I continue to be thankful that we are lucky enough, as Canadians, to have access to the best-of-breed, thought provoking, genuinely compelling content from CBC Radio One. I have talked about their shows both positively (e.g. Ideas) and negatively (e.g. Wiretap) before, and now I’d like to draw another excellent program to your attention: Afghanada.
Afghanada is a radio drama series about the day-to-day life of a small group of Canadian soldiers stationed in Kandahar Province. The writing is strong, with a cast of characters that truly feel like living, breathing individuals put in frequently hellish situations. Having never been a soldier, I cannot say whether the portrayal of these people’s lives is accurate, but I can say that the power of this show has made me feel more compassion for the individuals in our armed forces than all of the traditional news reporting put together.
I am particularly pleased that you can now get all three seasons worth of Episodes of Afghanada via iTunes. Season one is an awesome deal, at $12 for 22(!) half hour episodes.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys well acted, radio programming.
(and say “Hi” to Coach for me)
Afghanada — what a treat! And kind of a “triggery treat” for me — I’m a Vietnam veteran who is drawn to good combat films, literature, and radio like moth to flame. Although I came very close to losing my life in Vietnam, and ended up with a pretty bad leg and PTSD, my experience in Vietnam was in many ways the best experience of life (and the worst, as well). The stories and characters and themes of Afghanada seem so real that they might as well be real.
Coach is my hero(ine): One of the lessons I learned in combat in Vietnam was that there really were people who were willing to die for me, and did. And I learned that I would have died for them, if necessary. Corp. Kinsella is one of the those soldiers, along with the soldiers in her squad. That very theme was in the program I listened to this evening, Episode 17. Poignant stuff.
In case you hadn’t heard, all of the Afghanada episodes can now be purchased on iTunes, and they’re dirt cheap compared to the CDs.