Operation Midnight Climax

In today's Episode, Dana, Zaron and Jason tackle a 130-year-old mystery. Although American schoolchildren still recite The Pledge every morning in nearly every classroom, we still aren't sure who actually wrote it. And all these years later, the long-accepted story is showing some cracks.

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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast where we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

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

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After a middle-aged manual laborer goes back to school to turn his life around, he’s reborn as a college football standout. But as midlife crises go, this one is going to hurt.

(Portions of today's episode were recorded on Radio Row in Las Vegas before Super Bowl 58.)

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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast where we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Produced, Edited and Sound Designed by Josh Fisher
Additional Editing by Jonathan Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to Aaron Kaufman and Kurt Garin!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a teenage astronomy fan is gifted a piece of the moon by NASA, he’s inadvertently pulled into the seedy underground moonrock trade. But don’t worry. With help from H. Ross Perot, NASA secret agents are on the case.

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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast where we tell one incredible story every 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.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Produced, Edited and Sound Designed by Josh Fisher
Additional Editing by John Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Story Editing by Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking by Marisa Brown, Austin Thompson, and Jake Rossen
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the last day of filming in Nova Scotia, someone poisoned the cast and crew of James Cameron’sTitanic with PCP. Bedlam ensued on a tight-knit set. Everyone became a suspect. Almost three decades later, we unravel a ‘90s Hollywood mystery.

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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast where we tell one incredible story every 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.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Katie Mattie
Produced, Edited and Sound Designed by Josh Fisher
Additional Editing by John Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Research and Fact-Checking by Marisa Brown, Austin Thompson, and Katie Mattie
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Very Special Episodes, 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 Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Listen here and on the iHeartRadio app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who Killed JFK? For 60 years, we are still asking that question. In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's tragic assassination, legendary filmmaker Rob Reiner teams up with award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien to tell the history of America’s greatest murder mystery. They interview CIA officials, medical experts, Pulitzer-prize winning journalists, eyewitnesses and a former Secret Service agent who, in 2023, came forward with groundbreaking new evidence. They dig deep into the layers of the 60-year-old question ‘Who Killed JFK?’, how that question has shaped America, and why it matters that we’re still asking it today. Listen to Who Killed JFK? on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-who-killed-jfk-127000428/

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Hi, OMC fans! iHeartPodcasts is pleased to introduce the second installment of the "What Happened to" series, which covers the tragic story of Libby Caswell. You can expect host Melissa Jeltsen's same in-depth, thorough reporting and exceptional storytelling in each episode of "What Happened to Libby Caswell," starting on November 2nd. Here's a peek into the season, so check it out and start listening to Libby's story today!

Show Description: In 2017, Libby Caswell was found dead in a motel room in Independence, Missouri. Police quickly ruled her death a suicide. But her mother Cindy thinks she was murdered — and she believes she has proof the crime scene was staged. Award-winning investigative reporter Melissa Jeltsen dives deep into Libby’s final days, finding new evidence that unravels the official story and threatens to implicate more than just those in the motel room that day. In her search for answers, Jeltsen exposes the web of failures that left Libby vulnerable and explores how her story fits into one of America’s most deadly epidemics.

Listen to What Happened to Libby Caswell on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, Operation Midnight Climax fans! Learn more about Bishop Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace who was once the richest Black man in America! Six decades after his death, his descendants grapple with his life and legacy. Listen now on Sweet Daddy Grace.

About Remus: Sweet Daddy Grace: A personal deep dive into the life of Bishop Charles Manuel ‘Sweet Daddy’ Grace, an ambitious and gifted African immigrant and one of the 20th century’s most fascinating and overlooked figures. With hundreds of churches across the country and a congregation said to be upwards of three million, he was thought to be one of the richest Black men in America—but was he an anointed genius or a blasphemous opportunist? Marcy DePina lifts the veil on Sweet Daddy’s triumphs, scandals, and fascinating eccentricities—all the while trying to understand her own unique bond with him.

Listen to Sweet Daddy Grace now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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Since she was a little girl, Marcy DePina felt drawn to a man called Daddy Grace, a charismatic immigrant from Cabo Verde, West Africa, who – during the violent Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras – traveled around the United States preaching, healing, and building his megachurch. 

But who was Daddy Grace? For all his accomplishments, he seems to raise more questions than answers. Like why isn’t he more known and celebrated in the Cape Verdean community? And when Marcy brings him up to her family, why do some people refuse to talk about him? And most importantly: Marcy wants to know, are she and Daddy Grace actually related?

For more on Sweet Daddy Grace, check out SweetDaddyGrace.com

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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. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.