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Heroes Behind Headlines

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Heroes Behind the Headlines: a new podcast featuring an explosive new story every episode. First-hand accounts of adventures and events which have shaped our world . The real stories behind the headlines you know, told by the heroes you don’t. Hosted by NYT and international bestselling author Ralph Pezzullo.

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Episodes

One Writer's Trudeau Nightmare

Proud Canadian and innovative thinker and author, Jeff Brown was flattered beyond when Sophie Trudeau, (his country’s “first lady” at the time.) reached out to compliment his writing and aphorisms, and engage him to think about ideas that expressed the spirit of what Justin Trudeau and his wife sought to communicate as part of their platform. At their first meeting, Sophie quickly disclosed her own dissatisfaction in her marriage, and proceeded to behave in a flirty and what felt inappropriate m...

Apr 20, 20261 hr 7 minSeason 5Ep. 15

Marine Recon Sniper’s Gritty Account Of Time In Iraq

Growing up in the New Hampshire mountains, country boy Brennan Morton couldn’t wait to join the military, and when 9/11 occurred, it provided the final push for enlistment. Brennan loved every minute of the training as a Marine recon sniper, and was surprised as physically superior candidates washed out. But then he was deployed to Iraq with his unit, and the reality of what he’d sought hit home. Sent into a brutal fighting environment he saw his comrades brutally harmed by IEDs without any visi...

Apr 13, 20261 hr 17 minSeason 5Ep. 14

Linking The JFK & RFK Shootings With Help From Expert Mark Shaw

Mark Shaw shares his recent discoveries linking the JFK and RFK assassinations, and also the mysterious and dreadful death of famed journalist Dorothy Kilgallen who was hot on the trail to solve the mystery behind President Kennedy's death. Ripped from the pages of his new book, "Abuse of Power," there's plenty of thought-provoking revelation that further strengthens the inescapable conclusion that the President's death was not caused by a lone gunman, and that the American people--in spite of t...

Apr 06, 20261 hr 1 minSeason 5Ep. 13

Risks and Challenges of Cult Deprogramming

Whether you call it brainwashing, programming, indoctrination, or something else, cult members have been taught to think, feel, and act in certain ways. The goal of the cult deprogrammer is to empower the individual to think critically, to evaluate, to reality-test; and to exercise their own free will. Over his long career, Mark Blockson has participated in more than 100 interventions or kidnappings at the behest of families who are trying to rescue loved ones from religious cults. He talks abou...

Mar 30, 202659 minSeason 5Ep. 12

FBI Special Agent Discovers Shocking New Evidence About JFK Assassination

Retired FBI Agent Stewart Fillmore was trained to break down evidence to solve crimes and build cases. Here, he focuses on the forensics of the JFK assassination and the likelihood that the hole in the front of the late President’s throat was an entry wound, not an exit wound as the FBI and Warren Report had concluded. Stewart walks us through the evidence he’s gathered, and what it tells him about the nature of the crime. Importantly, his account aligns with the prior testimony of HBH guest Tos...

Mar 23, 20261 hr 18 minSeason 5Ep. 11

Beirut Bombing 1983: Start Of The War On Terror

Early in the morning of October 23, 1983 two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut Lebanon housing members of the US and French Multinational Force in Lebanon – a military peace mission in the eight-year-old Lebanese civil war. The attack by a terrorist group called Islamic Jihad, which had backing from the governments of Iran and Syria, killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians and two of the attackers. Two hundred of the 241 US casualties were US M...

Mar 16, 202654 minSeason 5Ep. 10

Surviving Epstein

Writer and editor Sarah McCarthy set out to write a book about her friend of 15 years and Jeffrey Epstein survivor Juliette Bryant. She reveals details about how Epstein and his powerful friends lured girls and young women into his network and the techniques he used to manipulate them. But the part that is most shocking, is what Julie experience at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico – the little-talked-about Zorro Ranch – and the bizarre activities that took place there. Her account helps explain his...

