history
Hosted by iHeartPodcasts · history · EN-US · 94 episodes
On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie.” Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
34%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchOn the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie.” Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.
Recent episodes include "The Secret Lives of Snape Wives" (21 October 2026, 53 minutes), "The Joyride: Amelia and Eleanor's Excellent Adventure [Re-Release]" (19 September 2026, 44 minutes), and "The Case of the Missing Novelist [Re-Release]" (19 August 2026, 39 minutes).
Very Special Episodes publishes roughly every two weeks, with episodes averaging 47 minutes across 94 episodes.
Booking probability for Very Special Episodes is 34%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Very Special Episodes requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Very Special Episodes's contact route on record: verified email.
Very Special Episodes is a history show with 94 episodes published.
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Episode #92
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...
Episode #91
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...
Episode #90
Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. But her biggest mystery unfolded outside the pages of her books. In this episode, Dana examines the 11 days in 1926 when the beloved author went missing, and the...
Episode #89
After a party at Nicolas Cage’s Bel-Air mansion, one of the rarest comic books on Earth disappeared. Action Comics #1 — the comic that introduced Superman — is worth millions of dollars. With almost no...
Episode #88
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. * We're...
Episode #87
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...
Episode #86
Hello, Very Special listeners! Today we're dipping into the archives of Zaron's other podcast, Ridiculous Crime , to share a tale of dog excellence from World Cup history. In 1966, England hosted the FIFA World...
Episode #85
<p>Thanks to her McDonald’s fortune, Joan Kroc was one of the world’s wealthiest people. And she was determined to die nearly broke.</p> <p>*</p> <p>Special thanks to our guests Lisa Napoli, Dick Starmann, and Stephanie...
Episode #85
Thanks to her McDonald’s fortune, Joan Kroc was one of the world’s wealthiest people. And she was determined to die nearly broke. * Special thanks to our guests Lisa Napoli, Dick Starmann, and Stephanie...
Episode #84
<p>Comic Sans is a punchline. A design crime. Cultural shorthand for bad taste. But the notorious font's legacy isn't one of failure. Because Comic Sans succeeded in ways its critics never saw coming.</p> <p>*</p>...
Episode #84
Comic Sans is a punchline. A design crime. Cultural shorthand for bad taste. But the notorious font's legacy isn't one of failure. Because Comic Sans succeeded in ways its critics never saw coming. * Hosted by Dana...
Episode #83
<p>In 1968, a woman wrote a romantic story about Kirk and Spock, passed it quietly among friends, and hoped it would never see the light of day. Before vanishing entirely, The Ring of Soshern had become the stuff of...
Episode #83
In 1968, a woman wrote a romantic story about Kirk and Spock, passed it quietly among friends, and hoped it would never see the light of day. Before vanishing entirely, The Ring of Soshern had become the stuff of...
Episode #82
<p>In the winter of 1939, Finland faced overwhelming odds. The Soviet Union was invading with hundreds of thousands of troops. Standing in their way was an unlikely defender: a shy farmer and expert marksman who would...
Episode #81
<p>Emma has never felt the sun on her skin. Born with a rare condition that makes UV light dangerous, she lives by sunscreen, meters, and moonlight. But she’s also part of a community finding extraordinary ways to make...
Episode #80
<p>When Ian Fleming needed a name for the secret agent at the center of his new novel, he stole one from the cover of a birdwatching book. The real James Bond wasn’t a martini-drinking spy, but a shy American...
Episode #79
<p>Gene Fleming and his pet goose Andy made headlines around the world. They brought out the best in the people of Hastings, Nebraska. But amid all this attention, Andy also brought out the worst. And three decades...
Episode #78
<p>In June 1970, Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates somehow tossed a no-hitter while tripping on acid. The LSD stunt made him a legend, but it overshadowed a much deeper story: a man who spent the second half of his...
Episode #77
<p>In 1978, Soviet geologists flying over Siberia spotted something impossible: a family living in total isolation, untouched for decades by the modern world. But when outsiders finally reached their remote cabin, the...
Episode #76
<p>Time for another mailbag episode! This week Dana, Zaron, and Jason answer pressing listener questions on yearbook quotes, hidden talents, and ads they'd read for free. Plus they plan a Very Special Festival (and/or...
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