Haileywood: Recent Episodes
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Onscreen, Bruce Willis dodged bullets and explosions in Die Hard and countless action films, making him the biggest movie star of the ‘90s. Offscreen, he dodged the tabloid press and became so determined to live a private life he moved to one of the smallest towns in Idaho. But he didn’t just want to live in Hailey — he wanted to transform it. Soon, this sleepy old mining town was home to a culture clash between Hollywood spectacle and small-town values, with real-life secret rooms, car chases, and betrayal worthy of a Willis thriller. Welcome to Haileywood. Host Dana Schwartz will be your guide.
Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a French countess with a dubious claim to nobility and one brilliant idea: she was going to steal a diamond necklace from Louis XVI. After weaseling her way into court, Jeanne impersonates Marie Antoinette in a series of letters, starts a tabloid scandal, and inadvertently lights the fuse of the French Revolution.
On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.
Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Research, Writing, and Interviews for today’s episode provided by Wonder Media Network
Produced by Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Editing and Sound Design by Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Voice Actors: Coco-Margeaux Rodale and Tom Antonellis
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
Special thanks to Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, and Lauren Williams.
Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating?
Now you can email the show: veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.
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This week, we present a smattering of stories you might have missed. If you've inhaled all these, email us — veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com — and we'll recommend something else worth your time.
Operation Lunar Eclipse
Apple • Spotify • iHeart
Boat Trip
Apple • Spotify • iHeart
The Pledge
Apple • Spotify • iHeart
Old Man on Campus
Apple • Spotify • iHeart
Seed Wars
Apple • Spotify • iHeart
We're back with a new episode on May 15th!
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Martha's Vineyard once was a place you could gossip with neighbors, shop for supplies, or play a cutthroat game of cards — all without saying a word. That's because it had a thriving Deaf community. Residents, Deaf and hearing alike, communicated with a unique version of sign language that predates ASL. But it's mostly forgotten today.
Today we dig into Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) and the folks who are working to keep its history.
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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.
Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joanna Sokolowski and Julia Smith
Additional Writing by Marisa Brown
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Josh Thane
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Story Editors are Abbey Stone and Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking by Meredith Danko, Austin Thompson, Joanna Sokolowski, and Julia Smith
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
Oral history clips with Eric Cottle, Everett Poole, Sydney Harris, and Jane Slater are excerpted from interviews conducted with Linsey Lee, Martha's Vineyard Museum Oral History Curator. Courtesy of the Martha's Vineyard Museum.
Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Right now thousands of people are on a mathematical treasure hunt from the comfort of their home offices. Our own Zaron Burnett is one of them. Here's how you can join him — and compete for $50,000.
On the Very Special Episodes podcast, 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 Lucas Reilly
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Research and Fact-Checking by Austin Thompson and Lucas Reilly
Special Thanks to Voice Actor Karl Keadle
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hi, Haileywoodfans! 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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"If you open a hole on the internet," UCLA professor Sarah T. Roberts tells us, "it gets filled with sh*t."
The tragic death of Megan Meier was a turning point for MySpace. As the first social media company to operate on a massive scale, MySpace and its users were forced to grapple with the consequences of that scale.
In this episode, Joanne is joined by Thomas Kadri of the University of Georgia School of Law to discuss how our legal system was ill-equipped to deal with the social media era. UCLA professor and author Sarah T. Roberts chronicles the early days of content moderation. And Bridget Todd and Scott Zakarin are back to talk about bullying in the MySpace era.
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MySpace forever changed the way we listen to music. The social network shifted artists' relationships with their fans, and the site helped launch the careers of many huge stars, from Panic! At The Disco to Adele.
What made MySpace such an influential platform for musicians? And why did all the music disappear?
In this episode, Joanne sits down with Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias (former Head of Artist Relations at MySpace) and Josh Brooks (former VP of Programming and Music at MySpace). She also speaks to American musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, Damon and Naomi), creator Scott Zakarin, and Jason Scott of the Internet Archive. You'll hear more from Jason next week.
See Also...
