Alien Nation – CBC Podcasts

Episode 10: Finale

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:30:51 +0000

In the final episode of Alien Nation, host and mother Judith Mackin describes where the journey into teenage worlds has taken her. Is she any closer to her son? Does she have a better grip on the teenage world he lives in? In this show, many teens speak out about why they believe their generation will do better. And the series concludes with a moving and intimate conversation between Judith and her son Robyn confronting the need to change or live apart.

Featuring music from:
RACONTEURS: Carolina Drama
SAM ROBERTS: Hard Road
SLOAN: The Rest of My Life
KILLERS: Exitlude

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-08-25.mp3

Episode 9: Feeding Your Soul

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:30:11 +0000

In this episode, teens talk about their search for meaning, their attitudes toward spirituality in a consumer-based, secular culture.. Some have strong relationships with their church and their god. Others don’t know, don’t care and don’t want any part of organized religion. We also meet Fareeda who very much defines herself in terms of a religious upbringing that sustains her body and soul. Host and mother Judith Mackin will also describe her desire to pass along to her teenage son Robyn the spirit if not the letter of the values she learned from her devout Christian parents.

Featuring music from:
CANNIBAL CORPSE: I Will Kill You
LEONARD COHEN: Future
BOB DYLAN: Highway 61 Revisited
SAMI YUSUF: Who is the Loved One
CAROL WOODS: Let It Be
XTC: Dear God
BETA BAND: Dry the Rain

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-08-18.mp3

Episode 8: Does Parenting Matter?

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:30:50 +0000

In this episode Host and Mother Judith Mackin asks herself and other parents how much responsibility they can take for the successes and failures of their teens. We hear from parents who’ve done everything in their power to help their children succeed. And while some of those teens find their way easily, others are inexplicably lost. Teens talk about what it’s like to long for an absent parent and what it’s like to find a parental substitute when real moms and dads aren’t always able to do the job.

Featuring music from:
WHITE STRIPES: Hardest Button to Button
EMINEM: Cleaning Out My Closet
AMERICAN BEAUTY SOUNDTRACK: Dead Already
GORILLAZ: Kids with Guns
CANNED HEAT: Going Up the Country
VERVE: Bittersweet Symphony

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-08-11.mp3

Episode 7: Starting Over

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:30:27 +0000

Host and mother Judith Mackin and her teenage son start their lives over in a new house with Judith’s new partner. They hope to avoid the problems that broke up their last blended family but they are well aware that the new arrangement comes with no guarantees. Listeners also meet Shaun, a teenager who reinvents himself in the image of a musical icon. Ultimately, he finds his strategy for popularity and success is flawed … and nearly fatally flawed, at that. Starting over comes with a price.

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-08-04.mp3

Episode 6: Sex

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:15:47 +0000

This show is a heart-stopping sampling of teenage thoughts about sex and love, desire and heartache. Host and mother Judith Mackin asks teens how they’re affected by the flood of erotica and soft porn that spills from magazines, billboards, television and the internet. Teens talk about the death of dating and the pressure on girls to “put out.” Teens also talk about why they’re waiting for marriage or that someone they can trust.

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-07-28.mp3

Episode 5: Teens and Screens

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:30:45 +0000

Alien Nation Host Judith Mackin wonders at the high-tech world occupied by her teenage son and his friends. It’s a world where teens appear to lose time, perspective and a sense of responsibility. Judith’s son, Robyn and class mate Drew talk about their cyber bullying experience which has an unpredictable ending. Other students talk about their on-screen lives on Facebook, YouTube and video games. Do real friendships exist on line? Is the world of pixels a genuine and meaningful place to meet and work out real relationships?

Featuring music from:
DAFT PUNK: Technologic
BECK: Loser
3 DOORS DOWN: Here Without You
KANYE WEST: Stronger
BUCK 65: Language Arts
AIR: Alpha Beta Gaga

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-07-21.mp3

Episode 4: Blends

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:30:23 +0000

In this episode of Alien Nation, Host Judith Mackin speaks candidly about her experience as part of a blended family in crisis. She also listens to teens who weigh in on what it’s like to find themselves in a blended family, with parents and siblings they didn’t choose and sometimes don’t like. And then there’s Liz. She’s pregnant and not yet finished high school. Liz has chosen a young couple to adopt her child partly because they’re willing to welcome Liz, not just her baby, as part of the package. The show explores the shift away from traditional families into uncharted and unconventional territory.

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-07-14.mp3

Episode 3: Altered States

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:30:15 +0000

Host and Mother of a teenage son, Judith Mackin, deals with the fact that like many teenagers, her son has experienced depression and experimented with street drugs. Given this generation’s incredible access to drugs, from acid to ecstasy, Judith — in an attempt to understand the challenges faced by self-medicating teens — listens to their stories of pharmaceutical experimentation, cravings, addictions: the price they’ve paid for highs that never quite satisfy.

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-07-07.mp3

Episode 2: High School Drama

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:30:31 +0000

Host and mother Judith Mackin goes into the drama-filled world of high school where teens are typecast by gossip, rumours and superficial impressions. But for all its social perils, Judith values a high school education and wants to spare her son from the lifelong struggles that come with failing to get a diploma. In this episode, Canadian teens talk about motivation lost and motivation found.

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-06-30.mp3

Episode 1

alteeffour@gmail.com (CBC) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:30:47 +0000

Sixteen-year-old Robyn Mackin runs away from home, pushing his mother to the brink of a meltdown. His decision to bolt from the house tops a long list of defiant acts that began around puberty. That’s according to Robyn’s mother, Judith Mackin, host of Alien Nation. Instead of giving up, Judith sets out to better understand her son and his generation. And so the journey begins into the hearts and minds of Canadian adolescents. What does it mean to come of age in 2008? And what can a parent do in the fleeting moments that remain before children move out and move on?

http://thesemodernsocks.net/cbc_podcasts/alien_nation/alien_nation-2008-06-23.mp3