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The Current Transcript for May 24, 2021

Host: Matt Galloway

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

STUART MCLEAN: The kids were still asleep, Dave had the whole day stretched out before him like a white line running down the centre of a highway. How complicated could it be for an old roadie to run some wires through a wall and install a plug?

MATT GALLOWAY: My guess is far more complicated than Dave ever possibly imagined. It is a holiday Monday on The Current, and that means Dave and Morley are back, a vinyl cafe classic with the late great Stuart McLean coming up. Also this morning:

ERIC RIPERT: That's a very French thing to be obsessed with food and think all day long about food, yes. You wake up in the morning and you think about your lunch and dinner, but you have to have breakfast first.

MG: One of the treats of spring is asparagus, fresh, local, tastes completely different than the same vegetable that gets trucked in from halfway around the world. So why would you want to cook it into a gooey mess? The chef, Eric Ripert, wants you to treat your vegetables with the respect they deserve. In an hour we will revisit our conversation about cooking with a light touch and what he misses about his good friend, Anthony Bourdain. But in the heart of spring, we are starting with your one dose summer. Good morning. I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current.

[Music: Theme]

The dos and don’ts of a one-dose summer

Guests: Raywat Deonandan, Ryan Rogers, Tara McNally MacPhee, Ada Mok

MG: The prime minister, Justin Trudeau is hopeful the Canadians can enjoy a one dose summer. He has said that if case numbers come down to a manageable level, summer might actually not be so bad. We can look forward to patios, non-essential shopping, maybe even some get-togethers with friends and family. The reality is we're only talking about one dose of the covid vaccine. So you may not have as much freedom as you would like this July and August, but we still have high hopes.

FEMALE VOICE: I'm hoping to go to B.C. in June. Probably just to catch up with my son and a couple of his kids. So I'm hoping that they open the borders. And I have been vaccinated once.

MALE VOICE: I work in theatre. And this summer I'll be directing a show, a production of Shakespeare at a beautiful cultural institution. We have here in St. John's called The Rooms. A successful summer to me would look like safely carrying out this production.

ANOTHER FEMALE VOICE: I have not seen my mom in almost two years. She's 82 years old. She doesn't hear very well. My intention is to see my mom. I have to see my mother.

ANOTHER MALE VOICE: I've had my first shot. I'm actually on my way to Strathcona Park Backcountry Camping. I feel safer doing that than going to a grocery store in Victoria.

DIFFERENT FEMALE VOICE: I wish I was going to Saskatchewan for my brother's wedding. Assuming I get one vaccine. I guess I'm a little confused on whether that would be safe.

MG: All great ideas, whether those plans will come to pass or not is another matter entirely. So on this Victoria Day, the unofficial start to summer here in Canada, we're talking about the dos and don'ts of a one dose summer. Epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan is here to help. Raywat, good morning.

RAYWAT DEONANDAN: Good morning. How are you?

MG: I'm well. What does a one dose summer mean to you?

RD: It means we are on the ramp to normal. The question is, is one dose better than... is two doses better than one dose, absolutely. Is one dose good enough? It might be for a lot of things. A lot of unknowns here, but definitely the fact that more people are getting at least one dose into them fills me with confidence and optimism that we are on the path out of this mess.

MG: Summer is in the eye of the beholder. I mean, are we talking about summer being July and August in Canada or does the one dose summer begin sooner rather than later?

RD: I think it begins in July, to be honest. We're still in the throes of that third wave and most of the modelling shows that we won't get through most of it until the end of June. So anything responsible should begin, I think Canada Day, which is a great symbolic way to start. But again, I'm confident that come Canada Day, a lot more things will be available to us than they are now.

MG: So let's talk about some of the specifics. And again, we heard some Canadians there, you know, articulating some of the things they want to do. Would we... as a one dose summer? Is it going to be safe, for example, to have people over for dinner, in the house?

RD: So it's a complicated question because it's not just about whether or not sufficient people are vaccinated. There are a set of indicators to talk about here, at least three categories of indicators, the epidemiological ones and the health systems ones and the population ones. So far we're only talking about the population, and that is the percentage of people who've been vaccinated and therefore have some degree of resistance to this disease. But the epidemiological ones are things like the reproduction number, is it below one. The test positivity rate is it below, let's say, three percent, which is an arbitrary number. And the incidence rate and the other one that we don't talk enough about is the health systems indicator, which is how much space is there in the hospital. That's a lagging indicator. As things look better where we live, the hospitals are still going to be busy for some time and we can't really play around too much lest we compromise and threaten that hospital capacity again. So let's back up for a second. One dose means you got pretty good protection, maybe 90 percent, depending on how you do the maths based on clinical trial evidence. But that's not perfect. And the fact that there is going to be a proportion of people for whom the vaccine fails is only a problem if the prevalence of the disease is high, if a disease is around us, it finds holes in our defences. So we've got to make sure that the disease is not percolating before we start doing these activities. So it's not just about how many people get that first dose, it's about these other things, in particular how prevalent disease is and how much space there is in the hospital.

MG: So I'll go back to the specifics because I think people are trying to figure out what they can and can't do. And I mean, part of this is like dreaming, right? Like, I want to be able to think that I'll maybe be able to do these things in a month or two. So given what you've just said is having people over for dinner in the house a good idea or just hold off on that?

RD: Right now is not a good idea. Later in the summer, I think it will be a good idea depending upon if these indicators trend in the way I think they will. So let's say the disease is not as prevalent come August and there's space in the hospitals. I think we will definitely be seeing some indoor dining at that point.

MG: What about sending kids off to... if they can go to a summer camp? I mean, kids have been cooped up at home. For many families in many parts of this country, not able to have in school learning and not able to see their friends as much. Is something like that in the realm of possibility?

RD: I think so, especially if most of that is outdoor, especially if it's a day-camp, in which they come home at the end of day and, you know, sleep in their own houses, anything outdoors is phenomenally less riskier than anything indoors, phenomenally so. Not zero risk, but close to it in many cases. And if you layer on top of that, the traditional mitigation tools, like keeping your distance and, you know, not French kissing a stranger, you're probably OK. So I highly recommend these outdoor activities like camp.

MG: There are a lot of people who perhaps might be thinking about getting away to a cabin or a cottage or something like that. That's not obviously affordable for everybody. I think of, you know, the public pool that's at the bottom of my street, which in many ways is kind of like the big social gathering place for people in the neighbourhood who want to be in the city and want to be around each other. Is being in a situation like that where there are kids, you know, jumping off the diving board and crowding around the pool deck, is something like that a good idea?

