The hottest new podcasts to keep you enthralled this summer
In Idaho, one January night in 1961, a small nuclear reactor known simply as the SL-1 exploded. It was part of an experiment run by the U.S. Army at a research facility near Idaho Falls. The blast was deadly, killing all three of the operators on site, making it the world's first fatal nuclear reactor accident. To this day, it remains the deadliest nuclear accident in U.S. history.
If you've never heard about this meltdown, you're not alone. Laura Krantz, the host of the podcast Wild Thing, grew up in Idaho Falls but didn't find out about the nuclear meltdown until she was an adult. So, when she learned her hometown may soon be getting its power from a new type of nuclear reactor she knew she'd found her focus for this season of Wild Thing. In this week's episode, she joins host Leah-Simone Bowen to share more about her experience with this latest production that hits close to home.
Plus, we've got more great podcast picks just in time for road trips, beach days, or whatever else you're getting up to this summer. From a closer look at legendary Cree singer, songwriter and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, to a sneak peek of the surf rock musical adaptation of early 20th century Czech author and satirist Karel Čapek's final book about newts … we've got some fantastic new listens lined up.
Podcasts featured this week:
Wild Thing: "You'd be forgiven if you've never heard the story of the meltdown of the SL-1 nuclear reactor at a federal research facility in Idaho. Rumours about love triangles, emotional instability and insubordination made the rounds, but what actually happened that night remains a mystery. All we know is that an explosion killed three men, contaminated and sickened rescue personnel, and then exposed thousands of citizens in the nearby towns to a cloud of radioactive gasses."
Not Lost: "In each episode of Not Lost, host Brendan Francis travels to a different city with the goal of getting invited to a stranger's dinner party. In this episode he heads to Montreal, and along the way he seeks help from Leonard Cohen's ghost, while his friend Danielle hides from Montreal's sub-zero temperatures in a Nordic Spa."
Buffy: "Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most successful Indigenous musicians in North America. She's been performing for 50 years, playing alongside giants like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, and she was the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. Now, CBC Podcasts is telling her story with the new series, Buffy."
Newts!: "Based on the Czech sci-fi author Karel Čapek's War With The Newts, this podcast is a delightfully bizarre surf-rock musical about an alternate history of the 1930s, in which humanity discovers, exploits, educates, arms, and is ultimately overthrown by a species of highly intelligent talking newts."
Class Action: "Class Action is a twelve-part podcast documentary series that tracks a diverse cast of outstanding law students who are battling it out in mock trial competitions across the country."
What are you looking forward to listening to this summer? Let us know what's on your list. Email, tweet us @PodcastPlaylist, or find us on Facebook.
For more great podcasts, check out CBC's podcast portal, subscribe in Apple Podcasts.