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The Village

CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand

In the early 1990s, as AIDS tightens its grip on major cities around the world, the relative safety of Montreal’s nightlife becomes a magnet for gay men. But when they start turning up dead in hotel rooms, beaten lifeless in city parks, and violently murdered in their own homes, the queer community has more to fear than the disease. While the city’s police force dithers over the presence of a serial killer, a group of queer activists starts making connections, and rises up to start a movement that would end up changing thousands of lives. Hosted by Francis Plourde. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime.

Location:

Toronto, ON

Genres:

True Crime

Description:

In the early 1990s, as AIDS tightens its grip on major cities around the world, the relative safety of Montreal’s nightlife becomes a magnet for gay men. But when they start turning up dead in hotel rooms, beaten lifeless in city parks, and violently murdered in their own homes, the queer community has more to fear than the disease. While the city’s police force dithers over the presence of a serial killer, a group of queer activists starts making connections, and rises up to start a movement that would end up changing thousands of lives. Hosted by Francis Plourde. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime.

Language:

English


Episodes

The Village Introduces: The Pornhub Empire: Understood

3/18/2024
With about 100 million visits per day, Pornhub is one of the biggest websites on the planet. This four-part series pulls back the curtain on the scrappy, Montreal-based startup that revolutionized sex on the internet — and the massive scandal that exposed its dark side. The Pornhub Empire, season 2 of Understood, releases March 11. Hosted by journalist Samantha Cole (How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex). About Understood: Know more, now. From the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, to the rise of Pornhub, Understood is an anthology podcast that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about. Over a handful of episodes, each season unfolds as a story, hosted by a well-connected reporter, and rooted in journalism you can trust. Driven by insight and fueled by curiosity…The stories of our time: Understood. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/a-oWaJUi

Duration:00:27:42

The Village Introduces: Gay Girl Gone

11/15/2023
Of all the young revolutionaries in Syria during the Arab Spring, Amina is different. An out lesbian in a country where homosexuality is illegal, she bravely documents her life on the blog Gay Girl in Damascus. Her candid posts attract readers from around the world, and soon she has a wide, ardent following. But then a post appears saying Amina has been abducted. Her fans mobilize, desperate to track down and save their fearless heroine. What they find shocks them. Journalist Samira Mohyeddin investigates what actually happened to the infamous Gay Girl in Damascus in this 6-part series. The result is a twisted yarn that spans the globe and challenges our thinking on love, politics and identity in cyberspace. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/dCRViljP

Duration:00:36:33

The Village Introduces: Crime Story

10/17/2023
Fraud. Abduction. Murder. Every week, Crime Story host and investigative journalist Kathleen Goldhar goes deep into a tale of true crime with the storyteller who knows it best. From the reporter who exposed Bill Cosby, to the writer who solved one of Australia’s most chilling cold cases — Crime Story guests include: Gilbert King (Bone Valley), Eric Benson (Project Unabomb),Carole Fisher (The Girlfriends), and many more. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/Szww5UjY

Duration:00:50:35

The Village Introduces: Resurrection — Episode 1: San Francisco, 1979

6/15/2023
Daryl Allen always wanted to be a playwright, but before his art found success, his life was cut short by HIV. Before he dies, he leaves one of his scripts with an ex-boyfriend, asking his ex to do something with the play. 25 years later, the script is given to Dane Stewart, a playwright living in Montreal, and he falls down the rabbit hole. Listen to the next episode of Resurrection on all podcast platforms, and learn how you can support Resurrection here: https://bit.ly/ResurrectionPod

Duration:00:35:44

The Village Introduces: The Africas VS. America

2/8/2023
In 1985, at the height of the Black Power era, police dropped a bomb in a Philadelphia neighborhood. Their target? A family of Black radicals known as ‘MOVE,’ who found themselves ensnared in a city — and nation’s — domestic war on Black Liberation. Over seven episodes, host Matthew Amha investigates the events that culminated in the MOVE bombing, and the long afterlife of a forgotten American tragedy. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/ECc7Jcn4

Duration:00:53:08

The Village Introduces: The Outlaw Ocean

9/26/2022
The high seas are beyond the reach of international law – and beyond the beat of most reporters. But Pulitzer-Prize-winner and former New York Times journalist, Ian Urbina, has sailed into uncharted territories. Urbina sets out on a years-long quest to investigate murder at sea, modern slave labour, environmental crimes and quixotic adventurers. Part travelog, part true-crime thriller, this 7-part series takes listeners to places where the laws of the land no longer exist. The Outlaw Ocean...

