Introducing: Pressure Cooker

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

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.

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. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/pressure-cooker-transcripts-listen-1.6563380

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. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/pressure-cooker-transcripts-listen-1.6563380

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. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/pressure-cooker-transcripts-listen-1.6563380

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. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/pressure-cooker-transcripts-listen-1.6563380

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. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/pressure-cooker-transcripts-listen-1.6563380

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.