Very Special Episodes

In 1897, a Swedish engineer set out to reach the North Pole ... by balloon. With two companions, a crate of champagne, and the faith of a nation, he rose into the Arctic fog — and vanished. Decades later, their frozen journals and undeveloped film emerged from the ice, revealing the haunting truth behind one of exploration’s great mysteries.

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Maris...

In the golden age of 1980s television, few faces were more familiar — or more dishonest — than Joe Isuzu’s. Actor David Leisure brought the fast-talking car salesman to life, turning a parody of advertising into one of its greatest icons. In this Very Special Interview, the man behind America’s favorite liar revisits the campaign that changed commercials forever.

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Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and...

In the 1960s, there were 36,000 Americans living in the Canal Zone. They had Friday night high school football games, sock hops, and Hollywood movies at the local theater. It looked like a mid-century American town had been dropped into the Panamanian jungle — because that’s exactly what it was. But many Panamanians weren’t happy with this “country-in-a-country” arrangement. What would it take to get t...

Hi, Very Special Episodes listeners! We're hard at work on the next season of VSE, which lands October 22nd. In the meantime, did you know our own Dana Schwartz has a new podcast? Give it a listen!

Hoax!: Why do so many people believe things that aren’t true? In an era when claims of “fake news” come as naturally as breathing, and social media allows lies to spread and multiply like viruses, the question feels mor...

Superman is everywhere this summer, but today's bonus episode has nothing to do with James Gunn or David Corenswet. Let's go back to the beginning, when young Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first conjured up the character. Superman may have never seen the light of day if not for a real crime that changed the duo’s lives forever.

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This bonus episode was written by Jake Rossen and originally appeared as part of the Stealing Supe...

Today, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon is considered a classic. The deceptively complex children’s book has been passed down for generations. But if the New York Public Library had gotten its way, you’d have never even heard of it. 

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Thanks to our Very Special guests Amy Gary, author of In the Great Green Room; and writer, children's book author, and podcaster Betsy Bird.  

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Hosted by Zaron Burnett...

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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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 i...

Eighty years ago this summer, a young John F. Kennedy took a job as a journalist for Hearst newspapers, filing dispatches in the final days of World War II. His columns capture the mood of a changing world.

Even the most seasoned JFK scholars often overlook this chapter. In today's extra special Very Special Episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Fred Logevall and legendary director Rob Reiner join us to explore the forgotten s...

Jackie Gleason of The Honeymooners was obsessed with UFOs. Obsessed! Lucky for him, his golfing buddy just happened to be the leader of the free world — with access to a secret facility in Florida that Gleason said held all the answers he'd been seeking. 

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Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
Written by Zaron Burnett
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washingt...

In 2009, a 10-year-old from Arizona flew to Los Angeles to compete on a new game show offering child prodigies the chance to win $500,000. But almost immediately, he could tell something was off. The experience had a profound impact on his life — and confounds legal scholars to this day.

Plus Dana takes us behind the scenes of her appearance on Jeopardy!, and Jason explains how his two-year-old daughter wound up answering tri...

During one of the most delicate periods for international relations, the United States sent Bob Hope to China with the ultimate wingman. Together, the two icons would play an unexpected role in bridging a massive cultural divide.

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Very Special Thanks to our translator, Yixio Ren! 

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Dylan Heuer
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris...

Mykal Riley’s name isn’t mentioned alongside Stephen Curry or Larry Bird. But neither of those guys can say they hit a three-pointer that literally saved thousands of lives.

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VERY SPECIAL CREDITS
Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Dave Roos
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Original Music by Elise McCo...

Sopranos creator David Chase wrote an episode of The Wonder Years that was deemed too intense for network television. The internet says it's because the script involved hard core drug use. But we asked the legendary TV writer, and the truth is a whole lot stranger. 

Thanks to Nicole Lambert of Chase Films for making today's interview happen!

Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
Written by Katie Mattie

The Harlem Globetrotters always beat the Washington Generals. It's just what they do. As of 1971, they’d done it 2,495 times. But for one gloriously confusing night that January, the underdogs got to raise their hands in victory. Today on Very Special Episodes, the untold story of the greatest upset in sports history.

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Very Special Thanks to Israel Gutierrez for lending his voice, and Peter Coughter for production suppo...

In 1973, NASA gifted a piece of the moon to a teenage astronomy fan, inadvertently pulling him into the seedy underground moonrock trade.

Hello VSE friends! We published a new episode on Monday, so we're playing a rerun in our regular Wednesday slot. 'Operation Lunar Eclipse' is one of our early favorites and originally ran in February 2024. Questions or comments? You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.  

See ...

Happy Cinco de Mayo! To celebrate, Zaron Burnett is here with a mini-episode about the frozen treat that is quietly and quickly taking over the world. 

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Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
Written by Dave Roos
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Jonathan Washington
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Original Music by Elise McCoy

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. 

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 I...

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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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joe Pompeo
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by J...

On a cold day in 1973, a crowd gathered on a farm for one of history's strangest funerals. It was an elite group, including the Governor of Michigan, bank presidents, and local dignitaries. Even Walter Cronkite sent a correspondent. But they weren’t mourning anyone human. No, this was a pizza-based catastrophe. 

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Bess Lovejoy
Produced by Josh Fis...