In this 1884th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Deirdre Kelly, a best-selling author and award-winning journalist, about her three decades at The Globe and Mail and her involvement with the Paul McCartney Eyes of the Storm exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. This episode is exactly 1:38:24.

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Last week, Dr. Brian Goldman dropped by to talk about his experiences working in a Toronto hospital's emergency room. He's been doing so since 1982, and has written several books about it, including his recent The Casino Shift.

On Toronto Mike'd, I asked Dr. Brian Goldman was The Pitt gets right and what The Pitt gets wrong when it comes to emergency medicine. If you've watched season two of The Pitt, you'll know it leans very hard on the "wounded healer" trope. Heck, season two is all about wounded healers. Dr. Brian Goldman tells me that's bullshit.

Blame Carl Jung. He created the term "wounded healer" stating that an analyst is compelled to treat patients because the analyst himself is "wounded."

Garret Anderson finished his 17-season MLB career batting .293 with 2,529 hits, 287 home runs, 1,365 runs batted in, an OPS of .785 and a 25.7 WAR, winning the 2002 World Series with the Los Angeles Angels.

Welcome to this week's Open Mike. I'm Mike and I'll be your master of ceremonies for the day.

Feel free to use this space to vent, rant,  share a story and/or ask a question of the FOTM hivemind.

In this 1883rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Rita Zekas about her time at TV Guide before a lengthy career at the Toronto Star where she originated the paparazzi page/gossip column Star Gazing. Rob Salem returns to co-host and keep us on the rails. Find out What's On! This episode is exactly 1:49:08.

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In this 1882nd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike dives deep into the seminal Toronto album Shakespeare My Butt with Ron Hawkins and Lawrence Nichols from Lowest of the Low. This episode is exactly 1:37:30.

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In this 1881st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with DM Fox, author of The Howleyites: Toronto’s Changing City, A Stadium Rising, and The Champions of 1926, about the 1926 Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Club. This episode is exactly 1:25:22.

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Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Palma Pasta, Nick Ainis and Ridley Funeral Home.

Sid Krofft was the producer who created "Land of the Lost" and the TV series "H.R. Pufnstuf" with his brother Marty.

There's more here from POLICORNER, but the gist is that Tina Yazdani has been fired by Rogers and "at least two of Yazdani’s stories about the Ford government have quietly vanished from CityNews’ website without explanation".

At least two of Yazdani’s stories about the Ford government have quietly vanished from CityNews’ website without explanation, including one on Education Minister Paul Calandra’s grad-related memo to school boards in late March. It included an on-camera moment in which Calandra, in a heated exchange, told Yazdani: “Don’t interrupt me. Let me finish and then I’ll get to you.”

The next day brought one final on-air appearance — Yazdani covering the Ford government’s budget — before she disappeared. The Calandra story was removed from the website, and her employment was terminated days later.

Rogers isn't saying why Yazdani has been fired from her role covering Ontario provincial politics for CityNews or why Yazdani's stories about Doug Ford's government have been deleted.

By all accounts, Yazdani was very good at her job, with a reputation for being tough, but fair.

One theory being shared is that the +$100 million ad propaganda budget Ford has is being used to manipulate coverage because Rogers, who own CityTV are likely getting tens of millions from that pile of cash.

— Norm Di Pasquale🇨🇦 (@normsworld.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 10:24 AM

I would love a conversation with Tina Yazdani and would appreciate it if someone could connect us. As always, I'm mike@torontomike.com.

Update: This story from The Trillium, published 35 minutes ago, is attributed to Tina Yazdani.

In this 1880th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with TSC's Carrie Olver about her enduring friendship with Kim MacDonald, who she met at The Weather Network. This episode is exactly 1:25:22.

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Dinah Christie was a musician and regular performer on the TV series Party Game and Check it Out!

Last night I attended a celebration of CBC's The Newsroom at the Paradise Theatre. I've long sought Ken Finkleman as a Toronto Mike'd guest and the West End Phoenix managed to get him to participate in a panel, so VP invited me as his +1.