The MySpace Music Dragon Hoard
https://archive.org/details/myspace_dragon_hoard_2010
Damon Krukowski's Newsletter
https://dadadrummer.substack.com/
Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias
https://www.instagram.com/roslynnc
Scott Zakarin
https://www.instagram.com/scottzakarin/
Jason Scott
http://ascii.textfiles.com/
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A contentious 1824 presidential election and accusations of a “corrupt bargain” by rival Andrew Jackson raise the stakes for John Quincy Adams as he prepares to take the office his father held just two decades earlier.
Founding Son is a Curiosity Podcast and is a co-production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans.
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In this episode, Joanne delves into how MySpace—like reality TV—became a vehicle for celebrity in the aughts, and gave way to the culture of influencers. She catches up with people who built a fan base on the platform.
Special thanks to our guests Bridget Todd (host of There Are No Girls on the Internet); Taylor Lorenz (technology columnist for The Washington Post); and Hanna Beth (one of the first people to become MySpace Famous).
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Let’s look back at the internet communities that were thriving before MySpace — even before Friendster. Why did MySpace get ahead when there was strong competition from other social networks at the time?
To explore the earliest days of social media, Joanne is joined by investor and entrepreneur Benjamin Sun, who co-founded Asian Avenue in 1997, and Katie Notopoulos, senior technology reporter for BuzzFeedNews.
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The MySpace era was incredibly influential, and incredibly messy. And it remains largely underexplored. Young people talk about MySpace like a cool scene they wish they could have experienced. Like CBGB, or Studio 54.
But before we get into the experiences that users had — from bored teens to up-and-coming musicians to soldiers stationed abroad — let’s start at the very beginning. Because MySpace does not have a typical Silicon Valley origin story.
Special thanks to our guests Julie Angwin (author of Stealing MySpace) and Taylor Lorenz (author of the forthcoming Extremely Online). You can share your MySpace story with Joanne McNeil on Twitter @jomc.
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You may say time machines don’t exist… but this week iHeart sends Ben and Alex back to the 1930’s for a gut-busting, guided tour of the dark, smoky rooms where a clandestine crew of ultra-wealthy schemers concocted the Business Plot. Our hosts consult with a cavalcade of sketchy historical figures, leading Ben and Alex to begin connecting the dots of the grand conspiracy.
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While history books and Hollywood like their stories in simple black and white, real life is much more complicated. So, what made Major General Butler the ideal candidate to lead a coup? In this week’s episode – against Smedley’s wishes – Ben and Alex dive into the Major General’s dark backstory to explore why the bankers believed he was the man they were looking for.
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Nowadays, most people can agree that fascism is, well, a bad thing. But back in the 1930s, life absolutely sucked for most Americans, and fascism still had a sort of new car smell. Wall Street bankers were convinced they could take their country back from the clutches of ‘class traitors’ like Roosevelt, sink the New Deal and put the United States on a better – meaning more profitable – path.
They had the money. They had an army. Now all they needed was a leader.
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What would you do if a secret cabal of the nation’s most powerful people asked you to overthrow the President? Weirdly enough – it’s not a hypothetical. It almost happened to FDR in the 1930s, were it not for a very intense, very problematic Marine named Major General Smedley Butler.
Join Ben Bowlin, Alex French, and a cast of historical characters brought to life by Joe Kinosian for a darkly comedic – and terrifying – retelling of one of the weirdest forgotten schemes in American history.
Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app.
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Traveling at five miles a second, 250 miles above the Earth’s surface, Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev wakes to a message from his handlers on the ground: the Soviet Union is collapsing. And so is the Soviet Space agency. You have a choice: come down as planned and abandon the world’s only space station to an unknown fate. Or stay, protect the final outpost of a falling empire and risk your life?
Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram.
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Nic Cage’s recovered copy of Action Comics #1 leaves a series of unanswered questions and prompts a reexamination of what really happened the night it went missing. Plus, we meet the billionaire Superman superfan who has the comic today.
