Stealing Superman: Recent Episodes
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It was the most unlikely art heist of all time. Join some improbable detectives and one determined comic book dealer as they investigate the mysterious theft of the most important comic in the world ... a comic stolen from Nicolas Cage.
During its first 50 seasons, Saturday Night Live has welcomed legendary actors, superstar athletes, and notable politicians. But for one memorable night in 1977, Lorne Michaels turned the show over to an 80-year-old amateur.
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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Search 'Very Special Episodes' on your favorite podcast platform.
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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Chris Childs
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
Special thanks to Connie Crawford for sharing her story. And thanks to the great Bill Carter for stopping by! You can read more of his work at LateNighter, or check out his many classic books.
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Atari’s financial problems force the company to issue an ultimatum to SwordQuest players—one that may involve a top-secret gaming tournament closed to the public.
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SwordQuest players discover that being video game rock stars comes at a price. Meanwhile, delays in the contest raise suspicions among contestants that Atari may not intend to see it through to the end—and that the prizes may not even exist at all.
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Expert gamers are invited to an all-expenses paid trip to California for the first round of Atari’s SwordQuest contest and a chance at the first treasure: a $25,000 medallion. The problem? Solving the game’s central puzzle will prove nearly impossible.
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The 1904 St. Louis Olympics featured the strangest sporting event in history. During the marathon, runners paused for naps, got chased by dogs, went apple picking, and doped with rat poison — all while being unwitting participants in a cruel scientific experiment.
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Thanks for listening! Our next episode comes out Wednesday, June 26th.
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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Lucas Reilly
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design: Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering: Baheed Frazier
Story Editor: Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking: Austin Thompson and Lucas Reilly
Medal-Worthy Voice-Acting: Karl Keadle and Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer: Jason English
Want to email the show? Go for it. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.
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Mykal Riley’s name isn’t mentioned alongside the likes of Steph 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 McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying Very Special Episodes, leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hi Stealing Superman Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of our newest show Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)
About the show: Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) is a weekly show from Jamie Loftus that takes a closer look at the internet’s main characters – one part reported, one part interviews, and one part Jamie collapsing her permanently internet-damaged brain. Whether it’s an enduring meme or a dreaded Character of the Day distinction, it’s the kind of notoriety that often results in little money, unwarranted attention, and a confusing blurred line of consent. What do you do when you get more attention and judgement than any one person is built to handle? The Sixteenth Minute of Fame is the place where we figure that out, putting people in the context of the moment they've been frozen inside of.
Listenhereand subscribe to Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
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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.
A Superman fan in Illinois is horrified to discover his entire stockpile of memorabilia has gone missing. As police search for the thief, the collecting community delivers their own brand of justice.
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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast with a simple premise: 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 by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Research and Fact-Checking by Austin Thompson and Jake Rossen
Original Music by Elise McCoy and Aaron Kaufman
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hi, Stealing Superman 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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Bob Crawford of The Avett Brothers explores the post-presidential legacy of America’s sixth president: John Quincy Adams. Though often only seen as a failed one-term president and the son of a Founding Father, Adams spent his final decades in Congress fighting the slavocracy and forming a bridge between the founding of America and the era of Lincoln. Founding Son features Patrick Warburton as the voice of John Quincy Adams, Nick Offerman as the voice of Andrew Jackson, and Grey DeLisle as the voice of Louisa Adams. Listen to Founding Son: John Quincy Adams on the iHeartRadio App or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-founding-son-john-quincys-111619900/
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Hi, Stealing Superman fans! The biggest black market you’ve never heard of might be blooming right under your nose. Bad Seeds explores a variety of cases involving illegal plant poaching and the larger environmental impact of plant smuggling.
Listen to Bad Seeds now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
About Bad Seeds: “Bad Seeds” explores a variety of cases involving illegal plant poaching - from the US Fish and Wildlife catching obsessives stealing cacti to the Gibson Guitar lawsuit when the company purchased illegally harvested wood from Madagascar. Along with telling these stories, the show also focuses on the larger environmental impact of plant smuggling.
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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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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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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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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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