Carol Off Joins As It Happens

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/05/18/aih-host-off.html

I was very sad when I heard a while back that the CBC's Mary Lou Finlay was retiring, and thus leaving my favourite CBC Radio show, As It Happens. Since I started passivly listening to the program when I was in elementary school, I had grown accustomed to Mary Lou and her co-host Barbara Budd. I tend to be resistent to change in matters such as these, but was very pleased to read that Carol Off will be joining as Budd's new co-host come Labour Day. From what I have seen of Off on The National, I'm sure she will maintain the parts of AIH that listeners have come to expect.

What I love about AIH is their uncanny ability to mix hard-hitting interviews with much lighter, often bizarre stories from around the globe. I like variety in my news programming. For example, while they will keep me up-to-date on global politics, last week I heard an interview about a band of modern day German Robin Hoods who steal groceries and claim they plan to give them to children and the poor.

AIH and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. When I was 8 years old, I began taking fiddle lessons on Thursday evenings at 6:45. AIH airs at 6:30 - the very time Dad and I would get in the car to drive to my lesson. So, every Thursday I would hear the theme music and not much else. At that age, the music did not appeal to me, so I became disgruntled at having to listen to it every week. As I grew older, things changed. I would hear some more of the program on the drive home, and actually started listening to it and enjoying it. My fandom has reached a point where sometimes my friend Claire and I like to sing the theme music in the cafeteria. We are both CBC geeks.