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Very Special Episodes

Very Special Episodes

By: iHeartPodcasts
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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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Episodes
  • Hush! The Battle Over 'Goodnight Moon'
    Jul 9 2025

    Today, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon is considered a classic. The deceptively complex children’s book has been passed down for generations. But if the New York Public Library had gotten its way, you’d have never even heard of it.

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    Thanks to our Very Special guests Amy Gary, author of In the Great Green Room; and writer, children's book author, and podcaster Betsy Bird.

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    Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
    Written by Carmen Borca-Carrillo and edited by Emily Rudder at Wonder Media Network
    Produced by Josh Fisher
    Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
    Mixing and Mastering by Chris Childs
    Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
    Fact-Checking by Maya Shoukri
    Original Music by Elise McCoy
    Voice Actors: Katie Mattie, Chris Childs, Josh Fisher, Jonathan Washington, Juliet English, and Charlotte English
    Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
    Executive Producer is Jason English

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    49 mins
  • JFK's Forgotten Summer in Journalism (with Rob Reiner)
    Jun 27 2025

    Eighty years ago this summer, a young John F. Kennedy took a job as a journalist for Hearst newspapers, filing dispatches in the final days of World War II. His columns capture the mood of a changing world.

    Even the most seasoned JFK scholars often overlook this chapter. In today's extra special Very Special Episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Fred Logevall and legendary director Rob Reiner join us to explore the forgotten summer that helped shape Kennedy's worldview.

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    Check out Fred Logevall's excellent book: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century.

    Listen to Who Killed JFK? from Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien wherever you get your podcasts. And go see Spinal Tap II: The End Continues in theaters this September!

    And thanks to our JFK voice actor, Tom Antonellis, for nailing another role.

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    Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
    Written by Joe Pompeo
    Produced by Josh Fisher
    Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
    Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
    Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
    Research and Fact-Checking by Joe Pompeo and Austin Thompson
    Original Music by Elise McCoy
    Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
    Executive Producer is Jason English

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show more Show less
    45 mins
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