About Me
Hi there!
I’m a Content Writer and Journalist. I’m adaptable, self-motivated, proactive, passionate, and have an insatiable curiosity.
You can see some of my work here. I also have experience editing and writing copy, and working with multimedia elements such as audio, video, and creating data visualizations.
Emilie Richardson-Dupuis (she/her)
Content Writer / Journalist
Here’s some of my work.
Image created using DALL-E 2.
Canada’s Psychedelic Renaissance
Feature
After decades of stigmatization, scientists are taking another look at psychedelics, and Canadians are paying attention.
Alison Crosthwait was a highly successful financial executive. She seemed to fit in perfectly at her trading job at Goldman Sachs in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, working alongside other high-functioning professionals with enviable salaries. She was ambitious, sharp, and she knew how to play the game. But there was just one problem with the perfect picture of her life: she was extremely unhappy. Her unhappiness was affecting her relationships, her self-confidence, and her connection to herself.
She found solace in talk therapy at first, and even left her lucrative corporate job in 2012 to become a psychotherapist, using talk therapy to try to help others who felt the way she did...
Foraging is on the rise as food prices climb. Here's how to do it safely in Ontario
Feature
Eating wild plants is more than just a foodie trend but coinciding with its popularity are increased hospital visits and environmental concerns.
Walking through a park in or around Toronto, you can find a bountiful array of edible plants. Even as it gets colder, herbaceous cedar can be found on trees for tea or cocktail infusions, certain types of mushrooms like bright orange enoki mushrooms fruit all winter, and if you're lucky, you may still be able to find the crimson berries of a Hawthorn tree, preserved in ice.
Toronto, dubbed the “city within a park,” is full of wild edible plants, catching the intrigue of the city’s chefs, foodies, and nature-lovers alike, and rising food costs over the last few years may be causing an even bigger spike in interest...
Continue reading in the Toronto Star.
Psychedelic Christmas cookies
Food
Psychedelic Christmas Cookies were first published in the Star in 2020.
I know I just said I was a professional baker, but I should specify: I was a bread head. My thing was sourdough; I never got into the fussy, perfectionist world of cookie-making.
On first glance this cookie recipe intimidated me, mostly because I have a bad track record with shortbread (last year’s super spreaders are still fresh in my memory). However, I decided I will not admit defeat. I will conquer the shortbread!
Learning from last year’s disaster, I was overly aware to actually let the butter come to room temperature and not to just use cold butter and assume it’ll be fine. I also was very cautious not to overmix the dough, stopping the mixer every five seconds...
Continue reading in the Toronto Star.
Little Dragon Put Themselves First on 'Slugs of Love'
Album Review
In a statement released along with the album announcement back in May, Little Dragon called Slugs of Love their "masterpiece."
While masterpiece is a strong word, Slugs of Love certainly proves that Little Dragon have a lot left to give. Since forming in 1996, Little Dragon have earned their stripes as a band with a truly unique sound thanks to Yukimi Nagano's raspy vocals and their prominent funk influence combined with a propensity for electropop. However, with the exception of 2009's Machine Dreams, they haven't truly tapped into their full potential as a band. Slugs of Love seemingly marks a turning of the tides...
Photo by Dmitri.photo via Unsplash.
Tough times ahead for musicians and small venues despite reopening
Music
Live music has returned to Toronto after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a long hiatus
With Ontario lifting capacity restrictions for indoor public spaces on March 14th, people are experiencing live music again, but musicians and venues continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to a survey conducted in Spring 2020 by the Canadian Live Music Association, 96 per cent of the 177 music venues in Canada that participated said that they were at risk of business failure.
“Emotionally, it’s been a roller coaster, paying the bills and retaining staff and trying to find new ways to attract customers, the constant change, and just constant restructuring,” Andrew Kaiser, co-owner and manager of The Emmet Ray Jazz Bar in Toronto said in a phone interview...
Photo by Emma Filer via Pexels.
10 Ways to Snore No More
Health
Restore restful sleep for you and your partner.
You’re in a deep and peaceful slumber when, suddenly, the sound of a ship horn jolts you awake—only it’s not a ship horn. It’s your partner snoring.
This is a scenario that you may be all too familiar with, as about half of all adults snore at one time or another. Not only is snoring a nuisance that can form rifts in relationships, but it may also cause serious health implications by preventing sleep, affecting overall quality of life, and increasing the risk of more harmful diseases...
