This week, we present a smattering of stories you might have missed. If you've inhaled all these, email us — veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com — and we'll recommend something else worth your time.

Operation Lunar Eclipse
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Boat Trip
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

The Pledge
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Old Man on Campus
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

Seed Wars
Apple • Spotify • iHeart

We're back with a new episode on May 15th!

This week, we present a smattering of stories you might have missed. If you've inhaled all these, email us — <a href="mailto:veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com">veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com</a> — and we'll recommend something else worth your time.
Operation Lunar Eclipse <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/operation-lunar-eclipse/id1727423228?i=1000644450176">Apple</a> • <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4HZOXPUdWSed1zbHafFcuY?si=LF3-p0M6SSWBhCdReS940g">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/episode/operation-lunar-eclipse-148350268/">iHeart</a>
Boat Trip <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/boat-trip-the-attempted-sinking-of-titanic/id1727423228?i=1000643635043">Apple</a> • <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oHJDKBaOfexIsY9AqeLt5?si=khUdlZxvSf6jG9meXNPRHQ">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/episode/boat-trip-the-attempted-sinking-of-146775028/">iHeart</a>
The Pledge <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pledge-who-really-wrote-the-pledge-of-allegiance/id1727423228?i=1000646222941">Apple</a> • <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6iJomCfrQHoTX1L2ihxzRU?si=2PuEJb2HSBuXcrI1MGTbHA">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/episode/the-pledge-who-really-wrote-the-152687993/">iHeart</a>
Old Man on Campus <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/old-man-on-campus/id1727423228?i=1000645277933">Apple</a> • <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xUdfpaov2Jbk8s5UpmtWk?si=dU3tpisKT0G7LG6xVEYaVQ">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/episode/old-man-on-campus-150223795/">iHeart</a>
Seed Wars <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seed-wars-historys-deadliest-botany-rivalry/id1727423228?i=1000649828655">Apple</a> • <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UsRjjax8Ed5TooWQuSwHW?si=b_q3rGSISXmTYEKr_7ww7A">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-very-special-episodes-145325754/episode/seed-wars-historys-deadliest-botany-rivalry-160533414/">iHeart</a>
We're back with a new episode on May 15th!

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 us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

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 us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Very Special Episodes

The Buffet Table

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a25ccfbb-933e-405f-b615-b163001ce947/transcript

Greetings, VSE listeners! Dana, Zaron, and Jason will be back in October with another season. In the meantime, we wanted to share a new podcast from several members of the Very Special team. Introducing, The Legend of SwordQuest!

Episode One: The Sword and the Stoned. 

In the early 1980s, Atari is one of the biggest entertainment brands in the world and seeks to promote the biggest video game contest to date, promising $150,000 in prizes. But what starts out as a promising adventure quickly devolves into chaos.

Then head over to the SwordQuest feed wherever you get your podcasts and follow along: https://landing.podtrac.com/thelegendofswordquest

Greetings, VSE listeners! Dana, Zaron, and Jason will be back in October with another season. In the meantime, we wanted to share a new podcast from several members of the Very Special team. Introducing, The Legend of SwordQuest!
Episode One: The Sword and the Stoned. 
In the early 1980s, Atari is one of the biggest entertainment brands in the world and seeks to promote the biggest video game contest to date, promising $150,000 in prizes. But what starts out as a promising adventure quickly devolves into chaos.
Then head over to the SwordQuest feed wherever you get your podcasts and follow along: <a href="https://landing.podtrac.com/thelegendofswordquest">https://landing.podtrac.com/thelegendofswordquest</a>

The Legend of SwordQuest

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b9d18bf3-4029-4593-b5c7-b1f0002698a6/transcript

In the first half of the 20th century, athletes weren't the only ones competing for Olympic glory. Today's episode takes us back to an era when artists, poets, and even city planners battled for medals — and the messy in-fighting that threatened to tear the art world apart. 

In the first half of the 20th century, athletes weren't the only ones competing for Olympic glory. Today's episode takes us back to an era when artists, poets, and even city planners battled for medals — and the messy in-fighting that threatened to tear the art world apart.

Art of Gold: The Olympic Art Competitions

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/9a703f03-9e03-411c-9acd-b1be00615df1/transcript

A bar fight and a stint on the lam transformed Samuel Clemens into Mark Twain — and changed the course of American literature. Settle in for Mark Twain's origin story.  

*

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Zaron Burnett
Produced by Josh Fisher 
Editing and Sound Design: Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering: Baheed Frazier
Story Editor: Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking: Austin Thompson and Zaron Burnett
Voice Actors: Frank Nemec, Zack Nemec, Elizabeth Dutton, and Jonathan Washington
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer: Jason English

Special thanks to Bob Hirst from the Mark Twain Archive at UC Berkeley, and Joseph Amster from Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine.

Want to email the show? We'd love to hear from you. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com. 

A bar fight and a stint on the lam transformed Samuel Clemens into Mark Twain — and changed the course of American literature. Settle in for Mark Twain's origin story.  
*
Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English Written by Zaron Burnett Produced by Josh Fisher Editing and Sound Design: Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher Mixing and Mastering: Baheed Frazier Story Editor: Marisa Brown Research and Fact-Checking: Austin Thompson and Zaron Burnett Voice Actors: Frank Nemec, Zack Nemec, Elizabeth Dutton, and Jonathan Washington Original Music by <a href="http://www.elisemccoy.com">Elise McCoy</a> Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla Executive Producer: Jason English
Special thanks to Bob Hirst from the Mark Twain Archive at UC Berkeley, and <a href="https://www.emperornortontour.com/index.html">Joseph Amster</a> from Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine.
Want to email the show? We'd love to hear from you. You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mark Twain

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/70cc2d76-aa91-4711-8893-b19b000e37cf/transcript

The Buffet Table

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