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Radio host Brent Holland shares real-life history

He may not talk to household names, but CKLU listeners are probably more familiar with Brent Holland’s interview subjects than they realize. He’s interviewed people like Ted Sorensen, Abraham Bolden and Tom Lipscomb.
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CKLU radio host Brent Holland gives audiences the chance to hear first-hand accounts of history from the people who made it. Photo by Jenny Jelen
He may not talk to household names, but CKLU listeners are probably more familiar with Brent Holland’s interview subjects than they realize.

He’s interviewed people like Ted Sorensen, Abraham Bolden and Tom Lipscomb. If the names don’t ring a bell, perhaps their roles in history will. Sorensen spent 11 years as John F. Kennedy’s speech writer. Bolden was the first African-American secret service agent. Lipscomb brought Che Guevara’s personal diaries to the United States.

As CKLU’s “news director,” Holland had the chance to interview Jane Goodall when she visited Sudbury in 2009.

After chatting with her, he thought it would be interesting and inspiring to share other people’s stories on the radio.

From there, The Brent Holland Show was born.

Now, the volunteer reporter’s show is broadcast from “coast to coast to coast” in Canada on university radio stations.

Holland said some of his interview subjects are “personal heroes” and some are intriguing faces found on non-fiction book covers at Chapters. But all of them are “real-life” people who have been through “real-life” events.

“People are fascinating,” he said. “Everybody has a story to tell.”

Holland said its not enough to speak with academics who write books about history when people who lived it are willing to talk. “It’s important when you are doing research to get as close to the original source as possible,” he said.

Holland said he wants to create a library so in the future, people interested in hearing first-hand accounts of history will have access to a reliable source.

Everybody has a story to tell.

Brent Holland,
CKLU radio personality

While not all his subjects have a connection to Sudbury, or even Canada for that matter, Holland said most of them do have a northern link.

Minnijean Brown Trickey was one of Holland’s guests earlier this year. She was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group that helped desegregate American schools, and is a Laurentian University alumni.

Interviewees Sherin Ebadi and Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, worked together to establish the Nobel Women’s Initiative, an international non-government organization based out of Ottawa.

For those who don’t have a local affiliation, Holland said there is still room to examine “global events from a local perspective” on his show.

Of all the interviews he’s done, Holland said talking to Bolden stands out the most. The emotional interview explores how Bolden came to work in the White House, and how he feels about the assassination decades later.

“He was not on duty that day, and it haunts him to this day,” Holland said.

The Brent Holland Show can be heard on CKLU 96.7 FM on Wednesday evenings from 4 to 5 p.m. To read or listen to interviews, visit www.brenthollandshow.com.

Holland also hosts another show, Night Fright, that airs on Canadian university radio.

It was Holland’s first radio gig, which let him address his love of paranormal activities and conspiracy theories. Most of Holland’s guests are Canadian authors, filmmakers and the like, who don’t have the opportunity to promote their work in mainstream media.

Night Fright airs on CKLU from 10 p.m. until midnight on Wednesdays.

Check out www.nightfrightshow.com for more information.
 

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