This newsletter will take three and a half minutes to read.
 

Can’t make the time right now? The new series we’re highlighting this week are Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates, The Pornhub Empire: Understood, and Just Asking as well as new episodes of PlayME, Crime Story and Hollywood Exiles.  

Conspiracy theories, online porn, and a voice of reason

Welcome to Sounds Good: CBC’s Podcast Newsletter! We’ve got two very exciting new shows to share with you this week. Both are about the power of the internet and what can happen when the hyperconnectivity of the World Wide Web gets unleashed in weird and sometimes terrifying ways. Read on to find out more!

Brand new shows!

(Art by Jem Ward)

Have you heard of the Avril Lavigne replacement theory? The decade-old conspiracy asserts the singer was replaced by a look-alike at the height of her fame. In this 6-part series, comedian Joanne McNally immerses herself in a mind-bending world of fake celebrity deaths, doppelgängers, and conspiracies in an effort to understand how this rumour started, and if there’s any truth to it. 

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder whether Avril has been actin' like she’s somebody else, and feel frustrated. It’s… complicated. 

Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates is produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC Podcasts. 

(Illustration by Tara Paquette, photo by Sharon Attia)

The Pornhub Empire: Understood is the story of how one website changed the way we viewed porn forever. This four-part series, hosted by Samantha Cole (author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex), pulls back the curtain on the scrappy Montreal startup that revolutionized sex on the internet — and the massive scandal that exposed its dark side. 

Made by the same team that brought you The Naked Emperor (the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried), Understood is a new anthology feed that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about. We’ll be announcing new seasons of Understood throughout the year, so be sure to follow on your favourite podcast platform! 

The series releases on March 11. For now, check out its trailer below.

(Illustration by Ben Shannon)

Just Asking is a new podcast from our friends at CBC Radio. It's a call-in format, hosted by Saroja Coelho, that promises to hear you out and help you out on everything from tech, money, career or health. With guest experts, Just Asking turns the week's news and latest trends into tips that help you make better decisions in your life. The show takes live calls on CBC Radio every Saturday afternoon and drops the podcast that same evening. 

New episodes!

• This week on PlayME, we have part one of the play, First Metis Man of Odesa, a romantic real-life comedy for an unpredictable world. The play is based on the true story of how playwright Matthew MacKenzie fell in love with his wife, Ukrainian actress Mariya Khomutova, just before the pandemic and Russian invasion. Listen now.
   
• In Episode 7, Hollywood Exiles takes a closer look at the moment when the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its hearings into communist subversion in the movie business. The hearings cement a phrase in American history: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the communist party?” Listen now.
   
• Why would an Ivy League institution protect a serial predator? In the latest episode of Crime Story, medical journalist Laura Beil, behind the award-winning podcast - Dr. Death - joins host Kathleen Goldhar to discuss her explosive investigation into New York’s most prolific sexual predator and the university that covered up his crimes. Listen now.

Thanks for reading, and happy listening!

Roshini Nair