Uqallagvik is an Inuktitut radio program for everyone.
Today
Uqallagvik broadcasts on CKCU 93.1 fm in Inuktitut and English, featuring Inuit artist.
Uqallagvik’s goals are to celebrate Inuit music and to amplify the Inuit voice in the city of Ottawa by creating a place for diverse conversations.
Up next: 12:00 pm Loosely Connected
From hip-hop, to traditional, to big beats, to world, to electronica, to rock, to funk, to jazz, to fusions, to spoken word, to just plain weird. And anything and everything in between. Well, you get the picture...
1:00 pm today Expo Update
Interviews with Jill Barber and Dominique Fils Aimé from World Expo in Osaka Japan
1:30 pm today Renny's Riot
A Can Con dash, 85 years of "Keep A Knockin'" & two-wheeled motorized musical mania.
9:00 pm tonight In A Mellow Tone
Jim Reil and Ron Steeds guest host this week on In A Mellow Tone. Jim offers up some classic small combo jazz from the 1930's and some live quartet jazz from 1994/1995 led by Joe Lovano at the Village Vanguard. Two hours of great jazz for a...
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11:00 pm tonight Rabble Without A Cause
Quebec’s Jazz Libre plus an interview with author Eric Fillion about his newly translated book about the avant garde in Quebec
Midnight tonight Night Trax
Mr. Finistera takes us back to the golden-era counterpart to his PASTEL WAVES series. We visit the origins of what the kids today are calling Marina-Pop, in its original form. PASTEL GOLDEN WAVES is a mellow dive into deep-cut yacht rock, soft...
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7:00 am Thursday Cap City Blues
With special guests The Texas Horns
5:00 pm Thursday The Guest List
Today we talk to three artists appearing at Bluesfest. Nicky Bomba is with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra (playing tonight); Claude Munson is playing on Friday evening; and Andrew Greene plays trumpet with Budos Band appearing on Saturday night. All...
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6:00 pm Thursday Third World Players Present
Passport to the Heart, part 1 - Barbadian writer and lawyer Trevor A Carmichael on his book Passport to the Heart: Reflections on Canada-Caribbean Relations
12:00 am Friday Rainbow Country
Ladies On Mars
8:00 pm Friday Peaceful Journey
Tune in as we listen to Tough Dumplin's upcoming album and you choose what track gets pressed to vinyl.
7:00 am Saturday Saturday Morning
Mike Regenstreif hosts the July 12 edition of Saturday Morning featuring 44 songs for a Saturday morning in July.
12:00 pm Saturday Back 40
Three Texas wailers are featured on the Back 40: Johnny Bush, Ray Price and Roy Orbison.
8:00 pm Saturday Heavy Friends
Jas Nasty is joined by DJs Seiizi and Bleu Pale to share some music and chat about a daytime event we will be DJing at on Sunday in Hull!
4:00 pm Sunday Inside Jazz
INSIDE JAZZ celebrates its second anniversary. Jim and Ron each feature a record that was central to their respective musical journey. In the first hour Jim presents James Blood Ulmer's ODYSSEY. In the second hour Ron presents Kenny Wheeler's DEER...
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8:00 pm Sunday Roots and Rhythms
Sun Records: The Blues Years 1950-1958 Part Three
9:00 pm Sunday Black And Blues
"Doctor's Orders"- a tribute to the late Memphis blues guitarist Daddy Mack Orr and his band on Inside Sounds recordings. That is in the first hour. The "new and reissued blues and R&B tracks on wax" in the second hour has new traditional blues...
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12:30 pm Monday Nothing To See Hear
Guitar Pop!
What's This?
12:00 pm Tuesday What's This?
Songs For The Beautiful Grind.
3:00 pm Tuesday Minding The Brain
Many people think beauty is something ephemeral, subject to the arbitrary whims of individual taste and cultural trends. But philosophers have been studying beauty and analyzing it for thousands of years, under the name aesthetics, and some of the...
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Up next: 12:00 pm Loosely Connected
From hip-hop, to traditional, to big beats, to world, to electronica, to rock, to funk, to jazz, to fusions, to spoken word, to just plain weird. And anything and everything in between. Well, you get the picture...
1:00 pm today Expo Update
Interviews with Jill Barber and Dominique Fils Aimé from World Expo in Osaka Japan
HEY KIDS! WANT TO TAKE OVER THE AIRWAVES AND EXPLORE THE WORLD OF RADIO?!?
Have you ever wondered about the world of radio and what goes on behind the scenes during live broadcasts? Do you think it would be cool to interview guests, create a radio ad, learn about audio recording and use special effects, or host a live radio show?
