Heroes Behind Headlines

Early in the morning of October 23, 1983 two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut Lebanon housing members of the US and French Multinational Force in Lebanon – a military peace mission in the eight-year-old Lebanese civil war. The attack by a terrorist group called Islamic Jihad, which had backing from the governments of Iran and Syria, killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians and two...

Writer and editor Sarah McCarthy set out to write a book about her friend of 15 years and Jeffrey Epstein survivor Juliette Bryant. She reveals details about how Epstein and his powerful friends lured girls and young women into his network and the techniques he used to manipulate them. But the part that is most shocking, is what Julie experience at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico – the little-talked-about Zorro Ranch – and the bizarr...

In 1942, on the heels of the Pearl Harbor attack as the US entered the war, Canada and the U.S. agreed to form a special top-secret military commando unit – nicknamed by the Nazis as “The Black Devils” for their stealth, bravery and skill. Designed to work as a nimble, highly conditioned unit of ‘super-fighters’ with special skills, selected servicemen from the two nation’s forces became one and trained for eight-and-a-half months ...

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student  who was later convicted of murder.

In 2000, while...

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student  who was later convicted of murder.

In 2000, while...

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student  who was later convicted of murder.

In 2000, ...

U.S. Government whistleblower Martin Rodil breaks down the Venezuelan efforts to steal elections in the U.S. and also explains how that country's Cartel de los Soles–the largest criminal organization in the world–aims their drug trafficking and other activities at the United States.

Martin, along with his partner Gary Berntsen, were tracking down cartel bank accounts and other assets for the U.S. government to rightfully seize,...

Former CIA agent and Boston native Ralph Mariani shares the real-life thriller account of the 1975 murder of his boss, Richard Welch, the then-CIA station chief in Athens, and the twenty-seven-year investigation that was only solved when two grandmas came forward when a new description of the culprits was circulated.

On the night of December 23, 1975, CIA Station Chief Dick Welch and his family attended a Christmas party at the Amer...

Over his career as a journalist, reporting from mainly Afghanistan and Pakistan, Jere Van Dyk has worked for the New York Times and CBS News and has appeared widely as a commentator on international affairs. His also the author of several books. 

In 2008 Jere was captured and held by the Taliban, an experience that he wrote about in his fascinating book Captive, which received a Foreign Press Award in 2022. 

He is with us today to ta...

With the country of Venezuela and the criminal behavior of the Maduro regime currently headline news, today’s guest is particularly timely – petroleum executive, kidnapping victim and author Jose Angel Pereira. 

At first glance, Jose Angel Pereira’s career looks like that of someone who reached the pinnacle of corporate success – that of a seasoned executive with over three decades in the oil and gas industry. Jose Angel once led CI...

On the evening of  January 7, 2025 several destructive wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area, including the fast-moving Eaton Fire near the neighborhoods of Altadena and Pasadena. Firefighters and three night-flying helicopters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were ordered to respond. They intended to drop water on the Eaton fire but, buffeted by ferocious updrafts and downdrafts, aborted the operation at 6:45 p.m...

HBH is so proud of this episode--we think this breakdown of an important and ongoing issue bears repeating:

Award-winning journalist Sam Quinones lays out the facts behind the meth and fentanyl drug crisis in the U.S.:

He expertly describes how mass manufacturing has made these drug ubiquitous, cheap, and infinitely more potent, and thus unlike any other drugs--legal or illegal--ever consumed by human beings. Sam explains h...

In 1944, Sgt. Donald D. Fida was tortured and gutted by Japanese solders and left to die in the Philippine jungle, when his childhood friend miraculously came upon him and saved his life.  Because of this experience, Donald survived and continued to fight til the war's end, living to finally tell his tale at age 99.

Twice a Purple Heart recipient, Donald shares his first-person account of his numerous adventures as an...

Part two of Dash's awesome interview: 

Former Navy SEAL Dash Dong Wong’s journey from growing up as a street urchin in Hawaii to becoming a Navy special operations operator is a powerful testament to resilience and inner strength. Says Dash, “I grew up in paradise, but was raised in hell.” Through all the trauma he faced as a kid, including battling in a child fight club at ten years old, he learned to find hope and beauty in e...

Former Navy SEAL Dash Dong Wong’s journey from growing up as a street urchin in Hawaii to becoming a Navy special operations operator is a powerful testament to resilience and inner strength. Says Dash, “I grew up in paradise, but was raised in hell.” Through all the trauma he faced as a kid, including battling in a child fight club at ten years old, he learned to find hope and beauty in even the worst situations. Though he never k...

Art theft expert, security expert and author of “The Rembrandt Heist: The Story of a Criminal Genius, a Stolen Masterpiece, and an Enigmatic Friendship,” Anthony Amore introduces us to Boston native, Miles Connor Jr., a combination rock star, samurai sword collector, and brilliant art thief. Connor's fascinating motives for stealing art were tied up with his policeman father’s passion for collecting, and also for avenging what...

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was home to 75,000 residents, who consumed more energy than New York City. Most of the world didn’t know that the town even existed. And most of the people who lived there, who were largely young women from small towns across the America, didn’t know the true nature of the work they were doing day after day in the hulking factories that had been hastily built in the middle of the ...

Retired FBI agent Pete Lapp helped capture Ana Montez, a Puerto Rican-born American and UVA alumna who was a senior analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency overseeing the Cuban account. For 17 years, she was also a spy for Cuba and was an avowed communist. Ironically, as many of four of Anna’s close family members worked for the FBI and despite Anna’s more extreme political views, assumed she was a loyal American. 

From his book...

Part Two of this fascinating interview: 

Douglas Horne is the preeminent JFK assassination expert and a former investigator with the official government JFK Assassination Records Review Board. He’s also the author of the five-volume book set titled: Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK, JFK’s War with the National ...