Shoot This Now

In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico’s Madeline de Jesus was injured in the long jump, and found herself unable to run in the 4×400-meter relay. Fortunately she had a secret weapon: Her identical twin sister, Margaret, who took her place in a qualifying heat.

The college admissions scandal and Jordan Peele's "Us" have us thinking about cheating and duality, respectively. Madeline and Margaret de Jesus' story has both. Join us for our very special 50th episode as we talk about their hilarious ruse, and also about Lori Loughlin and dystopian boy band Menudo.

If you enjoy this episode, check out one of our sources, Yara Simon's story about the de Jesus twins for Remezcla.

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It's fitting that Michael Jackson's 2005 trial ended with a woman releasing white doves -- one for each count on which he was acquitted. Doves are a traditional part of many magic shows, and Jackson's trial was his greatest trick of all. 

On every episode of "Shoot This Now," we talk about true stories that should be made into TV shows and movies. This week, we talk about the 2005 Michael Jackson trial, which I covered from beginning to end for The Associated Press. 

As the new Dan Reed documentary "Leaving Neverland" makes clear, the trial continued a long Jackson tradition of manipulating the people around him. Wade Robson describes in the documentary how Jackson persuaded him to lie on the stand about being molested. And the news media (myself included) sometimes paid attention to his pajama-and-epaulette ensembles instead of everything Jackson wanted to hide. 

Will the trial ever get the "People v. OJ Simpson" treatment it deserves?

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Born in Toronto to a black father and white mother, Angela James went from defending herself from bullies in the projects to becoming one of the first women ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

She was also the first openly gay athlete to be inducted into a major sports Hall of Fame, and is widely regarded as the "Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey."

Her story has the grit of "Miracle" and "Warrior," with the fish-out-of-water and blue-collar racial dynamics of "8 Mile." We haven't seen a massive female-centered sports film since "Million Dollar Baby," and unlike that masterpiece of sadness, Davis' biography is happy and uplifting.  

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Six months ago, Raphael Samuel informed his mother over breakfast that he planned to sue his parents for bringing him into existence without his consent. His story should be a movie, obviously.

Every week on "Shoot This Now," we talk about stories that should be made into TV shows or movies. This week, Trey Williams joins us to talk about the strange case of Raphael Samuel, whose story -- including the breakfast conversation -- is told in this BBC account.

This episode includes a brief discussion of suicide. If you've given it any serious thought -- please don't do it. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

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Frédéric Tcheng's Sundance doc "Halston" is about an Iowa boy turned fashion icon who went from making hats for Jackie Kennedy to ruling Studio 54 to making clothes for J.C. Penney. No one in fashion had a wilder, more intoxicating ride.

This week, Tcheng and producer Roland Ballester take us seamlessly through his famous friends (from Andy Warhol to Liza Minelli to Liz Taylor) to the heights of Wall Street and to the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic. There are a million Halston movies we want to see.

We also talk about our favorite other Sundance films, from "Hail Satan!" to "I Am Mother."

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If the "Fyre" and "Fyre Fraud" documentaries made you think the Fyre Festival was the worst music-fest ever, may we introduce you to the nightmare that was Woodstock '99.

Characterized by sexual assaults, rioting, and actual fires, Woodstock '99 celebrated an era when Korn and Limp Bizkit ruled music. We want to see a movie about Fred Durst and Kurt Loder battling for the soul of music.

Recommended:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/woodstock-99-rage-against-the-latrine-182782/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock29.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Uhr5r6sUM&t=3s

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Harry Siskind is a photographer-turned-entrepreneur who made a lot of promises about his weight-loss company, Body Solutions -- including that it could help you lose weight as you slept.

Maybe he made too many promises. Countless radio ads and more than $100 million later, the Texas high roller caught the eye of some feds who tore his diet empire down.

Our music this episode is "3 Kinds of Sun" by Norma Rockwell.

You can read more about Harry Siskind here: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Ex-CEO-of-San-Antonio-weight-loss-firm-gets-prison-1783806.php

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Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, aka Daniel Hernandez, Tekashi 69 and just 6ix9ine, is what The New York Times' Joe Coscarelli and Ali Watkins call a "human meme." This week, we talk about his journey from a nice kid in a bodega to a wildly successful rapper now facing RICO charges. Will his bid for authenticity land him in prison? It could.

Read their definitive account of 6ix9ine's life here: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/nyregion/tekashi6ix9ine-jail-treyway.html

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In the beautiful "Surviving Y2K" podcast, Dan Taberski talks about how a few incredibly compelling people prepared for what they thought would be Armageddon. And how his own life changed dramatically. It would make a GREAT movie.

He also talks about "Missing Richard Simmons" -- and drops some hints about what he's doing next.

Listen to "Surviving Y2K" here: https://www.headlongpodcast.com

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