CANADA AND BRITAIN’s national public broadcasters, CBC/Radio-Canada and BBC, announced today they have jointly commissioned three new original podcasts by BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts.
The podcasts are an extension of a commitment to collaboration the BBC and CBC/Radio-Canada announced in 2019, a press release explains. They are scheduled to be released in late 2022 and 2023 on BBC Sounds, CBC Listen and on other podcast and audio platforms.
The working titles for the podcasts, which are currently in production, are The Billion Dollar Goldmine Scam, The Bait and Hollywood Outcasts.
The Billion Dollar Goldmine Scam is being produced by BBC Scotland Productions. “In the 1990s, Bre-X Minerals perpetrated the world’s largest mining fraud,” a description of the podcast in the press release explains.
“Investigative journalist Suzanne Wilton (right) tells the story of how the promise of gold can make people do crazy things. This globe-trotting tale of greed, gold and mystery features amazing archive and sound design, plus interviews with investigators, those who lost a fortune, as well as some of the people at the heart of the scam.”
The Bait, which is being produced by Antica Productions/Telltale Industries, is described as “The search for an adult entertainment star whose images are being used against her will in a global catfishing scheme,” the press release says. “Journalist and host Hannah Ajala (above, left) embarks on a journey from the UK to Florida to West Africa, discovering a criminal web bilking those in search of romance out of their fortunes.”
Hollywood Outcasts, being produced by BBC Audio Wales, is “The story of how Hollywood’s “Tramp,” Charlie Chaplin, became the focus of a decades-long FBI campaign to root out communism in Tinseltown,” the press release explains.
“Host Oona Chaplin (above, right) guides listeners through the real-life events of J. Edgar Hoover’s personal obsession with her grandfather, through to the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings and the “Hollywood blacklist”. This tale of glamour, duplicity and political intrigue reverberates in the culture wars to this day.”
“I’m delighted that the BBC World Service is collaborating with CBC Podcasts in creating fresh, compelling podcasts through these new commissions. With first-class storytelling at their heart, I look forward to seeing these podcasts brought to a wider audience,” said Tim Davie, director general of the BBC, in a press release.
“BBC and CBC/Radio-Canada are both leaders in podcasting and it is a great pleasure to launch this joint initiative. This collaboration is just another way that we as public broadcasters can leverage our expertise to serve audiences at home and around the world,” said Catherine Tait, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada.
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