New episode of The Advocate Podcast to feature interview — with a cup

Podcast producer and host Denis Grignon has drawn on his 30-plus years as a journalist to conduct an interview…with a discarded Styrofoam cup.

It’s a unique interview, to be sure. “And, likely, the first of its kind,” boasts the Dunsford-area resident, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, before adding that he also drew on his training as a professional standup comic and sketch writer.

“Of all the trash we pick up along our road,” notes Grignon, “these white cups are, by far, the most offensive – and abundant. We literally pick up hundreds of them each year.”

Grignon who, with his wife and Advocate associate editor, Nancy Payne, adopted their road through a city-run program a few years ago.

A conversation with an inanimate object might, at first, seem a bit unconventional.

But Grignon insists it went smoothly and yielded much about the cup’s personality – “and, arguably, the kind of person who tosses it out with complete, selfish disregard.”

In his research leading up to the interview with the cup, Grignon says he got conflicting information about blue box items. Initially, his research showed it could be recycled locally. Further investigation, however, proved residents of Kawartha Lakes cannot place them in their blue box.

While Grignon says they’ve altered the cup’s voice – “you know. To protect its true identity” – the cup did insist on using its real name. “But you’ll have to tune in to learn it.”

The Advocate Podcast: Stories from Kawartha Lakes is sponsored by Wards Lawyers of Lindsay. All episodes are available for free via iTunes, Spotify and Lindsayadvocate.ca. Episode 5, featuring Denis’s interview the cup, drops April 15.