The Village

With about 100 million visits per day, Pornhub is one of the biggest websites on the planet. This four-part series pulls back the curtain on the scrappy, Montreal-based startup that revolutionized sex on the internet — and the massive scandal that exposed its dark side. The Pornhub Empire, season 2 of Understood, releases March 11. Hosted by journalist Samantha Cole (How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex). About Understood: Know more, now. From the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, to the rise of Pornhub, Understood is an anthology podcast that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about. Over a handful of episodes, each season unfolds as a story, hosted by a well-connected reporter, and rooted in journalism you can trust. Driven by insight and fueled by curiosity…The stories of our time: Understood. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/a-oWaJUi

Of all the young revolutionaries in Syria during the Arab Spring, Amina is different. An out lesbian in a country where homosexuality is illegal, she bravely documents her life on the blog Gay Girl in Damascus. Her candid posts attract readers from around the world, and soon she has a wide, ardent following. But then a post appears saying Amina has been abducted. Her fans mobilize, desperate to track down and save their fearless heroine. What they find shocks them. Journalist Samira Mohyeddin investigates what actually happened to the infamous Gay Girl in Damascus in this 6-part series. The result is a twisted yarn that spans the globe and challenges our thinking on love, politics and identity in cyberspace. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/dCRViljP

Fraud. Abduction. Murder. Every week, Crime Story host and investigative journalist Kathleen Goldhar goes deep into a tale of true crime with the storyteller who knows it best. From the reporter who exposed Bill Cosby, to the writer who solved one of Australia's most chilling cold cases — Crime Story guests include: Gilbert King (Bone Valley), Eric Benson (Project Unabomb),Carole Fisher (The Girlfriends), and many more. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/Szww5UjY

Daryl Allen always wanted to be a playwright, but before his art found success, his life was cut short by HIV. Before he dies, he leaves one of his scripts with an ex-boyfriend, asking his ex to do something with the play. 25 years later, the script is given to Dane Stewart, a playwright living in Montreal, and he falls down the rabbit hole. Listen to the next episode of Resurrection on all podcast platforms, and learn how you can support Resurrection here: https://bit.ly/ResurrectionPod

In 1985, at the height of the Black Power era, police dropped a bomb in a Philadelphia neighborhood. Their target? A family of Black radicals known as ‘MOVE,' who found themselves ensnared in a city — and nation's — domestic war on Black Liberation. Over seven episodes, host Matthew Amha investigates the events that culminated in the MOVE bombing, and the long afterlife of a forgotten American tragedy. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/ECc7Jcn4

The high seas are beyond the reach of international law – and beyond the beat of most reporters. But Pulitzer-Prize-winner and former New York Times journalist, Ian Urbina, has sailed into uncharted territories. Urbina sets out on a years-long quest to investigate murder at sea, modern slave labour, environmental crimes and quixotic adventurers. Part travelog, part true-crime thriller, this 7-part series takes listeners to places where the laws of the land no longer exist. The Outlaw Ocean is brought to you by CBC Podcasts and the LA Times and produced by The Outlaw Ocean Project. More episodes are available at http://hyperurl.co/theoutlawocean

Years of sustained pressure finally pay off as the policing culture shifts to include activists' input into their investigations.

When one of its priests is found murdered in Montreal, the Anglican Church has to publicly reckon with its sins.

Faced with a deadly disease, surrounded by death, AIDS activist Roger Leclerc resorts to controversial tactics to confront discrimination and violence against gays and lesbians.

A married man is murdered while on a business trip in Montreal. The case highlights the challenges of investigating the murders. Delayed investigations and unsolved cases are a dear price to pay when a serial killer may be on the loose.

Montreal, 1991 – Fearing a serial killer, activists decide to take matters into their own hands.

Scores of police remove their badges and slip on rubber gloves before beating and arresting queer partygoers in downtown Montreal. The violence escalates in the coming days, and many more are beaten and jailed. A stronger front emerges.

Joe Rose, a queer activist living with AIDS, is murdered in cold blood on a city bus. So public, so brutal – the city is shocked. The killing becomes a catalyst for ACT UP's takeover of the 1989 Montreal AIDS conference.

A sneak peek into season three. Montreal in the 90s was a great time, but it had a dark side. For many men, being in – or out – of the closet during the AIDS epidemic was the difference between life and death. Unsolved murders stack up. And in the absence of police protection, a community of activists are forced to take matters into their own hands.

