Bojan Fürst
Photographic and sound Investigations
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Rural Routes Podcast

Rural Routes Podcast was a podcasts series on rural issues I published while working at the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University of Newfoundland. It asked “What is rural in the 21st century?” The podcast was born out of a conversation with my friend Dr. Ryan Gibson after a Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation conference gathering on PEI. Rebecca Cohoe from Memorial’s Office of Public Engagement who grew up on a rural route named the show and later joined as a co-host and a producer. With the closure of the centre, the university stopped paying the hosting fees and the episodes disappeared from the podcast feed. I was able to salvage all of the episodes with the help of Barry Rooke from the National Community and Campus Radio Association and they are published here as an archive.

S2E5: Broadband internet in rural Canada

S2E5-Rural_Broadband_-_2017-11-02_2.46_PM
Bojan Fürst and Rebecca Cohoe
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Access to broadband internet in rural Canada is spotty at best. However, much depends on it. From emergency communications, to economic development projects, to social cohesion, internet in rural areas can open up a myriad of opportunities. In this episode, we explore everything from the history of broadband in rural Canada, to current situation, to community-based efforts to provide broadband access. You will hear from Greg Lay, former mayor of Kaslo in BC, Bob Annis, former director of the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University in Manitoba, Wayne Kelly a researcher currently working at the RDI, Meghan Wrathall, a student at Brandon University, and Dr. Christopher Horsetief from BC who shares a personal story about the importance of broadband internet access in a rural emergency.

Podcast, Rural RoutesBojan Fürst
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