After working in broadcasting for 10 years, Elianna Lev took a bit of a leap from hard news journalism to start her own personal storytelling podcast. With a push from her colleague CBC Radio 3's Steve Pratt, she decided to produce the People's Program Podcast. It features stories from various individuals including her friends, "Well I know my friends pretty well and I know they're all talented and do really cool stuff and I thought...well you know some of them do things on a national scale," explains Lev, "And I know they have good stories to tell". The podcast also features local musician/filmmaker Aaron Beckum scoring the music. (Beckum is personally one of my favorite local filmmakers, you should check out his award winning film Who Wants to Be an Amerikan). P3 is a mix of This American Life and a little bit of eavesdropping...well in a good way. It's not a fully polished podcast like This American Life or CBC Radio 3 but with that, it does feel a bit more genuine. Kinda like you're listening to strangers next to you in a coffee shop having a conversation.

In a previous episode, Lev interviews her friend Ashley Webber, a local musician who's worked with Black Mountain, The Organ and Will Oldham. Her fifteen minute-ish interview ranges from meeting Chad Kroeger to being flown out to Nashville to work on a Bonnie Prince Billy album. These are stories that you wouldn't normally have a chance to hear and a way for people to connect. Lev best describes it, "I've realized the importance of community and the importance of storytelling as way to bring community together."

The latest episode, well actually a non-episode says Lev, is an review of the Bonnie Prince Billy concert a few days ago. You can check it out online here and on the iTunes store