Heroes Behind Headlines
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.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 65 minutes
- Episodes
- 172
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Counterfeit Polish Countess Saved Thousands in WWII!
Janina Melberg was a brilliant mathematician posing as a Polish Countess Janina Suchodolska to hide her Jewish identity during the Nazi occupation in WWII Poland. She simultaneously joined the both t…
MACV-SOG Warrior Lives a Life of Adventure and Service! Part II
Jim “Wild Carrot” Shorten-Jones served as a team leader (One-Zero) in MACV-SOG during the height of Vietnam War, and ultimately in the Army, Navy and Air Force. In another exciting chapter in America…
MACV-SOG Warrior Lives a LIfe of Adventure and Service! Part I
Jim “Wild Carrot” Shorten-Jones served as a team leader (One-Zero) in MACV-SOG during the height of Vietnam War, and ultimately in the Army, Navy and Air Force. In another exciting chapter in America…
Catching Predators with the FBI's Crimes Against Children Squad
When FBI Special Agent Nikki Badolato arranged a live meetup with a man looking to 'rent' her infant daughter as part of a sting, she was shocked to see how presentable and 'normal' this 30-something…
The Heroics of U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers
U.S. Coast Guard Veteran Martha La Guardia-Kotite shares inspiring stories of bravery from her book, “So Others May Live—Coast Guard’s Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death.” These brave men a…
The Mind-Blowing Near-Death Experience of Gary Wimmer
One dark night in Austin, Texas, onlookers watched in horror as musician Gary Wimmer was struck head-on by a speeding car, ramming his head into the front grill and hurtling him into the air until he…
Saving SOG Souls with the 101st Airborne: Part II
In part two of this interview, Roger Lockshier lays out his dramatic experiences as a helicopter pilot serving in Vietnam. In 1968, at the height of the war, he was routinely sent in on his Huey guns…
Saving SOG Souls with the 101st Airborne: Part I
In this two-part interview, Roger Lockshier lays out his dramatic experiences as a helicopter pilot serving in Vietnam. In 1968, at the height of the war, he was routinely sent in on his Huey gunship…
RIP Chuck Mawhinney: The U.S. Marine Corp's Deadliest Sniper Speaks!
We've re-released this episode, as an homage to Chuck Mawhinney, who we learned passed away last week. Chuck was our guest in Season Two (September 2023.) We were honored to have had a chance to spea…
Invasion On! D-Day, the Press, and the Making of an American Narrative
Military veteran and author Stephen M. Rusiecki describes the process of how and why Americans developed a standing narrative of the WWII operation known as D-Day, based upon a common, press-enabled,…
The Challenges of Serving in LA County's Sheriff's Department
Building a career in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was no easy feat: Danny Smith overcame different hurdles and became a detective, going on to solve some grisly cases, including the mu…
The Reporter Who Knew Too Much
In 1963, Dorothy Kilgallen was on top of the world, famous as a groundbreaking female journalist, with a nationally syndicated column and a panelist on the popular TV show, "What's My Line?" She was …
Canada's Psychopath Machine
When 18-year-old Steve Smith was sent to Oak Ridge Psychiatric Hospital in Ontario, Canada in the 1960s, (misdiagnosed due to an ill-timed LSD trip) he didn't expect the inmates to be running the asy…
The Operation Tailwind Scandal
On 11 September 1970, 16 U.S. soldiers and 110 Montagnards from Hatchet Company B were sent deep into the Laotian jungle in support of a CIA team, during the Vietnam War. Over the next four days, the…
Arms Deals, Illegal Drugs, and Rare Animals: Going Undercover with ATF and U.S. Customs
The amazing life of undercover agent Frederick L. Gleffe is a nonstop series of adventures inside three of our nation's law enforcement agencies. His sometimes surreal, always perilous cases include…
From Anzio to Dachau: A WW2 Infantryman Tells His Story
WW2 humble hero, Laurence "Sparky" Rector, was just a GI in the infantry when he was drafted as an 18-year-old. He ended up crossing Europe as "cannon fodder," including as part of Patton's army, par…
Re-Examining the Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg is a pivotal event in the history of our country, but not broadly understood.
Attorney-turned-historian Allen R. Thompson digs into a Civil War controversy: How the decision-m…
A Woman Fights for a Medical Degree During the Grenada Revolution
In 1970, only ten percent of doctors were women. Living in Oklahoma, Cynthia Mackey was a young woman and mother who dreamt of becoming a doctor. Her first husband wouldn't let her go to school and t…
Inside the 'House of Death' and the Juarez Cartel
Investigative journalist Bill Conroy shares his experiences covering the Mexican drug trade and the infamous Juarez Cartel. From his gripping book "Dispatches from the House of Death," Bill describes…
The Many Challenges of U.S. Border Patrol with Vince Vargas
Today, Vincent Vargas is an actor, producer and writer, best known for his role in the hit TV series Mayans M.C. But several years ago Vincent Vargas was patrolling our southern border as a proud mem…