PRETEND

A prank call leads to a 2-hour strip-search at a fast-food restaurant

A prank caller posing as a cop calls a manager at a Hardee's Restaurant in Rapid City, South Dakota. He tells the store manager that one of his employees stole money from a customer. Instead of calling the real police, the manager decides to strip search the employee. This prank call went on for more than 2 hours.

I spoke with the manager of that restaurant to find out why he obeyed the prank caller's every demand.

Searching for David Stewart—the prank call suspect

Victor Flaherty is now the Cheif of Police in West Bridgewater police department in Massachusetts at the time in 2004, he was a detective sergeant searching for the notorious fast-food prank caller. Many police stations across the United States tried to locate the perpetrator—and all of them failed. It turns out that tracing the calls back to the source proved to be nearly impossible. 

Listen to the lengthVictor Flaherty went through to find the suspect named David Stewart.

If you want to start from the beginning, listen to part 1 here.

Credits

Today’s show was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Molly Brock.

Our theme music was written and composed by Joe Basile with TheChicken.net.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear.

References:

Rapid City Journal

Courier Journal

MSNBC

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Disclaimer: We will be talking about sexual abuse and other disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.

A prank caller pretending to be a police officer instructed fast-food managers to strip-search female employees forcing them to jog naked, do jumping jacks and perform other humiliating acts. He made more than 70 of these calls in the United States over a 12-year period.

Some of the managers were charged with rape and kidnapping as a result of these pranks. How could they fall for such a prank?

The truth is, humans are programmed to respect authority. But why do we obey? In this episode, you'll hear real audio from Stanley Milgram's experiments on obedience and authority. The results are shocking.

Donna Summers, the manager from the McDonalds restaurant in Mount Washington, sued McDonald's for failing to warn her about the previous hoaxes. She asked for $50 million. She was awarded $1 million in punitive damages and $100,000 in compensatory damages.

Listen to my conversation with her attorney Wendy Wagner.

The Pranks part 1 BONUS (McDonalds Lawsuit)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/pranks-part-1-30952858

Links and sources

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2005/10/09/a-hoax-most-cruel-caller-coaxed-mcdonalds-managers-/28936597/

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/man-on-trial-for-kidnapping-rape/article_faeff508-246c-54db-8a66-15d121c5112d.html

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2005/10/09/a-hoax-most-cruel-caller-coaxed-mcdonalds-managers-/28936597/https://web.archive.org/web/20090325234639/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15504125/

Credits

Today’s show was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Molly Brock. Our theme music was written and composed by Joe Basile with TheChicken.net. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear.

Support for this episode is brought to you by HempFusion

Use promo code PRETEND for 20% off of your first order and free shipping at hempfusion.com. Get HempFusion shipped anywhere in the US.

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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Susan Fensten is a victim of cyberstalking. Distant family members and ex-cons bombarded her with harassing emails. She felt cornered and there was nothing she could do about it.

Two ex-cons convicted of raping a woman were sending her threatening emails. They even invited her to the Fall Slaughter an event hosted by a cannibalistic cult from upstate New York. The plan was to eat her alive.

None of this was real. All these threatening messages were fake. And worst of all, the people Susan thought she was interacting with weren’t real either. Today’s story focuses on the search for this cyberstalker. Who was targeting Susan? And why did they want her to suffer?

Subscribe to PRETEND on your favorite podcast app:  Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Check out Susan Fensten’s Memoir based on this story titled, “You have a very soft voice, Susan.”

Today’s show was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Molly Brock. Our theme music was written and composed by Joe Basile with TheChicken.net. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear. 

Susan Fensten shares a story that didn't make it in her book.

The full interview with FBI Special Agent Brandon Waller

Support for this episode is brought to you by HempFusion

Use promo code PRETEND for 20% off of your first order and free shipping at hempfusion.com. Get HempFusion shipped anywhere in the US. 

