Best Matthew Whitaker Podcasts (2025)

1
She Took Everything From Her Boyfriend - The Sabrina Taylor Story 8:39

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13h ago8:39

8:39

Sabrina Taylor spent years weaving a sympathy-soaked lie, pretending she had multiple sclerosis and a stack of other crises so she could drain more than half a million dollars from friends and online acquaintances who believed they were helping her stay alive, stay in school, or rescue family members who didn’t actually exist. Beginning around 2013…

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This Fake Cop Finally Got Arrested - The Michael Scaletta-Teates Story 8:05

1d ago8:05

8:05

In 2025, Michael Scaletta-Teates of Washington state goes to great lengths to pretend to be a police officer- outfitting his car with red and blue emergency lights, wearing a ballistic-style vest and badge, and appearing at crime scenes.

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The Con Man Who "Married" His Daughter - The Albert Walker Story 8:33

16h ago8:33

8:33

Albert Johnson Walker was a Canadian financial adviser who stole over $3 million CAD from clients in the late 1980s, then fled Canada in 1990 with his teenage daughter Sheena to avoid prosecution. While living in England under false names, he manipulated and ultimately stole the identity of a British man named Ronald Platt, even convincing Platt to…

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This Woman is The Worst Person I've Ever Covered - The Pam Hupp Story 8:24

4d ago8:24

8:24

Pam Hupp is a Missouri woman at the center of one of the most notorious wrongful-conviction cases in the U.S. in 2011, after her close friend Betsy Faria was brutally stabbed to death, Hupp- who had secretly made herself the beneficiary of Betsy’s $150k life-insurance policy just days earlier- helped steer police toward Betsy’s husband Russ Faria, …

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Interviews with White House Border Czar Tom Homan; Republican Sen. John Curtis; Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth 43:10

4d ago43:10

43:10

On CNN’s State of the Union, Dana Bash presses White House Border Czar Tom Homan over new ICE raids targeting Somali immigrants. Next, Republican Sen. John Curtis sits down with Dana to discuss his call for “compassionate” immigration enforcement, as well as the ticking clock for Congress to act on expiring health care subsidies. Then, veteran Demo…

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The Diaper-Wearing Murdering Lawyer - The Andrew and Alecia Schmuhl Story 8:37

6d ago8:37

8:37

Andrew and Alecia Schmuhl’s case is one of the most shocking and bizarre crimes in recent Virginia history: after Alecia was fired from her law firm, she and her husband spiraled into desperation and rage, culminating on November 9, 2014, when Alecia drove Andrew- dressed in an adult diaper, latex gloves, and a fake badge- to the home of her former…

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He Killed Hundreds of People - The Timothy McVeigh Story 8:12

7d ago8:12

8:12

Timothy McVeigh was a Gulf War veteran whose growing hatred of the federal government- fueled by the Ruby Ridge standoff, the Waco siege, militia-movement ideology, and The Turner Diaries- led him to plan and execute the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

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Matthew Scott photographs L.A.'s hidden stories, from concrete rivers to palm-lined streets 23:41

7d ago23:41

23:41

Photographer Matthew Scott captures Los Angeles through his lens, revealing stories hidden in plain sight. His projects include "Concrete River," an ongoing exploration of the 51 miles of channelized waterway where nature stubbornly persists, along with intimate studies of L.A.'s palm trees and Normandie Avenue. His work asks what our built environ…

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He Scammed Millions of Dollars With Pigeons - The Arlan Galbraith Story 8:54

8d ago8:54

8:54

Apparently we need to get into the pigeon racing business 😳 - Arlan Galbraith known as The Pigeon King, ran one of Canada’s strangest and most devastating Ponzi schemes, convincing hundreds of farmers across Canada and the U.S. to buy expensive breeding pigeons with promises that he would buy back the offspring at a guaranteed profit. Galbraith cla…

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He's The Worst Hitman In History - The Joe Rosebrook Story 8:02

