Pressure Cooker

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John and Amanda have lived on the fringes their whole lives. They’re on welfare, living with John’s grandma, and struggling with addiction to opioids and Dungeons and Dragons. They’ve followed crooked paths to this point. John played in heavy metal bands

CBC Podcasts


    • Oct 1, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 37m AVG DURATION
    • 13 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Pressure Cooker

    Pressure Cooker Introduces | Split Screen: Thrill Seekers

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2024 35:07


    A TV crew offers 12 ordinary people the chance to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. But there's a catch. The audience knows everything but the contestants are kept in the dark. As the cameras roll, no questions are allowed. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers is a new 6 part series that exposes how a TV show left contestants struggling to trust what's actually real.Host Nick van der Kolk (Love + Radio) asks: does reality TV only succeed when it exploits those involved? He talks to the set designers, crew, and the contestants themselves to learn what it took to permanently distort their sense of reality.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.More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/3Mv-itk1

    Pressure Cooker Introduces: Broomgate: A Curling Scandal

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2024 27:50


    For years, players have been too afraid to talk about it. But now, the truth about a broom that almost destroyed curling is finally coming out. In Broomgate: A Curling Scandal, semi-professional curler and fully professional comedian John Cullen (Blocked Party) is exposing the unbelievable, never-before-told scandal that rocked the sport of curling. Yes, curling. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/ZWtQpnGv

    Pressure Cooker Introduces: Split Screen: Kid Nation

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2024 36:49


    The controversial reality TV show known as ‘Kid Nation', which borrowed its premise from Lord of the Flies, was cancelled shortly after its 2007 debut. Producers took 40 kids into a makeshift desert town to fend for themselves and create their own society. Was the series an opportunity to discover what kids are capable of? Or simply a ploy for ratings? With access to former ‘Kid Nation' contestants, their families, and the show's creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. 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. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/0nUBvytn

    Pressure Cooker Introduces: Bloodlines

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2023 31:06


    From BBC Sounds and CBC Podcasts. Syria. 2018. ISIS is on the brink of defeat. A toddler disappears in the chaos. In London, his grandad needs answers. Poonam Taneja investigates. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/VDVkOLHu

    Pressure Cooker Introduces: Love, Janessa

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2023 36:38


    Behind every catfish, there's the bait. Who is Janessa Brazil? Stolen images of an adult entertainment star are being used to con victims out of thousands of dollars, breaking hearts in the process. Journalist Hannah Ajala embarks on a quest to find Janessa, in this 8-part true crime series. And who is responsible for catfishing scams? Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts by Antica Productions and Telltale Industries. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/YF9rolf8

    Bonus: Finding Kaz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2023 34:36


    A mystery lingers about what role Canada's spy agency may have played in John and Amanda's case. The puzzling character known as Kaz could be the key to solving that mystery.

    Pressure Cooker Introduces: Run, Hide, Repeat

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2022 33:38


    Pauline Dakin's childhood was marked by unexplained events, a sense of unseen menace, and secretive moves to new cities with no warning. When Pauline was a young adult, her mother finally told her what they were running from – organized crime, secret police and double lives. It was a story so mind-bending, so disturbing, Pauline's entire world was turned upside down. Run Hide Repeat is the story of Pauline's life on the run, her quest for the truth – and her search for forgiveness. Based on the best-selling 2017 memoir, this powerful 5-part journey spans decades and an entire country — and it will leave listeners questioning what's real and who they can trust. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/tfTbZBZZ

    Episode 5: Trapped

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2022 55:24


    John and Amanda piece together their shattered reality while facing a possible lifetime in prison. As the full picture of Project Souvenir emerges in court, they start to wonder if the deception goes even deeper.

    Episode 4: Ticking Time Bombs

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2022 52:51


    John and Amanda are losing their grip on reality, frustrating Abe and his shadowy accomplices. John has doubts and asks for spiritual guidance from an imam, but time is running out as zero hour approaches.

    Episode 3: Point of No Return

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2022 51:28


    John and Amanda's struggles with addiction complicate their fledgling plot. Will these oddballs be able to pull off an attack? Police spending escalates as Project Souvenir gets more elaborate by the day.

    Episode 2: The Mysterious Uncle Abe

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2022 47:50


    Meet the misfit suspects behind the foiled attack. Learn how they fell down a rabbit hole of conspiracy, hate and terror. And how they crossed paths with a mysterious financier who pledged to fund their diabolical plot.

    Episode 1: Project Souvenir

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2022 35:17


    Police intercept two homegrown – and very peculiar – extremists intent on murder and mayhem at a national holiday festival. Pressure cooker bombs. Just like the Boston Marathon. But something about the official version of the story doesn't add up.

    Introducing: Pressure Cooker

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2022 2:47


    John and Amanda are outsiders. They're devoted to Dungeons & Dragons, struggling with addiction and living on welfare when they find themselves at the centre of a sprawling terrorism investigation. Host Dan Pierce follows their wild journey in this five part series, launching September 5th. New episodes on Mondays with early access for CBC True Crime Premium subscribers.

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