The Legend of SwordQuest
What started as a promotion for a new Atari game would become one of the most controversial moments in ‘80s pop culture, with a central mystery that’s consumed fans for decades: what happened to the missing SwordQuest prizes? To unlock the biggest mystery in video game history, host Jamie Loftus is going on a treasure hunt 40 years in the making.
Very Special Episodes: When Kim Jong Il Kidnapped South Korea's Biggest Stars
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.
SOURCES + FURTHER READING/LISTENING/VIEWING
A Kim Jong-Il Production, by Paul Fisher
The Observant, by Ravi Mangla
Michelle Cho, assistant professor, University of Toronto
"Are You There Godzilla? It's Me, Kim Jong Il" [Ridiculous Crime podcast]
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S. State Department
Big Brother: North Korea's Forgotten Prince [An iHeart O...
VSE: How a High-End Doll Shop Became a Hotbed for Espionage
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 doll orders to transmit coded U.S. military intelligence to the Japanese.
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Very Special Episodes: The Pizza Funeral
On a cold day in 1973, a crowd gathered on a farm for one of history's strangest funerals. It was an elite group, including the Governor of Michigan, bank presidents, and local dignitaries. Even Walter Cronkite sent a correspondent. But they weren’t mourning anyone human. No, this was a pizza-based catastrophe.
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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. Subscribe to VSE wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...
VSE: How Gatsby Went From Total Flop to Great American Novel
When he published The Great Gatsby 100 years ago today, F. Scott Fitzgerald thought he'd written the Great American Novel. But it was a commercial flop. The year Fitzgerald died, he received a royalty check for a paltry seven copies. It would take an unlikely series of events to posthumously pluck a masterpiece from obscurity.
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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. Subscribe to VSE wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com...
Very Special Episodes: The Improbable Life and Mysterious Death of Andy, the Sneaker-Wearing Goose
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 later, Andy's legacy is still reverberating around their hometown.
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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. Subscribe to VSE wherever you get your podcasts.
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Very Special Episodes: Night of a Thousand Weddings
On August 26, 1965, LBJ issued a surprise executive order eliminating marriage as grounds for deferment from the Vietnam draft. The unexpected announcement set off a panic across the country. But if you could somehow get married before midnight, you might be in the clear. The problem was, nearly every state required blood tests or a waiting period — every state, that is, except Nevada.
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Very Special Episodes: Live From New York, It's Your Grandmother
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' wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Bonus Episode: The Landfill
A waste management specialist unearths thousands of Atari games buried in a New Mexico landfill. As gaming historians rejoice, he plots to turn Atari’s unwanted trash into cash.
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8: Endgame
After decades of speculation, a mysterious source emerges that may solve the mystery of the missing SwordQuest treasures once and for all.
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7: The Swordsman
The trail to find the missing SwordQuest treasures leads back to one of the most controversial figures in Atari history.
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