RD: I think it is in general. Now, some constraints need to be put on it, like the number of people who can be there at a given time have to be reduced. People must be discouraged from crowding around people they don't live with. But in general, being with others, outdoors, responsibly, I think is a great idea. Now, the cottage situation is a bit different. Are you going to share the cottage with another family with whom you don't typically associate? Well, that's a bit more problematic, if just you and your family out in the cottage. That's fantastic. If you're going to a cottage that someone else just vacated, that's fine, too. I mean, we, I think, complain too much about the risk of surface transmission. I don't think it's that dire. But the number of things we can do in that vein outdoors in particular are really quite high.

MG: Raywat, stay with us. I want to bring in another voice into our conversation. Ryan Rogers owns Paddle West Kayaking. He is at his boat shack in beautiful Tofino, British Columbia, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Ryan, good morning to you.

RYAN ROGERS: Good morning, Matt. Thanks for having me on the show.

MG: Thanks for being here. This is going to be the second pandemic summer for your business. Just briefly, what was it like last year?

RR: Last year, I would say it was better than expected, but not as good as it could have been. We were open for our day tours, but two other facets of our business had to close. So we operate day tours and then multi day tours, which we didn't run. They're in the territory of the Ahousaht nation. So we respected their wishes and to keep their communities safe, kept all non-essential travel out of that territory. But where we operate our day tours, we're able to do that in Tofino and Ucluelet.

MG: How reliant are you on people coming from far away to paddle around Tofino?

RR: Well, last year, we learnt less so more than we thought, we have a lot of support within Canada. So Tofino, usually 20 to 30 percent, is an international market. And last year we were very well supported by Canadians, which was great. But yeah, in a regular year, we have a big mix of people from all over the world. So, yeah, it was, we were still down in Tofino, despite that support.

MG: We know that Tofino has seen an impact of visitors to the region with a spike in covid cases following travel in the spring. Are you worried that that could repeat itself this summer?

RR: I mean, of course, it's a possibility, it is, you know, a tourism destination that attracts people from all over, but I think the community has come together really well and responds to things like that all together. And, you know, all of these collaborations we've been doing locally and the information you get from public health all help to prevent these things from happening again.

MG: And so if people are partially vaccinated again, this whole idea of a one dose summer, what are you hopeful for when it comes to this upcoming season?

RR: Oh, well, from well, I guess from a broad scenario, I hope, you know, we can all have, in Canada, a summer because summer is so important to Canadians. It's short. And, you know, we've all been cooped up for the winter like you've been saying. And well narrowly, I hope we can operate at full capacity. I know that may start a bit later, similar to last year. But that is my hope that, you know, myself and other kayaking companies around Vancouver Island can run their day trips and especially their multi day trips. Those ones are a little bit harder to plan for last minute. But hopefully we can, if it's safe to do so, get some bookings, you know, to take people out to sea kayak camping.

MG: It's a beautiful part of the country.

RR: And we didn't do that last year.

MG: No and they need to see it. I mean, you have to really see it and see it from the water as well. I wish you the best of luck Ryan. Good luck. Thank you.

RR: Thank you very much.

MG: Ryan Rogers owns Padel West, kayaking in Tofino British Columbia. Other side of the country. They're also gearing up for summer, such as it is. Tara McNally MacPhee works at PEI National Park. In an average summer, they see over 700,000 visitors to the park. That number dropped by nearly half last year. Tara, good morning to you.

TARA MCNALLY MACPHEE: Hi. Good morning.

MG: What does a one dose summer look like for you at the park? Do you think?

TARA MCNALLY MACPHEE: Well, you know, last year, we definitely saw, as you mentioned, a decline, a decrease in visitors, but we did have the Atlantic bubble for July and August. And so while our visitation was low, we still had the weekend warrior. So folks would come over and spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday along the coastline here in PEI national park. And I expect we'll see much the same this year, though, you know, if that Atlantic bubble opens again and I expect that we might see a little more confidence in our visitors from the travelling perspective, which we're hopeful for.

MG: What's the biggest challenge to you and your staff as we start to see Canadians with at least one dose of vaccine, thinking that they can travel, thinking that they can get out of the bubble that they might have been in?

TARA MCNALLY MACPHEE: I think the biggest challenge, I think what we're focussed most on is just fear of the unknown. And so we have a pretty significant number of staff members. So our team grows and that team is comprised of a lot of young folks. And so we really try to prepare them on the front line for any range of scenarios. So kind of doing some role play, some scenario based tabletop exercises, just trying to anticipate what might come through the door with that one dose summer. We may see some folks who perhaps aren't wearing their mask any longer. They feel that it's safe to do that or, you know, kind of being a little braver in terms of the restrictions that are in place. So preparing our staff to have those difficult conversations, I guess that's kind of what we're really focussed on and making sure that they're mentally prepared for that.

MG: What are you most looking forward to this summer?

TARA MCNALLY MACPHEE: Oh, just getting back to some kind of normal. We're really, I think people have this pent up demand. They want to come to the beach. We are a beach destination, of course. And having folks have that respite is so important. And I guess that's what we're seeing across the country. People are eager to get outside. We have great opportunities for folks to enjoy nature safely and sustainably. And that's what I'd like to see us get back to, is having those folks really be able to come and enjoy and really more than ever kind of just rest a little bit.

MG: We could do with that rest, I think. Tara, great to talk to you. Good luck this summer.

TARA MCNALLY MACPHEE: Thank you. Have a great day.

MG: Tara McNally MacPhee is a visitor experience manager for PEI National Park. Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist has been with us over the course of this discussion. Tara brought up the idea of masks. When do you think it's going to be safe for us to ditch the mask?

RD: It'll be safe when two doses are in you and two doses are with the other person and suddenly you both can remove your mask to be close to each other. But masks in general, I think, are going to be with us for a couple of months at least, if not longer. The problem is the vaccines don't give us perfect protection. They're very good, but they're not perfect. And so the masks give us that additional layer of protection until the cases come down. It's not interminable. Just until the cases come down. We are seeing many cases, not many, but a newsworthy number of breakthrough infections, fully vaccinated people still getting infected because the vaccines aren't perfect. So, I mean, Tara's points had me think of two things. One is that we must remain vigilant and keep these mitigation tools in place but, on the other hand, people are going to be afraid unnecessarily for a long time. So there's a balancing act to be had here. We must remain cognisant of our responsibilities here, at the same time not that the pandemic stultify us with undue fear as things get better.

