If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for crime shows. Especially if they are local or Canadian. It should come as no surprise that we had to reach out to Jordan Bonaparte of Nighttime: Canadian Crime, Mysteries and The Weird for this Scotian Spotlight! A true pioneer in crafting the landscape of podcasts and telling stories from across the country too.
With spotlights italics and *** before a paragraph, as well as a smaller font, is me just throwing in my 2 cents as you all typically know me to do!
Who are you, and what is your background?
I’m Jordan Bonaparte, the host and creator of Nighttime, a podcast that explores the dark, mysterious, and unusual stories from Canada. I’m currently based in Halifax but originally from Cape Breton. My professional background is in technology and risk management, however my passion has always been uncovering and exploring interesting stories—whether it’s unsolved crimes, paranormal encounters, unique people, or bizarre events. Thanks to my show Nighttime, I’m able to share these stories with my listeners via in-depth research, interviews, and my natural curiosity.
What made you decide it was time to make a podcast and why about Canadian Crime?
At the time I launched Nighttime (2015) it was an entirely different landscape than it is now. When I began there were no other podcasts specially covering Canadian stories. I was an avid listener of mainly American shows that covered mainly American stories and it really bothered me that the stories close to me didn’t have that kind of treatment available. If I wanted to learn about the Sydney River McDonald’s murders I’d have to free up the time to read the book, If I wanted to learn about the crimes of Allan Legere… same thing. I wanted to change that and I knew I had the technical ability and the passion to do it, So I went for it! As far as the content, I didn’t set out to cover crime specifically, I simply wanted to cover the stories that captured my interest for whatever reason… with the only connecting thread being a strong Canadian connection. I now, with about 500 episodes completed, describe the scope of Nighttime’s topics Canadian crime, mysteries, and the Weird. That generally covers what I do.
What is a few of the hardest stories you have covered?
The hardest stories for me are often crimes or tragedies that either involve children, or in which I directly connect with the family of the victim. Reading articles or documents related to a horrific event is disturbing for sure… but when you are sitting across the table from the loved ones left behind and you see and feel their pain in front of you it is a different beast altogether. An example that comes to mind is my coverage of the murder of Taylor Samson (and the trial against his killer Will Sandeson). During my coverage I became friendly, and then became friends with Taylor’s AMAZING younger brother Conor. My view on the case, and my understanding of the impact of Sandeson’s actions was completely different after getting to know Conor and his mum. Depriving them of a life with Taylor is evil and cruel… and all for a couple thousand dollars.
*** THIS CASE WAS WILD.. I remember it from just before I had moved for our brief stay in Quebec. It was rumored the murderer worked for the same company I did and employees were called to testify strange behavior/sights to the trial. Just another way to show how seriously flawed our justice system actually is.
What about most memorable?
Easily the most memorable experience, in my 10 years of podcasting and 500+ episodes… is my experience covering (and dealing with the retaliation from) the Halifax Glove Guy. For those unfamiliar, the “glove guy” is a real life but urban legend sounding story of a man who drives around Halifax late at night offering young often intoxicated men rides home and during the ride reveals what many interpret as a tight leather glove fetish. After I did my episodes on the glove guy I was the target of a retaliatory harassment / extortion type campaign against the glove guy himself. It went so far as to result in several mainstream news articles most notably CBC and VICE articles in which glove guy basically revealed publicly that he is much worse and creepier than my episodes even suggested. Additionally, I avoided using his legal name or personal details… yet he went on the news using his real name and filed malicious listings on the registry of joint stocks using his home address in attempts to make it look like he “owned” Nighttime. What a trip!
*** OH my God.. this sounds WILD.. he ratted himself out!
Reporting crime can be a balance, what are some of the challenges you have had to encounter and how did you handle them?
A constant challenge you face when telling sensitive stories is that there is often a person or people that don’t want the story told, or don’t want some aspects of a story told. The simple way I handle it is that I only pursue stories that I believe are interesting, important, or entertaining and I only cover the relevant aspects of the case while avoiding speculation and sensationalism. I suppose I trust what I’m doing and how I do it, and I’m fully aware and accept that not everyone is going to be happy with what I do and that’s just a part of being a storyteller. I’ve been threatened, harassed, stalked… and I’ve been praised, complemented, and made a lot of great friends… that’s about as much balance as I’ve been able to find so far!
*** The first story I heard admittedly was the Walmart incident which can be heard here. I’m not much of a podcast person so for me to tune in was a big feat. The podcast is easy to listen to. It wasn’t a monotone story to get bored from. It had different aspects and different perspectives that kept my attention.
Do you see yourself doing this for a long time till the 20 year, 25 year mark?
Short answer YES, longer answer… I hope so! The issues people in my position face are the prevalence and evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Already it’s become a major competitor to human creators and I think in another 5 years it will be very grim. Someone who doesn’t speak our language, or couldn’t even point to Canada on a map could use AI to write a script about a local story, then use AI voice generation to narrate it, and set it to some stock images and…. well… you got the recipe being used for many current Youtube videos!
*** I never even thought about AI like this! I always see it in terms of artists losing valuable positions due to AI artwork creeping in, especially when it comes to some say adult coloring books being made. But I never thought about it in terms of this medium! And If I’m being honest, you really can’t beat a human connection to hearing how the stories are going.
How has the podcast changed or been shaped into the one we hear today on various outlets like Spotify?
The whole idea and concept of a podcast has changed significantly during my time. When I began (2015ish) very few podcasts were monetized and very very few were professionally produced. The landscape was full of independent creators building communities of listeners with similar interests. Then a few podcasts became “hits”. The true crime series Serial is an example of one of the shows that blew the doors open. Slowly, I’ve watched professionals, radio stations, celebrities, TV shows, and everyone and their dog start a podcast which has been a good and bad thing. Bad because you can easily get lost in the noise but good because with them come new listeners to podcasting in general . Another major development has been the slow transition from audio only podcasts, to video podcasts. I believe the video aspect started as a way to better market your show on social media, but along the way it became an expectation that a podcast is a few people sitting in a studio environment.
Any Closing Comments?
Despite the many bumps, bruises, changes, and challenges I’ve endured over my 10 years of Nighttime one thing remains… I passionately cover unique and offbeat canadian stories and do it in a non judgemental, curious, and respectful way.. free of any advertiser or editorial influence. People can listen to Nighttime wherever they get podcasts, and can learn more about me and the show at nighttimepodcast.com
Stacey J. Girard 