This week we're joined by Willa Paskin, the creator and host of Decoder Ring. It's a show that takes the questions on culture you never knew you had, and always finds the answer. 

Leah and Willa talk about solving cultural mysteries, that time Peter Falk quelled a Romanian uprising, and Willa's favourite podcasts. 

Featuring: Decoder Ring, The Turning: Room of Mirrors, Appearances, Hi-Phi Nation, Terrestrials 

For links and more info, head to http://cbc.ca/podcastplaylist.

Decoder Ring's Willa Paskin on solving cultural mysteries, and her favourite podcasts

Hosted by Leah-Simone Bowen, Podcast Playlist's podcast obsessed producers help you find the best podcasts out there. Each week we curate fresh, exciting and thoughtful stories to help you unearth new podcasts to add to your rotation. From true crime to comedy, from current affairs to audio fiction and everything in between. Each week we take you on a journey with lots of discoveries along the way. 
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In the early days of the war on terror, the US captured thousands of alleged “enemy combatants” overseas, but they needed somewhere to hold and interrogate them… without worrying about those pesky Geneva Conventions.  
 Guantánamo Bay was the perfect solution. But not long after it opened, the truth of its makeshift justice system started coming to light.  
 The new season of Serial offers an unprecedented look behind the scenes at the island prison. Today, Leah sits down with co-hosts Sarah Koenig and Dana Chivvis to hear the story behind their reporting.  
 Plus, you know the song "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell? Well, did you know it was actually an obscure soul song written in the 1960s? We'll hear that story from Lost Notes, plus Leah talks to co-hosts Novena Carmel and Michael Barnes about the show.  
 All that and more this week on Podcast Playlist.  
 Featuring: Serial, Lost Notes, Broomgate, White Devil  
 For links and more info, head to cbc.ca/podcastplaylist. 


A peek behind the bars at Guantánamo Bay, the untold story behind "Tainted Love", and more great new podcasts (ft. Sarah Koenig, Dana Chivvis, Novena Carmel, Michael Barnes)

This week on Podcast Playlist, Leah is joined by Josh Gwynn, host of the new CBC podcast Split Screen: Kid Nation.  
 The podcast revisits the 2007 reality TV show Kid Nation, where 40 children were left in the desert to fend for themselves for more than a month. Through interviews with former contestants, producers and parents, Josh tries to piece together how this show actually got made, and what impact it had on those kids now that they’re all grown up.  
 We’ll hear from Josh about that show’s legacy. Plus, we’ll listen to some of his favourite podcasts.  
 Featuring: Split Screen: Kid Nation, Today Explained, The Stoop, Classy, Scam Goddess  
 For links and more info head to cbc.ca/podcastplaylist. Have a podcast to recommend? Send us an email! 


Josh Gwynn digs into the reality show that marooned 40 kids in the desert, and shares his favourite podcasts

Whether it's in your high school English class or one of the many Shakespeare-inspired 90s rom-coms (10 Things I Hate About You, anybody?), most of us have encountered Shakespeare in some form or another.  
 Another place you can find the Bard? California's Centinela State Prison. The podcast Where There's a Will: Finding Shakespeare tells us about how performing Shakespeare can be transformative for incarcerated individuals. 
 Also: in 1986, NASA's space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all of its seven crew members. Among them was Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher who would have been the first private citizen in space.  
 Christa was one of 10 finalists from Ronald Reagan's "Teacher in Space" project. Chosen from more than 10,000 teacher applicants, the finalists participated in weeks of rigorous testing and training. NASA called it "space camp," but the process was far from fun and games.  
 In Slate's One Year: 1986, we hear about that intense experience from the former candidates themselves. 
 All that and more, this week on Podcast Playlist. 
 Featuring: If Books Could Kill, Where There's A Will: Finding Shakespeare, One Year: 1986, Missing and Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams, Future Perfect 
 For links and more info head to cbc.ca/podcastplaylist.

Shakespeare behind bars, the (not-so) scientific art of manifesting your dreams, and more of our greatest hits

This week on Podcast Playlist, we’re listening to true crime.  
 During the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, there was a huge amount of online hate directed towards Amber. But what if that was all part of an organized campaign? We’ll find out on Who Trolled Amber.  
 Plus, even if you’ve never heard of Peter Ivers, you’ve probably heard some of his music without realizing it. He was murdered in 1983, and the case was never solved. Now, a new podcast called Peter And The Acid King is trying to get to the bottom of it. It’s hosted by Penelope Spheeris, a friend of Peter’s and the director of Wayne’s World. Leah will sit down with Penelope to talk about the show, and Peter’s legacy.  
 All that and more, this week on Podcast Playlist.  
 Featuring: Peter And The Acid King, Stolen, White Lies, Who Trolled Amber, Ghost In The Machine 
 For links and more info head to cbc.ca/podcastplaylist.

The unsolved murder of an 80s counterculture icon, a different kind of doping, and more true crime stories (ft. Penelope Spheeris)

To make this show, our team listens through hours upon hours of audio. But sometimes, a few excellent shows will slip through the cracks. 
 This week, Leah is joined by the Podcast Playlist crew to share some amazing podcasts that you may have missed. 
 Like Once upon a time...at Bennington College. Our senior producer Kate Evans likes it because listening feels like, "a summer page turner, but for a podcast." The show shares the history of the unique Liberal arts college where authors Brett Easton Ellis, Jonathan Lethem and Donna Tartt all went to school together.  
 Plus, producer Julian Uzielli shares a heartfelt podcast about a group of Armenian soliders who survived months of being trapped behind enemy lines. 
 That and more, this week on Podcast Playlist. 
 Featuring: Once Upon A Time...At Bennington College, Freeway Phantom, The Ballad of Billy Balls, Country Of Dust 
 For more info, head to cbc.ca/podcastplaylist.

Decoder Ring's Willa Paskin on solving cultural mysteries, and her favourite podcasts

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