MG: We were talking about cottages earlier. Terry Reese has a multigenerational cottage on Lake Kasshabog, which is outside Peterborough, Ontario, says he is really missing time spent with family from siblings to grandkids.

TERRY R: For our family. The cottage has been a place where we've gathered since, well, since I was born. It's a place that's now a three generation experience. Family from far and wide gathers every year. And it's a chance to catch up no matter where we're living at the time. I've got two siblings, one in Calgary, one in Vancouver, neither of whom were able to join us because of the travel restrictions and because we just couldn't be in close proximity. So it's tough. It's a chance for us as we get older to continue to stay connected, especially as the kids get older.

MG: Raywat us briefly. Where are we at when it comes to interprovincial travel?

RD: I don't think the borders are open yet in many cases, but, but if you must travel for medical reasons or for compassionate reasons, of course they're accommodations for that. Like where I live in Ottawa, getting across the bridge to get to Quebec can be problematic when the restrictions are in place. But I think that's going to be lifted pretty soon. But there'll still be a discouraging of unnecessary travel, I feel. It's a balancing act. So it depends on what the situation is on the ground in both provinces, what the indicators are suggesting. I can't predict what the policymakers will say, but I think epidemiologically you're driven by the situation on the ground. And it sounds horrible of me to say this, but I'd still want to discourage unnecessary travel for a while yet, while we get things under control. We should enjoy life where we are, monitor the prevalence of these new variants, allow vaccination to take its course and then open things up more strategically.

MG: Stay home, get takeout perhaps from a food truck that you could take to a park. Ada Mok owns a dumpling food truck in Toronto. Ada, good morning to you.

ADA MOK: Morning, Matt.

MG: What does a one dose summer look like for you? In the best case scenario, what are you hoping for?

AM: I'm not hoping for much this summer. I know the city of Toronto, where we are at, has cancelled permits for all events up till September. So we pivoted to kind of a frozen dumpling delivery business kind of last... at the end of last April. So we've been doing that for just over a year now. And I think that's going to be what the summer is going to look like.

MG: Those big events, I mean, the Canadian National Exhibition, other big events, how important are they to the bottom line of your business?

AM: Oh, it's basically the entire business before the pandemic, it was we do events, we do lunches and we do catering and all of that is gone.

MG: So what was it like to pivot? I mean, as you mentioned, you turn to a frozen product instead. How difficult was that?

AM: It was very difficult, but we had the time on our hands to kind of figure it out as we went, we I think we're super lucky that we have a product that can be frozen and we're also super lucky that we have our loyal customer base that bought dumplings from us right from the get go. So... I consider myself very lucky.

MG: I was going to say, are you finding? I mean, people are, we're sort of living closer and smaller now. Right. And shopping locally and supporting the people that we really love and whose businesses we really love. Are you finding that that's helped you get through something like this?

AM: Oh, definitely. We've been able to keep our costs covered. We've been able to keep our staff hired and we've just kind of, you know, completely changed our whole business model. We're now in a couple of stores. So we also did all the work into getting our nutritional information done. And we're just kind of expanding into this whole new opportunity that we never had time or, you know, we just never thought about doing that. But now we have kind of a new branch of the business.

MG: Personally, what are you looking forward to this summer?

AM: I'm looking forward to getting my second dose and then, you know, preparing throughout the winter for next year and hopefully actually getting back out in the truck and doing more events and being able to gather in large crowds so we can do catering's as well.

MG: And if people get to the truck or they get to the frozen food section, what's the hot dumpling flavour?

AM: I still think our OG pork dumpling is still the most popular, we did actually have a lot of time on our hands to come up with some new flavours. So that's super exciting for our customers because, you know, in the summer, I would just go, go, go. But now we can, you know, do monthly specials and fun stuff like that. So but the OG pork, always the most popular. Frozen or cooked.

MG: OG pork runs things. Ada good to talk to you and good luck this summer. Thank you

AM: You too, Matt. Thank you.

MG: Ada Mok owns FeasTO dumpling truck in Toronto. Raywat Deonandan, what do Canadians need to keep top of mind. I mean, we've been working through some of the scenarios in the last minute or so that we have. What do we need to keep top of mind as we plan for the summer?

RD: Number one, vaccination is not perfect defence, it's very good, but it's not perfect. No two, two doses are better than one dose. Number three, don't rush it! The finish line is in sight. That's not a sprint to the finish line. Let's take your time and walk there comfortably lest we fall and break our nose before we get to the end. Number four is that this is not just about vaccination. It's about these other factors I talked about, in particular the hospitalisation rate. And number five is going to be different depending on where you live around the country. So the situation is different in Toronto versus say PEI, right. Versus, say, in Nunavut. So look at what's happening locally to make your decisions. The last thing is things are getting better every day. We're nearing the end. We'll be done with most of this, this year. And the secret is just roll up your sleeves and get that jab and encourage your friends and relatives to get jabbed as well, because that's how we get out of this.

MG: I will take your optimism. Raywat, thank you very much.

RD: Thank you.

MG: Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist, associate professor at the University of Ottawa. What does a one dose summer look like to you and what are you looking forward to? You can email us thecurrent@cbc.ca. Your CBC News is next and then:.

STUART MCLEAN: Something inexplicable happens when a man picks up a tool to do home repairs. Some force as yet undescribed by science, but nevertheless well known to women.

MG: Chaos is looming. The late, great Stuart McLaine is here with a holiday Monday special from the Vinyl Cafe. I'm Matt Galloway. You're listening to The Current on CBC Radio One. We're back in six minutes.

[Music: Theme]

A classic tale from Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe

Stuart McLean -Odd Jobs

MG: Good morning, I'm Matt Galloway, and you're listening to The Current.

[Music: Theme]

MG: Still to come, we will revisit my conversation with the seafood chevallier French chef Eric Ripert turned away from the Fruit of the Sea in his latest cookbook. The book is called Vegetable Simple. Talk about why. But first, Dave has a home repair to complete.

[Music: Theme]

MG: It was just over a year ago that we played one, you asked for another, and so we obliged and then you said, please, could we have one more? So once again, for your pleasure on this holiday Monday, the late, great Stuart McLean and one of the vinyl cafes most requested stories. This is Odd Jobs.

