It’s a 30 minute conversation with persons of interest on the issues that matter to us. I’ve done quite a few and had some really lovely chats with people like Eintou Springer, Ravi Ji, and Nadia Batson. I’ve also converted a few encounters into specials for the programme like the launch of Bazodee the Movie and my conversation with Sonja Dumas and Dave Williams ahead of the launch of the COCO Dance Festival.
Most of these were done from 2016-2017 when I was a journalist at CNMG (now TTT).
They offer an extended view on topics that we can’t always cover in the news but should be discussed.
I’ve uploaded my Conversations to my YouTube channel and will provide a list below for easier access.
First is an interview I did with Pearl Eintou Springer about her spiritual journey, her love of poetry, her art and activism.
In 2020 Soca Singer Nadia Batson dabbled in fashion design coming up with a swimwear/ Monday wear collected called Himaya. I invited her to the show to discuss her designs and general approach to her music career
COCO Dance Festival is a project from the Contemporary Choreographers Collective and is the brainchild of Sonia Dumas and Dave Williams. This interview was done in 2016 for the 8th edition of the festival. We had a wide-ranging conversation about art versus science and I asked Sonja how does one enjoy contemporary dance?
I covered the launch of Machel Montano’s foray into films with the movie Bazodee. Machel always makes for an interesting interview because he is a deep thinker so he always has a lot to say about the hows and whys of his projects. I decided the chat could make for a special version of Conversations with C News.
Nigel Campbell is a promoter and music journalist who has started a practice of counting the number of words the Finance Minister uses to address the creative industries in the national budget. I spoke to him about the half a sentence the Finance Minister used to treat, or not treat, with the creative sector.
Ravi Ji ( Ravindranath Maharaj) is a Hindu activist, journalist, cultural worker and educator. We spoke about Ramleela: a street theatre re-enactment of the life of Rama that is performed all over Trinidad. I’ve been to the epic production in Ceder Hill. It can be hard to keep these traditions alive, but when I spoke to Ravi Ji in 2017 (I believe) he explained despite the struggles the children who act in the play will not let it die.
Prof. Gordon Rohlehr was a professor of English at the UWI, whose writings on calypso, Sparrow being his favourite, are unmatched. I was fortunate to have spoken to him for this extended conversation about the art form. The good prof has since died, and we will miss his considered contributions to our understanding of our selves.
There were a lot of distractions throughout this interview, but I hope that his words help you ignore them.
Can you make a mas out of anything? For Carnival 2017 Brian Mac Farlayne’s Cazabon presentation featured a section called “La Belle Dame and Garçon de la Maison”. The problem is that this is a relationship of subjugation and power being presented as romance. The controversy ultimately resulted in the section being pulled and it never saw the road. For this piece I spoke to Carnival researcher Kenwyn Murray and Cazabon history Geoffrey MacLean (who has since died) about it.
In 2017 FashionTT started working on creating a garment production facility. I spoke to Raymond Wong who won the bid to set it up, and to veteran fashion designer Robert Young about his reservations about the project.
FashionTT’s General Manager Lisa-Marie Daniel and Chairman Jason Lindsey joined me on set to discuss the potential of the local fashion industry