I loved Ken Finkleman's The Newsroom. With Jeremy Hotz and Colin Brunton, I managed to get answers to some of my Newsroom questions, and I got a solid sense of what it was like working with Finkleman. It seems he was both a creative powerhouse and very difficult to work for. I was curious how he'd come across on the panel, and how spicy it would get with the other panelists Matt Watts, Peter Keleghan, Douglas Bell, Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, Karen Hines, and Kristin Booth.

After we watched two episodes of The Newsroom, Linwood Barclay moderated the panel discussion. Ken Finkleman is now about 80 years old, and he acted like it. I saw some mild mobility issues, and he had difficulty hearing, but once he got comfortable, his swagger seemed to return. I expected nothing less than bravado, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear him praise the other actors on the show, and the actors on the panel were quick to praise his writing in return.

One story told by Ken Finkleman was about Peter Keleghan calling him to ensure he landed the role as anchor Jim Walcott, a story Peter completely denied. But my favourite remarks came from Karen Hines, who hinted at the misogyny from Finkleman and the struggles she had working with him. If I left this event with one thought it wasn't "get Ken Finkleman on Toronto Mike'd", it was "Get Karen Hines on Toronto Mike'd".

It was quite the Saturday night in Bloorcourt. During my wait outside the Paradise Theatre I saw Meredith MacNeill from Baroness Von Sketch run by, then spent a period of time a couple of metres from Kids in the Hall's Mark McKinney before chatting up Dave Bidini from The Rheostatics and sitting next to Don McKellar in the theatre.

Then, a glorious bike ride home west on the Bloor bike lane. A perfect evening.

On April 12, donations up to $500 will be matched dollar for dollar while funds last. That makes this the best day to pledge my 2026 Terry Fox Run. Click here and give what you can.

Toronto Mike

In 1980 Terry showed us what courage, compassion and determination look like. Today that example is needed more than ever and I am inspired to join more than 100,000 Terry Foxers this fall who are...

Terry Fox Run

In this 1879th episode of Toronto Mike'd, and 52nd episode of Toast, Mike is joined by Rob Preuss and Bob Willette as they kick out needledrop jams. This episode is exactly 2:08:16.

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I saw on social media that the Toronto Blue Jays, a Rogers property, had brought back BJ Birdy. I previously wrote about BJ Birdy back in 2012. BJ was the Toronto Blue Jays mascot of my youth, and I even read his comic strip in the Toronto Star.

In 1999, after 20 years, the Toronto Blue Jays told BJ Birdy creator Kevin Shanahan that his services were no longer required, and replaced him with Ace and Diamond. It was a business decision, as the team owned Ace and Diamond, and Kevin Shanahan owned BJ Birdy.

Admittedly, I felt the pangs of nostalgia when I saw the footage of BJ Birdy on social media. This is the Blue Jays's 50th season, so they're pulling out all the stops as they drive down memory lane. Only they didn't cover all the bases...

The CBC reports that Kevin Shanahan did not approve of the usage of BJ Birdy, and wasn't even notified this was happen. Rogers just did it, without consideration for the rightsholder.

Kevin Shanahan stared at his screen perplexed — watching the mischievous, big-eyed blue jay mascot he created and performed for two decades hamming it up in the ballpark once again.

"When I saw it, it was this kind of multi-verse … there’s been a glitch in the matrix," he said. "I’m kind of going 'What am I doing there?'"

The Toronto Blue Jays brought back Shanahan's beloved mascot creation BJ Birdy to mark the club's 50th season. They just failed to tell Shanahan, who says he still has its copyright. It wasn't until CBC Toronto reached out to Shanahan that he learned of BJ's return.

"It would have been nice if they would have contacted me and asked or at least informed me," said Shanahan, at his Mississauga home.

Here, from my personal collection, are a few of the BJ Birdy comic strips I'd read in the Star.