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Dean Reed's Hollywood career was brief, but he became an international superstar during the height of the Cold War, living in Latin America and communist Europe. After going public about wanting to return home to the United States, Dean's life came to a mysterious end. Decades later, his daughter Ramona is determined to find out what really happened to him. Listen to Red Elvis on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-red-elvis-105219647/
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Eleven years after going missing, Nicolas Cage’s copy of Action #1 reportedly surfaces in an abandoned storage locker in California. To confirm it, cops go undercover and discover a story almost too good to be true.
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Long before Nicolas Cage's copy of Action #1 was stolen, high school pals Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had to conjure up the character. But 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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Nic Cage’s infamous comics heist proves irresistible to Hollywood, which mounts a film version of the theft — yet the finished movie has never been released. Plus: a different Superman origin story, about the time Cage donned the cape and tights.
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A Superman collector in Illinois is horrified to discover his entire collection has gone missing. As police search for the thief, the collecting community delivers their own brand of justice.
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Nicolas Cage weds Lisa Marie Presley, but Memphis beckons for another reason. Another rare Cage comic turns up in the soulful city, leading police to think they’ve finally cracked the case.
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Nicolas Cage’s copy of Action Comics #1 wasn’t the only one stolen. Another was taken just weeks prior to the Cage theft — from the safe of a billionaire. Was it a coincidence, or a rehearsal?
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One of Nicolas Cage’s rare comics turns up in Connecticut, which seems like a slam dunk for investigators. And we meet a renowned (but reformed!) art thief, who explains the true motive behind its appearance.
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Welcome to Stealing Superman, a new iHeart Original podcast hosted by Dana Schwartz.
After a holiday party, Nicolas Cage realizes his cache of rare comics has been ransacked, and Action Comics #1—the Mona Lisa of comics—is missing. With suspects ranging from employees to guests, Cage turns to his trusted comic book dealer for help solving what will shape up to be the most unlikely art heist of all time.
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Things come to a head in Hailey as Bruce Willis enlists the help of a rogue security force to chase unwanted visitors out of town. Soon, a life-altering event threatens to end the love affair between Willis and Hailey.
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Hailey, Idaho isn’t the only small town Bruce Willis wants to remake. He sets his sights on Penn's Grove, New Jersey, his actual hometown, and promises big things to come for the economically-strapped region. But red tape and negative press threaten to leave the town with a broken heart—and leave Hailey wondering if they’re still on Willis’ good side.
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Willis announces he’s starring in and producing a major feature film - a Kurt Vonnegut adaptation - that will be shot in the state of Idaho. He even gives some local actors their big screen breaks. But in a bid to retain almost complete creative control, Willis upends both his career and the lives of his Idahoan neighbors.
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Small town bureaucracy slows Willis’ ambitions, the police go after his inner circle and some Hailey residents are just saying no to Bruce. When lawsuits start popping up, Willis steps out of the shadows and flexes his political muscle. It turns into a statewide battle when the federal government proposes dumping nuclear waste 60 miles away from Hailey.
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Bruce Willis opens his biggest investment in Hailey yet—the two-story Mint bar and nightclub. Major acts draw modest crowds, but the real attraction is Willis and his band, who show up unannounced and rock long into the night. But having a major nightlife hotspot in the sleepy town leads to some big city problems, problems that leave some wondering where did the real Hailey go?
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Willis ventured into big business with his gimmicky Planet Hollywood franchise, but after being a quiet Hailey resident for several years, Willis buys and renovates a restaurant and bar, and soon an old movie theater. When blockbuster Hollywood premieres start happening on Hailey's main street, residents soon realize that Willis' persona casts a big shadow.
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An incident involving an angry Willis and even angrier police officers prompts the star to rethink his life in the spotlight. Just when Willis has had enough, an accident opens the door to a different life in Hailey, Idaho.
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As one of the most famous movie stars in the world, there aren’t many places Bruce Willis can feel comfortable. He decides to exit Los Angeles and seek solace in a tiny Idaho town in the hopes he can blend in as a regular guy. But can anyone thirty feet tall on movie screens ever seem small?
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