Very Special Episodes

When a sleepy volcano in Indonesia began smoking in 1883, a steamship company started selling tickets. Tourists hiked up Krakatoa until the soles of their shoes melted, sure they were watching a harmless spectacle. Three months later, it let loose one of the loudest sounds in recorded history, giving the world one of its first breaking news stories. * Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason EnglishWritten by Adrien BehnStory Editor is Carmen Borca-CarrilloSenior Producer is Josh FisherEditing and Sound Design by Chris ChildsAdditional Editing by Mary DooeOriginal Music by Elise McCoyShow Logo by Lucy QuintanillaExecutive Producer is Jason English Today’s episode was produced in partnership with Acast Creative Studios. Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeartPodcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rosey Grier has a habit of showing up at turning points of American history: the greatest NFL game ever played, Free to Be…You and Me, and Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 presidential run. But one night at the Ambassador Hotel made the football star a reluctant hero. It also gave him a mission he’s spent the rest of his life carrying out. Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason EnglishWritten by Dave RoosSenior Producer is Josh FisherEditing and Sound Design by Chris ChildsAdditional Editing by Mary DooeMixing and Mastering by Josh FisherOriginal Music by Elise McCoyShow Logo by Lucy QuintanillaExecutive Producer is Jason English You can always reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wherever Sioux singer D.Z. Ironwing performed in New York, the same woman was waiting afterward to say she loved his voice. Seven years later, his phone rang in a freezing South Dakota trailer. It was her — the first of countless calls that began an unlikely bond with one of America’s richest families. * Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason EnglishWritten by Lucas ReillySenior Producer is Josh FisherStory Editor is Virginia PrescottEditing and Sound Design by Jesse NighswongerOriginal Music by Elise McCoyShow Logo by Lucy QuintanillaExecutive Producer is Jason English Today's episode was produced in partnership with School of Humans. For School of Humans, Producers are Emilia Brock, Edeliz Perez, and Lucas Reilly. Executive Producer is Virginia Prescott.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plenty of Harry Potter fans love Severus Snape. A few truly worshipped him. In the early 2000s, these fans found each other online and came to believe Harry’s least favorite professor was real. A god in an alternate universe that bled into our own. Nothing in the world could shake their devotion to Snape. Until their sisterhood imploded. * Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason EnglishWritten by Katie MattieSenior Producer is Josh FisherEditing and Sound Design by Jonathan WashingtonStory Editor is Virginia PrescottAdditional Editing by Mary Dooe + Josh FisherVoice Actors are Jonathan Washington, Bee Haskins, Katie Mattie, and Josh FisherOriginal Music by Elise McCoyShow Logo by Lucy QuintanillaExecutive Producer is Jason English Special thanks to our guest Dr. Zoe Alderton, author of Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion Within the Harry Potter Fandom.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart ducked out of a White House event and commandeered an airplane. The First Lady and the first lady of aviation flew to Baltimore and back. The event was documented by journalists, and later recounted in books. But there was more to this spontaneous joyride that didn't make the papers.  * Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason EnglishWritten by Dylan HeuerProduced by Josh FisherStory Editor is Marisa BrownEditing and Sound Design by Chris ChildsMixing and Mastering by Baheed FrazierOriginal Music by Elise McCoyResearch and Fact Checking by Dylan Heuer and Austin ThompsonShow Logo by Lucy QuintanillaExecutive Producer is Jason English [This episode was originally published in November 2024.]See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.