On Very Special Episodes, 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.

Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app. 

On Very Special Episodes, 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.
Listen <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/">here</a> or on the iHeartRadio app.

A series of stories of disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. From OZY’s Sean Braswell, host and creator of the chart-topping, Webby-nominated The Thread, comes a new show about how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent.

Flashback: History's Unintended Consequences

Introducing: Very Special Episodes

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/70c39d67-7100-45dc-b7ba-b10901326206/transcript

From the fall of the Taliban until its return, people all over Afghanistan planned their lives around Afghan Star. People would pack into apartments. Villages would hook up generators to a single tv so crowds could watch. New Year’s celebrations would come to a halt, all to watch this one show. Over its 15 seasons, Afghan Star spotlighted an Afghanistan that could be: women singing without hijabs, Afghanistan’s first rapper, people of warring ethnic groups hugging and cheering for each other on stage. And it launched a cultural revolution. This is the story behind it all– from how a ragtag team scrambled to make the show every week, to the dangers they faced for trying to push the country forward. In Afghanistan, a cultural revolution was televised through a musical talent show, and this is its story. Hosted by John Legend.

Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app. 

From the fall of the Taliban until its return, people all over Afghanistan planned their lives around Afghan Star. People would pack into apartments. Villages would hook up generators to a single tv so crowds could watch. New Year’s celebrations would come to a halt, all to watch this one show. Over its 15 seasons, Afghan Star spotlighted an Afghanistan that could be: women singing without hijabs, Afghanistan’s first rapper, people of warring ethnic groups hugging and cheering for each other on stage. And it launched a cultural revolution. This is the story behind it all– from how a ragtag team scrambled to make the show every week, to the dangers they faced for trying to push the country forward. In Afghanistan, a cultural revolution was televised through a musical talent show, and this is its story. Hosted by John Legend.
Listen <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-afghan-star-hosted-by-john-173987785/">here</a> or on the iHeartRadio app.

Introducing: Afghan Star, hosted by John Legend

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/45d7db82-cced-4fec-895e-b1720113176f/transcript

After the horrific violence of Election Day, 1920, in Ocoee, Florida, hundreds of Black families fled the town, never to return. White farmers took ownership of their lands. And the crimes of the mobs of white vigilantes - lynching, murders, arson, theft - were covered up for almost a century. Until now. 

 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After the horrific violence of Election Day, 1920, in Ocoee, Florida, hundreds of Black families fled the town, never to return. White farmers took ownership of their lands. And the crimes of the mobs of white vigilantes - lynching, murders, arson, theft - were covered up for almost a century. Until now.  Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

After the horrific violence of Election Day, 1920, in Ocoee, Florida, hundreds of Black families fled the town, never to return. White farmers took ownership of their lands. And the crimes of the mobs of white vigilantes - lynching, murders, arson, theft - were covered up for almost a century. Until now.

Special Series: The Election Day Massacre. Part 3. 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f804f401-3112-40f0-947b-ae310144aa9a/transcript

Before the presidential election of 1920, the Klan marched through Florida to warn Black citizens not to vote. Newspapers across the state issued the same warning. When a prominent Black resident, Mose Norman, tried to cast his vote in the town of Ocoee, a mob of white vigilantes descended on the community. They exacted a terrible vengeance, starting with the family of a local Black leader, July Perry. Photo credit: Orange County Regional History Center

 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Before the presidential election of 1920, the Klan marched through Florida to warn Black citizens not to vote. Newspapers across the state issued the same warning. When a prominent Black resident, Mose Norman, tried to cast his vote in the town of Ocoee, a mob of white vigilantes descended on the community. They exacted a terrible vengeance, starting with the family of a local Black leader, July Perry. Photo credit: Orange County Regional History Center Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Before the presidential election of 1920, the Klan marched through Florida to warn Black citizens not to vote. Newspapers across the state issued the same warning. When a prominent Black resident, Mose Norman, tried to cast his vote in the town of Ocoee, a mob of white vigilantes descended on the community. They exacted a terrible vengeance, starting with the family of a local Black leader, July Perry.Photo credit: Orange County Regional History Center

Special Series: The Election Day Massacre. Part 2.

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/1e6f4f7e-4260-4998-aa81-ae310144b342/transcript

Introducing: Very Special Episodes

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Flashback: History's Unintended Consequences

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