• Becoming Zaqistani
    Nov 20 2024

    Ryan meets the team of misfits that will accompany him on the journey to rebuild Zaqistan. He gets schooled in Zaqistani history and applies for citizenship, as part of his ultimate quest to Become Zaqistani.

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    42 mins
  • E.T. and Me
    Nov 20 2024

    In 1981, 11-year-old Matt De Meritt got a phone call that would change his life. He wasn’t a child actor, or a performer of any kind. He was just a suburban kid enjoying his summer before he had to go back to school. But Matt had something no other kid had — something Steven Spielberg needed in order to embark on his most ambitious movie yet.

    Note: This episode contains discussions of suicide. Please take care while listening.

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    VERY SPECIAL CREDITS
    Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
    Written by Jake Rossen
    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 Jess Krainchich and Juliet English
    Original Music by Elise McCoy
    Research and Fact Checking by Jake Rossen and Austin Thompson
    Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
    Executive Producer is Jason English

    Special thanks to Simon Brew. Check out the Film Stories podcast!

    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.

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    51 mins
  • Diplomacy
    Nov 13 2024

    Hosts Ryan Murdock and Gabbie Watts head to Microcon, a convention of micronationalists. Think Model UN meets ComicCon. We’ll engage in light diplomacy, explore invented histories and exchange gratuitous amounts of medals. Plus, there’s a taco bar! Among the characters you’ll meet are Zaq from Zaqistan, the President of Molossia, the Sultan of Slowjamastan, the Princess of Sancrotosia and a bunch of dictator-curious statesmen, all asking the question: if you could start a country from scratch, what would it look like?

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    43 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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    11 mins