Muddy York: A Toronto History Podcast

In our last episode, we covered the history of Yonge Street up to 1867. This episode will focus on the last 150 years. We’ll talk about how it became the city’s main shopping street, how streetcars a…

Is Yonge Street the longest street in the world? Hard to say. But it is the most important street in Toronto. On this episode of Muddy York, learn more about the history of this thoroughfare, includi…

If you went to the Ex from the 70s to the 90s, you may remember seeing a clown’s head logo with red hair, a black hat and plus signs over his eyes. The clown was named Conko and he was the logo for C…

Today is the first day of the CNE. If you’re one of the millions of people who will plan to visit the Ex, you might want to take the opportunity to check out the oldest building in Toronto. Built in …

Caribana is about artistry, community and joy. It began in Canada's Centennial year of 1967 as a gift from the Caribbean community to the people of Toronto. Since then, it's grown into the largest cu…

This episode of Muddy York is about a cholera epidemic that struck Toronto from 1832 to 1834. If we had written this episode ten years ago, it would have been very different. But then Covid arrived. …

The CN Tower is probably the most recognizable symbol of Toronto. Every Torontonian also knew that it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world; we memorized that phrasing. But why was it …

On this episode, we explore the history of the Don River Valley. Jennifer Bonnell, author of Reclaiming the Don, joins us to talk about the river, the valley, the parkway and the people who've lived …

We’re kicking off a new series that we're calling When Toronto Tore Down the Fancy Stuff — a deep dive into the beautiful, bold, and totally doomed buildings this city once had … and then promptly er…

Is it The Beach or The Beaches, singular or plural? We're calling it The Beaches and this episode of Muddy York is dedicated to the history of this distinctive Toronto neighbourhood, from amusement p…

What comes to mind when you hear Castle Frank? A TTC station? An area of Rosedale? Bob Georgiou joins us to talk about one of those little corners of Toronto whose story touches on the man who founde…

We're doing something a little different for this episode of Muddy York. We got our hands on a copy of the city budget from exactly 130 years ago and we're going to look at some of the ways that the …

Florence Linehart is one of Toronto’s greatest unsung visionaries. And yet … outside of a very specific group of academics, subway historians, and people who take brunch way too seriously, her name h…

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres were built to host vaudeville as the Canadian flagship of the Loew's theatre chain. The building would become one of top cinemas in Toronto before being converted…

In 1886, employees of the Toronto Railway Company went on strike. They weren't fighting for a pay raise or shorter hours; this strike was over their right to even join a labour union. Greg Koabel fro…

Next week's provincial election inspired this episode which is about an election campaign that was fought in the riding of St. Andrew all the way back in 1955. This race was significant because the l…

Set in the school hallways of Toronto, Degrassi is less about teenagers attending school and more about the architecture of growing up. Join us to learn more about one of the most successful media fr…

Welcome to the second episode on the history of hockey in Toronto. When the last episode ended, Toronto’s first professional hockey team had just disbanded. If Toronto was going to win its first Stan…

If you’re going to do a podcast about Toronto, it’s only a matter of time until hockey comes up. However, we’re going to do something a little bit different. The next two episodes of Muddy York will …

Welcome to a special holiday episode of Muddy York, the podcast where we dig into Toronto’s hidden stories and, let’s be honest, let ourselves get swept up in a little nostalgia. Today, we’re peeling…