Split Screen: Kid Nation

There’s a story going around, that punk-pop sensation Avril Lavigne ISN’T who you think she is. That she was replaced at the start of her career by a look-a-like. It’s an internet conspiracy theory which has been eating comedian Joanne McNally ALIVE, and she’s going to do something about it.


Joanne immerses herself in a mind-bending world of fake celebrity deaths, doppelgangers, conspiracies in an effort to understand how this rumour started, and if there’s any truth to it. Produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.


Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted.


Season 1 | Kid Nation: The true story behind one of reality TV’s most controversial experiments.

Season 2 | Thrill Seekers: A multi-million dollar media experiment. Would you fall for it?

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Recent Reviews
  • GooseGoose2015
    Good pod
    I love listening to Avril Lavigne and I was shocked when my mom told me she was replaced. I love this podcast and me and my friend Lyra listen all the time. We both love her songs and wonder, "what happened to Avril?" and we finally found this pod. Bye! P. S. Please give me (Maddox) and my friend (Lyra) a shoutout if possible.
  • JaniceH727
    Painfully annoying
    I loved kid nation but this new Avril season is so obnoxious it’s painful to listen to. I did my best to get through the second episode but ended up giving up. This one is a big miss.
  • oldjohnhall
    Kinda fun
    But the host really ruins it by being such a twee little dork
  • SPWilds
    Great CRAZY story!
    I’m desperate to see the TV show now. Hope this is available to watch in the U.S. TV development can be amazing!! I also want to know who paid for this show. Seems like quite a budget went into this TV show.
  • Kimi20
    Can’t finish show if not subscriber
    I can’t play episode 4 if I’m not a prescriber. But episodes past 4 are available. It’s very annoying.
  • Pod_RJ
    Okay
    Pretty good till the last episode when the show is made out to be great and how it helped so many kids, not considering how many it traumatized!
  • AKALynnie
    Love it, but…
    The topic is fascinating, and when the host stays on topic the podcast is great, but…when the editorializing kicks in, or when today’s political points get inserted into events that took place 20 years ago, the podcast goes wrong. It is almost too cringy at points to listen to, a major editorial error.
  • ANCDHXX
    Fun
    This was a fun listen
  • Lmilly
    Loved it.
    Never even heard of kid nation but I’m not a reality tv gal. However, Loved the pod. Fast paced, narrator is lovely to listen to, the right balance of journalism and story telling.
  • Deej Lemeiu
    Interesting
    Alright I like the podcast but the driving question is very vague. It gets narrowed down a little bit in Episode 5 but for the most part this podcast just seems like a recap of the show. The host talks about parts of an episode and then there are some interviews with the kids as adults. It’s interesting, but a little pointless.
  • Lavendrr!!
    👍👍
    Great podcast, fun to listen to in the background when I’m doing something else. Nice analyzation of society and kids’ portrayal of it reflected in their world
  • Otherlleft
    Not an exposé
    This seems like it is going to be hard-hitting journalism into the exploitation of kids, but it ends up being a celebration of the format. It comes complete with breathless recaps manufactured dramatic moments and after-the-fact interviews with participants. The intent might be to create a critique, but the host becomes an unwitting cheerleader of everything terrible about "reality" television.
  • thedp321
    A great example of Yellow “journalism”
    Entire podcast is sensationalized hyperbolic nonsense. Podcaster also puts his idiotic opinions into this “investigation”.
  • polkadotpollo
    The podcast I’ve been waiting for!!
    Finally a podcast about kid nation! I thought kid nation was a fever dream I made up when I was 8. A great listen about one of the strangest reality tv shows of all time.
  • Boo 5769
    Great host
    I had forgotten about this show. Thought provoking questions about how it got made.
  • None4567654
    Inaccurate
    I watched this show. Kids went home if they wanted to. This commentary is ridiculous. Obviously there were adults there with the children because they were being filmed.
  • SodOff67
    Oh well
    Coulda been a fun quirky podcast but the host had to blab on about society when it’s like who cares.
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