Justin hands over the season to Francis at Parc de L'Espoir, the memorial to people who died from HIV/AIDS in Montreal's gay village. We're going back 30 years. The world was a different place. What we learned about how to live through a pandemic and how to solve a murder.

The new investigative series White Hot Hate follows the extraordinary case of young Canadian journalist Ryan Thorpe who infiltrated an international neo-Nazi extremist network. While host Michelle Shephard explores the rise of white supremacist accelerationism: the ultra-violent ideology that drives believers to create chaos, in order to seize ultimate control. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/whitehothate

The Flamethrowers captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy peddlers of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today. With humour and candour, Ling examines the appeal of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, who found a sleeping audience, radicalized it, and became an accidental kingmaker — culminating in the election of Donald Trump. More episodes are available at smarturl.it/theflamethrowers

Justin discovers a shocking failure in the investigation into Alloura's death and poses tough questions to Toronto's police chief. Trans activists honour Alloura and others who have inspired change, and who deserved better. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline's Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860

Police believe someone knows who killed Cassandra; all he has to do is talk. Meanwhile, trans activists and their allies embark on a long fight for inclusion in human rights laws — in Canada and around the world. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline's Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860

Cassandra Do comes to the Village, trying to escape discrimination back home. When Cassandra pursues sex work to finance her transition, she finds herself part of a community targeted by the Toronto police. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline's Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860

When Alloura disappears her friends and family organize to find her, only to be brushed off by police. A stranger reaches out and provides some unsettling answers, but many questions remain. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline's Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860

Alloura Wells finds a vibrant and supportive community, growing up and coming out on the streets of Toronto. But she also finds herself entangled in the criminal justice system. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline's Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860

Season two explores the unexplained deaths of Alloura Wells and Cassandra Do, the communities that loved them, the systems that failed them, and a police investigation gone wrong.

From David Ridgen, the creator of Someone Knows Something, comes the new investigative podcast The Next Call. Tackling unsolved cases through strategic phone calls. From the victim's family members to potential suspects, the investigation unfolds with The Next Call. More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/thenextcall

Trans women of colour in Detroit are confronting an epidemic of violence with the support of The Justice Project, a task force that investigates and prosecutes serious crimes against LGBTQ people. After aspiring designer and dancer Kelly Stough is murdered in Detroit, they take on her case.

Toronto's queer community comes to grips with the truth about Bruce McArthur's crimes and pushes for changes in how violence against marginalized people is handled by police. The Toronto police cold case team has some answers in the 23 re-opened cases.

When close to 300 men are arrested in one night in Operation Soap, Toronto's largest bathhouse raid, the queer community rises up against what they see as decades of police repression. An internal struggle in the force keeps murders unsolved.

The American police who investigated Mark's murder open their files to Justin, who learns Mark's and Sandy's deaths were connected, in an unexpected way. A retired beat cop who worked the Village in the 70s shares his suspicion about who murdered Sandy.

Justin traces Sandy Leblanc's steps from beloved brother with humble beginnings to well-known discoteque owner in the Village's burgeoning club scene. When he's killed, rumours are rampant about who was responsible.

The head of the Toronto Police cold case team insists the historic, unsolved murders were fully investigated at the time. But Justin discovers otherwise, and learns these men lived and died in a time of no rights, and no protection, including from police.

A string of unsolved murders in the 1970s share a disturbing pattern. A retired homicide detective has regrets about not solving one case: he had evidence and a sketch. But a victim's sister says police had blind spots when the victims were gay.

The community rallies as more men go missing and frustration and anger build. An anonymous source reveals how close police come to catching a serial killer, then let him go.

In 2010, men with similar characteristics start mysteriously disappearing from Toronto's gay village. They are all linked to one man. Investigative journalist Justin Ling follows the case as friends search for loved ones and police provide few answers.

For years, Toronto's Gay Village worried a serial killer was in their midst. Men were disappearing from the neighbourhood but police insisted there was no evidence of foul play. Then, in January 2018, police arrested Bruce McArthur for the murders of eight men and police reopened dozens of unsolved murders from the Village, dating back to 1975. Journalist Justin Ling covered this story for over five years and now he's going back to shed light on these long-forgotten murders.