
In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring ou... more
| Publishes | Daily | Episodes | 265 | Founded | 4 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | News CommentaryDaily NewsNews | |||

A recent report found that retail crime in Canada “has escalated into a national crisis” that costs businesses across the country a whopping $9-billion a year.
The situation is so dire in Winnipeg that some businesses are considering drastic measure... more
For reasons that still aren’t certain, colorectal cancer is striking younger people like never before.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, people aged 45 to 50 are now two to two-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed than in previous ge... more
Three months ago, Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for kids under the age of 16. Many other governments are now eyeing the same idea, including Greece, Denmark, Malaysia and Norway.
Should Canada legislate a simila... more
Today on Village Media’s ‘Closer Look’ podcast: We speak to the mayor of Selwyn Township about the push to erase the disgraced royal’s name from a local island.
Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek ... more
People also subscribe to these shows.



CUPW strong for all Canadians!
Great episode on fraud. Watch The Bee Keeper.
The team presents very interesting community based journalism that speaks to problems that we face in our smaller communities every day. Thank you
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #77 | |
Apple Podcasts | #60 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
This program delivers consistently topical, in-depth conversations centered on Ontario policy, governance, public safety, health, and economic issues. Episodes frequently feature on-the-ground reporting, expert analysis, and voices from government, academia, and advocacy groups, with a focus on how policy changes affect communities across the province. Noteworthy traits include long-form, issue-led discussions that blend journalism, policy insight, and real-world impact, plus a clear emphasis on accountability, transparency, and practical implications for readers and listeners. Potential listeners can expect thorough context, balanced perspectives, and timely dives into provincial affairs, infrastructure, and public-interest stories.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Closer Look. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Closer Look and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Closer Look, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Closer Look, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Closer Look has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Closer Look:
1. Front Burner
2. All There Is with Anderson Cooper
3. White Coat, Black Art
4. Q with Tom Power
5. Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly
Closer Look launched 4 years ago and published 265 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Closer Look from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Closer Look. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Closer Look include:
1. Aidan Chamandy
2. Marit Stiles
3. John Vanthof
4. David O'Connor
5. Jack Howland
6. Patricia Lakin Thomas
7. Laura Tamblyn-Watz
8. Jason Wong
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.