Elon Musk's Neuralink Secures FDA Approval to Put Chips in Human Brains
Technology
It's the billionaire's latest exploit of a dystopian future.
Flailing Twitter boss Elon Musk is making the stuff of science fiction a reality with Neuralink, which purports to use electronic brain implants to help paralyzed people and enhance brain function. Last night (May 25), the company announced on Twitter that it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct the first clinical trial of its device in humans.
Neuralink said in the post, "This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people."...
Vagabon Announces New Album 'Sorry I Haven't Called,' Plots Tour
Music
Listen to new single "Can I Talk My Shit?"
Vagabon has announced a new album Sorry I Haven't Called, out September 15 via Nonesuch Records.
Sorry I Haven't Called is the follow-up to Vagabon's 2019 self-titled album. It was born out of a place of mourning after the sudden death of her best friend in 2021. To process the tragic event, she decided to move to a small lakeside village in Germany where her phone didn't work, and there were no shops close by. In her isolation, she wrote and recorded most of the album, consisting of a surprisingly playful collection of songs.
Photo by Helicopix Inc.
‘Like a Whistler ski chalet’ in Lorne Park: Inside this $12M Mississauga home
Real Estate
The home, sitting on an impressive four-and-a-half acres of forested land, boasts an abundance of luxury features and amenities.
Down a private tree-lined road in the heart of Mississauga’s Lorne Park, 1300 Oak Lane exudes “luxurious warmth and charm,” says the listing.
The flooring and wood finishes are made from reclaimed barnwood, and exposed brick and stone walls throughout give the home its warm and cosy “rustic industrial vibe,” said Peter Philip Papousek, the property’s real estate agent. “It’s like a Whistler ski chalet has been dropped into Lorne Park.”
The home sits on an impressive four-and-a-half acres of forested land. For comparison, the median lot size of a single family detached home in Toronto is about one-fifth of an acre, according to the National Association of Home Builders...
Continue reading in the Toronto Star.
Photo by Redcharlie via Unsplash.
Toronto’s COVID Exodus
Multimedia Feature
Catching up with those who left.
Willa McCaffrey-Noviss had just earned her Master of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto and was finally fulfilling her dream of beginning her own therapy practice. With a one-way ticket to Amsterdam, she used her $50 paycheck from her first ever therapy session as an independent psychotherapist to buy herself a beer at the airport, excited to turn a new leaf and start her adventure of moving to Amsterdam after nearly two years of lockdown in Toronto.
McCaffrey-Noviss had spent the lockdown as a student therapist living in her parents’ basement giving therapy sessions to people where the major theme was COVID, and how it tore families apart, something she was also experiencing in her household...
Photo by Brad Quan.
'Unparalleled craftsmanship': Inside this $13M Oakville estate by same designer who did Drake's mansion
Real Estate
This opulent limestone-constructed home by Ferris Rafauli features a newly-constructed pool area, state-of-the-art kitchen, and a myriad of stunning design features.
Perched on a 3/4 acre gated lot adorned with mature trees on Oakville's "street of dreams" sits 199 Chartwell Rd.
Designed by Ferris Rafauli, famous designer of luxury homes known for designing Drake's Bridle Path mansion, this home is full of unique features and standout details.
"This custom luxury home epitomizes elegance and exclusivity," said Lesley Cumming, one of the property's listing agents. "Its architectural marvel boasts spacious interiors, seamlessly blending modern design and natural beauty..."
Photo by Inga Seliverstova via Pexels.
Behind Every Great DJ, There’s a VJ
Feature
How visual artists are taking electronic music by storm
It was Saturday night past 2 a.m. and the Brooklyn nightclub was filled to the brim. Progressive house music was emanating from the DJ booth, but everyone was turned towards the screen, fully immersed in the visuals being projected above a sculpture of a crescent moon suspended from the ceiling. Fancy typography fielded questions like “what’s your secret desire? What’s your fantasy? Tell us how you love her?” among surreal videos of faces, huge eyes, and hands holding a sun.
The artist behind the visuals was Ksenia Salion, a digital artist based in Brooklyn. This was her first time creating live visuals to accompany a DJ set, otherwise known as VJing. She recalled the adrenaline rush she got from having control over the crowd and dictating the atmosphere through her visuals...
Photo by Redcharlie via Unsplash.
Radio Work
Met Radio 1280 AM
November 29th, 2023
(interview with band at 31 minutes)
April 20, 2023 Met 30 Episode
September 21, 2023 Met 30 Episode
July 27, 2023 Met Radio Episode