Deep Cover

By Pushkin IndustriesTrue Crime History

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Typical duration
35 min
per episode
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Based on Podcast App listening data

Deep Cover episodes

October 19 Deep Cover Presents: The JFK Papers That Weren't
"Here it is. The Holy Grail."

John Reznikoff makes his living spotting fakes. So when his close friend, a polished Navy war hero, turned up hundreds of secret documents tying John F. Kennedy to Marilyn Monroe -- a storied affair that had never been confirmed in hard evidence -- John knew he had his work cut out for him. He checked them with the best experts in the field. All of whom said they were real. The papers sold for millions, a Pulitzer winner wrote them into a book, and John thought he’d made the find of his life. Then one day it all came apart.

Jake Halpern’s story about Reznikoff originally aired on This American Life in 2011.
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33 min
October 13 Deep Cover Presents: Switched At Birth
What happens when you learn your family is not your own?

In 1951, Mary Kaye Miller gave birth to a baby girl. But when she brought the infant home, she suspected something was wrong. 43 years later, she broke the news: her baby had been switched at the hospital. And the girl she'd raised actually belonged to a family living just a few towns away.

Deep Cover host Jake Halpern first reported this story for This American Life in 2008. Ira Glass calls it one of the best episodes they've ever done. In it, both families and their daughters grapple with the fallout of this long held secret.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
59 min
August 17 The Gypsy Rose Obsession | From PRETEND
For most of her life, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was in a wheelchair. She had a feeding tube, an oxygen tank, and a list of diagnoses long enough to fill a binder.

Then, in 2015, her mother was found stabbed to death in their home, and the world found out Gypsy could walk.

The story became a documentary, a TV series, a household name. Case closed.

But did she fake it all?

In this new series from PRETEND, host Javier Leiva investigates the online world that formed around the case, where no one is a reliable narrator.

This is part one of The Gypsy Rose Obsession. Listen to PRETEND wherever you get podcasts.
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34 min
July 06 The 14-Year-Old Bank Robber | From Heavyweight
If you liked this past season of Deep Cover, The Family Man, you'll enjoy this episode from another Pushkin podcast, Heavyweight. It's a great companion to our bank robbery story from this season. Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, creates space for difficult conversations and resolving long-standing regrets and unanswered questions. In this episode: A young man had just turned 14 when he took his father’s shotgun, skipped school, and robbed a bank for $40,000. Now, 33 years later, he wants to apologize to the people he harmed that day.

Find Heavyweight wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
39 min
June 29 The Limits of Manifesting Success with James Forman, Jr.
When Keith Giammanco started robbing banks in 2007, he sought to minimize his legal risk. Keith says he never carried a weapon, and he confessed to the authorities the same day he was arrested. But, ultimately, he faced two prosecutions - federal and state. And he served nearly two decades in prison.

Jake sits down with legal scholar James Forman, Jr. to unpack how this all unfolded, why a lawyer never tries to "manifest success,” and what justice looks like in a case like this.
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47 min
June 22 My Oldest, Dearest Friend
Mike Walton was shocked to learn his lifelong friend, Keith, had been living a double life as the Boonie Hat Bandit. He’d seen reports about the serial bank robber on the news, but never recognized him. Jake speaks with Mike about their friendship and why, sometimes, it’s hard to see the thing right in front of you.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
28 min
June 15 The Release | Episode 6
Keith’s daughters, Elise and Marissa, face new trials on their own while Keith serves his time. After decades in custody, Keith nears his release date, and the Giammanco family grapples with the past and the choices they’ve made.

To learn more about Keith’s story, check out Bank Notes Revisited, co-written with Caroline Giammanco.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
43 min
June 08 The Trial | Episode 5
Federal and county prosecutors all want to hold Keith accountable for his crimes. Against the advice of his counsel, Keith takes his case to trial, hoping a jury will show him and his family some mercy. In the courtroom, his victims tell their side of the story.

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to binge the entire season, ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Deep Cover show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
38 min
June 01 The Downfall | Episode 4
Keith’s arrest makes national news, forcing Elise and Marissa to defend their dad to the world. Their mother makes a surprise reappearance, moving in and bringing new troubles along with her.

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to binge the entire season, ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Deep Cover show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
31 min
May 25 The Confession | Episode 3
The Boonie Hat Bandit robs a 12th bank. And things don’t go according to his plan. His teenage daughters, Elise and Marissa, are left to pick up the pieces. They wonder: how had he managed such an elaborate deception? And what’s going to happen to their family now?

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to binge the entire season, ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Deep Cover show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
34 min

About Deep Cover

From the publisher's feed

Deep Cover is a show about people who lead double lives. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern reveals webs of deception and dark underworlds, through interviews with federal agents and convicted criminals.

Deep Cover: The Family Man: Elise and Marissa grew up in a seemingly normal house in the suburbs of St. Louis, but it was a house built on secrets. There were things their father never told them—like how he really made his money. One night, the police showed up, raided their house, and seized boxes of evidence. Hours later, the sisters turned on the TV and saw something surreal: their father’s car, in the aftermath of a police chase. The local news identified him as “The Boonie Hat Bandit.” The girls were stunned. They struggled to accept the truth: Dad had been living a double life. How long had he been lying to them? What had he done? And who, exactly, was their father? Deep Cover: The Family Man is a story about the way parents deceive their children and the crimes a desperate father will commit to save his family. It’s also a story about justice—and the question of what punishment these crimes deserve.

Deep Cover Presents: Snowball. A special limited series from the Unravel Podcast team at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Ollie Wards' family lost everything after their brush with a charming Californian con woman. As he embarks on a quest to find out how she did it, why she did it, and where she is now, he opens the door on a mystery that spans decades and across continents.

In the sixth season of Deep Cover: The Truth About Sarah, Jake Halpern and acclaimed investigative journalist Jess McHugh unravel an epic six-year deception that upended lives of countless people. Sarah Cavanaugh was many things: A decorated veteran. A Marine who saved her comrades. A young woman fighting cancer. She was stoic, humble, tough. In short: a hero. Sarah was everything people wanted her to be—until she wasn’t. Turns out, no one knew the real Sarah. Not her comrades. Not her wife. No one. Jake and Jess interview all of the key sources—including Sarah, herself—to tell this sprawling tale.

Season five covers the rise and fall of George Santos, the former Republican Congressman from New York, and the stories—many of which were not true—he told about his life and credentials.

Season four, The Nameless Man, tells the epic tale of two federal agents who investigate a rumor about a murder that supposedly took place 15 years prior. It is also the story of a family searching for answers about why their brother was killed. These two storylines collide in a courtroom in Philadelphia, where murder, memory, and morality go on trial.

Season three, Never Seen Again, tells the story of two women living on opposite sides of the country, who went missing in the summer of 1999. Seven years later, their stories collided when a small town detective got a tip and became convinced that if he could solve one mystery, he’d solve the other.

Season two, Mob Land, is about a high-rolling lawyer who joins forces with the feds to try to bring down one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the country.

Season one, The Drug Wars, tells the story of an FBI agent who goes undercover with a biker gang, and follows a trail of clues that eventually leads to the US invasion of a foreign country.

Deep Cover drops on Mondays. To hear episodes early and ad-free, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.