• The Joyride: Amelia and Eleanor's Excellent Adventure
    Nov 13 2024

    In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart ducked out of a White House event and commandeered a plane. 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.

    *

    VERY SPECIAL CREDITS
    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

    Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying Very Special Episodes, please leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • The Case of the Missing Novelist
    Nov 8 2024

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

    On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie!” Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

    VERY SPECIAL CREDITS
    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

    Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying Very Special Episodes, please leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    39 mins
  • The Climax
    May 12 2021

    Sidney Gottlieb thought he’d erased all traces of Operation Midnight Climax and MK-ULTRA from the government’s collective memory. While the world will never know the full extent of the CIA’s experimentation with LSD, an unlikely source revealed many of the victims. These breakthroughs came courtesy of George White, who testified from beyond the grave.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    43 mins
  • Tripping
    May 5 2021

    As the walls closed in on Operation Midnight Climax, George White took lessons he’d learned from a world-class magician to explore the last uncharted frontier of the psychonaut — the general public. It’s how White would make San Francisco’s sanity disappear.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    33 mins
  • A Waste of Sin
    Apr 28 2021

    After Frank Olson’s death in New York, George White had to move his whole operation to San Francisco. And the CIA added a twist: while they’d been occupied with using LSD as a mind-control drug, now they wanted him to weaponize sex.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    32 mins
  • The Window
    Apr 21 2021

    For 70 years, people have debated what happened to Frank Olson at the Hotel Statler. Did the CIA’s grand experiment with LSD lead to the sanctioned execution of a government employee? For George White, Frank Olson’s death would change everything.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    39 mins
  • Smoking Out Castro
    Apr 14 2021

    Today we wanted to share a bonus mini-episode. Here’s how George White’s LSD adventures tied in with the CIA’s increasingly bizarre attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. We’ll be back with a new installment next Wednesday.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    11 mins
  • Uncharter Waters
    Apr 7 2021

    As the CIA’s LSD experiments went increasingly rogue, an aspiring actress realized what George White had done to her. But unlike others who’d complained, she reported White by name to the New York Police Department.

    Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    36 mins