Episode 5: Becoming Warhead

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/W1aWJZcE

At Faulkner’s final sentencing hearing, we finally discover the true extent of his activities on the dark web. We thought we knew everything he had been up to. We were wrong. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

What led Benjamin Faulkner to become Warhead? And, more importantly, how do you prevent others like him from following the same path? For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

Jenn was home alone with her children when she received a call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They needed to talk to her as soon as possible. It was about her relative, Ben Faulkner. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

After the arrest of Canadian Benjamin Faulkner, Taskforce Argos has to learn how to become Warhead on Child’s Play, before its users realize that the site has been compromised. But time is running out — and very difficult moral decisions will have to be made. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

All Gordon wants for his birthday is to travel to Washington, D.C., to visit museums and see the opera. He’s completely unaware that his companion on this trip has very different plans. His friend has an alter ego, Warhead, and it turns out police are not far behind. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

Einar Stangvik is a white-hat hacker — an internet security expert with an expertise in cracking the most secure and disturbing parts of the web. He discovers a troubling phenomenon online and joins forces with journalist Håkon Høydal. It leads them to Australia, to confront two men who are running the largest child abuse site on the dark net. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/hunting-warehead-transcripts-listen-1.5346693

A new investigative series from CBC Podcasts and the Norwegian newspaper VG, Hunting Warhead follows an international team of police officers as they attempt to track down the people behind a massive child-abuse site on the dark web — and the morally complicated lengths authorities will go to to do so. Coming November 2019.