Podcasts · Society & Culture

Personally: Agent Layla

CBC

72 episodes · in order

When she was 20 years old, something terrible happened to Vienna Luke. And for more than a decade, the truth of that night remains buried. But when Vienna becomes a mother, she realizes she must confront the past and uncover the truth – whatever the consequences for her family. Her sister Shawnessy comes aboard in the role of dogged detective and Vienna plays the secret agent in a relentless search for answers and justice. Personally: Agent Layla is a gripping true story about memory, family and how far one woman must go to set the record straight. Hosted by Jodie Martinson.

More about the show

Episode one is available wherever you get your podcasts, September 21.

---ABOUT PERSONALLY---

Get lost in someone else’s life. From a mysterious childhood spent on the run, to a courageous escape from domestic violence, each season of Personally invites you to explore the human experience in all its complexity, one story — or season — at a time. This is what it sounds like to be human.

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. Introducing Run, Hide, Repeat

    · 2:50 · Trailer

    Best-selling author and journalist Pauline Dakin takes you on an immersive journey into a childhood spent on the run, one where unexplained moves and disturbing events took place under a shroud of secrecy. When Pauline…

  2. Run, Hide, Repeat, Episode 1: Don't Tell

    · 33 min · S1 E1

    It’s 1971 and Ruth Dakin is going through a messy divorce and fears for the future of her young children, Pauline and Ted. She meets Stan Sears, a United Church Minister, a man who offered comfort and safe harbour. But…

  3. Run, Hide, Repeat, Episode 2: On The Run

    · 36 min · S1 E2

    Now a teenager living in Saint John, the secrecy and unexplained moves wear Pauline down. Eventually she graduates and starts a career in journalism thinking she can start to live a normal life. That changes in…

  4. Run, Hide, Repeat, Episode 3: The Weird World

    · 55 min · S1 E3

    Based on her mother and Stan’s stunning revelations, Pauline and her brother Ted start sifting through their childhood memories and matching them to the once unexplained events. Stan and Ruth, now openly a couple, are…

  5. Run, Hide, Repeat, Episode 4: Saving Mom

    · 42 min · S1 E4

    Pauline is struggling with doubts — the details of her family’s secret seem outrageous. But why would Stan and her mother lie to her? Pauline sets up a sting to find out once and for all if Stan and Ruth are telling…

  6. Run, Hide, Repeat, Episode 5: Stan's World

    · 52 min · S1 E5

    Pauline sets out to understand Stan’s mind and motives. She meets up with his son, John, who has some very strange stories of his own. And Pauline finally comes across a potential answer – something that could explain…

  7. Introducing Welcome to Paradise

    · 2:18 · S2 E1 · Trailer

    As one of Canada’s most respected journalists, Anna Maria Tremonti has a reputation for being fearless. She’s reported from some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. But there’s one story she’s never made…

  8. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 1: One of Those People You Hear About

    · 30 min · S2 E1

    Ready to reveal her longest-held secret, Anna Maria Tremonti talks to her therapist about a trauma from 40 years ago that’s the source of shame and self-loathing. She’s reported on gender-based violence many times as a…

  9. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 2: See What You Made Me Do

    · 30 min · S2 E2

    Pat seems charming, funny and worldly – the perfect husband. But shortly after their wedding, Anna Maria discovers the man she’s married is an entirely different person behind closed doors. If you or someone you know…

  10. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 3: L is for Love

    · 33 min · S2 E3

    Anna Maria is living a double life. In public she and Pat seem like the perfect couple. At home, he’s becoming increasingly violent. If you or someone you know is affected by intimate partner violence, you can find a…

  11. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 4: The Long Tail

    · 29 min · S2 E4

    Getting out is only half the battle. After separating from her abusive husband, Anna Maria faces the most dangerous period of the relationship… and long-term emotional fallout that follows her for years. If you or…

  12. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 5: The Message

    · 31 min · S2 E5

    As Anna Maria prepares to contact Pat, she makes a startling discovery. If you or someone you know is affected by intimate partner violence, you can find a list of resources here. Find transcripts of this series here.

