After two years and 95 episodes The Tideline is washing up but one last time. It's a bit of a format flip, featuring first guest and perennial mention Kat McCormack in the host chair, talking to Tara about the history of arts coverage in Halifax, the dire straits of the local music venue, the disconnection of the disciplines, and some fun stuff too! Thanks to the team at the Halifax Examiner and engineer/mixer Palmer Jamieson for a fine little podcast. And especially thanks to you for listening.

Halifax poet laureate Sue Goyette, an early-run Tideline guest, returns one last time to discuss her new book Monoculture, out in October. Neither poetry nor fiction, its hybrid form imagines a near future where Nova Scotia's last living forest has become a tourist attraction and explores our relationship to trees and the land through the website's comments section. It's ever evocative and poignant and at turns funny, enraged, and in awe of its surroundings. Sue speaks to its creation, her deep relationships to the elements, and the deplorable way they've been treated.

The debut feature of Halifax hyphenate Koumbie — known as an actor for the stage and screen, a writer, and a director — will have its world premiere at the Atlantic International Film Festival on September 22. Bystanders tells the story of a lifelong friend group rocked to its foundation by accusations of sexual misconduct against one of their own. He's their friend, brother, even ex-boyfriend — so now what? As Koumbie puts it, "What do you do when someone you love does something you hate?" A thoughtful conversation that digs into the grey areas of so-called cancel culture, how it is to be an actor directing actors, and what the filmmaker hopes you'll take away from the experience.

The multi-hyphenate Jackie Torrens — we're talking writer, director, actor, broadcaster, icon — stops by ahead of the Atlantic International Film Festival screening of her murder mystery doc Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langille, which had its world premiere at Hot Docs this spring. Between the military, the time (50 years ago), intergenerational family trauma, and advances in science, Torrens has crafted an intriguing and emotional look into one man's search for answers. She speaks to all of this plus the innovation of using miniature sets to recreate the scenes of the day.

The Halifax-based poet and university professor Annick MacAskill has crafted a beautiful (and beautiful to touch thanks to Gaspereau Press) ode to a common but still stigmatized subject matter: pregnancy loss. Shadow Blight considers the pain of pregnancy loss through the classical myth of Niobe, whose grief for her dead children was so monumental she turned to stone. MacAskill speaks to the process of crafting and presenting such intimate, personal thoughts and the lack of popular culture on the subject, among other things. Plus a song from the new Klarka Weinwurm album.

The Halifax Fringe Festival is celebrating its first full in-person festival since 2019, which itself was cut short by hurricane Dorian. And that's not all—after seven festivals, executive director Lee-Anne Poole will head out the revolving door of Halifax arts org leaders and hand the reigns over to Sara Graham. Both are on the show this week to talk entrances and exits, why they do the work that they do, the festival's present and future, and all the details you need to attend. Plus a song from the new surprise Hello Delaware album.

What is there to say that hasn't been said 100 times (probably more) about Halifax's most famous animal? Gus—the de facto mascot of the Museum of Natural History—has been with the museum at its two locations since 1942, after being purchased in Florida for five
American dollars. This weekend there are six chances to celebrate his life and sing happy hatch day to the oldest known living gopher tortoise in the world — Tara burrows into her love for him and his enduring place in the city's tapestry.

To sleep, perchance to dream—in this humidity?! Shakespeare By The Sea's production of Hamlet—its first staged tragedy since 2019— opens on August 5, and director Drew Douris-O'Hara and the man himself, Deivan Steele, stop by the show before rehearsal to chat. Topics include: Climate change's effect on outdoor theatre, the timelessness of Shakespeare's most popular work, the failure of funding models in all times (not just COVID), and the resilience of squirrels.

Author Andre Fenton returns to the show with a new book, The Summer Between Us: It's a complex, empathetic YA story about teens on the cusp of adulthood in the under-examined summer between high school and university, an expansion of the characters explored in his debut, Worthy of Love. He reveals his writing process, how his personal mission to unpack toxic masculinity dovetails with his hero's, and what inspires him to write. Plus the lead track from the brand-new Aquakultre album out this week.

The riotous gay rock band Partner—aka Lucy Niles and Josée Caron—beams into the show from Montreal ahead of its Sunday afternoon show at the Garrison Grounds for Halifax Pride. They dig into what it was like putting out an album in the pandemic, what pride means to them now, the lives they're still changing, and guitar solos. Plus Adam Reid from Halifax Pride returns to chat about this year's event, back to full strength for the first time since 2019. Plus a song from Jazz Fest headliner The Weather Station.

Martha Paynter is a registered nurse who works in abortion and reproductive health care. Her new book ABORTION TO ABOLITION (with illustrations by Julia Hutt) was published the same week Roe v Wade was overturned in the United States—her launch party was the day
after—and couldn't be a more timely introduction to the history of abortion in Canada. She's on the show this week to talk about how different the two countries' laws and health care systems are, why reproductive justice is so tied up with abolition, and various provinces' wins and losses over the years.