Kids, ages 10 – 14, can spend a week at CKCU Radio Camp this summer and get to do all these things! You can learn the skills and secrets of the world of radio using professional broadcast equipment to record and create your very own content. But that’s not all! In addition to learning audio recording and editing skills, and developing your radio skills, CKCU Radio Camp attendees host a live two hour radio show on the final day of camp!
CKCU’s Live Off The Floor session for June feature sets by DJs Lamb Fatale and Fembottt. They share some of their current favorite music selections and encompass a range of moods doing so.
For nearly 50 years, CKCU has been powered by the energy and commitment of its volunteers. Were you one of them?
If you’ve ever contributed to our sound, you might be interested to know that CKCU is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
CKCU first hit the airwaves on November 15, 1975 (fun facts: the first song broadcast was Joni Mitchell’s “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio” and the Arts Tower was lit up with a giant “93.1”, signalling the arrival of a new alternative voice for the community).
Planning for a 50th Anniversary Reunion Weekend is already under way. The organizers hope to invite all past and present CKCU volunteers to celebrate together, November 14-16, 2025. But to invite everyone, we first have to find everyone.
If you volunteered at CKCU – ever – and want to learn more about the 50th Anniversary Weekend and other anniversary projects (There will be a book! There will be music!), write to Bruce White at alumni@ckcufm.com. He’ll add you to his email list for updates.
We’re very excited to share a new CKCU FM project we’ve been working on —please welcome Live Off The Floor! This monthly series revolves around connecting with music, music makers, and the music community of the Ottawa area and beyond. Artists are invited to CKCU’s Studio B for an intimate live set that’s filmed in one take. Each month, we will be releasing new sessions of the series on the station’s YouTube channel for you to watch and enjoy. For the launch and first installment, we invited three of Ottawa’s finest DJs to the studio to kick things off with gusto and beats! Don’t miss out—check it out, and give the CKCU channel a follow while you’re there so you don’t miss out on upcoming new Live Off The Floor sessions!
After two amazing years on the air, we bid a heartfelt farewell to Riley Murphy, co-host of CKCU FM’s Thursday Special Blend. In the summer of 2021, Riley joined us from Georgetown, Ontario, bringing with her the curiosity, creativity, and compassion that define a great journalist —and a great co-host.
Riley Murphy hosting Thursday Special Blend on CKCU FM.
A student of Carleton University’s School of Journalism, Riley balanced her academic workload and volunteering her time and talent to community radio. Whether diving into local stories, sharing music, or guiding thoughtful interviews, she brought a bright energy and professionalism to the studio that made every Thursday morning better. Listeners could also hear her lending her voice to MidDay, the School of Journalism radio program. In a standout moment, Riley represented both CKCU FM and her Carleton peers, as a host of the 2024 World Radio Day live broadcast, done from Ottawa in February. The broadcast was a proud reminder of her skills, poise, and passion for community media on the world stage.
Riley’s final show on CKCU FM airs April 24, 2025, as she hosts her last Thursday Special Blend. Though we will miss her behind the mic and at CKCU, we know her future is full of promise.
Congratulations on your graduation and all you have accomplished in the past few years, Riley! Thank you for making CKCU FM such a significant part of your journey. You have given countless hours and brightened the 93.1 FM airwaves on Thursday mornings with much success. You learned with us and grew immensely. We can’t wait to see where your storytelling takes you next.
As we celebrate 25 years of Asian Sounds, I find myself reflecting on my journey with CKCU, which began in the late ’70s when I was a journalism student at Carleton University. At the time, CKCU served as a training ground for journalism students, offering a hands-on experience that was both exciting and transformative. I fell in love with radio and its power to inform, connect, and inspire.
My journey in broadcasting started with producing radio shows for Dr. Dehejia’s Indian Morning. His knowledge and engaging presentations sparked my passion for radio, leading me to explore opportunities in Singapore and India. Radio was in my blood—my aunt was a producer and anchor at All India Radio, and together, we produced a drama in Pushto. That experience was both challenging and rewarding, as I wasn’t fluent in the language, but it was a memorable and enriching endeavor.
Fast forward to the mid-’80s, I returned to CKCU, picking up where I had left off. Volunteering for the Tuesday show, I received immense support and encouragement from the community. A few years later, I set out to create my own program—Asian Sounds. My initial vision was to move away from traditional Bollywood music and focus on a talk-show format. However, listener feedback made it clear that music was an essential part of the experience, so we adapted, finding a balance between engaging discussions and a rich musical selection.
Jagjeet and Surinder Sharma, hosts of Asian Sounds
Over these 25 years, my husband, our children, Meenakshi and Tejeshwar (TJ) and I have had the privilege of meeting a diverse array of people—from jazz musicians to Indian celebrities visiting Canada, and young talents eager to share their artistry. The community has always embraced Asian Sounds, whether to promote events or simply experience the thrill of being on air. We often invited guests to co-host, providing a platform for many emerging voices.