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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It all started when Susan began looking for distant family members on a genealogy site. While trying to fill the gaps with her family tree, she found herself tangled in a web of lies.

Her newfound cousin, Leonard Nachman, bombarded her with pornographic emails and a picture of himself masturbating while wearing nylon bodysuits. It was disturbing.

But I don't want to give away too much of the story. After you’re done listening to part one, get an early preview of part two on Patreon.

Also, check out Susan Fensten’s Memoir based on this story titled, “You have a very soft voice, Susan.”

Subscribe to PRETEND on your favorite podcast app: Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Today’s show was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Logan Castrodale. Our theme music was written and composed by Joe Basile with TheChicken.net. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. 

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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Alan Canty was a prominent psychologist but to Dawn, and her pimp John “Lucky” Fry, he was known as Dr. Alan Miller. He developed an alter ego in order to protect his two worlds from colliding. However, secrets can’t last forever. One day, Alan Canty’s love affair came to a tragic end.

Links and sources:

If you enjoyed the story, check out Lowell Lowell Cauffiel’s book titled Masquerade 

To read Jan Canty’s memoir visit Amazon or www.jancantyphd.com

Credits

Today’s episode was edited by Bear Beat Productions and additional editing by Molly Brock

Our Theme is Music by Joe Basie with theChicken.net

And additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1980s Prostitution in the Streets of Detroit

Back in the 1980s, Mark Bando was a Detroit police officer working the streets of Detroit. His assignment was to keep tabs on women forced into prostitution, their pimps, and the sugar daddies who kept them in business. Dawn Spens was one of those women. We follow their interlaced story.

Dawn’s sugar daddy was a prominent psychologist named Alan Canty. He would meet her for sex during his lunch break. This relationship went on for two years. Meanwhile, his wife Jan Canty didn’t know what was really going on. This rendezvous didn’t last forever. Hear how Alan Canty’s double life was exposed.

Meet the characters

The Sugar Daddy- Alan Canty

The Sex Worker- Dawn Spens

The Pimp- John “Lucky”

Links and sources:

If you enjoyed the story, check out Lowell Lowell Cauffiel’s book titled Masquerade 

To read Jan Canty’s memoir visit Amazon or www.jancantyphd.com

This is part one of a two-part series. Subscribe to Patreon to listen to part two right now

Credits

This episode was written and produced by Javier Leiva

Edited by Molly Brock

Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear

Theme music by Joe Basile and thechicken.net

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Smith and his friend Chris Harven decided to rob a bank in Norco, California. And just like in the movies, these bank robbers charged into the bank and demanded all the money. Except, it was a Friday afternoon, and the vault was pretty much empty.

In part one of The Norco Bank Heist, we left off as the bank robbers blasted away the Sheriff Deputies arriving at the scene.

Peter Houlahan, author of the book “Norco ‘80” says that “There were over 500 rounds fired—200 of them shot at [Deputy Glyn] Balasky alone. They hit his vehicle 46 times, wounding him badly in the elbow. All three of the responding deputies had their vehicle struck multiple times. There were bullets in citizens cars, in houses, in the storefronts. Everything in that intersection was hit with gunfire. Five civilians had been injured.”

The Riverside County Sheriff's deputies were completely overwhelmed in the firefight. They never really stood a chance.

George Wayne Smith and his buddies managed to flee the scene and are on their way to get the cold cars parked a few miles away. But how did this chaotic chase end 60 miles east in a remote canyon heading towards the Mojave desert?

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Buy a copy of Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan on Amazon or wherever you get your books.

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Support for this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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This is the story of the 1980 Norco bank robbery—one of the most violent bank heists in U.S. history.

Remarkably, only three people died. However, 30 police cars and one helicopter were torn apart by bullets.

In this episode, you’re going to hear from some of the people who were there that day at the Security Pacific Bank.

This wasn’t your typical bank robbery. George Smith, the mastermind behind the heist, believed the rapture was coming.

