It’s a beautiful thing to see a great idea take flight. We’re fortunate to have had that experience this summer with the development of OtherWise, the latest show to become an affiliate on the Alberta Podcast Network.

A collective of brilliant young Edmontonians — Keren Tang, Jenna Mulji, Maegan Robinson-Anagor, Ahmed “Knowmadic” Ali, and Moréniké Ọláòșebìkan — got together to harness the power of podcasting to foster cross-cultural communication. The show they came up with is OtherWise, "a variety podcast dedicated to empowering diverse communities living on Treaty 6 territory by sharing stories of our lived experiences."

With the support of Moréniké’s Ribbon Rouge Foundation, the group was able to receive funding from the Edmonton Heritage Council to accelerate their efforts. And now we are on the cusp of being able to hear the fruits of their efforts.

As you’ll hear in the trailer, OtherWise will be “a means for people to listen to each other, deeply.” That’s a path to understanding Edmonton better, which is something we’re proud to get behind.

OtherWise will spend its first few months as an affiliated podcast so that we can use the full power of our network to help build its following right out of the gate. After that, it will transition to being a member of the network, receiving the same monetary and promotional backing that we are able to offer all of our member podcasts, thanks to the support of our founding sponsor, ATB Financial.

We’re looking forward to celebrating the launch of this wonderful new podcast on Sept. 28. There will be food, music, spoken-word poetry, art and storytelling, and you’ll get to meet the people who have worked so hard to make this show a reality. It’s free — just register here.

We hope you can join us at the party! In the meantime, follow OtherWise on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.