An investigation into Avril Lavigne's body double, time-travelling trivia, and more of April's best

In the words of Avril Lavigne: why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

You might have heard of a popular conspiracy theory about one of Canada's most famous rock stars. Avril Lavigne died in 2003, and her record label secretly replaced her with a body double who has been living as an impostor ever since. 

Could it be true? Probably not, but comedian Joanne McNally helps us find out on the new podcast Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? 

Plus, a lot of people think history is boring. Depending on how you were taught, that's pretty understandable. Simply memorizing a bunch of dates or names can make history feel about as dead as that fourth prime minister whose name you've long since forgotten. (It was John Sparrow David Thompson, FYI). 

To Simone Polanen, the opposite is true—history is all around us, woven into the fabric of everyday life. Simone joins us to talk about her podcasts Past Perfect, a history trivia show, and Not Past It, a story-driven show about the links between the past and the present.

All that and more of this month's top picks, this week on Podcast Playlist.

Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? "Joanne LOVES conspiracy theories… and there's one she can't get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it."

City Space: "Compared to other Canadian cities, Halifax's homeless population has tripled in the last three years. Emergency shelters aren't doing enough. Building new housing takes time. It takes policy changes — and money. Until that's in place, is leaving people to camp in parks really the best a city can do? We're telling the story of park encampments, and how the city's homelessness problem got so bad."

Past Perfect: "In the very first episode of Past Perfect, Simone travels to the 1980s, where podcast superstars Emmanuel Dzotsi and Saidu Tejan-Thomas will fight it out in the time traveling trivia arena."

The Ultimate Choice: "Michael is housebound by pain. His wife Ann is getting ready for work one day when Michael asks her an impossible question. Rob Cribb, host of The Ultimate Choice, starts tracking down how Michael got to the point of wanting to end his life. Who will help him?"

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb: "Find out why mac and cheese holds a special place in Kenji's heart and the results of Deb's experience making Kenji's three ingredient recipe."

What are your April favourites? Email our team at [email protected]. Or find us on Facebook.

For more great podcasts, check out CBC's podcast portal, and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.