  13. Welcome to Paradise, Episode 6: The Visitation

    · 33 min · S2 E6

    Anna Maria makes a trip to find out more about Pat's past and confirms something she’d suspected. If you or someone you know is affected by intimate partner violence, you can find a list of resources here. Find…

  14. Introducing Short Sighted

    · 1:09 · Trailer

    Graham Isador is losing his vision. Through Short Sighted's mini episodes, he situates listeners in the everyday experience of a blind or low vision person for an intimate and irreverent look at accessibility and its…

  15. Short Sighted, Episode 1: How to be a TV host when you can't see?

    · 16 min · S3 E1

    Writer and journalist Graham Isador has a degenerative eye disease. It’s started to impact his day-to-day and his work prospects. He’s been looking for the best way to talk about it. New episodes will be released…

  16. Short Sighted, Episode 2: How to tell people you're losing vision

    · 14 min · S3 E2

    Because there are no visual identifiers for Graham’s condition, people don’t think he’s losing his sight. They think he’s an asshole. Graham talks to his friends about why they think he has problems in social…

  17. Short Sighted, Episode 3: How to dance for people who don’t see

    · 15 min · S3 E3

    Graham talks to blind artist Devon Healey, who makes dance shows for people who don’t see and explores the world of audio description. Special thanks to Justin Miller, Tarragon Theatre, Outside The March Theatre…

  18. Short Sighted, Episode 4: How to be photographer when you can’t see

    · 14 min · S3 E4

    After an unsuccessful eye surgery, Graham feels estranged from his camera. Blind photojournalist Samantha Hurley offers a different perspective before she leaves to photograph the 2024 Paralympic games in Paris.…

  19. Short Sighted, Episode 5: How to surf when you're going blind

    · 14 min · S3 E5

    Graham faces his fears and travels to Vancouver to learn how to surf from blind screenwriter Ryan Knighton. Special thanks to Ryan Knighton.

  20. Introducing Sorry About The Kid

    · 2:10 · Trailer

    How do you forget your favourite person in the world? Alex remembers everything about the day a speeding police car killed his brother. But his brother, alive? Those memories are lost – and he wants them back. Sorry…

  21. Sorry About The Kid, Episode 2: Paulbearers

    · 34 min · S4 E2

    A funeral. A strange smell. A story that just doesn’t add up. In the days after Paul’s death, grief consumes Alex’s family. His mom is catatonic. His dad is furious. Both are focused on one thing: demanding the police…

  22. Sorry About The Kid, Episode 1: Where’s Paul?

    · 29 min · S4 E1

    Alex worshipped his older brother, Paul. But when Paul was killed by a speeding police car at age 14, Alex almost immediately started to forget him. First his voice. Then his laugh. Then pretty much everything else.…

  23. Sorry About The Kid, Episode 3: Ghost

    · 30 min · S4 E3

    “Were you waiting for me to just say goodbye?” Alex and his grief counsellor, Yvonne, dive into one memory of Paul that Alex never forgot and try to trigger others. Plus, Alex’s parents discover that some of their own…

  24. Sorry About The Kid, Episode 4: Macho Man Ninja

    · 34 min · S4 E4

    “Isn’t this the a-hole who killed Paul McKinnon? Shut up and die!” A distracting obsession. An unexpected letter. And a controversial method of regaining lost memories. Plus, a final message from Paul.

  25. Introducing: Toy Soldier

    · 3:06 · Trailer

    As a child, Alex Kurzem faced a choice: be killed or join the killers. After escaping the massacre that killed his family during the Holocaust, he’s found by the enemy and taken in as one of their own – becoming a…

  26. Toy Soldier, Episode 1: The Hidden Suitcase

    · 33 min · S5 E1

    Uldis Kurzemnieks believed he would take his lie to the grave – his life had depended on it. For decades, he told the same story of how he survived the Second World War as a boy, but his niece always believed there was…

  27. Toy Soldier, Episode 2: Born a Second Time

    · 33 min · S5 E2

    Uldis is now Alex – living an ordinary, happy life in Australia, but the horrors of his past have resurfaced. Fifty years after his name was stolen from him, can he find it again? A letter from Minsk might hold the…

  28. Toy Soldier, Episode 3: The Money Angle

    · 33 min · S5 E3

    Alex’s story goes viral (as viral as it can in the early 2000s), but doubts and accusations swirl around him – dividing his family and community. Alex is called a liar and a conman trying to profit from the Holocaust,…

  29. Toy Soldier, Episode 4: A Complicated Miracle

    · 40 min · S5 E4

    Alex finally takes a DNA test, hoping to prove his identity – once and for all. What will it find? Who will it find? The results surprise everyone, even Alex.

  30. Toy Soldier, Episode 5: ‘L’chaim – To Life’

    · 27 min · S5 E5

    As Alex’s newfound family grapples with who he really was and what side of the war he was fighting for, COVID sets in. Will Alex ever get a real reunion?

