We're sharing episodes this month from another Pushkin podcast we think you'll enjoy.

In 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.

Episode 5: One overlooked detail in Sarah’s story: she was married. Her wife, Nicole, never spoke to the press or the feds. She remained a mystery—until now.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at bit.ly/mohsurvey.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're sharing episodes this month from another Pushkin podcast we think you'll enjoy.

In 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.

Episode 4: (08:30) A former Marine and media personality asks questions and publicly challenges Sarah Cavanaugh’s credentials. Behind the scenes, law enforcement is already investigating Sarah; but the surge of media attention forces their hand. Fearing she might destroy evidence, federal agents move quickly to search Sarah’s home.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at bit.ly/mohsurvey.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're sharing episodes this month from another Pushkin podcast we think you'll enjoy.

In 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.

Episode 3: (10:18) Jess and Jake speak with Sarah and learn about her past life. As a social worker, she really knew how to listen to people. But when Jake and Jess interview two of Sarah's former friends, a darker picture emerges.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at bit.ly/mohsurvey.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're sharing episodes this month from another Pushkin podcast we think you'll enjoy.

In 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.

Episode 2: (05:38) In her home state of Rhode Island, Sarah builds her reputation as a celebrated war hero. But as her public profile grows, so do the quiet doubts.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at bit.ly/mohsurvey.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re gearing up for an all new season of Medal of Honor in 2026, but in the meantime we're sharing episodes from another Pushkin Industries podcast we think you'll like.

It’s called Deep Cover and it’s all about people who lead double lives and the lengths they’ll go to deceive others. This last season, they covered the stolen valor story of Sarah Cavanaugh. Sarah Cavanaugh is a civilian woman who claimed to be a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, and a young woman fighting cancer. She was everything people wanted her to be—until she wasn’t. Turns out, no one knew the real Sarah. 

Lies tend to be fragile, wilting under their own weight as they get bigger. Not in the case of Sarah Cavanaugh. The bigger her lies grew, the more real they became. But she never served in the military, never received any awards, and defrauded veteran organizations out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jake Halpern and investigative journalist Jess McHugh unravel this epic six-year deception that upended the lives of countless people.

Here's episode 1 of Deep Cover: The Truth About Sarah (00:16). Stay tuned to hear the full six-episode series on this feed throughout the next few weeks. 

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at bit.ly/mohsurvey.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the season of giving—and yesterday was Giving Tuesday, a time based on the global generosity movement that encourages people to do good and help others.

In honor of Giving Tuesday, Dr. Laurie Santos, host of another Pushkin podcast, The Happiness Lab, teamed up with the non-profit Give Directly to help raise donations for people experiencing extreme poverty.

As part of her work with Give Directly, she’s made a special episode of The Happiness Lab talking with other podcast hosts about their own experiences with giving. Times when they’ve given something meaningful to someone, or have been given something that has deeply impacted them. I sat down with Dr. Santos to share my own experience of receiving a gift I didn’t even realize I needed. One that came into my life at the perfect time.

In the spirit of giving, you can join Pushkin and Give Directly in making a real difference for those in need. Go to givedirectly.org/pushkin to learn more and give what you can.

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To mark Veterans Day, host J.R. Martinez sits down with producer Ryan Sweikert to talk about what he’s learned from the stories of veterans who have received the Medal of Honor, how to talk to veterans about their service, and the moments that shaped his life, both in the service and afterward.

Medal of Honor Season 3 is coming on May 27th, 2026. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. We’ve put together a listener survey. Tell us what you love about the show. What we can improve on. Stories you think we've missed. To take the survey, follow this link: bit.ly/mohsurvey

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The Chosin Reservoir was one of the most brutal battles of the Korean War, with overwhelming enemy forces and deadly weather. Into that fight came Captain Carl Sitter, a pudgy guy who wasn’t even supposed to be there. His inspiring leadership in the face of terrible odds came down to one thing: faith.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at http://bit.ly/mohsurvey

Episode's bibliography:

O'Donnel, Patrick K. “Give Me Tomorrow.” Grand Central Publishing, October 25, 2011.
https://www.amazon.com/Give-Me-Tomorrow-Greatest-Story/dp/0306820447.