STUART MCLEAN: It was on a Saturday in September, that Dave and Morley sat eating breakfast. And Morley looked at the toaster and said it would work so much better if we could plug it in at the table so we wouldn't have to get up and walk across the kitchen every time someone want to toast. It was just an idle thought, but it struck her as a good one. So then she said maybe we should get someone in to move it. The next morning, Dave was sitting alone at the breakfast table, looking at the toaster on the other side of the kitchen, thinking I should move the plug myself. Morley was at work, they are opening a new play. The kids were still asleep. Dave had the whole day stretched out before him like a white line running down the centre of a highway. How complicated could it be for an old roadie? How complicated could it be for an old roadie to run some wires through a wall and install a plug? The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. And what he liked best of all was that he would get to knock holes in the kitchen wall. It felt good just thinking about that. Dave fetched a hammer from the basement and then like a Spanish conquistador. Sealing the fate of his troops by burning his ship as soon as his last man stepped on shore, Dave raised the hammer over his head and swung it at the wall with all his might. Hiyah! The hammer sunk into the wall with a pleasing thumb, a few more quick swings, and Dave had a hole the size of a melon. He stood back and admired it. And then he wondered where the wires were going to come from.

SM: He thought maybe he should check his big Reader's Digest book of home repairs. He knew he could probably figure this out without the Reader's Digest's help, but there could be no harm in checking. The book wasn't upstairs. It wasn't downstairs either. It wasn't anywhere. He wondered if Jim Schofield, his neighbour, had his repair book. He glanced at the kitchen clock. Jim was the kind of neighbour you visited rather than phoned. I don't have your book, said Jim, but I have a new mallet. I can't believe you started without me. Let me go get it. Jim and Dave stared at the hole where Dave wanted to put the new plug. But where is the wire coming from? Asked Jim. That's what I was wondering, said Dave. Jim pointed at a light switch by the back door, there'd be wire over there we could patch into, he said, and then he smiled. Of course, he said, we'll have to punch a hole in the wall to pick it up. Jim was fiddling with his new mallet. Be my guest, said Dave. Are you sure, said Jim, moving towards the back wall, not waiting for an answer. There were wires there. In fact, when Jim stepped back and they both peeked in, his hole, wires were about all they could see, all sorts of wires, black shiny wires, grey cloth covered wires. Jim pointed at a grey wire running through a porcelain insulator, knob and tube, said Jim, I didn't think that stuff was legal anymore. Those aren't live, said Dave, I had an electrician in to replace all that a couple of years ago. Dave reached into the hole with a screwdriver and jiggle the old wire. There was a sudden puff of smoke and Dave gasps and the right side of his body jerked spasmodically and a deep alien like Moan rolls out of him and the screwdrivers flying across the kitchen, end over end, like a tomahawk ricocheting off the kitchen sink and disappearing through the window. There was a moment of stunned silence, Jim and Dave both staring at the broken window, shards of glass tinkling to the floor. Could you do that again? Says Jim. I like the way the chip of porcelain from the sink followed the screwdriver through the window.

SM: A minute later, Burt Turlington, who lives next door, is ringing the front doorbell. Standing on the stoop with Dave's screwdriver in his hand, this yours? He asked. We're moving some wires, says Dave, I got a shock. You're moving wires, says Bert. I got one of those power drills for my birthday. Maybe I should bring it over. Something inexplicable happens when a man picks up a tool to do home repairs, some force as yet undescribed by science, but nevertheless well known to women. It's a force that lures men away from their families and the things they're supposed to be doing to a place where hammers are being swung, maybe the act of a hammer moving through the air sets off a cosmic thrumming only men can hear. Or maybe when a man picks up a screwdriver, he releases an odour only men with tools smell.

[Pause for laughter and clapping]

SM: It's a musty, yeasty, sweet sort of smell. With a hint of leather and WD 40. And men in their backyards raking leaves and men in their basements listening to ball games on portable radios are seized by this odour only they can smell. It seizes them like the urge to migrate seizes lesser species. And suddenly they're thinking, I don't belong here anymore. I belong in another place and I should be doing something else and I should take my coping saw with me just in case. Men can sense it when a wall is coming down and they can't help the fact that they have to be there to watch it fall or better yet, help push it over. It's been argued that the fall of the Berlin Wall had nothing whatsoever to do with the collapse of communism. It was just a weekend project that got out of control. Carl Lowbeer was the next neighbour to arrive at Dave's house on that Saturday we're talking about. He burst through the front door without knocking. Dave and Jim looked up and he's standing in the kitchen. Hi said, Carl, trying to slow himself down, trying to act nonchalant. Need any help? He's carrying a bright yellow thing about the size of an electric drill, except more dangerous looking. It looks like a cross between an Uzi and a woodpecker. It's his reciprocal saw. Carl got the saw last Christmas, it's his pride and joy, but there are only so many holes a man can cut in his own house before he is told to stop. At the end of August, when Carl's wife, Gerta, went downstairs with a load of laundry and found Carl cutting random holes in a sheet of plywood, she took the saw away from him. And later she said he could have it back if he stood in front of the house on Saturday mornings with a sign around his neck, "need holes cut". By noon, there were seven men in Dave's kitchen. Two of them, friends of Jim Schofield, who Dave had never met before. Guys with tools, there were now a series of 12 melon size holes. Punched in the kitchen wall, at two foot intervals, leading from the light switch by the back door to the hole where Dave intended to install a plug for the toaster. 12 holes and seven busy man. Jim and Dave rotring putty-o to the broken window. Phil Harrison sucking up plaster dust with Carl Lowbeer's ShopVAC. The two men Dave didn't know racing a pair of belt sanders along the floor. Six power tools operating at the same time in Dave's house. Sam arrived downstairs rubbing his eyes, taking in the chaos of his kitchen and asking, asking the most reasonable question, what's for breakfast? Toast, said Dave. He said this without turning the rotor off or even turning around, Sam stared at his father's back for a moment and then he shrugged and dropped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster. Then the lights went out. And the tools died, and in a sudden and overwhelming silence, someone, Burt Turlington, I think, said, do you smell that? And then there was smoke hanging in the air like wisps of fog, and someone said, we overloaded the wires, the wires are burning, cut the wall open over here. And Carl Lowbeer jumped up and said, my saw works on batteries. And he lurched toward the wall, revving his reciprocal saw in front of him, and before anyone could stop him, Carl had cut a hole in the wall the size of a loaf of bread. Not there, said Burt Turlington, here. Coming, coming, said Carl, putting a second hole five feet down the wall, Sam's eyes as wide as saucers. I've got a fire extinguisher in the truck, said one of the men, Dave, didn't know. They found the remnants of the fire with the third hole, a mouse nest leaning against the overheated wires. It had burned itself out. The man with a fire extinguisher gave it a blast just in case. At 12:15 Dave took stock of what they had accomplished. The broken window, the chipped sink, 15 holes, the sodden plaster where they had used the extinguisher, Arnie Shellenberger looked at Dave and said, Dave, when's Morley coming home? Dave said, not until tonight, not until 10:00, 11:00. Arnie said, there's an electrician I know from the plant. He might come over if you did the window, he could do the wiring and we could patch the holes by... He looked at his wrist 10. You need this done fast, right? Dave nodded. The electrician pointed to the back wall of Dave's kitchen. We're going to pop out the drywall. We're going to take that wall down to the studs. That way I can get everything at once. Dave was looking worried it'll be the fastest, said the electrician. He looked at Carl, cut around the top of the ceiling and along the baseboard will pop it out. Nice and simple. Carl was beaming. Morely came home soon after nine when she turned onto their street, she noticed her house looked strangely dark. She pulled into the driveway and parked the car and gathered an armful of junk, her purse, a sweater, some files. She headed toward the back door. She was exhausted. She dropped a file and stooped to pick it up. And it was only then, only then that she noticed the warm glow of candles flickering through the back window and she felt a wave of affection roll over. Dave had made a romantic meal. She had barely eaten all day. She was smiling as she opened the back door. She put her purse down and called Hello and then she stopped dead in her tracks. Sometimes you're confronted by things that are so far from what you expect, that there's a momentary disconnect. Your brain is unable to process what it is looking at. Morley looked around her kitchen, there were candles everywhere and flashlights and snake lights and men. There were four men in her kitchen, all of them on their hands and knees. Four strangers on their hands and knees, staring at her the way a family of raccoons might stare at you from the back deck. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to take in more details, the men were holding tools. There was a pile of pizza boxes on the floor and an empty case of beer. And Sam, her son Sam, sprawled out beside the pizza boxes asleep. Her son passed out. This was her kitchen. But two of the walls were missing. She looked at the man again, one of them stood up. Hi, I'm Ted, he said, the electrician will have this cleared up in just a minute or two. And then she saw Dave, her husband, crawling towards her across what was left of her kitchen. He stopped about 10 feet away. Hi, he said, and then he waved his arm around the room at the broken window, at the 15 holes in the wall, at the back wall, which had completely disappeared. And he said, we're fixing the toaster. Morley's mouth opened, but no words came out. It closed and then it opened again, she seemed to be trying to say something. Dave nodded, trying to encourage her like they were like they were playing charades. Her mouth kept opening and closing. But no sound came out and then without saying anything, not one word Morley turned around and walked out of the house and got in her car and backed out of the driveway. And Dave said, it's ok, she'll be back in a minute. And Burt said, I think I should be going. And Carl said, Me too. And Dave said, maybe if we could just get the power on. Morley wasn't back in a minute. She wasn't back for nearly an hour. When she returned, she walked across the kitchen and opened the freezer door and about a cup of water trickled onto the floor and she let out a muffled sob. Dave helped her empty the freezer and they deposited plastic bags of food and an assortment of neighbourhood fridges. They're all within easy walking distance, Dave pointed out helpfully. The renovation took six weeks to finish. Dave worked on it alone until the middle of the next week. Everything seemed to be working fine until Sam came home from school and showed them how he could turn the microwave on with a TV remote. So they called in an electrician to finish the job. A methodical and trustworthy man, it was the electrician who spotted the lead pipes running into the upstairs bathroom. And he said, if you want to have them replaced, you might as well do it while you have the walls down. So they had the plumbers in and had the entire upstairs bathroom redone and downstairs where the back wall was, Morley had one of those bay windows put in, which is something she's always wanted. And she has a herb garden going in the window space. Dave was admiring the plants the other evening, standing in the window and looking out into the yard, admiring the new view. It's a beautiful window and he likes it, especially in the morning when the light is soft. Last Saturday, Dave and Morley, we're sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the paper and the kids were still in bed and it was lovely to be there together. The sun drifting down on the coriander, Morley sipping her coffee and then standing up and walking over to the counter to make some toast. Don't you think it would work better if we could plug it in at the table so we wouldn't have to get up and walk across the kitchen every time someone wanted to use the toaster?

MG: That was Stuart McLean's vinyl cafe story, Odd Jobs, it first aired in 2000. If you're worried that we will suddenly stop with the Stuart McLean fearnot, the Vinyl Cafe will be sticking around all summer on CBC Radio One. You'll be able to catch Dave and Morley stories Wednesday at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 11 a.m. in every time zone, beginning on the 30th of June. This is The Current on CBC Radio One. My name is Matt Galloway. We love to hear from our listeners. And once again this week, you did not disappoint. Karin Marley, senior producer of The Current, is here to sift through the current mailbag. Karin, good morning.

KARIN MARLEY: Hey, Matt, let's get this rolling with buses.

MG: Very nice.

KM: We got a lot of mail on our story about Greyhound shutting down its bus service within Canada. Danielle R writes, "I grew up in London, Ontario, and would take the bus to Toronto on many occasions. It was the only affordable way to get there, especially to the airport. The bus system opened so many doors for me. Growing up I didn't have the luxury of my parents giving me rides when I was a teenager. I feel so bad for the people who depend on the bus system and hope there will be something to replace the Greyhound".

MG: Rosemary McManus writes, "I travelled to work by bus for many years from Arnprior, but the thing we should think about is that many people, if you look at the real estate issue, are moving to rural areas. So the population growth would most definitely warrant bus service. My daughter and her boyfriend have not thought about getting a car, so neither of them drive. There are many millennials that feel that same way. So without bus service, they now have to rely on parents and friends with cars instead of being independent and taking the bus. Very important to have a national safe bus service system. We need it now!!!" followed by three exclamation points. Andrew Craig of Renfrew, Ontario, has a different opinion. "It seems that long distance bus service is gradually becoming of less demand. That is because passengers realise that sitting is so stiff and uncomfortable. After several hours, the solution would be introducing more economical, shorter distance, small van type of buses, especially in remote indigenous regions. In my opinion, the federal government should not subsidise any long distance bus routes, and non urban transit should operate to be profitable if possible".

