Mykal Riley’s name isn’t mentioned alongside Stephen 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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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one memorable story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Subscribe to VSE wherever you get your podcasts.

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John Quincy Adams finally defeats the Gag rule, but his feud with Andrew Jackson lasts until the bitter end.  And Congressman Abraham Lincoln witnesses from the House floor the dramatic final hours of Adams' life.

Founding Son is a Curiosity Podcast and is a co-production of iHeartPodcasts and School of Humans. 

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When the fates of the enslaved captives of the Amistad are put into the hands of the Supreme Court, John Quincy Adams feels it's his duty to represent them. Adams’ son and wife would have preferred he stayed away from the case altogether. 

Founding Son is a Curiosity Podcast and is a co-production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. 

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In our final episode, Matt Andrews explores how athletes have protested in the modern era, from Craig Hodges' direct plea to President Bush to Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem. Those protests, just like similar ones before it, were criticized by some Americans who told those athletes to "shut up and dribble." 

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Why do we sing the National Anthem at sporting events? Is patriotism part of sports? Matt Andrews explains how American sports have been intertwined with national tragedies over the last century, including September 11th.

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Baseball, Cycling, Golf....why are we so obsessed with athletes cheating? Matt explores this question through the stories of Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods.

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Women's soccer began to take off in the U.S. in the 1990s, culminating in the frenzy surrounding the 1999 World Cup and one of the greatest female athletes, Mia Hamm. Matt tells that story and explains how a sports bra created a controversy. 

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Matt Andrews tells the story of one of the greatest athletes of all time, Michael Jordan, and how his relationship with Nike changed the world of sports. 

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In the 1980s, white athletes for some Americans came to represent white excellence in a sports world dominated by black athletes. Matt Andrews illustrates this through the stories of three white sports legends-NBA player Larry Bird, boxer Gerry Cooney...and fictional fighter Rocky Balboa.

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The Soviets and Americans both hosted the Olympics in the 1980s.  Matt Andrews explains that the fraught political situation of the time spilled into the Games, including boycott threats and fallout from a shot-down commercial airplane. 

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