Podcast Playlist

7 Immersive podcasts on history

From soldiers describing their terrible food during WW II to Maya Angelou retelling her experiences with con artists, listen to the voices that paint our history.

Seven podcasts that take you back in time.

Click here to listen to the full Canadian broadcast version:

From soldiers describing their terrible food during WW II to Maya Angelou retelling her experiences with con artists, listen to the voices that paint our history.

1. The Memory Palace

"So 850,000 men would wait, hearts in throats, knees bouncing, fingers drumming on steering wheels...." — Nate DiMeo describing the 1969 draft lottery on The Memory Palace.

Experience what it's like to have your number called in a televised draft lottery during the Vietnam war.

In a second story from The Memory Palace, hear the story of the extravagant Coney Island amusement park Dreamland.

PLUS - Lindsay interviews host Nate DiMeo.

2. Blank on Blank

"Daddy Clydell knew the racket, so he taught me how to look at cards and see if they were marked, and weigh dice to see if they were loaded." — Maya Angelou on learning from scam artists.

Maya Angelou speaks with Studs Terkel in this interview from 1970 about what she's learned from con men.

3. Collections Canada

"She was also an ordinary person who through her music became the voice of her time." — Music historian and archivist Rachel Chiasson-Taylor on Mary Travers (aka La Bolduc).

The life and career of Quebec's first breakout singer-songwriter.

4. Days of Old

"The D Bar drew a nickname: 'Hitler's Secret Weapon.'" — Bill Dungey on the food soldiers ate during WW II.

Host Bill Dungey talks about some of the more terrible dining options for soldiers during wartime. 

5. Memory Motel

"That made readers feel more connected with the paper, it made them feel ownership in the paper...It made them feel a sense of connection as a community." — Kay Powell talks about the power of obituaries on Memory Motel.

Examine the art and business of obituary writing.

6. Found

"I didn't actually want to hold him because I knew that I would get attached. I just reflexively put my arms out and I took him from Danny and I knew. I just knew in that moment that this was our son." — Pete Mercurio on discovering an abandoned child.

One night in New York, 16 years ago, a man finds a baby behind the turnstile as he gets off the subway.

7. Archive 81

"This place, it's not normal!" — Archive 81

Before Daniel Powell vanished, he sent an archive of mysterious tapes with clues that might lead to his discovery.


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For more great podcasts, check out CBC's podcast portal or subscribe in iTunes.