8d ago8:02

8:02

The Joe Rosebrook case centers on a long-simmering grudge, a murder-for-hire plot, and a catastrophic case of mistaken identity that went unsolved for nearly a decade. Rosebrook, a small-time Ohio fraudster and chop-shop operator with a habit of retaliating against people he believed had crossed him, sought revenge against a man named Daniel E. Ott…

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She's Pretending to be 14 - The Samantha Azzopardi Story 8:29

9d ago8:29

8:29

Samantha Azzopardi is an Australian serial con artist whose crimes span more than a decade and multiple countries, built almost entirely on elaborate false identities.

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Trump: U.S. Will Block Immigration From “Third World Countries” 43:44

11d ago43:44

43:44

On CNN's State of the Union, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly responds to President Trump's immigration crackdown plus the new details about the second follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel killing unarmed survivors. Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin says President Trump is being "proactive" in targeting alleged drug operations - but that doesn't…

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The Man Who Killed Michael Jackson - The Dr. Conrad Murray Story 8:37

12d ago8:37

8:37

In 2009, Michael Jackson died of an overdose at his Los Angeles home. A powerful anesthetic propofol had been administered by his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. In a highly publicized 2011 trial, Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

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This Stranger Things Star Has a Dark Past - The Winona Ryder Story 8:40

13d ago8:40

8:40

Actress Winona Ryder was caught stealing more than $5,000 worth of designer clothing and accessories from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. Security detained her after observing her cutting sensor tags and walking out with the merchandise, leading to her high-profile arrest and a media frenzy that dominated early-2000s pop culture.…

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Motives, Meaning, and the Enneagram with Jeff Cook 1:28:02

13d ago1:28:02

1:28:02

Text us your questions! Our friend Jeff Cook—writer, podcaster, and Enneagram systems thinker—is back with us to discuss his recent book (volume 1 of a series because of course it is): about the Enneagram. (See our first conversation from S03E26 here.) Jeff explains how the Enneagram names the “why” beneath our choices, conflicts, faith, and love. …

1
She's a Real Life Vampire - The Daniel and Manuela Ruda Story 8:09

14d ago8:09

8:09

In July 2001, German couple Daniel and Manuela Ruda- deeply involved in Satanic and vampire-themed beliefs- lured their friend, 33-year-old Frank Hackert, to their apartment in Witten and brutally murdered him in what they described as a ritual killing. Manuela had filed her teeth into fangs and slept in a coffin, and Daniel claimed he’d received a…

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The Girl Who Was Hit By a Train - The Yareni Rios-Gonzalez Story 7:59

15d ago7:59

7:59

Yareni Rios-Gonzalez was involved in a reported road-rage incident in Weld County, Colorado, on September 16, 2022, after a man called 911 claiming she tailgated him and pointed a firearm. Police pulled her over near Platteville, where officers from two departments handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a patrol SUV that one officer had parke…

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This Postman Went Insane - The Devan Schreiner Story 8:05

16d ago8:05

8:05

Devan Schreiner, a former USPS worker from Longmont, Colorado, was locked in a turbulent custody battle with her ex-boyfriend, postal carrier Jason Schaefer, the father of their young son. Their relationship had soured after years of conflict, and shortly before the murder she was fired from the post office following an undisclosed “incident.” Pros…

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The World's Craziest Diamond Heist - The Leonardo Notarbartolo Story 8:06

17d ago8:06

8:06

Leonardo Notarbartolo was the mastermind behind the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist, one of the most ingenious burglaries ever pulled off. Working with a crew of elite Italian thieves, he spent over a year posing as a diamond trader to gain access to the Antwerp Diamond Center, a building considered nearly impenetrable thanks to its multilayered securit…

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Interviews with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Sen. Bill Cassidy, Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett 41:54

18d ago41:54

41:54

On CNN's State of the Union, Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett responds to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announcing she is leaving Congress, plus reveals new polling that will influence her decision to run for senate in Texas. Jake Tapper pushes Senator Bill Cassidy on his deciding vote to confirm H-H-S Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior, p…

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He Started Hundreds of Fires - The John Orr Story 8:58

19d ago8:58

8:58

John Orr was a respected Glendale, California fire captain and arson investigator who spent nearly a decade secretly setting the very fires he was supposed to prevent. Between 1984 and 1991, Orr ignited hundreds possibly thousands of fires.