Beyond entertainment, Asian Sounds has remained committed to supporting the community, actively participating in fundraising efforts for mainstream charities such as the Cancer Society, Diabetes Canada, and the Heart Institute. Whenever the community needed a voice, we were there.
As we mark this milestone, I am deeply grateful for the journey, the friendships, and the unwavering support that have made Asian Sounds what it is today. Here’s to many more years of sharing stories, music, and connections.
Baljit Nagpal adjusts his microphone in CKCU’s closed circuit studio on Jan. 7. Photo by Simon McKeown
Sitting in a soundproofed studio at CKCU, Baljit Nagpal compares how he hosts his radio program, Aap Ki Farmaish, to being a chef in an Indian restaurant.
“Everybody cooks butter chicken, okay?” Nagpal said smiling.
But, he continued, if you like a particular place’s butter chicken recipe, you will go back to that location every time. In this regard, Nagpal said he’s a chef — but, for music programming.
Aap Ki Farmaish is structured around weekly themes that Nagpal’s community has come to expect. Often, Nagpal tries to blend new and old music to keep his listeners both happy and open to contemporary tracks.
This year, Aap Ki Farmaish — which translates to ‘your request’ — made its way into the top five most donated to funding drive shows at CKCU.
Nagpal said he begins raising money a month before the official funding drive start date by shooting off a hundred emails. In the emails, Nagpal said he includes personalized messages to the recipient — a gesture he said has given him credibility among his community.
For the past 10 to 15 years, Nagpal said this technique has worked best and lets him stay ahead of the frantic two week funding drive hustle. These pre-pledges give CKCU thousands of dollars before the phone rooms even open and other programs start to advertise the drive.
As the drive launches, these pre-pledges ease the burden and amount of work Nagpal has to do over the air waves.
Recently however, Nagpal said it has become harder to secure a stable listenership due to the rise in on-demand programs and streaming services. He noted that people nowadays don’t have the time to listen live since they have other, more “important activities” to attend to.
Despite this, Nagpal boasts happily that he has listeners from all over the world which grow his already strong following.
Aap Ki Farmaish airs weekly on Tuesday’s from 7 to 9 p.m. and consists of Baljit Nagpal, Anupama Potdar, and Prashant Maharishi.
The Canadian Spaces collective gathered at Irene’s Pub to talk about the late Chopper McKinnon and funding drive on Jan. 9. Left to right, back row: Ray, Teresa, and Chris. Left to right, front row: Anne-Marie and Carolyn. Photo by Simon McKeown
“Up to the last week of his life, (McKinnon) always said that this was the best two hours of his week,” White said, reminiscing on his tenure as McKinnon’s co-host from 2011 to 2013.
In the late afternoon under golden-yellow light, all six co-hosts of Canadian Spaces spread around a table at Irene’s Pub. Chris White, the main host of the program since 2013, said he couldn’t recall the last time everyone was together.
For this occasion, the collective — as they self proclaim — were overjoyed to share memories and laugh over stories about the late Chopper McKinnon and his time as host of Canadian Spaces.
Canadian Spaces topped the list for the most donated to funding drive program in 2024 — an achievement White said the show has had the privilege of having many, many times.
White said that McKinnon always took the funding drive super seriously and would get “bugged” when other host’s didn’t.
“He also got pretty shirty with the listeners if they didn’t donate too,” White added, with the collective nodding in agreement.
The collective laughed at the fact that McKinnon would play music the community enjoyed all year round and then would withhold it during the funding drive until listeners called in to donate.
White said McKinnon would also play Bob Snider’s song “Darn Folksinger” which has a line that sings, “Only thing a darn folksinger ever wanna make is money.”
But more than just that, McKinnon put in a lot of effort and made the funding drive a big deal and a big part of his life. The collective said McKinnon would get musicians to come into the studios and play a few songs, helping them plug their next gig and get their music to the people.
White said that McKinnon really fostered a vibrant community which still thrives to this day, and always emphasized the community aspect of the station’s programming.
“Sounds like six bucks,” White said, again, laughing with the collective.
The collective coined the saying as a “Chopperism” — something that would have been blurted out over the air waves many times some decades back.
“So people started adding $6 and you can see it in the donations. You’ll see $56 or $81 or $106. It’s a fun little thing — just a nod to (McKinnon),” White said.
White and the rest of the collective continue to walk the path McKinnon paved when he first joined CKCU, and said they all put their utmost effort during each funding drive.
Canadian Spaces airs weekly on Saturday’s from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and consists of Chris White, Anne-Marie Brugger, Carolyn Sutherland, Teresa Bandrowska, and Ray Harris.