Very Special Episodes

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.
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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.
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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.
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We're hard at work on our next season of new VSEs. If you've already heard this one, email us — veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com — 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.
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We're hard at work on our next season of new VSEs. If you've already heard this one, email us — veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com — 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.