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He's The Most Corrupt Cop in History - The Rafael Perez Story 8:28

20d ago8:28

8:28

Rafael Pérez was an LAPD officer whose crimes detonated the largest police-corruption scandal in Los Angeles history. A member of the elite Rampart Division CRASH unit, Pérez spent years planting guns, framing suspects, falsifying reports, beating civilians, and even shooting unarmed people- including paralyzing 19-year-old Javier Ovando, then lyin…

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The Worst Dad In History - The Ronnie O'Neal Story 8:29

21d ago8:29

8:29

Ronnie O’Neal III committed one of Florida’s most shocking family murders on March 18, 2018. His son miraculously survived, crawled out of the burning house, and later testified against his father in court.

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Gustavo Arellano on California families under siege 35:20

21d ago35:20

35:20

Gustavo Arellano reports from California's ground zero of President Trump's deportation crackdown. The Los Angeles Times columnist explains why many Latino voters who supported Trump now feel betrayed, how Southern California's "suburban apathy" toward immigration raids contrasts with Chicago's whistle-led resistance, and how the dynamics of 1994's…

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She Killed Both Her Husbands - The Velma Barfield Story 8:56

22d ago8:56

8:56

Velma Barfield was a North Carolina caretaker who became one of the most notorious female poisoners in U.S. history. Between 1971 and 1978, she quietly murdered multiple people in her orbit- beginning with her husband, Jennings Barfield, who died in a suspicious house fire while he slept, and later her own mother, along with an elderly couple she s…

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Trapped Underwater For 60 Hours - The Harrison Okene Story 8:06

23d ago8:06

8:06

The Nigerian cook Harrison Okene was using the bathroom on a tugboat when a massive wave capsized the vessel and sent it to the ocean floor about 100 feet down. Trapped in total darkness, surrounded by drowning crew members, Okene found a tiny pocket of trapped air inside a bathroom and laundry area. He survived nearly three days in that pitch-blac…

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The Craziest Ex Girlfriend - The Jodi Arias Story 8:34

24d ago8:34

8:34

Jodi Arias brutally murdered her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, a charismatic Mormon salesman from Mesa, Arizona. The pair had met two years earlier at a business conference and quickly began a passionate but toxic relationship marked by jealousy, obsession, and sexual tension that clashed with Travis’s religious values. After he tried to end thin…

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Interviews with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene; Dr. Oz; Rahm Emanuel 47:44

25d ago47:44

47:44

On CNN’s State of the Union, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene exclusively joins Dana Bash for her first interview since her explosive break-up with President Trump. She tells Dana, “Unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files” and questions why he’s fighting so hard to release them. Rep. Greene also apologizes for her ro…

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The Con Man Who Faked His Own Death - The Samuel Israel Story 8:58

26d ago8:58

8:58

Samuel Israel III was a New York hedge fund manager who founded the Bayou Hedge Fund Group in 1996 and orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds of the early 2000s. After years of falsifying trading records and using a fake accounting firm to hide losses, Israel’s $300 million Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2005 when investors tried to withdraw t…

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She Scammed People with Magic Cheese? - The Madame Gi Story 8:21

27d ago8:21

8:21

Gilberte Van Erpe aka Madame Gil is a Belgian con artist who launched a fake health and cosmetics company called Crema in the early 2000s. Posing as the mystical “Madame Gil,” she convinced thousands of people- especially in Chile- to invest in a bogus line of “magic cheese” and other products that supposedly contained miraculous healing or cosmeti…