KM: Stephanie Cydia from Saskatoon wrote, The Saskatchewan government killed the publicly owned and operated Saskatchewan transportation company STC in 2017. Listening to the riders in your interview described the role of Greyhound and getting people to work, to doctors and medical appointments and moving freight was like listening to Saskatchewan people who are still suffering without a bus service. It's heartbreaking. Saskatchewan people fought hard to shine a light on the costs of killing the bus service. Now all of Canada is in the same boat. I honestly hope you will continue covering this story and talk to some Saskatchewan people about it. History matters".

MG: On the importance of history. We got a lot of mail about our story on Nova Scotia abandoned cemeteries. Steve Schaft is a photographer in Nova Scotia. He is on a quest to find these historical treasures. Carol V. of Parry Sound, Ontario, writes, "So amazing to hear this podcast, especially a week after my husband and I had found a graveyard on property which had a derelict building on it. Upon inspection of the building, we ambled down the roadway and happened upon this preserved graveyard, which rested original settlers of the area in late 1800. However, upon inspection, a recent tombstone had been laid in 2018".

KARIN MARLEY: Donna Potasnik writes from Kenora, Saskatchewan. "Last spring I moved in with my parents in my hometown, worried that my dad might get covid in his care home. We moved him home for three months and I helped my mom take care of him. I was homesick for my husband at times, but I had my dog and over the months he and I explored every nook and cranny in the small town of 2000 people. There were places I didn't know existed when I lived there as a kid, I got reacquainted with old schoolmates and connected with my mom's neighbours, who have been an incredible support now that she's living alone. The pandemic has been hard, but it's given me so many unexpected gifts".

MG: And finally, Eileen Simmons writes, "I am a mad, older woman who loves to play tennis all year round. So when the lockdown happened, like many others, I was desperate to continue moving my body and all I was good for was walking. One of my tennis buddies and I decided to walk in cemeteries and we were not alone. The cemeteries have become a daily part of people's lives. I so love it because as a child we would use cemeteries as part of our play areas. They weren't seen as out of bounds. We read the Stones, take pictures of those we consider interesting and Google them when we get home to try to find the story in the lives of those now resting. Don't think I'm weird. Just interesting".

KM: Not weird at all. I've been walking in cemeteries with my kids myself and we even found a gravestone that was shaped like a tire. It was really interesting.

MG: Wow. You never know what you will find unless you go looking.

KM: Indeed.

MG: Karin, thank you very much.

KM: You're welcome.

MG: Karin Marley, senior producer of The Current, we love to hear from you. As I mentioned, we read every single thing that you send us and some of your letters end up on the radio. You can reach us at thecurrent@cbc.ca. Well, coming up after your regional update.

VOICE: Restaurants bring communities together a good time and a meal. And then you see your neighbour on the other side of the room and at the bar with a friend. And you don't like that one too much, but it's ok. It's the life, restaurants bring life.

MG: I miss that. The life the restaurants bring, that scene inside of a busy restaurant. My conversation with the legendary French chef Eric Ripert will transport you to a busy restaurant in about 90 seconds. I promise. I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current.

Chef Éric Ripert on vegetables, cooking and his late friend Anthony Bourdain

Guest: Éric Ripert

MG: Hi, I'm Matt Galloway, you're listening to The Current.

ERIC RIPERT: I have a huge octopus here that I'm going to cook in the broth made with some ham, a few pieces, you put it in the water, some celery, cut into small pieces, half of an onion, some garlic, black pepper, some pimento.

MG: Makes it sound so simple, doesn't he? A little of this, a little of that but, Eric Ripert's cooking is anything but simple. He is known as the Chevalier of Seafood. His Michelin starred restaurant, Le Bernardin and New York City revolves around the fruits of the sea. But his latest cookbook, Vegetable Simple, puts the vegetable at the centre of the plate. I spoke with the Chef last month. Here's our conversation.

MG: Chef, good morning.

ER: Good morning, Matt. It's good to be with you.

MG: It's great to have you here. This is your seventh book. Why vegetables?

ER: Why vegetables? Because I wanted to do a book on vegetables, and I love eating vegetables at home on the weekend. I'm obviously eating a lot of seafood during the week, which I love of course, and I better, since I am the chef of Le Bernardin. But I noticed that on the weekend when I cook and I entertain, especially in the summer, I have big tables of 10, 12 people, friends who come home. And I have the tendency to cook a lot of vegetables that I find at the farmer's market or at the farm stands. And I cook a lot of different, very simple recipes that pay homage to those vegetables individually most of the time, except if it's a ratatouille. But I put them in the middle of the table and my guests help themselves and it's very convivial and... I just love those vegetables that are in season. They taste fantastic when, especially when they come from the farms that are surrounding us. So that gave me the idea to do Vegetable Simple to demystify a little bit the process of cooking vegetables. To show that it can be extremely simple and at the same time, you can elevate the quality of each ingredient that you decide to cook and eat and pay homage.

MG: What do you mean, demystify? I mean, what do we need to demystify when it comes to cooking vegetables?

ER: I notice that a lot of people sometimes are shy about techniques and they don't necessarily know how to have asparagus or string beans green and well cooked. And so they cover the... sometimes they boil the water, they cover the pan. They have the string beans, when they come out they are all grey. Well it's a very simple technique but it's a no, no. You never cover green vegetables in water. If you cover them they become black, grey. So I was like, you know, I know these little tips here and there and boiling vegetables like string beans and asparagus or peas. It's so simple. You just put salt in your water, you bring it to boil. You put the vegetables in it, when they're kind of tender and ready you [inaudible] the vegetables. And they are perfect. And then I give some, of course, directions to have those vegetables prepared in a way that is seasonal and at the same time that makes them exciting.

MG: You were raised in France. What difference do you see in terms of how people perhaps in North America treat vegetables compared to how people in Europe might?