Mar 09, 20261 hr 4 minSeason 5Ep. 9

The Legendary First Special Service Force of WWII

In 1942, on the heels of the Pearl Harbor attack as the US entered the war, Canada and the U.S. agreed to form a special top-secret military commando unit – nicknamed by the Nazis as “The Black Devils” for their stealth, bravery and skill. Designed to work as a nimble, highly conditioned unit of ‘super-fighters’ with special skills, selected servicemen from the two nation’s forces became one and trained for eight-and-a-half months in Helena, Montana before being shipped overseas to Europe. Bill ...

Mar 02, 20261 hrSeason 5Ep. 9

“Real 21 Jump Street” Undercover Cop & Crime-Stopper (Part 3 Of 3)

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student who was later convicted of murder. In 2000, while working undercover, he discovered an ecstasy ring that led to th...

Feb 23, 202650 minSeason 5Ep. 8

“Real 21 Jump Street” Undercover Cop & Crime-Stopper (Part 2 Of 3)

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student who was later convicted of murder. In 2000, while working undercover, he discovered an ecstasy ring that led to th...

Feb 16, 202649 minSeason 5Ep. 7

“Real 21 Jump Street” Undercover Cop & Crime-Stopper (Part 1 Of 3)

This three part-interview takes us through the amazing career and true-crime adventures of Texas native Zeke Flatten, who grew up knowing he wanted a career in law enforcement, got himself hired as a bail bondsman at 18, and became an undercover cop at 20. Initially placed undercover in a high school to investigate gun sales and other crimes, he ended up buying a bomb from a student who was later convicted of murder. In 2000, while working undercover, he discovered an ecstasy ring that led to th...

Feb 09, 202648 minSeason 5Ep. 6

U.S. Govt. Whistleblower Reveals Election Fraud By World's Greatest Criminal Cartel!

U.S. Government whistleblower Martin Rodil breaks down the Venezuelan efforts to steal elections in the U.S. and also explains how that country's Cartel de los Soles–the largest criminal organization in the world–aims their drug trafficking and other activities at the United States. Martin, along with his partner Gary Berntsen, were tracking down cartel bank accounts and other assets for the U.S. government to rightfully seize, when they tripped over an enormous election theft program created an...

Feb 02, 20261 hr 8 minSeason 5Ep. 5

Shocking Story of CIA Station Chief Murdered in Greece

Former CIA agent and Boston native Ralph Mariani shares the real-life thriller account of the 1975 murder of his boss, Richard Welch, the then-CIA station chief in Athens, and the twenty-seven-year investigation that was only solved when two grandmas came forward when a new description of the culprits was circulated. On the night of December 23, 1975, CIA Station Chief Dick Welch and his family attended a Christmas party at the American Ambassador’s residence. Upon returning home, Dick exited th...

Jan 26, 202655 minSeason 5Ep. 4

American Journalist Kidnapped By The Taliban

Over his career as a journalist, reporting from mainly Afghanistan and Pakistan, Jere Van Dyk has worked for the New York Times and CBS News and has appeared widely as a commentator on international affairs. His also the author of several books. In 2008 Jere was captured and held by the Taliban, an experience that he wrote about in his fascinating book Captive , which received a Foreign Press Award in 2022. He is with us today to talk about his long experience in Afghanistan that began with a tr...

Jan 19, 20261 hr 22 minSeason 5Ep. 3

America CEO Imprisoned in Venezuela

With the country of Venezuela and the criminal behavior of the Maduro regime currently headline news, today’s guest is particularly timely – petroleum executive, kidnapping victim and author Jose Angel Pereira. At first glance, Jose Angel Pereira’s career looks like that of someone who reached the pinnacle of corporate success – that of a seasoned executive with over three decades in the oil and gas industry. Jose Angel once led CITGO Petroleum as CEO, navigating billion-dollar deals and interna...