His gang of bank robbers was armed with military-grade weapons. The police never stood a chance. I mean, it was a downright war zone. Why would George Smith go to such extremes just to rob a bank?

We’re going to spend the next two episodes trying to get inside the mind of George Wayne Smith. Who was he? And what motivated him to orchestrate such an insane bank robbery? And how did they finally catch him, the following day in the canyons, heading to the Mojave Desert?

Buy a copy of Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan on Amazon or wherever you get your books.

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

This episode was written and produced by Javier Leiva

Edited by Molly Clay

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Theme music by Joe Basile and thechicken.net

Support for this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.

BetterHelp

Is there is something that interferes with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment.

Sign up today with discount code “PRETEND” to get 10% off your first month.

Betterhelp.com/pretend

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She asks, “Why isn’t anybody doing something about this?” Susan Gerbic is just like you and me. She has a normal job working as a baby photographer. But at night, she is a badass vigilante hunting psychics. Susan says, “One of my favorite things to do is try to expose people we call grief vampires. People who claim to speak to the dead.”

Her motivation is not to settle a vendetta. In fact, she says she’s never really been the target of a psychic. Susan simply doesn’t like them and the way they profit off of people’s grief. The US market for psychic services is worth about $2 billion annually according to IBIS World, a market research firm based in Los Angeles California.

On this episode of Pretend, Susan attempts to capture psychics lying on tape. These psychic hunters spent months setting up fake Facebook pages, hoping that a so-called psychic uses the falsified information during a psychic reading. It took a few tries, but she finally got one on tape.

Links:

Silvia Browne gets punked by skeptic Mark Edward

Tim Braun (psychic)

Chip Coffey (psychic)

Thomas John (psychic)

New York Times article:

Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics - The ...https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/magazine/psychics-skeptics-facebook.html

Support for this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.

Is there is something that interferes with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment.

Sign up today with discount code “PRETEND” to get 10% off your first month.

Betterhelp.com/pretend

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

This episode was written and produced by Javier Leiva

Theme music by Joe Basile with thechicken.net

Additional music by Glad Rags

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1979, two high school kids claiming to be psychic managed to fool parapsychology researchers at Washington University using simple magic tricks and sleight of hand. Little did the scientists know, these kids were just amateur magicians pulling a fast one on them.

Today, these kids are grown. Their names are Steve Shaw, who now goes by the stage name Banachek, and Mike Edwards. But back in 1979, they were seen as boys with exceptional abilities. They were planted in the parapsychology research study by the magician and skeptic James Randi. They coined this stunt Project Alpha.

The parapsychology lab at Washington State University was called the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research. The lab ran a long series of experiments ranging from moving objects in sealed glass domes to controlling clocks and creating images appear on unexposed film. Banacheck and Edwards say they received no training from James Randi. They had to rely on their instincts and come up with illusions on the fly.

During their time at the McDonnell research institute, they followed one rule—always tell the truth if you’re ever asked whether they were faking the results. They kept this ruse going for almost three years.

This is part of my series on Psychics. Part 1 features my conversation with Uri Geller.

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Links

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH WITH TWO NEW PSYCHIC METAL BENDERS

Transcribed from Research in Parapsychology (1981), pp. 144-146

Peter R. Phillips and Mark Shafer† (Washington University)

http://www.aiprinc.org/documents/PS.pdf

McDonnell Laboratory press release after the revelation

http://www.aiprinc.org/documents/CIA_on_Randi.pdf

Parapsychological Weapon - NSA Memo

Project STARGATE

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/nsa-rdp96x00790r000100030042-9

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Written and Produced by Javier Leiva

Theme music by Joe Basile with thechicken.net

Additional music by Podington Bear and Glad Rags

Additional audio provided by Banachek's Brain podcast

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Support for this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.

Is there is something that interferes with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment.

Sign up today with discount code "PRETEND" to get 10% off your first month.

Betterhelp.com/pretend

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices