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Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted.
Season 1 | Kid Nation: The true story behind one of reality TV’s most controversial experiments.
Season 2 | Thrill Seekers: A multi-million dollar media experiment. Would you fall for it?
Season 3 | Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Was the Canadian punk pop sensation replaced by a look-alike?
23 Episodes
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;Resize=(3000).jpg "Split Screen Introduces | Understood: Who Broke the Internet")
It's not you — the internet really does suck. Novelist, blogger and noted internet commentator Cory Doctorow explains what happened to the internet and why you're tormented by ads, bots, algorithms, AI slop and so many pop-ups. Spoiler alert: it wasn't an accident.In Understood: Who Broke the Internet, Doctorow gets into the decisions made by powerful people that got us here, and most importantly, how we fix it. More episodes of Who Broke the Internet are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/zfenPs
;Resize=(3000).jpg "Introducing | Split Screen: Kid Nation")
What happens when 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, spend 40 days without parents in the desert? Split Screen: Kid Nation explores the aftermath of the 2007 reality show Kid Nation. Coming April 17, 2024, wherever you get your podcasts.
;Resize=(3000).jpg "Split Screen: Kid Nation, Episode 1: Dropped in the Desert")
1We introduce the concept of 'Kid Nation' through the lens of its controversial reception, including a campaign to have the show banned before it even aired. But how bad was it? We hear from one of the parents about their hopes for the show, and their daughter’s auditions and first few days. We’re left wondering: what have these kids signed up for?For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
Every reality show has a villain. In Kid Nation, that role was assigned to 15-year-old Greg Pheasant. Through multiple perspectives on Greg’s bullying, we explore whether kids were cast to perform predetermined roles. It raises questions about the different levels of agency these kids had in what was a high-pressure and high-stakes situation.For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
The kids are forced to navigate social hierarchies as producers introduce class, competition and warped financial incentives. Every few days, a team competition sorts the kids into four social classes: upper class, merchant, cooks and labourers. We ask what these themes reveal about America’s values and prejudices.For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
The producers prompt the kids to confront adult themes, with a joint religious service and town hall elections. Through the introduction of politics and religion, we see how Kid Nation is a microcosm of the real world in 2007, where the shadow of 9/11 and the War on Terror looms large.For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
After the chaos of the first few weeks life in Bonanza City stabilizes – but that doesn’t make for great TV. The former pioneers say that as the show wore on, the drama became more contrived, with plot-lines that saw kids portrayed as gambling addicts and anarchists, looting the town stores. It leaves us wondering whether Kid Nation could ever have lived up to its utopian premise? How do the former pioneers feel about it now?For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
Negative portrayals left kids like Olivia traumatized whereas others, like Laurel and Anjay look back with fondness. How did being on the show affect the trajectory of the pioneers? And why does Kid Nation continue to strike a cultural chord? For ad-free listening to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.
What if everything you believed about the world around you was a lie? In the early 2000s, a TV crew offered 12 ordinary people the chance to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. But there’s a catch: while the audience knows everything, the contestants are kept in the dark. Introducing Split Screen: Thrill Seekers.Josh Gwynn, host of Split Screen: Kid Nation, caught up with this season’s host, Nick van der Kolk, to learn more about the podcast that uncovers the twisted reality behind the multi-million dollar media experiment. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers will be available wherever you get your podcasts on September 23, 2024.
This is the story behind a multi-million dollar media experiment that promised 12 ordinary people an adventure of a lifetime. But there was a catch: while the audience knew everything, the contestants had no idea what the adventure would be. Love + Radio’s Nick van der Kolk is on a mission to uncover if reality TV only succeeds when it exploits those involved. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers, available on September 23, 2024.
Would you go on a reality show if you didn’t know what it was about? Even if they promised you the adventure of a lifetime? In 2005, 12 people did just that. They answered an ad that read “Thrill Seekers wanted” and began auditioning for a show unlike any other in British television history.To listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories Premium channel here.
The contestants are flown to a Russian cosmonaut base and put through the most gruelling training of their lives in preparation for their mission. But as the training becomes more and more ridiculous, doubts begin to creep in.
Before the cadets begin auditioning, a production team is hired to make the show. They too were sworn to secrecy as they were challenged to tackle a job they didn’t even think was possible. The set designers create an intricate world in order to fool the cadets and trick them out of their own reality.
The reviews are rolling in, but they’re not what the crew were expecting. Psychologist Cynthia McVay examines whether the manipulations integral to reality TV can be ethical and asks if this show is too cruel for broadcast. Meanwhile, the cadets find out who will be going to space.
Four cadets are sent to space and have a profound experience as they view the Earth from above. Back on the ground, producers scramble to find a satisfying end to the series, faced with a growing feeling that the reveal could be traumatic.
Space Cadets: where are they now? We learn how the contestants struggled to adapt to life after the show. We bring them together after 20 years, to finally reflect on how the show permanently warped their beliefs about the world around them.
;Resize=(3000).jpg "Introducing | Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?")
Joanne McNally LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it. Available wherever you get your podcasts on February 3, 2025.Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.
Joanne LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it.Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.
Joanne arrives in Napanee, Ontario – Avril’s hometown. She plunges into Avril’s early career. The young superstar-Avril was under a lot of scrutiny and pressure. Was she itching to step out of the spotlight?Plus, Joanne learns body-doubles ARE a thing, and not just in the movies. Joanne chats with celebrity pal Joe Lycett – and he agrees having a body double would get them out of all sorts of engagements they don’t really want to do.Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.
Avril’s career hit something of a bump in the road. At one point she appeared to fall off the radar completely, all while the rumours about her being replaced were swirling.Can a fake death story literally kill your career? One man who knows is Dave Benson Phillips. He was a children’s TV presenter, on a path to great things. Until… he died. The TV offers dried up. His theatre tour got canceled. The impact on his life was immense. And Dave’s not the only one. Joanne hears about death rumours for Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus…the list is endless. What can this tell us about the Avril theory?Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.
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A comedian doing investigative journalism is entertaining content. Love the candidness.
thanks for the voices at the end in the credits! like that touch very much!!!
What a vile bunch of A holes. Why not call the show "mocking the gullible". No one should profit from their cruelty.Only got to the 3rd cannot see myself listening to more.