Jan 12, 202656 minSeason 5Ep. 2

Unexpected Heroism During LA Wildfire

On the evening of January 7, 2025 several destructive wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area, including the fast-moving Eaton Fire near the neighborhoods of Altadena and Pasadena. Firefighters and three night-flying helicopters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were ordered to respond. They intended to drop water on the Eaton fire but, buffeted by ferocious updrafts and downdrafts, aborted the operation at 6:45 p.m. By midnight, the fire expanded to over 1,000 acres fueled by str...

Jan 05, 202641 minSeason 5Ep. 1

REPRISE: Breaking Down the Meth and Fentanyl Epidemic

HBH is so proud of this episode--we think this breakdown of an important and ongoing issue bears repeating: Award-winning journalist Sam Quinones lays out the facts behind the meth and fentanyl drug crisis in the U.S.: He expertly describes how mass manufacturing has made these drug ubiquitous, cheap, and infinitely more potent, and thus unlike any other drugs--legal or illegal--ever consumed by human beings. Sam explains how today’s meth has triggered an abrupt rise in homelessness, and why the...

Dec 29, 20251 hr 18 minSeason 4Ep. 56

REPRISE: U.S. Army Scout Donald D. Fida's Incredible WWII Pacific Survival Story

In 1944, Sgt. Donald D. Fida was tortured and gutted by Japanese solders and left to die in the Philippine jungle, when his childhood friend miraculously came upon him and saved his life. Because of this experience, Donald survived and continued to fight til the war's end, living to finally tell his tale at age 99. Twice a Purple Heart recipient, Donald shares his first-person account of his numerous adventures as an Army Scout in the wartime Pacific Theater, describing his combat in the Aleutia...

Dec 22, 20251 hr 12 minSeason 4Ep. 55

Growing Up Homeless To Navy SEAL To Cancer Survivor: Part Two

Part two of Dash's awesome interview: Former Navy SEAL Dash Dong Wong’s journey from growing up as a street urchin in Hawaii to becoming a Navy special operations operator is a powerful testament to resilience and inner strength. Says Dash, “I grew up in paradise, but was raised in hell.” Through all the trauma he faced as a kid, including battling in a child fight club at ten years old, he learned to find hope and beauty in even the worst situations. Though he never knew his real father, he was...

Dec 15, 202550 minSeason 4Ep. 54

Growing Up Homeless To Navy SEAL To Cancer Survivor

Former Navy SEAL Dash Dong Wong’s journey from growing up as a street urchin in Hawaii to becoming a Navy special operations operator is a powerful testament to resilience and inner strength. Says Dash, “I grew up in paradise, but was raised in hell.” Through all the trauma he faced as a kid, including battling in a child fight club at ten years old, he learned to find hope and beauty in even the worst situations. Though he never knew his real father, he was adopted by a friend of his mother, a ...

Dec 08, 20251 hr 7 minSeason 4Ep. 53

The Most Audacious Art Thief Ever!

Art theft expert, security expert and author of “The Rembrandt Heist: The Story of a Criminal Genius, a Stolen Masterpiece, and an Enigmatic Friendship,” Anthony Amore introduces us to Boston native, Miles Connor Jr., a combination rock star, samurai sword collector, and brilliant art thief. Connor's fascinating motives for stealing art were tied up with his policeman father’s passion for collecting, and also for avenging what he felt was a grave insult to his father by a local museum, the Forbe...

Dec 01, 202543 minSeason 4Ep. 52

The Women Who Secretly Built the Atomic Bomb

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was home to 75,000 residents, who consumed more energy than New York City. Most of the world didn’t know that the town even existed. And most of the people who lived there, who were largely young women from small towns across the America, didn’t know the true nature of the work they were doing day after day in the hulking factories that had been hastily built in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is until the end of the war when Oak ...