  31. Introducing: Forever is a Long Time

    · 3:39

    When I decided to get married, every living member of my family who had ever been married had also gotten divorced. Apparently, I thought my marriage would end differently. Listen to Personally: Forever is a Long Time…

  32. Forever is a Long Time, Part 1: My Parents, Ellen and Tom

    · 32 min · S6 E1

    My parents divorced when I was eight years old — young enough that I don’t have a lot of clear memories of it, but old enough that I was definitely watching, listening, and learning. So I asked them both to tell me…

  33. Forever is a Long Time, Part 2: My Grandmother, Marianne

    · 36 min · S6 E2

    My grandmother never sent presents for birthdays or holidays, and didn't expect us to either. She seemed to resist anything that felt like authority, convention and tradition; which is why it's so strange that she was…

  34. Forever is a Long Time, Part 3: Aunt Mia and Uncle Paul

    · 32 min · S6 E3

    The idea of a lifetime commitment can feel impossible, when it can still fall apart in year 20, or year 30, or 35. My own parents’ marriage never made it that far, but some of my aunts and uncles did, only to find that…

  35. Forever is a Long Time, Part 4: Uncle Eric

    · 30 min · S6 E4

    Most divorces in my family bring some sense of relief. It may take three years to get there, or it may take thirty years, but once it’s over, it feels pretty clear that this is for the best. But it’s not so clear for…

  36. Forever is a Long Time, Part 5: Aunt Rari

    · 32 min · S6 E5

    My aunt Rari divorced her husband so completely and so long ago that I don’t even know the man’s name. She tells me that story and about the life she built without him. It makes me contemplate the value of a life spent…

  37. Introducing: NO.

    · 6:03 · Trailer

    Revisiting NO. After 8 years and several disappointing hook-ups wherein KP found herself wondering if the world forgot the lessons that shook 2017, she decides it's high time to listen again to the series that brings…

  38. NO, Part One: Advance

    · 17 min · S7 E1 · Explicit

    We meet Kaitlin in her youth as she learns to navigate her first sexual experiences along with the confusion of her desires. Kaitlin learns how to decline unwanted sexual advances and the difficulty of advocating for…

  39. NO, Part Two: Inheritance

    · 34 min · S7 E2 · Explicit

    In the second episode of the series, we catch up to Kaitlin while she is in her mid-twenties, waiting to fall in love. Over the years she has become an expert at advocating for her own pleasure. She has learned how to…

  40. NO, Part Three: Answers

    · 41 min · S7 E3 · Explicit

    The third episode of NO: Kaitlin’s search for the answer to why coercion is so omnipresent lands her in one obvious place. Straight, cis-gendered men. In this episode, Kaitlin consults the men in her life that she…

  41. NO, Part Four: Questions

    · 33 min · S7 E4 · Explicit

    Many listeners were left with a lot of lingering questions and thoughts after the first three episodes. In the final installment of ‘NO’ we respond to some of the questions that we heard a lot of. What do I tell my…

  42. Introducing: Resurrection

    · 3:11

    In a moment of fate in 2017, Dane Stewart is gifted a bundle of love letters and theatrical scripts, written by a queer man named Daryl Allen before AIDS took his life in 1991. Along with the letters, Dane is given a…

  43. Resurrection, Episode 1: San Francisco, 1979

    · 34 min · S8 E1

    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…

  44. Resurrection, Episode 2: Four Christmases

    · 39 min · S8 E2

    Daryl and Dan were in love, until something happened that changed everything. This is the story of the evolution of Daryl and Dan's relationship; a queer love story set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis. The…

  45. Resurrection, Episode 3: Kansas (Part One)

    · 35 min · S8 E3

    In this episode, we go to Kansas. The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council…

  46. Resurrection, Episode 4: Kansas (Part Two)

    · 34 min · S8 E4

    In the second part of our trip to Kansas, we go on a hunt for the Allen Family Farm. The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des…

  47. Resurrection, Episode 5: Janet

    · 1 h 02 min · S8 E5

    Janet's side of the story. The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for…

  48. Resurrection, Episode 6: What Happened in Vietnam

    · 46 min · S8 E6

    This is the story of what happened in Vietnam. The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the…

  49. Resurrection, Episode 7: Mustang Zero-One

    · 53 min · S8 E7

    We share Daryl's play with the world. The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada…

  50. Resurrection, Episode 8: San Francisco, 2022

    · 1 h 08 min · S8 E8

    The final chapter in our series on Daryl Allen. We end the story where it started. Email us at hi@resurrectionpodcast.com The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the…

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