Finding Cleo

Throughout this semester, I have been listening to the podcast Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo. I am over halfway through the ten episode series. It is an incredibly heartbreaking story of a missing girl named Cleo who was wrongfully taken from her family in Saskatchewan during the Sixties Scoop. Her biological siblings are on a journey to find Cleo with the help of CBC reporter, Connie Walker, who narrates the podcast episodes. This is the best podcast I have ever listened to and I believe that is for multiple reasons. First, the story is a captivating one. Second, they use real life sounds—interviews with family and others, the sound of doors closing and footsteps that make you feel like you are there. It all works together perfectly within the podcast medium. In one episode, titled “The funeral home,” Walker takes us along to the grave of a girl they believe to be the Cleo they are looking for. A dog barks as they walk back to their car and they are greeted by a lady who lives across the road. She tells them who they can talk to in order to find out more information. We are listening to all of these conversations that actually led to the eventual discovery of Cleo. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and ready to listen to the next episode with this format. In the moments where Walker receives phone calls from or sits down with the siblings of Cleo, we can hear the emotion in their voice and Walker also describes how they might be fidgeting with their hands. It paints a very clear portrait of the many complicated emotions at play in the story. Every auditory detail helps the listener create a visual image and this is truly what makes this podcast amazing.