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Evil By Design

Evil By Design Introduces | Uncover: Calls From a Killer

Evil By Design

CBC

True Crime

4.8845 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does a reporter do when they receive a cold call from one of the most horrific serial killers in Canadian history?


The killer: Clifford Olson, who murdered at least eleven children in the 1980s. The reporter: Arlene Bynon, who recorded her jailhouse calls with Olson for years.


Alongside legendary journalist Peter Worthington, Arlene spent hundreds of hours on the phone with Olson. It was kept secret from his prison guards; he wasn't allowed to speak to the media.


In Calls From a Killer, from CBC’s Uncover, Arlene unearths secrets that have been buried for decades. 


More episodes of Calls from a Killer are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/Tv4H7p

Transcript

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0:00.0

World Ocean Day is upon us, but can we really talk about two-thirds of the Earth's surface in just one day?

0:07.9

Absolutely not.

0:11.2

I'm Ian Urbina back with an all-new season of the Outlaw Ocean.

0:15.6

My podcast delves into the impossibly vast and shockingly lawless world of the open seas.

0:23.1

Find and follow an all-new season of the Outlaw Ocean wherever you get your podcasts.

0:31.0

This is a CBC podcast.

0:48.5

What does a young female reporter do when they receive a cold call from one of the most horrific serial killers in Canadian history?

0:57.9

The killer, Clifford Olson, who murdered 11 children in the 1980s, maybe more. And the reporter?

1:07.3

Well, that's me. Hi, I'm Arlene Bynon. I'm a journalist and radio broadcaster. And I'm the host of calls from a killer, a brand new season of CBC's Uncover. Clifford Olson began calling me

1:14.3

over three decades ago. I recorded my jailhouse calls with him for years. When he was locked away,

1:23.2

there was no doubt authorities thought the story was over, but it wasn't.

1:29.6

Alongside legendary journalist Peter Worthington, I spent hundreds of hours on the phone

1:35.3

with Olson. It was kept secret from his prison guards, since he wasn't allowed to speak to the

1:41.9

media. In calls from a killer, I revisit those tapes and unearthed secrets that have been buried for decades.

1:51.6

With Nathaniel Frum, Peter's grandson, I expose hard truths about a forgotten tragedy, a bungled

1:59.7

investigation, and the mind of a psychopath.

2:04.4

Now here's the first episode of Calls from a Killer, from CBC's Uncover. Have a listen.

2:15.8

The following episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence.

2:20.5

Please take care when listening.

2:28.4

Whenever I stayed at my grandparents' house as a kid, there was a rule.

2:33.0

Always pick up the phone. Because you never knew who could be calling for my grandpa Pete. A Soviet spy, a cabinet minister, a serial killer.

2:45.0

Growing up, I'd learn what my grandpa did for a living through the stories he'd share at the holidays or summers at the lake.

...

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