Scout Magazine • 23rd January 2025

On Ranking BC's Best Bars and 'Dry January', with James Iranzad and James Langford-Smith

Continuing with last year’s end-of-year episode, James Iranzad (Gooseneck Hospitality) and James Langford-Smith (Pamplemousse Jus) join me once again to discuss their top 10 favourite bars in British Columbia. Additionally, the pair share their thoughts on ‘Dry January’ t...

Scout Magazine • 31st December 2024

Ranking B.C.'s Top 15 Restaurants, with James Iranzad and James Langford-Smith

Welcome to the Track & Food podcast. Host Jamie Mah is a writer, bartender and sommelier in beautiful Vancouver, BC. Join him as he takes a deep dive into everything food and culture happening in the city and around the globe.

With the year-end comes a fun-filled year-end list! Who better to join in ranking B.C.’s top 15 restaurants than my good friends...

Scout Magazine • 28th October 2024

Getting Away From the Roots of Some Really Harsh Kitchens with Local Author, Timothy Taylor

If you’ve ever dreamed of moving to Europe to cook and learn from the best, then The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf might feel familiar. The new novel from Vancouver author (-slash-journalist-slash-UBC-Professor-of-Creative-Writing) Timothy Taylor follows the life of Teo, an...

Medium • 24th October 2024

Is TikTok Becoming a Form of Therapy Even as Smartphones Might Invariably Cause It?

Has the evolution of social media from Facebook to TikTok brought us to that one defining human characteristic — we just need someone to talk to.

Scout Magazine • 16th October 2024

On Tipping, Food Pricing, Michelin and Migrant Workers with Corey Mintz

Corey Mintz is a distinguished food journalist hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has contributed to several prominent publications, such as The New York Times, Eater, and The Globe and Mail, and is the author of The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, a...

Scout Magazine • 19th March 2024

Demythologizing Poverty with Local Expert, Tracy Smith-Carrier

Will poverty always be a systemic issue? This is the question at the heart of Tracy Smith-Carrier’s article, “Implementing a basic income means overcoming myths about the ‘undeserving poor’”, published in The Conversation last December – and the focus of today’s interview...

Scout Magazine • 23rd February 2024

An Inside Look at the Controversial Mount Pleasant BIA Expansion

Back in the fall, I received some good intel, via text, about a peculiar issue brewing up along Main Street, regarding the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association (BIA). The problem was a proposed expansion of where the BIA lines fell, with the Main and 19-29th St...

Medium • 12th January 2024

Is Feeling Lost the Way of the Future?

The mental health field is having a moment just as depression and anxiety are on the rise. What to make of this disconnect?

Scout Magazine • 3rd January 2024

What's Going On with the BC Craft Beer Industry?

If you had asked me what I thought ‘craft beer’ was when I first moved to Vancouver, back in 2009, my answer would have been something vague about its ‘higher quality’. Fast forward to today, and layers of experiences, flavours and perspectives add nuance and understandin...

Medium • 12th November 2023

When Seeing Someone Truly Means Something

Connection is at the Core of Who We are, and it Plays a Larger Role in Our Overall Health Than We Might Suspect

Scout Magazine • 20th September 2023

Ending Homelessness Through Direct Cash Transfers, with UBC Professor Dr. Jiaying Zhao

In 2018, Vancouver non-profit, Foundations for Social Change, along with researchers from UBC, set out to do a small experiment: a one-year trial where they gave a lump sum of $7,500 cash, no strings attached, directly to people experiencing homelessness, to see whether t...

Scout Magazine • 4th August 2023

On the Therapeutic Potential of MDMA with Journalist and Author, Rachel Nuwer

In this episode, award-winning freelance journalist, Rachel Nuwer, discusses her fantastic and revelatory new book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World. Featuring the real life stories of many intriguing characters, from ravers to PTSD suff...

Medium • 28th June 2023

What to Make of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and the Significance of It Becoming A Cultural Phenomenon

Is this something we’ve never seen before?

Scout Magazine • 29th May 2023

Talking 'Ranking Culture' with Jacob Richler, of Canada's 100 Best

In this episode, Jacob Richler, founder and publisher of Canada’s most diverse and influential restaurant ranking, Canada’s 100 Best, discusses his years as a food critic, why he created this list in the first place, how the judging process unfolds, and where he sees thin...

Scout Magazine • 15th March 2023

David Fairey and Anelyse Weiler Discuss the Migrant Worker Piece Rate System

While reading The Tyee back in late January, a story by labour economist, David Fairey (who is also research associate of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) and Associate Professor of Sociology at UVic, Anelyse Weiler, caught my eye… In “It’s 2023....

Medium • 5th September 2022

A Puzzling Look At Why The Men’s Long Jump World Record Has Not Been Broken in 31 Years

What factors have contributed to this decades long drought?

Scout Magazine • 15th June 2022

Talking Plants and People with Author and Professor, Liz Carlisle

The book Healing Grounds – Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming came onto my radar while reading an interview with its author, Liz Carlisle, published last March by Civil Eats, an American news source focused on sustainable food syste...

Scout Magazine • 24th February 2022

TRACK & FOOD // BBC Food Journalist Dan Saladino on His New Book, Eating To Extinction

I’ve been lucky enough to have interviewed some truly brilliant individuals in the past, especially those who’ve written timely and insightful books. As a bookworm at heart, I just love delving into these stories and piecing them out. My interview with BBC R...

Scout Magazine • 7th February 2022

TRACK & FOOD // Food Journalist Mark Schatzker on How to End Cravings and Eat Well

What a guest to land and begin this new season with! I am extremely thankful that I was able to chat with food journalist and author, Mark Schatzker, about his new book, The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well.

Leaning on research from...