Very Special Episodes

Rosey Grier has a habit of showing up at turning points of American history: the greatest NFL game ever played, Free to Be…You and Me, and Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 presidential run. But one night at the Ambassador Hotel made the football star a reluctant hero. It also gave him a mission he’s spent the rest of his life carrying out.

Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
Written by Dave Roos
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

You can always reach us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wherever Sioux singer D.Z. Ironwing performed in New York, the same woman was waiting afterward to say she loved his voice. Seven years later, his phone rang in a freezing South Dakota trailer. It was her — the first of countless calls that began an unlikely bond with one of America’s richest families.

*

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Lucas Reilly
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Virginia Prescott
Editing and Sound Design by Jesse Nighswonger
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Today's episode was produced in partnership with School of Humans. For School of Humans, Producers are Emilia Brock, Edeliz Perez, and Lucas Reilly. Executive Producer is Virginia Prescott.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plenty of Harry Potter fans love Severus Snape. A few truly worshipped him. In the early 2000s, these fans found each other online and came to believe Harry’s least favorite professor was real. A god in an alternate universe that bled into our own. Nothing in the world could shake their devotion to Snape.

Until their sisterhood imploded.

*

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Katie Mattie
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington
Story Editor is Virginia Prescott
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe + Josh Fisher
Voice Actors are Jonathan Washington, Bee Haskins, Katie Mattie, and Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to our guest Dr. Zoe Alderton, author of Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion Within the Harry Potter Fandom. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart ducked out of a White House event and commandeered an airplane. The First Lady and the first lady of aviation flew to Baltimore and back. The event was documented by journalists, and later recounted in books. But there was more to this spontaneous joyride that didn't make the papers. 

*

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Dylan Heuer
Produced by Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Research and Fact Checking by Dylan Heuer and Austin Thompson
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

[This episode was originally published in November 2024.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. But her biggest mystery unfolded outside the pages of her books. In this episode, Dana examines the 11 days in 1926 when the beloved author went missing, and the rollicking media circus inspired by her disappearance.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joe Pompeo
Produced by Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Voice Actors are Brittany Joyner and Steve Bradford
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Research and Fact Checking by Joe Pompeo and Austin Thompson
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a party at Nicolas Cage’s Bel-Air mansion, one of the rarest comic books on Earth disappeared. Action Comics #1 — the comic that introduced Superman — is worth millions of dollars. With almost no evidence and a suspect list that includes employees and celebrity guests alike, Cage and his trusted comic book dealer launch a decade-long investigation into one of the strangest art heists ever attempted.

*

Dana, Zaron, Jason and the gang are hard at work on the next batch of Very Special Episodes. So today we're sharing episode one of Stealing Superman, a limited series we made in 2023. If you want to continue down the Nic Cage rabbit hole, you can listen to the whole series on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When two of the most influential figures in film become the personal hostages of Kim Jong Il, they have two objectives: to elevate North Korean cinema on the world stage, and to plot their daring escape. 

*

We're hard at work on our next season of new VSEs. If you've already heard this one, email us — [email protected] — and we'll recommend something else you can listen to instead!

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Adrien Behn and edited by Carmen Borca-Carrillo at Acast Creative Studios
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Chris Childs
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Fact-Checking by Austin Thompson
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

SOURCES + FURTHER READING/LISTENING/VIEWING

A Kim Jong-Il Production, by Paul Fisher
The Observant, by Ravi Mangla
Michelle Cho, assistant professor, University of Toronto
"Are You There Godzilla? It's Me, Kim Jong Il" [Ridiculous Crime podcast]
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S. State Department
Big Brother: North Korea's Forgotten Prince [An iHeart Original Podcast]
"Kim Jong Il, the Director he Kidnapped, and the Awful Godzilla Film They Made Together" [Mental Floss Magazine]
The Korean War [PBS]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Velvalee Dickinson ran a doll shop on Madison Avenue that catered to wealthy collectors. But in one of the strangest espionage cases of World War II, Dickinson's clients had no idea she was using correspondence about doll orders to transmit coded U.S. military intelligence to the Japanese.

*

We're hard at work on our next season of new VSEs. If you've already heard this one, email us — [email protected] — and we'll recommend something else you can listen to this week!

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joe Pompeo
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Research and Fact-Checking by Joe Pompeo and Austin Thompson
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, Very Special listeners! Today we're dipping into the archives of Zaron's other podcast, Ridiculous Crime, to share a tale of dog excellence from World Cup history. 

In 1966, England hosted the FIFA World Cup, an incredible honor and landmark moment for English football. Just one problem: someone made off with the cup itself just weeks before the start of play. How can you have a global tournament with no prize? How can England save face? Enter Pickles, the pooch with a nose for sirloin and purloined goods.

Check out Ridiculous Crime wherever you're getting your podcasts these days. Thanks to Zaron, Elizabeth, and Producer Dave for letting us share this one! 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to her McDonald’s fortune, Joan Kroc was one of the world’s wealthiest people. And she was determined to die nearly broke.

*

Special thanks to our guests Lisa Napoli, Dick Starmann, and Stephanie Bergsma. Go check out Lisa's excellent book Ray & Joan. 

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

You can always reach us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.