conclusion. You know, hopefully.
Of course, no one wants to live for just six minutes every month, so the radio segment has been crassly spun off into a website—yep, this one right here—that will keep the good times rolling between broadcasts.
God help us all.
|
