Episode Details

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Why You Should Listen to This Episode: The Bills' Chris Frye looks back on three decades of Vancouver Island folk music ahead of their Salish Coast Music Festival show, and pharmacist Aki Shaw explains what Canada's new generic semaglutide means for cost and access.

This Episode Features:

(21:23) Chris Frye is a founding member of The Bills, the Juno-nominated Canadian acoustic supergroup marking 30 years together this year. Known for genre-bending folk roots, layered vocal harmonies, and songwriting steeped in Vancouver Island life, The Bills play Parksville's Knox United Church as part of the Salish Coast Music Festival. Contains the song "Let 'Em Run." Details on the Salish Coast Music Festival: https://sclas.ca/

(06:12) Aki Shaw is a pharmacist who joins the podcast to break down the recent arrival of generic semaglutide in Canada - what it means for cost, coverage, and the future of diabetes and weight-management medication.

Episode Quotes:

"The Bills are a really positive force. We pride ourselves on making people smile. This world has plenty to be worried and concerned about, but it's just who we are as a group." - Chris Frye

"It's a straight switch. In the eyes of Health Canada, it's the same, be it Ozempic or the generic - same medication, same dosage, same delivery." - Aki Shaw

The PULSE Community Podcast is a weekly Vancouver Island podcast hosted by Peter McCully and Dave Graham, featuring conversations with musicians, authors, actors, athletes, business leaders and community builders from Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond. The PULSE Community Podcast is part of The PULSE Podcast Community.

We've had the pleasure of sitting down with musicians from across Vancouver Island and beyond - explore more stories and interviews on our Vancouver Island Musicians page.

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Episode Sponsors: Thrifty Foods Parksville, Ian Lindsay & Associates & Fireside Books.

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