Nov 24, 20251 hr 1 minSeason 4Ep. 51

Female Cuban Spy Nabbed By The FBI

Retired FBI agent Pete Lapp helped capture Ana Montez, a Puerto Rican-born American and UVA alumna who was a senior analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency overseeing the Cuban account. For 17 years, she was also a spy for Cuba and was an avowed communist. Ironically, as many of four of Anna’s close family members worked for the FBI and despite Anna’s more extreme political views, assumed she was a loyal American. From his book “Queen of Cuba,” Pete relates how Ana was identified as a potent...

Nov 17, 20251 hr 3 minSeason 4Ep. 50

Govt. JFK Assassination Expert Proves Conspiracy! – Part Two

Part Two of this fascinating interview: Douglas Horne is the preeminent JFK assassination expert and a former investigator with the official government JFK Assassination Records Review Board. He’s also the author of the five-volume book set titled: Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK, JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated . Recently h...

Nov 10, 202557 minSeason 4Ep. 49

Govt. JFK Assassination Expert Proves Conspiracy! – Part One

Douglas Horne is the preeminent JFK assassination expert and a former investigator with the official government JFK Assassination Records Review Board. He’s also the author of the five-volume book set titled: Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK, JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated . Recently he was one of the JFK Assassination exper...

Nov 03, 20251 hr 1 minSeason 4Ep. 48

Youngest WW2 Officer Fights Hitler, Saves Horses And More!

World War II hero Phil Larimore remains the youngest candidate to ever graduate from Army Officer Training School, which he did at the age of seventeen, on the eve of America’s involvement in World War II. Landing on the Anzio beachhead in February 1944, Phil – the youngest commissioned US officer in World War II – was put in charge of an Ammunition Pioneer Platoon of the 3rd Infantry Division. Their job: to deliver ammunition to the frontline foxholes—a dangerous assignment involving regular fo...

Oct 27, 20251 hr 21 minSeason 4Ep. 47

Chasing The Zombie Hunter

Phoenix Police Department cold case homicide detective and and former CPA Troy Hillman tells the extraordinary, detailed inside story of how an elite team of detectives—hounded by the press, a frustrated and frightened public, and their own doubts and exhaustion—solved a double murder that had haunted the Phoenix area for more than twenty years. The initial details were already chilling—the brutal murder of two women, found headless, who were assaulted while riding their bikes along a well-known...

Oct 20, 202548 minSeason 4Ep. 46

The Anthrax Crisis And The Urgent Search For A Missing Iraqi Scientist

After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the death of Saddam Hussein, scientists who worked for the regime were killed or left the country. When one of them –microbiologist Thamer Abdul Rahman Imran – learned the new regime wanted to arrest him and the insurgents wanted to kill him, he went into hiding. Racing against time, ex–Secret Service agent Steve Monteiro and his team from the Department of Homeland Security set out to find the missing scientist and learn what he knew about the anthrax c...

Oct 13, 20251 hr 9 minSeason 4Ep. 45

Welcome to The CIA and ‘The Farm’ its Legendary Training Program: Doug Laux Reprise

We are re-airing Doug Laux's second appearance on HBH, as we fondly remember him upon his passing: Being accepted to work at the CIA is highly difficult. The interview process is long and secretive - and applicants and their references are often vetted without ever knowing it. Once accepted, very few go on to practice espionage. That distinction is reserved for those invited to the CIA’s top secret and legendary training program known as ‘The Farm’. Fewer still actually graduate the program and ...

Oct 08, 20251 hr 29 minSeason 4Ep. 44

MACV-SOG Legend "Dynamite" Is Back! (Part Two of Two)

Henry (Dick) L. Thompson is back to share more adventures from his latest book SOG Code Name Dynamite 2 about his time in Vietnam as part of MACV-SOG. From 1964-1972 America engaged in a Top Secret war in Southeast Asia to support our efforts in Vietnam, with an elite group of warriors who were sworn to secrecy for decades. If caught, the US government would deny any involvement. Missioned primarily to do recon on North Vietnamese forces massing across the border in Laos and Cambodia, the small ...

Oct 06, 202545 minSeason 4Ep. 43
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