ER: In France, we have much more, especially the south of France, but even throughout the country and in Paris a lot as well. We have a lot of markets, street markets and farmers come to the city once a week, twice a week. And a lot of the residents from those areas have the habit of going to shop at the market so you can be living in a big city like Paris and in your neighbourhood twice a week, you know, you're going to get the farmers and it's the same ones year after year, day after day and week after week that come. And you can shop beautiful products. They are in season, obviously, because those farmers cultivate from their own land, it's not imported vegetables, and it's a way to really live the present and live the seasons and appreciate what is in season. In America I don't see so many markets yet. And that's the big difference, because you can go to supermarkets and when you go to the aisle of the supermarket, it can be January,you could have a blizzard in Toronto or it can be in August. You have a hundred different beautiful vegetables that don't taste like anything, but they are gorgeous. And in January, I don't want to really eat tomatoes. My palate says eat root vegetables. Eat something... Lentils, grains. In August, I definitely do not want to eat sweet potatoes. I mean, whatever. The month of August is bringing. So I think Vegetable Simple, the book really is trying to help you to navigate the season and cook something that is delicious and meaningful, again, in a very simple way with no exotic vegetables and nothing necessarily very expensive.

MG: So if you talk about seasons, I mean, this is spring and this is the time when things start to appear. I mean, take a look at the cover of the book. And there's asparagus, which if you eat it in the rest of the year, it's fine. But if you eat it in the spring, it is electric. Tell me how you would go about cooking and serving something like asparagus?

ER: So we have right now, because it's the beginning of the spring, we have the white asparagus and we have the green asparagus. The green asparagus comes during the year at different times. You can find some again too, at the beginning of the summer and then in the fall. The white asparagus is very, very special. It's now. That's it. We have maybe one more month, a month and a half. So what I like to do with the asparagus, I like to cook them in salty water, boiling water when they are tender with the blade of a knife, I check and if the blade comes back and the asparagus stays in the water, they are cooked. I remove them, I like to serve them right away. I don't put them in the fridge because I feel that it takes a lot of the flavours from the asparagus. So I serve them right away at the table. By the time they arrive at the table, they're warm and we serve them either way with a vinaigrette or mayonnaise. And if I'm not too much in a rush, I like to do a nice hollandaise sauce. It's simple. I mean, vinaigrette takes, maybe three minutes if you're slow.

MG: Hollandaise takes a lot more. Even if you're fast.

ER: Hollandaise is another story.

MG: You spent a year living on a farm, is that correct?

ER: Yes, I did. I lived on a farm after my military duties because in France at the time it was mandatory to spend one year in the military. And so I did. I love being with the farmers and living their life and going to the fields and harvest with them. And I had this fantastic year.

MG: What did you learn about food in that experience?

ER: Well, I learnt that an artichoke is not something that it's just like an object. An artichoke, it is not easy to grow artichokes, it's a lot of work and you have to be respectful of the land. You have to be respectful of the rhythm of nature and so on, then the artichoke finally comes out and you have to go harvest and it's a lot of work.

MG: And did you grow up in a house that was surrounded by food? Were people constantly cooking and thinking about the potential of food when you were growing up?

ER: That's a great French thing, to be obsessed with food and think all day long about food, yes. You wake up in the morning and you think about your lunch and dinner, but you have to have breakfast first. And yes, I was very lucky. I had a grandmother from Italy that was living in the French Riviera and I had a grandmother from Provence living very close by. And my mother was obsessed with nouvelle cuisine and the chefs like Paul Bocuse and Michel Guerard that were the stars of that era. And I learnt some food from my grandmothers. So the Italian one was making food from northern Italy and I learnt how to eat but make pasta and a lot of different specialities from Italy, from my grandmother in Provence, same thing. And I was always with her in the kitchen, watching, learning, eating a lot. My mother was obsessed with creating an experience for lunch and dinner. She wanted us to have appetiser, main course, cheese, dessert on a different platter, different china with different flowers in between lunch and dinner. No repetitions during the week. It was like really incredible. And I thought it was normal. I thought everyone in the world eats like that. And it wasn't, of course. So I was very, very lucky to have access to soul food and refinement.

MG: I mean, it sounds like an obvious question having come out of that. But I mean, when did you realise that this was what you wanted to do? You dropped out of school, when you were 15 to go to culinary school? But when did you realise I want to take that and that's going to be my life?

ER: I always wanted to be a chef, so when I was five years old, six year old, I wanted to be a chef, not to cook, to eat. So I was naive, obviously, then I was a bad student because actually, instead of doing my homework at night, I would look at cookbooks and I would read cookbooks from, page after page and recipes of the recipes. And at 15 years old, when the principal said to my mom, it's over for him he has to go to a professional college, I was delighted because I was like, ah, now finally I'm going to be able to go to culinary school and become a chef because I really want to be the chefs. And it was my look. I discovered a lot in culinary school and then discovered even more when I started to work in restaurants and I had the passion and the fire to become the chef that I am today. I live the dream. Really.

MG: Let me talk about the passion and the fire. I mean, you were lucky enough to study under some of the renowned chefs in Paris. What was that experience like? What did you learn, you know, in the heat of the kitchen?

ER: Well, I learned a lot. So I started in [inaudible] 1982. I'm 17 years old. I think I know a lot because I graduated with honours and I realised after one day that I know nothing at all and I have to start again from scratch. Just on that first day, by the way, I cut myself, I burned the eggs. I don't find the herbs, I mean it's a disaster.

MG: And you are allowed to come back on the second day?

ER: And I was allowed to come back on the second day. And in [inaudible] I really learnt the classics. I learnt, of course, discipline, rigour, cleanliness and so on, but also craftsmanship. I mean, nobody's born with good knife skills. You have to learn. Nobody is not born with any skills that are required in kitchen. So I learned that in [inaudible]. And then I was lucky to be sent to [inaudible] kitchen [inaudible] at the time it was considered the best restaurant in the world with [inaudible] up there in Switzerland. And he was our god in the food world, but also the passion for perfection, seeking perfection, knowing that you will never achieve it. But no matter what, you still push and push and push the envelope to achieve that level that is close to perfection.

MG: I mean, you talk about rigour and discipline and how you thought of people as a God. I mean, those kitchens have a reputation, a well-earned reputation for being harsh places to learn as well. Disciplinarians, hierarchical, at times, abusive behaviour. Did you go through that as well?