Sterner, C. Douglas, Pamla M. Sterner, Dwight Jon Zimmerman, and Scott Baron. “Beyond Belief: True Stories of American Heroes that Defy Belief.” Independently Published, November 16, 2021. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Belief-Stories-American-Heroes/dp/B09M57XDCV.

Hardy, Gordon. “Above and beyond: a history of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam by Congressional Medal of Honor Society.” Boston Pub. Co, May 3, 1985.
https://www.amazon.com/Above-beyond-history-Congressional-1985-05-03/dp/B01F820WNE.

Simmons, Edwin H. Frozen Chosin U.S. Marines at the Changjin Reservoir. USMCU, 2002.
https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Frozen%20Chosin%20US%20Marines%20at%20the%20Changjin%20Reservoir%20%20PCN%2019000410000.pdf.

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Enslaved on a plantation in South Carolina, Robert Blake had little chance for freedom. Then came a surprise battle, a bold choice, and a new mission in life: serving in the U.S. Navy. Robert’s heroism would make him the first Black sailor to receive the Medal of Honor. But what happened next is… a total mystery.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at http://bit.ly/mohsurvey

Episode bibliography:

Reidy, Joseph P. “Black Men in Navy Blue During the Civil War.” Navy and Marine, 2001.
https://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862blackinblue.htm

Jowdy, Laura. “Who Was Robert Blake? The Mystery of a Black Medal of Honor Recipient.” Congressional Medal of Honor Society, March 6, 2025 https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/medal-of-honor-recipient-profile/who-was-robert-blake-the-mystery-of-a-black-medal-of-honor-recipient/.

Frazier, Herb. “Little-known Civil War hero once enslaved on South Santee.” Charleston City Paper, June 2, 2023.
https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2023/06/02/little-known-civil-war-hero-once-enslaved-on-south-santee/.

“Whatever Happened to Robert Blake and the Battle of Legareville, SC.” Civil War Traveler (Blog), January 5, 2024.
https://civilwartraveler.blog/2024/01/05/whatever-happened-to-robert-blake-and-the-battle-of-legareville/

The Frog of History. “The First African American Medal of Honor Recipient is Missing.” YouTube video. June 27, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aYHT8va5uM&t=233s

Quarstein, John V. “Ben Butler and the Contrabands.” The Mariners Museum and Park, May 28, 2021. https://www.marinersmuseum.org/2021/05/ben-butler-and-the-contrabands/

National Archives. “Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War.” National Archives and Records Administration, October 4, 2023.
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war#:~:text=The%20black%20troops%2C%20however%2C%20faced,more%20harshly%20than%20white%20captives

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On a moonlit mountaintop in Afghanistan, Salvatore Giunta ran through a hailstorm of bullets to save a fellow soldier– his best friend– from capture. It was a heroic decision, but Sal didn’t see it that way. This is the story of an extraordinary band of brothers– and how Sal learned to live with what he did.

We’re committed to making Medal of Honor even better, and you can help! Leave your feedback for the show by filling out our listener survey at http://bit.ly/mohsurvey

Episode bibliography:

Giunta, Salvatore and Joe Layden. Living with Honor: A Memoir. Threshold Editions, December 4, 2012. https://www.amazon.com/Living-Honor-Memoir-Salvatore-Giunta/dp/1451691467. 

Junger, ​​Sebastian. “Into the Valley of Death.” Vanity Fair, January 2008. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/01/afghanistan200801. 

Edwards, Elisabeth. “Korengal Valley: Why the Region Is Nicknamed the ‘Valley of Death’.” War History Online, Oct 24, 2022. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/articles/korengal-valley.html.

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