TORONTO – The CBC has announced what it calls a “smart, timely and relevant” mix of podcasts for the fall, starting with a new season of “Seat at the Table,” focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The special six-episode limited run of the weekly show begins Aug. 27 with hosts Martine St-Victor and Isabelle Racicot.

Also among the 15 original podcasts is the new season of “Party Lines,” with Elamin Abdelmahmoud.

Launching Sept. 8, in “Party Lines” Abdelmahmoud and his guest co-hosts will look at the 2020 U.S. election.

Abdelmahmoud is also host of the new “Pop Chat” podcast, which debuts Sept. 17 with an exploration of “the cultural drama blowing up the internet.”

Other new podcasts include “Brainwashed,” about “how the CIA and Canadian government funded secret experiments to find out whether people’s brains could be rewired and controlled.”

Journalist Michelle Shephard hosts the series, which debuts Sept. 23 and is a co-production with CBC’s flagship investigative series “The Fifth Estate.”

In “Recall: How to Start a Revolution,” launching Sept. 8, host Geoff Turner looks at the October Crisis in Quebec through the voices of those who lived it.

The lineup also has “Sickboy,” in which hosts Jeremie Saunders, Brian Stever, and Taylor MacGillivary break down the stigma associated with chronic illness and disease.

And “Tony Ho” returns with a series of short episodes with the eponymous comedy troupe.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2020.