DNTO May 15 (The Conversation Show)

What's the most difficult conversation you've had recently? Sook-Yin takes her mic to the street to find out.

Carly Stasko found an interesting way to have conversations with people - she became a "book" as part of the Human Library Project. But it was when she became a "borrower" of another "human book" that she had the conversation that really stayed with her...

If you're a city dweller, you live among thousands of people you'd probably love talking with - if only you had some way of meeting them. Mark Hopkins has got it figured out, though - and we'll find out why his "We Should Know Each Other" parties have people talking.


Sook-Yin will tell us about one of her most difficult conversations... and how it all began with three little words: "How are you?"

Amy Salloway is the chatty type. But she'll tell us how she met her conversation match in "Silent Mike" - and how she tackled the challenge of a quiet man.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "nothing is certain but death and taxes". So it's amazing how often we avoid talking about those topics...especially death. But that's not the case for DNTO producer Tori Allen...she's been trying to have a conversation about death and aging with her mother for quite a while now. We'll check in with Tori and find out how it's going.

ChatRoulette has become the latest online tool for conversation... but as Sook-Yin tells us, she didn't find anything too deep when she tried it out. More... kinda gross and creepy.

One person who has made ChatRoulette work, though, is the mysterious piano player known as "Merton." He improvises songs for the people he meets on ChatRoulette - and his first video compilation of those songs has become the highest-rated YouTube video ever. We'll ask Merton if you really can have a meaningful conversation using the latest online tool. (And if you'd like to find out more about ChatRoulette, check out this video Merton recommended to us.)

By all accounts artist Tino Sehgal's  last exhibit, This Progress, was the talk of the town. That's because his innovative art project was really an extended conversation. We'll hear from Lena Coakley - one of the people who experienced the project - and George Blecher, one of the conversationalists who worked on the show.

Have you ever been trapped in a conversation you desperately wanted to leave? Vancouver musician Hannah Georgas has. She even wrote a song about it. She'll tell us about the epic conversation - and play us a tune, live-in-studio.

Sometimes the most intimate conversations happen in the most unexpected places. Karen Murphy Corr discovered this with an incredibly intimate conversation with a stranger... at a fast food restaurant. She'll tell us her story.

Carrying on a conversation is tough enough. So how do you communicate with someone who can't talk? Iris Yudai looks into the art of conversing with babies.


And here's this week's playlist:

Keane w/ K'Naan - "Stop for a Minute"
Bettye LaVette - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
Crystal Castles - "Celestica"
Jenny MacDonald - "Art of Conversation"
The Uniques - "My Conversation"
Ben Folds - "Still Fighting It"
Plan B - "She Said"
Hannah Georgas - "Chit Chat" (live in studio)
Flora Poste - "Say You"
Kae Sun - "On the Lookout"