ER: Of course I went through that. And at the time it was OK for the chef to be abusive. It was accepted to be insulted all day long. It was accepted to be kicked in the butt and punched in the shoulders. And it was accepted to have your dish sent back to you and see the plates flying in the kitchen and coming back at your feet. And that was part of our world in kitchen, and actually it was a philosophy that was, in my opinion, crazy, but they thought, we're taking some individuals, especially young, we’re going to break them psychologically and we're going to rebuild them and make them champions. But it was ridiculous because, first of all, it's no excuse to have anger and the behaviour in the kitchen, that is, it's not right, it's not acceptable. And in the process, you have a lot of people who have talent who are potentially quitting because it's too... It's not right. It's too tough. So that has changed a lot. And today, I hope most of the kitchens are civilised. I make sure that at the Le Bernardin, we have zero tolerance for any kind of abuse, any kind of misbehaviour. It's immediately the door. And because of that, we have a kitchen that is extremely peaceful. We have, of course, the stress of the service. I mean, it's tough to be in a restaurant kitchen, but nobody's afraid. Nobody's shaking. Nobody is stressed.

MG: You've spoken before about how Buddhism has helped you with that and has helped shape that philosophy. Can you tell me about that and how that practise has informed the kitchen that you just described?

ER: So I'm coming to America. And the first time I have a position of power, which is either with sous chef or chef, I'm basically emulating some of my mentors and I am an abusive, abusive chef. And what I realise is that all the staff is leaving. First of all, they are miserable with me. I am miserable and they are all quitting and they are going somewhere else. And one night I'm sitting at home and reflecting on my day and my journey and I'm thinking, why? What's wrong with me? Why am I so angry? And I realise, I was wrong. I was emulating some of my mentors and people who taught me. And I was like, this is not the way I wanted to be treated when I was a cook. This is not the way I should be treating people. So almost overnight, I changed my attitude in the kitchen. Now, Buddhism was coming into my life at the same time, I was starting to read books that say about Buddhism, and I was interested by the philosophy of Buddhism. Buddhism is three things. It can be a philosophy of religion, so belief and it can be also a science. And in early 2000, the Dalai Lama was teaching in New York, and it was my really first teaching from a great master and since then, I had many of the teachings from other masters. And I am a Buddhist practitioner and I strongly believe in a world where you do not, first of all, you do not harm people. You try not to harm yourself. I believe in karma. I believe that... We could go on and on because Buddhism could go very far. But to me there is no such a thing as anything living by itself. I believe that everything is interconnected, everything is a matter of cause and consequences, and that has changed my vision of the world. And I would stop here if you want, or we can go further.

MG: No, but I bet it seems like that has shaped how you see the work that you're doing in some ways, as you say, taking that culture, which has been written about and documented for decades in the kitchen and making it something very different.

ER: Well, I wake up every morning and before I go meditate, I'm saying to myself, today I'm lucky I'm waking up and I'm going to use all my energies to do good deeds. I'm going to make sure that I don't get angry. I'm gonna make sure I don't harm people. I'm going to make sure that I have a meaningful day and then I'm starting my meditation and then I'm starting my teachings and readings and so on and all of that. It's at home. So it's easy. It's a theory. Right. And then I leave the house and I am in the street and then I come to Le Bernardin. I spend my journey here, my day here, and it gives me the opportunity to practise those good values.

MG: Let me just ask you a couple of other things. One is that this book comes out on the 20th of April, which is the same day that World Travelled by your friend Anthony Bourdain comes out.

ER: Yes.

MG: What do you think? We, I mean, we who followed him and kind of were electrified by his enthusiasm and his openness to the world, what do we miss in him not being here now, especially right now, as the world seems to kind of close in on itself a little bit?

ER: What we missed is if I may, you may have to cut that. But the no bullshit message from Anthony Bourdain. Anthony was travelling and he was reinventing journalism. He was not, he was not your average journalist because he was ultimately a reporter and he was teaching us that the world is not as big as we think and we are not as different as we think. We really are sharing the same values. We really have an appreciation for the same things. And by also being curious and by being courteous and polite and open minded, you connect with cultures and you learn a lot from those cultures, from other parts of the world. And the exchange is very rewarding for both parties. And I think that is what we miss a lot about Anthony. He was first of all, he was himself. The cameras didn't exist. You know, I remember being with him so many times and we would have a good time. And suddenly the cameras would start to turn on and they would start the show. We had no idea. It didn't matter, and I think people miss that as well, because it made him very special, you felt like he was your friend, he was with you. He was such a natural behaviour. It was not like, oh, cameras, the lights, mic. OK, I'm a certain way. He was Anthony Bourdain. I think people miss that a lot.

MG: You both loved restaurants. And this is a time in this pandemic where we have seen an awful situation unfold in the industry that you're in, where restaurants are closing. What do we lose as restaurants struggle in this moment? Do you think?

ER: So, the pandemic has been a disaster for the hospitality industry, hotels, restaurants and so on. We lost actually in New York officially already 4000 restaurants. Those are [inaudible] numbers. It has been really, really, a tough challenge because from being open, suddenly we were mandatory closed for the right reasons. I'm not discussing the idea of being closed. We had to stop the pandemic. But it was tragic because restaurants bring communities together. When you have a restaurant suddenly. You of the neighbourhood, if it's not a distant destination, you have the neighbourhood that comes together and gather and exchange a good time and a meal and you see your neighbour on the other side of the room and at the bar is a friend. And you don't like that one too much, but it's OK. It's the life. Restaurants bring life. And yes, a lot of people cook at home, which is not a bad thing. I think it's good to cook at home, obviously, and to be with your loved ones and family and feel safe. I love that. But we can do both. We can cook for our family sometimes and be in our own environment. Or we can go to restaurants and basically travel a little bit, especially big, big city like New York or where you are in Toronto, you have so many different ethnicities, suddenly you are in India or you are in Italy or you are in Peru, anywhere. And again, you feel life it's something that the city missed. People in the city missed a lot, that energy that comes from the restaurant.

MG: I can't wait to feel that energy again. In the meantime, we will cook from this book and make full advantage of the spring vegetables that are available. Eric, it's a real pleasure to talk to you. Thank you very much.

ER: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

MG: Take care of yourself. Bye.

ER: Thank you. Bye bye.

MG: That's my conversation with the French chef, Eric Ripert. It first aired in April. His new cookbook is called Vegetable Simple. And that is The Current for this holiday Monday. I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying yourself and hopefully it's sunny and warm or warm ish. We also hope that Bob Dylan is enjoying himself wherever he happens to be. And I say that because it's Bob Dylan's 80th birthday. So with summer in the air and the prospect of a pandemic restriction easing perhaps in your neighbourhood sooner rather than later, here's a classic Bob Dylan, New Morning. I'm Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening to The Current. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Sound Clip: Bob Dylan's song New Morning]

Monday May 24, 2021 Full Transcript

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