In the first half of the 20th century, athletes weren't the only ones competing for Olympic glory. Today's episode takes us back to an era when artists, poets, and even city planners battled for medals — and the messy in-fighting that threatened to tear the art world apart. 

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Hi Stealing Superman Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of season two of SNAFU: MEDBURG with Ed Helms. 

About the show: Hosted by Ed Helms, SNAFU is a podcast about history’s greatest screw-ups. In Season 1, Ed digs into a story he can't stop thinking about: Able Archer 83, a 1983 NATO military exercise meant to prepare us for nuclear war that almost mistakenly started one. This story has a colorful cast of characters: from Ronald Reagan, to two treasonous spies, to a dauntless sleuth determined to get to the bottom of what really happened and why nobody knows about it. Ultimately, SNAFU is about nuclear paranoia and political mind games – and how fear and misunderstanding can propel us into disastrous circumstances.

Listen here and subscribe to SNAFU with Ed Helms on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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A bar fight and a stint on the lam transformed Samuel Clemens into Mark Twain — and changed the course of American literature. Settle in for Mark Twain's origin story.  

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Zaron Burnett
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design: Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering: Baheed Frazier
Story Editor: Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking: Austin Thompson and Zaron Burnett
Voice Actors: Frank Nemec, Zack Nemec, Elizabeth Dutton, and Jonathan Washington
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer: Jason English

Special thanks to Bob Hirst from the Mark Twain Archive at UC Berkeley, and Joseph Amster from Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine.

Want to email the show? We'd love to hear from you. You can reach us at [email protected]. 

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The 1904 St. Louis Olympics featured the strangest sporting event in history. During the marathon, runners paused for naps, got chased by dogs, went apple picking, and doped with rat poison — all while being unwitting participants in a cruel scientific experiment.

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Thanks for listening! Our next episode comes out Wednesday, June 26th.

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Lucas Reilly
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design: Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering: Baheed Frazier
Story Editor: Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking: Austin Thompson and Lucas Reilly
Medal-Worthy Voice-Acting: Karl Keadle and Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer: Jason English

Want to email the show? Go for it. You can reach us at [email protected]. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mykal Riley’s name isn’t mentioned alongside the likes of Steph Curry or Larry Bird. But neither of those guys can say they hit a three-pointer that literally saved thousands of lives.

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VERY SPECIAL CREDITS
Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Dave Roos
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying Very Special Episodes, leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. You can reach us at [email protected]. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a French countess with a dubious claim to nobility and one brilliant idea: she was going to steal a diamond necklace from Louis XVI. After weaseling her way into court, Jeanne impersonates Marie Antoinette in a series of letters, starts a tabloid scandal, and inadvertently lights the fuse of the French Revolution.

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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Research, Writing, and Interviews for today’s episode provided by Wonder Media Network
Produced by Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Editing and Sound Design by Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Voice Actors: Coco-Margeaux Rodale and Tom Antonellis
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, and Lauren Williams.

Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating? 

Now you can email the show: [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi Stealing Superman Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of our newest show Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)

About the show: Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) is a weekly show from Jamie Loftus that takes a closer look at the internet’s main characters – one part reported, one part interviews, and one part Jamie collapsing her permanently internet-damaged brain. Whether it’s an enduring meme or a dreaded Character of the Day distinction, it’s the kind of notoriety that often results in little money, unwarranted attention, and a confusing blurred line of consent. What do you do when you get more attention and judgement than any one person is built to handle? The Sixteenth Minute of Fame is the place where we figure that out, putting people in the context of the moment they've been frozen inside of.

Listen here and subscribe to Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we present a smattering of stories you might have missed. If you've inhaled all these, email us — [email protected] — and we'll recommend something else worth your time.

Operation Lunar Eclipse
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Boat Trip
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

The Pledge
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Old Man on Campus
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Seed Wars
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

We're back with a new episode on May 15th!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha's Vineyard once was a place you could gossip with neighbors, shop for supplies, or play a cutthroat game of cards — all without saying a word. That's because it had a thriving Deaf community. Residents, Deaf and hearing alike, communicated with a unique version of sign language that predates ASL. But it's mostly forgotten today. 

Today we dig into Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) and the folks who are working to keep its history.

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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joanna Sokolowski and Julia Smith
Additional Writing by Marisa Brown
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Josh Thane
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Story Editors are Abbey Stone and Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking by Meredith Danko, Austin Thompson, Joanna Sokolowski, and Julia Smith
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Oral history clips with Eric Cottle, Everett Poole, Sydney Harris, and Jane Slater are excerpted from interviews conducted with Linsey Lee, Martha's Vineyard Museum Oral History Curator. Courtesy of the Martha's Vineyard Museum. 

Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Right now thousands of people are on a mathematical treasure hunt from the comfort of their home offices. Our own Zaron Burnett is one of them. Here's how you can join him — and compete for $50,000.

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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Lucas Reilly
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Research and Fact-Checking by Austin Thompson and Lucas Reilly
Special Thanks to Voice Actor Karl Keadle
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.