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Miroslav Volf: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse 58:34

27d ago58:34

58:34

Text us your questions! Is the drive to be better than others making us worse? We talk with theologian Miroslav Volf about his book The Cost of Ambition and explore why comparison-based striving saturates our schools, churches, workplaces, and politics. Volf separates healthy aspiration from superiority-seeking and makes a compelling case for excel…

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He Killed His Own Parents - The Bart Whitaker Story 8:34

28d ago8:34

8:34

In 2003, Thomas “Bart” Whitaker orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot against his own family in Sugar Land, Texas, in order to claim his inheritance. After luring his parents and brother home from a celebratory dinner, his friend Christopher Brashear ambushed them inside the house, killing Bart’s mother and brother and seriously wounding his father, …

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Roddy Bottum: A queer rock pioneer remembers San Francisco's lost era 35:00

28d ago35:00

35:00

Roddy Bottum, a founder of the alternative metal band Faith No More, chronicles 1980s and '90s San Francisco — a dark, overlooked era between the Summer of Love and the tech boom. His memoir, "The Royal We" recalls a vanished city of bicycle messengers and punk rock in the shadow of the AIDS crisis. It's a poetic testament to community, loss, and t…

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He Tried To Kill The President? - The Kevin Curtis Story 8:49

29d ago8:49

8:49

Mississippi Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis was wrongly accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama, Senator Roger Wicker, and a local judge. Curtis had a history of posting online about an alleged hospital cover-up after he claimed to have discovered human body parts in 2001 while working as a janitor.…

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This Creep Stalked His Own Wife - The Daniel Krug Story 8:14

30d ago8:14

8:14

In December 2023, 44-year-old Daniel Krug of Broomfield, Colorado murdered his wife, Kristil Krug, in the garage of their home after months of secretly tormenting her with fake messages from a made-up stalker he created using burner phones and multiple online identities. Posing as her ex-boyfriend Jack, Daniel sent harassing emails and photos to bo…

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She Fell In Love With a Murderer and Helped Him Escape - The Bobbi Parker Story 8:39

1M ago8:39

8:39

In 1994, Bobbi Parker, the wife of an Oklahoma prison deputy warden, vanished from the Oklahoma State Reformatory along with inmate Randolph Dial, a convicted murderer and artist who had been given unusual privileges due to his painting skills. For 11 years, the two lived under assumed identities on a remote chicken farm in Texas until their discov…

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He Faked Being a Doctor For Years - The Gerald Barnbaum Story 8:55

1M ago8:55

8:55

Gerald Barnbaum was a conman who spent decades posing as a medical doctor despite never being one. Born in 1933 in Chicago, he was originally a licensed pharmacist, but his license was revoked. Rather than reform, Barnbaum found a new and more dangerous way to exploit the medical system: he began impersonating real physicians, using their stolen id…

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Interviews with California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy 44:11

1M ago44:11

44:11

On CNN’s State of the Union, Jake Tapper sits down exclusively with California Gov. Gavin Newsom for a wide-ranging interview. They discuss his decisive redistricting win, the state of the Democratic Party, whether he will run for president in 2028, and how Democrats can reverse their slide among young male voters. Then, amid mounting travel turmoi…

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The Founder of Aldi Got Kidnapped - The Theo Albrecht Story 8:21

1M ago8:21

8:21

In November 1971, Theo Albrecht, the reclusive German billionaire co-founder of Aldi supermarkets, was kidnapped at gunpoint outside his company’s headquarters in Essen, Germany, by Heinz-Joachim Ollenburg and Paul Krüzen, a pair of small-time criminals seeking a massive ransom. The kidnappers held him for 17 days.…

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He Thinks He's Batman - The Matthew Muller Story 8:47