Duration:00:56:04

S3 E7: Atonement

7/19/2022
Years of sustained pressure finally pay off as the policing culture shifts to include activists’ input into their investigations. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:34:05

S3 E6: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

7/12/2022
When one of its priests is found murdered in Montreal, the Anglican Church has to publicly reckon with its sins. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:36:36

S3 E5: Out With Them All

7/5/2022
Faced with a deadly disease, surrounded by death, AIDS activist Roger Leclerc resorts to controversial tactics to confront discrimination and violence against gays and lesbians. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:43:59

S3 E4: A Murder is a Murder is a Murder

6/28/2022
A married man is murdered while on a business trip in Montreal. The case highlights the challenges of investigating the murders. Delayed investigations and unsolved cases are a dear price to pay when a serial killer may be on the loose. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:28:36

S3 E3: Chicken Little

6/21/2022
Montreal, 1991 – Fearing a serial killer, activists decide to take matters into their own hands. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:28:36

S3 E2: Sex Garage

6/14/2022
Scores of police remove their badges and slip on rubber gloves before beating and arresting queer partygoers in downtown Montreal. The violence escalates in the coming days, and many more are beaten and jailed. A stronger front emerges. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:38:59

S3 E1: La Vie en Rose

6/7/2022
Joe Rose, a queer activist living with AIDS, is murdered in cold blood on a city bus. So public, so brutal – the city is shocked. The killing becomes a catalyst for ACT UP’s takeover of the 1989 Montreal AIDS conference. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-village-the-montreal-murders-transcripts-listen-1.6479960

Duration:00:46:02

S3: Introducing: The Montreal Murders (Trailer)

5/31/2022
A sneak peek into season three. Montreal in the 90s was a great time, but it had a dark side. For many men, being in – or out – of the closet during the AIDS epidemic was the difference between life and death. Unsolved murders stack up. And in the absence of police protection, a community of activists are forced to take matters into their own hands.

Duration:00:02:43

S3 E0: Return to The Village

5/31/2022
Justin hands over the season to Francis at Parc de L’Espoir, the memorial to people who died from HIV/AIDS in Montreal’s gay village. We’re going back 30 years. The world was a different place. What we learned about how to live through a pandemic and how to solve a murder.

Duration:00:03:44

Introducing: White Hot Hate

10/27/2021
The new investigative series White Hot Hate follows the extraordinary case of young Canadian journalist Ryan Thorpe who infiltrated an international neo-Nazi extremist network. While host Michelle Shephard explores the rise of white supremacist accelerationism: the ultra-violent ideology that drives believers to create chaos, in order to seize ultimate control. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/whitehothate

Duration:00:38:29

Introducing: The Flamethrowers

9/8/2021
The Flamethrowers captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy peddlers of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today. With humour and candour, Ling examines the appeal of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, who found a sleeping audience, radicalized it, and became an accidental kingmaker — culminating in the election of Donald Trump. More episodes are available at...

Duration:00:04:05

S2 E5: Accountability and Apologies

7/20/2021
Justin discovers a shocking failure in the investigation into Alloura's death and poses tough questions to Toronto’s police chief. Trans activists honour Alloura and others who have inspired change, and who deserved better. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline’s Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860 For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-villiage-season-2-transcripts-listen-1.6076988

Duration:00:54:59

S2 E4: We belong

7/13/2021
Police believe someone knows who killed Cassandra; all he has to do is talk. Meanwhile, trans activists and their allies embark on a long fight for inclusion in human rights laws — in Canada and around the world. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline’s Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860 For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-villiage-season-2-transcripts-listen-1.6076988

Duration:00:49:37

S2 E3: Cassandra

7/6/2021
Cassandra Do comes to the Village, trying to escape discrimination back home. When Cassandra pursues sex work to finance her transition, she finds herself part of a community targeted by the Toronto police. Note: If you're in crisis or just looking for someone to talk to, try the Trans Lifeline’s Hotline — a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning folks: CAN (877) 330-6366 or US (877) 565-8860 For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-villiage-season-2-transcripts-listen-1.6076988

Duration:00:48:42