Alphabet Boys
Season One: Trojan Hearse
Alphabet Boys reveals the secret investigations of the FBI, DEA, ATF, and other alphabet agencies. Hosted by journalist Trevor Aaronson, Alphabet Boys exposes secret undercover recordings that the government never wanted the public to hear. We explore cases that are both dangerous and absurd in order to ask this question: Are America’s top cops catching criminals — or creating them?
Season one is Trojan Hearse. During the rage-filled summer of 2020, a mysterious, cigar-smoking antifa warrior rolled into town. He wore military fatigues, spoke with a raspy voice, and drove a hearse filled with guns. He also kept a very big secret.
You can read more about Alphabet Boys: Trojan Hearse in The Intercept, The Daily Beast, Democracy Now!, The Guardian, and Reason.
Alphabet Boys
Season Two: Up in Arms
Alphabet Boys reveals the secret investigations of the FBI, DEA, ATF, and other alphabet agencies. Hosted by journalist Trevor Aaronson, Alphabet Boys exposes secret undercover recordings that the government never wanted the public to hear. We explore cases that are both dangerous and absurd in order to ask this question: Are America’s top cops catching criminals — or creating them?
Season two is Up In Arms. An international weapons deal to arm rebels in Colombia tangles up the DEA, the CIA, and the FBI in the same case. But who’s the good guy? And who’s the bad guy? In this spy story, no one is who they claim to be.
You can hear more about Alphabet Boys: Up in Arms on Intercepted, True Spies, The Live Drop, and Underworld.
American ISIS
American ISIS is an eight-episode documentary podcast that tells the remarkable story of Russell Dennison, an American ex-convict and Muslim convert who joined the Islamic State in Syria. As U.S. and coalition airstrikes rained down on ISIS fighters in 2018 and 2019, Dennison secretly recorded dozens of hours of audio about his past and his life with ISIS and sent them to journalist Trevor Aaronson with one condition: Nothing he said could be revealed until he was captured or — more likely — killed.
You can read more about American ISIS in The Intercept. Uproxx included “American ISIS” on its Best Nonfiction Podcasts of 2021, describing it as “a strange, unforgettable, bittersweet, Heart of Darkness kind of listen.”
Hold Fast
The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website
Hold Fast is the uncompromising story of Backpage.com, the world’s most scandalous website, and the rise and fall of alternative weekly newspapers nationwide.
Reported, written, and hosted by Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, and Michael Mooney, Hold Fast is a romp through the weird history and boundary-pushing culture of alternative newspapers; the controversies surrounding Backpage.com and the government investigations; and the fraught frontiers of free speech in America.
You can learn more about Hold Fast in On The Media, Columbia Journalism Review, and the Dallas Morning News.
High Rollers
Season Two of Chameleon
Deceit, scandal, lies — it’s Las Vegas. It’s the FBI sting you have to hear to believe. High Rollers is a 10-episode documentary podcast that tells the stranger-than-fiction tale of a two-year FBI undercover sting that went bust, with no one convicted of crimes.
You can read more about High Rollers in Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, and Deadline. “High Rollers” was listed on Apple’s and Amazon Music’s Best Podcasts of 2021.