Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood

The Seven Super Girls channel is now a phenomenon and its tween creators are overnight sensations.

The girls meet with thousands of adoring fans, pose for photoshoots and start going on group trips. There, the girls have a chance to connect with one another and finally meet the man behind the channel – in person.

But with their success, a slowly tightening grip forms around the girls. Manager Ian Rylett introduces bizarre rules governing everything from their body hair and clothing size, to their communications with each other.

Hear all episodes of Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood, early and ad-free, on CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

As YouTube rapidly revolutionizes the entertainment industry in the late 2000s, one channel made for and by girls takes off: Seven Super Girls. The girls’ daily videos gain billions of views, millions of fans… and more money than a child knows what to do with.

But behind their skyrocketing success is something darker. What’s the cost of living their childhood in a digital spotlight? And who’s the man behind the channel and what are his real intentions?

Can’t wait for next week’s episode? Hear all episodes of Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood now, ad-free, on CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

What ever happened to the first kids to grow up – and blow up – on the internet?

Now old enough to tell their own stories for the first time, stars of one of YouTube's earliest and most popular kid-fluencer channels for girls share their experiences with fame, fortune, online predators… and the manager who controlled their lives for years, until he was put behind bars.

Four episodes, releasing weekly starting Monday, November 9.

Joanne is back Canada… she has something she really needs to tell Avril. After months of digging – Joanne has finally tracked down the source of this rumour.

SO Avril DEFINITELY didn’t get replaced. That just wasn’t true. Which is great… but it does beg the question, who WAS Melissa?

Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Joanne was beginning to come to terms with the fact that this might all be nonsense. She turns her sights on who started this conspiracy. Where did it come from?

Joanne speaks to experts in online rumour spreading. She hears some extraordinary stories about how lies have gotten completely out of hand and become widely believed (to devastating effect.) Perhaps whoever started this had no idea it would go viral. We really should think more carefully about what we write on the internet…

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Joanne and her producer Sophie set up a war room with all of the evidence about Avril being replaced layed out. Her clothing, height, make up, song lyrics, voice.. it’s all there – being held up to the light. Joanne lines up some experts to prove once and for all if the Avril story is true.

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Avril’s career hit something of a bump in the road. At one point she appeared to fall off the radar completely, all while the rumours about her being replaced were swirling.

Can a fake death story literally kill your career? One man who knows is Dave Benson Phillips. He was a children’s TV presenter, on a path to great things. Until… he died. The TV offers dried up. His theatre tour got canceled. The impact on his life was immense. And Dave’s not the only one. Joanne hears about death rumours for Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus…the list is endless. What can this tell us about the Avril theory?

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Joanne arrives in Napanee, Ontario – Avril’s hometown. She plunges into Avril’s early career. The young superstar-Avril was under a lot of scrutiny and pressure. Was she itching to step out of the spotlight?

Plus, Joanne learns body-doubles ARE a thing, and not just in the movies. Joanne chats with celebrity pal Joe Lycett – and he agrees having a body double would get them out of all sorts of engagements they don’t really want to do.

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Joanne LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it.

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Joanne McNally LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it. Available wherever you get your podcasts on February 3, 2025.

Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.

Space Cadets: where are they now? We learn how the contestants struggled to adapt to life after the show. We bring them together after 20 years, to finally reflect on how the show permanently warped their beliefs about the world around them.

Four cadets are sent to space and have a profound experience as they view the Earth from above. Back on the ground, producers scramble to find a satisfying end to the series, faced with a growing feeling that the reveal could be traumatic.

The reviews are rolling in, but they’re not what the crew were expecting. Psychologist Cynthia McVay examines whether the manipulations integral to reality TV can be ethical and asks if this show is too cruel for broadcast. Meanwhile, the cadets find out who will be going to space.

Before the cadets begin auditioning, a production team is hired to make the show. They too were sworn to secrecy as they were challenged to tackle a job they didn’t even think was possible. The set designers create an intricate world in order to fool the cadets and trick them out of their own reality.

The contestants are flown to a Russian cosmonaut base and put through the most gruelling training of their lives in preparation for their mission. But as the training becomes more and more ridiculous, doubts begin to creep in.

Would you go on a reality show if you didn’t know what it was about? Even if they promised you the adventure of a lifetime? In 2005, 12 people did just that. They answered an ad that read “Thrill Seekers wanted” and began auditioning for a show unlike any other in British television history.

To listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories Premium channel here.

This is the story behind a multi-million dollar media experiment that promised 12 ordinary people an adventure of a lifetime. But there was a catch: while the audience knew everything, the contestants had no idea what the adventure would be. Love + Radio’s Nick van der Kolk is on a mission to uncover if reality TV only succeeds when it exploits those involved. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers, available on September 23, 2024.

What if everything you believed about the world around you was a lie? In the early 2000s, a TV crew offered 12 ordinary people the chance to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. But there’s a catch: while the audience knows everything, the contestants are kept in the dark. Introducing Split Screen: Thrill Seekers.

Josh Gwynn, host of Split Screen: Kid Nation, caught up with this season’s host, Nick van der Kolk, to learn more about the podcast that uncovers the twisted reality behind the multi-million dollar media experiment. Split Screen: Thrill Seekers will be available wherever you get your podcasts on September 23, 2024.

Negative portrayals left kids like Olivia traumatized whereas others, like Laurel and Anjay look back with fondness. How did being on the show affect the trajectory of the pioneers? And why does Kid Nation continue to strike a cultural chord? 

For ad-free listening to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.

After the chaos of the first few weeks life in Bonanza City stabilizes – but that doesn’t make for great TV. The former pioneers say that as the show wore on, the drama became more contrived, with plot-lines that saw kids portrayed as gambling addicts and anarchists, looting the town stores. It leaves us wondering whether Kid Nation could ever have lived up to its utopian premise? How do the former pioneers feel about it now?

For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.

The producers prompt the kids to confront adult themes, with a joint religious service and town hall elections. Through the introduction of politics and religion, we see how Kid Nation is a microcosm of the real world in 2007, where the shadow of 9/11 and the War on Terror looms large.

For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.

The kids are forced to navigate social hierarchies as producers introduce class, competition and warped financial incentives. Every few days, a team competition sorts the kids into four social classes: upper class, merchant, cooks and labourers. We ask what these themes reveal about America’s values and prejudices.

For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.

Every reality show has a villain. In Kid Nation, that role was assigned to 15-year-old Greg Pheasant. Through multiple perspectives on Greg’s bullying, we explore whether kids were cast to perform predetermined roles. It raises questions about the different levels of agency these kids had in what was a high-pressure and high-stakes situation.

For early access to Split Screen: Kid Nation episodes and to listen ad-free, subscribe to CBC's Stories channel here.