1M ago8:47

8:47

Matthew Muller was a former Marine and Harvard-educated lawyer whose life spiraled into a series of bizarre crimes. In 2015, he broke into the Vallejo, California home of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, abducting Denise and demanding ransom in what police initially dismissed as a hoax inspired by Gone Girl. Muller, who suffered from mental illness …

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He Killed His Best Friend - The Kwang Chol Joy Story 8:36

1M ago8:36

8:36

Kwang Chol Joy was a California man who became infatuated with 37-year-old Maribel Ramos, an Army veteran and college student who had taken him in as a roommate in her Orange County apartment. Over time, his obsession with her deepened, but she rejected his romantic advances and eventually asked him to move out. In May 2013, shortly after a heated …

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Ashlee Vance on robot gladiators and the future of AI combat 29:14

1M ago29:14

29:14

Ashlee Vance reports from San Francisco's underground robot fight clubs, where humanoid machines controlled by virtual reality pilots battle in steel cages before roaring crowds. China dominates the hardware, America provides the spectacle, and artificial intelligence makes the robots increasingly lethal. The technology is advancing at breakneck sp…

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America's Worst Con Man - The Barry Minkow Story 9:03

1M ago9:03

9:03

Barry Minkow was a teenage entrepreneur who founded the carpet-cleaning company ZZZZ Best in the 1980s and became a Wall Street sensation- until it was revealed to be one of the biggest Ponzi schemes of its time. Minkow fabricated fake restoration projects and used forged documents to trick investors, inflating his company’s value to over $200 mill…

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The Modern Day Serial Killer - The Israel Keyes Story 9:01

1M ago9:01

9:01

Israel Keyes was an American serial killer, burglar, and arsonist who operated from 2001 until his arrest in 2012. A meticulous and methodical predator, he murdered at least eleven people across the United States, hiding “kill kits” containing weapons and supplies years in advance to use during his crimes.…

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This Genius Engineer is in BIG Trouble - The John DeLorean Story 8:40

1M ago8:40

8:40

John DeLorean was a trailblazing automobile executive who rose to prominence at General Motors by engineering iconic muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO and Firebird. In 1975 he struck out on his own and founded the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), aiming to build a futuristic sports car—the DMC-12 with gull-wing doors and stainless steel panels. Unfortu…

1
He Stole Billions - The Bernie Madoff Story 9:29

1M ago9:29

9:29

Bernie Madoff was an American financier who ran what is widely regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding thousands of investors of billions of dollars by paying returns to earlier investors with funds from newer ones rather than from legitimate profits.

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Interviews with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries; Democratic Sen. John Fetterman 43:38

1M ago43:38

43:38

On CNN’s State of the Union, Jake Tapper asks Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent whether the Trump administration will use emergency funds to restore SNAP benefits for millions of Americans. Then, Jake asks House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries whether New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party. Next, …

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Chuck E. Cheese Got Arrested - The Jermell Jones Story 8:00

1M ago8:00

8:00

Jermell Jones is a 41-year-old Florida man who was arrested in July 2025 while working as the mascot for Chuck E. Cheese in Tallahassee. He was taken into custody in full costume during a children’s birthday party after surveillance linked him to using a woman’s child-support debit card to make fraudulent charges.…

1
How Latino Voters Are Reshaping American Politics 1:15:25

1M ago1:15:25

1:15:25

Text us your questions! We talk with political strategist, author, and Lincoln Project member Mike Madrid about data, culture, and why both parties keep getting the Latino vote wrong. Mike takes us inside the Lincoln Project’s 2020 strategy and the personal costs of resisting Trumpism, then draws a sharp line between principled conservatism and pun…

1
Todd S. Purdum: How Desi Arnaz invented modern television and lost himself 33:07

1M ago33:07

33:07

Todd S. Purdum, veteran journalist and author of the new book "Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television," explains how a Cuban refugee revolutionized Hollywood from his adopted home in Los Angeles. Though underappreciated as a showbiz entrepreneur, Arnaz pioneered the three-camera sitcom format, shifted television production from New York to Los…