My Oldest, Dearest Friend

"Here it is. The Holy Grail." John Reznikoff makes his living spotting fakes. So when his close friend, a polished Navy war hero, turned up hundreds of secret documents tying John F. Kennedy to Marilyn Monroe -- a storied affair that had never been confirmed in hard evidence -- John knew he had his work cut out for him. He checked them with the best experts in the field. All of whom said they were real. The papers sold for millions, a Pulitzer winner wrote them into a book, and John thought he’d made the find of his life. Then one day it all came apart. Jake Halpern’s story about Reznikoff originally aired on This American Life in 2011.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you learn your family is not your own? In 1951, Mary Kaye Miller gave birth to a baby girl. But when she brought the infant home, she suspected something was wrong. 43 years later, she broke the news: her baby had been switched at the hospital. And the girl she'd raised actually belonged to a family living just a few towns away. Deep Cover host Jake Halpern first reported this story for This American Life in 2008. Ira Glass calls it one of the best episodes they've ever done. In it, both families and their daughters grapple with the fallout of this long held secret.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American Nightmares is a true crime series from Gamut Podcast Network that investigates disturbing crimes and the people, places, and unanswered questions behind them. In its new season, Canal Murders, American Nightmares investigates a chilling series of murders connected by a common thread: victims discovered in and around the canals of Phoenix, Arizona. What initially appeared to be separate crimes begins to reveal a darker pattern. Who was targeting these victims? Were the murders connected? And could someone responsible have been hiding in plain sight? Listen to Episode 1 of American Nightmares: Canal Murders here, then follow American Nightmares wherever you get your podcasts to hear the rest of the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly 40 years ago, in the parking lot of a community college in Port Huron, Michigan, a 20-year-old student named Scott Macklem was shot dead in broad daylight. His murder shocked the community. It made no sense. The police quickly found their suspect. There was only one problem: the man said he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. And he could prove it. In Examined: The Backfire Effect, journalist Josie Duffy Rice talks with eyewitnesses, investigators and local reporters to unravel a shocking story of judicial apathy and expedience — a story that leaves no one off the hook. Examined looks at overlooked cases that never got the real investigation they deserved. Each season features deeply reported stories about crime, punishment, and the criminal legal system.  Find more episodes of Examined: The Backfire Effect wherever you get podcasts. Binge the full series now with a Pushkin+ subscription — sign up on the Examined Apple show page or at pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In February 2024, celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them? In season 3 of Death of an Artist, journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael’s letters—as one married couple trying to understand another. Told through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael’s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers’ deaths and the final words they left behind. Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For most of her life, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was in a wheelchair. She had a feeding tube, an oxygen tank, and a list of diagnoses long enough to fill a binder. Then, in 2015, her mother was found stabbed to death in their home, and the world found out Gypsy could walk.  The story became a documentary, a TV series, a household name. Case closed.  But did she fake it all?  In this new series from PRETEND, host Javier Leiva investigates the online world that formed around the case, where no one is a reliable narrator.  This is part one of The Gypsy Rose Obsession. Listen to PRETEND wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you liked this past season of Deep Cover, The Family Man, you'll enjoy this episode from another Pushkin podcast, Heavyweight. It's a great companion to our bank robbery story from this season. Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, creates space for difficult conversations and resolving long-standing regrets and unanswered questions. In this episode: A young man had just turned 14 when he took his father’s shotgun, skipped school, and robbed a bank for $40,000. Now, 33 years later, he wants to apologize to the people he harmed that day. Find Heavyweight wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Keith Giammanco started robbing banks in 2007, he sought to minimize his legal risk. Keith says he never carried a weapon, and he confessed to the authorities the same day he was arrested.  But, ultimately, he faced two prosecutions - federal and state. And he served nearly two decades in prison. Jake sits down with legal scholar James Forman, Jr. to unpack how this all unfolded, why a lawyer never tries to "manifest success,” and what justice looks like in a case like this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Walton was shocked to learn his lifelong friend, Keith, had been living a double life as the Boonie Hat Bandit. He’d seen reports about the serial bank robber on the news, but never recognized him. Jake speaks with Mike about their friendship and why, sometimes, it’s hard to see the thing right in front of you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keith’s daughters, Elise and Marissa, face new trials on their own while Keith serves his time. After decades in custody, Keith nears his release date, and the Giammanco family grapples with the past and the choices they’ve made.  To learn more about Keith’s story, check out Bank Notes Revisited, co-written with Caroline Giammanco. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.