Planet Podcasts
← The Canadian Dial

1939–1940 · CBC

Canadian Snapshots

The radio camera turned on the wonders and oddities of a country at war

The stated aim was to turn the lens of the radio camera on the country and put the panorama on the air. In practice that meant a travelogue with a comedy troupe attached, going out weekly in the first year of the war with two of the most recognisable Canadian voices of the century in it — Lorne Greene, later the Voice of Canada and later still America’s television father, and J. Frank Willis, who had made his name at the Moose River mine disaster in 1936.

6 recordings · Across Canada

Six surviving broadcasts from the 1940 season. Recordings held by the Internet Archive.

19406

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

The Long Silence

4 Aug 2026 · 1h 3m

New tape, a reluctant witness, and a timeline that finally stops making sense.

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

Dead Air

28 Jul 2026 · 26 min

We go back to the beginning and read everything again.

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

Sign Off

21 Jul 2026 · 41 min

Three interviews, one archive reel, and a question nobody wanted asked.

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

The Case of the Missing Hour

14 Jul 2026 · 56 min

Recorded on location, with the room left in.

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

Night Broadcast

7 Jul 2026 · 19 min

New tape, a reluctant witness, and a timeline that finally stops making sense.

Canadian Snapshots
Canadian Snapshots cover art
Canadian Snapshots

The Last Train Out

30 Jun 2026 · 34 min

We go back to the beginning and read everything again.